Full and amazing day yesterday

Please vote if you haven't already. NJ voters who still have mail-in ballots at home please get them to a dropbox or, if you mail, specify you want a postmark. Particularly if you're in District 7, redistricted to bring many gop voters into a formerly juust about Democrat district.

 Meanwhile, yesterday. I returned the puzzle to the library and went to pick another, about Central Park 

And saw the parrot in the jungle puzzle I donated recently, there in the collection for someone else to struggle with, I mean enjoy

While I was there I checked the gallery for the current exhibit, some favorites 

She's a retired medical illustrator and you can see she's a good draftsman. Now she's exploding in color and collage and energy.

You'll notice the homage to the book reader there!

Home again and, after my walk,  I did the promised upstairs plant care in honor of my sister's birthday, including taking sansevieria cuttings. These are slow growers and when they get established I'll probably Freecycle them to some happy recipient.

The parent plant I grew from cuttings I took years ago from a friend's plant which I took onto the deck for a summer, like a camp visit 

This is an interesting plant, which I've propagated before this way and given away.  You just cut the leaf into sections snd shove them into  potting soil. 

I never use rooting hormone though the plant experts always say you should, and considering the reproductive success of my attempts, I think it's not as necessary as they say.

This is also interesting in that it will root only if you plant it the same way up as it grew. Apparently it senses north from south and doesn't like standing on its head.

Last time I made quite short cuttings and this time I'm trying bigger ones to see if it roots any faster. 

And I found yet another rogue potato plant trying to grow among the dracaena, see the fingers there for scale against the miniature spuds 

Then I seized the day

and set up tea and a little something, banana walnut cranberry bread, on the deck, reading Provincial Lady and watching the flock of warblers still here and flitting about the trees.

Amazing to be doing this in November, and lovely. Such a good day. An evening of knitting and then suddenly finding myself dicing a bowl of vegetables for an upcoming batch of flour tortillas. More on that anon.

Meanwhile happy day everyone, seize whatever kind of day you're given, some better than others. 

Vote. Rejoice if the good guys do well, refuse to be crushed if they don't. It's an endless struggle. La lucha!

More about voting

 Just another couple of notes about voting in NJ. States differ -- if you're a registered US voter in another state, check your own.

Firstly for the people who got all panicky when I posted about my vote receipt recently and said I didn't get a ballot, help. 

1. Cool your jets

2. Look at the post. I write and pic carefully. I cropped and enlarged that pic to show it related to the NJ July primary.  Not the November election.  And I noted it was our first universal mail in election. In other words, the primary. It was a test run for universal vote by mail in November.

3. When I get my general election ballot I will undertake to blog about it. But still don't panic. Counties send out ballots in waves. My ballot might not arrive the exact day yours does.

4. Meanwhile go online to your county website and check your status to make sure you're registered. If you are you will get the ballot through the mail.

5. Fill it out promptly, remember to sign it, send it back. I plan on using a dropbox in my town rather than the mail.

6. If you use a dropbox it MUST be in your own county. Counties run elections and can only handle their own ballots. In NJ it doesn't have to be your own municipality, unlike Connecticut, where it does. That's why you need to check your own state, to be sure.

7. This is probably the most important election of our country's history. Please vote. John Lewis fought and bled for the vote. Do it for all the brave women who fought for women's suffrage. Do it for the people in states where their votes face suppression. Do it because it matters.

Just vote.