Welcome to The Clampetts!

First blog post

Hi All!

Here it is fresh off the press, my very first blog.

Let me tell you a little bit about us.  Our name is not really Clampetts but we sort of resemble the Clampetts prior to them striking oil!

My name is Karla and my husband of 13 years’ name is Brian.  We live on at the end of a narrow, dirt road, in a small village, in a small county in the small state of New Hampshire.  I am just recently retired; hence the picture above with the huge corsage!

This blog will be about living off the grid completely and our trials and tribulations of every day living once retired and living in a small, rural area.  It ain’t always easy!  For example, the time I made a custard and the oven kept blinking at me and B was away on a business trip.  Why was the oven blinking?  Would the custard cook?  Well, of course the oven was blinking, it wasn’t getting enough power!  I did not have the appropriate inverter on!  We have 2 inverters that converts DC (battery) current to AC (house) current.  I obviously had a lot to learn. . .

One of the newest additions to our off the grid living and something that makes me very happy, and we hope will make life a little easier, is a propane generator and a new 500 gallon propane tank.  Now the generator comes on automatically when our power begins to lessen.  Since this is a new installation (and not a cheap one either I might add), it still needs tweaking; that would be B’s job.  So far it is working well.  Previously, we used a gasoline fed generator, and required some manual tweaking that was always difficult for me.  I am not mechanically inclined and the generator required a lot of pulling and usually accompanied by some cussing to even start it.  I am not good at jumping up and down while pulling the cord as well as B is!

We live a pretty ordinary life and if you were to visit, you would not necessarily even realize we are off the grid.  However, we do have a few quirky things by today’s standards.  We have a special small refrigerator that requires manual defrosting (yuck) and is deep but short, causing the food that gets pushed way back to freeze.  Have you ever tried reviving frozen celery?  It doesn’t work well.  And our gas powered oven also requires manual cleaning (double yuck, as I cook a lot).  However, my husband has every power tool known to man and uses them frequently.  We have a regular washing machine, but I prefer to hang my clothes out to dry during the summer months, and I use wooden clothes racks in the winter set up near the wood stove to dry most of our clothes.  Why not use the sun and the wood stove to dry one’s clothes???  We do own a dryer but it is at my in-law’s who live a mile from us and live on the grid.

I am also very interested in homesteading, for lack of a better word.  I believe in eating local, either growing my own food or buying local food and meat.  We have raised pigs in the past as well as ducks, chickens, and, if lucky,  B brings home venison – in season,  of course!  I am fortunate to live in an area where I can easily buy any of these items, should I run low on my own food.  By the way, we do have 2 freezers living off the grid.  See?  You would never know we do so.

I hope you like my new blog!  Please feel free to make any comments you care to make.  Well, only positive comments of course!  Ha, ha.

Karla

PT Here I Come! – April 17-19, 2019 – at the Clampetts

Hello Folks,

Somehow, my last post got deleted in B’s email, so it got delayed getting out to you all.  B has been very busy this week with his business and building frames for the shop, plus two trips this week to take me to DHMC.

But guess what we found out Wednesday when we went to Dartmouth for a check up on my leg?  I can begin physical therapy to start walking!  My x-rays looked good and the wound is healed enough for me to begin, gently, to use my leg.  Actually, the news about the wound was so encouraging to me that I did a little virtual happy dance.

I get to choose where to go for therapy, so I chose our local PT clinic at our local hospital.  However, when they called today, the earliest I could get in was three weeks out!  The receptionist recommended I try another clinic across the street from the hospital instead.  I called and, yes, I could get in Monday!  I also asked about Medicare and supplemental insurance and, yes, they would accept that.  Then it was call the orthopedic department for a referral to be faxed to the second clinic.  I am on my way.

This morning we had the second appointment at DHMC at 9:00 AM at the wound clinic.  The wound is slowly improving and we came home with slightly different instructions for repacking and yet another bag of goodies. I managed to spill the contents on the floor at home as I was attempting to move the bag.  Good thing everything is individually wrapped.  B also learned he doesn’t need to be super concerned about keeping everything sterile.  I think this has been a major issue for him.  Could the wound still become infected?  Yes, but it is healing nicely at this point.

Once home, I rested for awhile and then got up and baked a cake.  I wanted to make a strawberry shortcake for Easter.  Don’t get too excited; it was a mix.  I think it came out okay.  We are dredging the freezers for ham for Sunday dinner.  I hope to fix stuffed eggs too, since we have a plethora of eggs.

That is all the excitement at this end.  I hope you all have a nice weekend and if you celebrate Easter, Happy Easter.

Stay well.

Company and More Duck Intruders – April 15 & 16, 2019 – at the Clampetts

Hello Folks,

Monday was chilly and rainy and then showery.  When I got up, I went to look out the windows near the coop and out to the pond.  What I saw was the young Mallard couple swimming happily around.  I also noticed another couple swimming around and I’ll be damned if I did not spot a third pair of wild ducks!  I was thrilled!

As I watched, the third pair, which was another pair of Mallards, left in a huff as the pond, or wetlands, didn’t seem quite big enough for them and they were being a bit harassed by the others.  When B came downstairs, he said pair #2 were Wood Ducks.  Meanwhile, the pair of Mallards needed a nap and climbed up on a small island for a snooze but not before the female got out of the water and walked around the road before going back in the water.  I figure they slept a good solid hour or more.  The Wood Duck pair continued swimming around the islands, stumps, and inlets.  All this occurred during showers.

Across the road, the domestic critters were stirring and Frick and Frack were nervously pacing the fence.  But after awhile they grew weary of that and proceeded to under the porch, presumably for a long nap.  I mean it is tiring to try and keep up with pairs of intruders!

We were blessed with company, and on a weekday at that, so I gladly gave up my duck watching.  It was so nice to have B’s sister, Brenda and her husband, Ken, come for a visit.  The visit is never long enough though, when they come, and today was no exception.  But a short visit is indeed better than no visit!  And they came with goodies.  They brought a large dish of delicious lasagna and equally delicious homemade chocolate chunk and nut cookies!  A feast!

However, soon it was time for them to depart and head home.  Of course, Karla forgot to give them fresh eggs and the geraniums I have been trying to get rid of all winter.  Next time, I will get the eggs out pronto and put them near the door!

As always, we watched television last night but instead of PBS, we watched American Idol to see if our local gal, Evelyn Cormier, made it to the top 10 contestants, but alas she did not.  So that ends our following of the show.  We all are very proud of Evelyn!  She also is a former Cornish Fair Queen (as was Brenda).

Today brought sunny skies, but very chilly and windy.  The old wind generator has been cranking out the juice all day.  In hindsight, I should have vacuumed today, but didn’t.  B had to be up by 8:30 this morning in order to go to our rental property needing a new septic system, for what I call “the big dig.”  This really wasn’t a big dig, but it needed to be done in order to find out how high the water table is so the septic system can be built above it.  Fortunately, no sign at all of the water table was found, so the water table will not be a factor in the septic design.   When you see a septic system leach field that’s a big, ugly, expensive mound, it’s generally like that because the water table is high.  Once the design is made and approved by numerous parties, the septic system work can commence.  And yes, folks, there is such a thing as a septic system designer.  I did not know this, despite this being the second time we have been through this, but at a different location.

Once B got home, he got busy and built the little lady a fire in the wood stove.  Despite the thermometer, it was chilly in the house.  The stove has died out, but it took the chill off and the sun picked up where the stove left off.

The wind was so strong today, it made the water in the pond shimmer and at times, it almost looked like 3D!  The water has been tossed around all day and, consequently, no duck activity today either.  Once the  weather calms down, I am sure they will return.  Where they are when not on our water is anyone’s guess.  There are several other, larger ponds in the woods around us.  Critters do not like strong winds, or at least, my critters do not.

B is starting another project that requires some building for the shop.  One tenant had his sub-pump stop, so while B was fixing that, he discovered he had left some lumber at the property.  He plans to go and pick that up to use as his building material.  Plus his side business, which was supposed to be a hobby, has been bursting, so he is really busy with that.  It either rains or it pours around here!

So that covers our last two days so far.  B brought in from the mud room the last of the apples I bought before I fell.  He announced that they were on death’s door and that I need to do something with them immediately.  I will wheel myself to the kitchen and do some cutting and peeling.

Stay well.

Busy Weekend – April 13-14, 2019 – at the Clampetts

Hello Folks,

Now after 5:00 PM on Sunday, our weekend is coming to a close.  I know tomorrow is a state holiday in neighboring Massachusetts.  You know, Concord and Lexington, where the revolutionary war got started.  Even though there is a reenactment in the area every year, what most people associate the holiday with is the running of the Boston Marathon.  I’m afraid this year the runners are going to be doing so in the rain.  At least it won’t be blistering hot like it is some years.

Our weekend did not involve any running (!) but we did reach temperatures in the mid 70’s Saturday.  I do not know if we broke any records, but I do know we haven’t seen those temperatures in a long time.  B opened the slider for short periods of time to help warm up, and air out, the house.  Karla was cool and still wearing a sweatshirt most of the day.  It was also very breezy all day.  Karla wasn’t feeling quite up to par.  I may have overdone it Thursday when dusting and vacuuming, because first my right hip ached, then the left one joined in.  By evening, I wasn’t feeling so great.  I asked B to bring me a Tylenol and that worked.  It worked so well, I slept through one whole episode of a show I wanted to watch, plus I hobbled to bed and slept through most of the night!  B should have taken one, as he did not sleep as well.

However, I did manage to wash dishes Saturday and fix tacos.  I mean how difficult is it to fix tacos?  Here is a funny.  I asked B if I should include refried beans in order to stretch the pound of hamburger so we could get two meals out of it.  He said sure.  B helped me put the food away after we ate.  I noticed we still ate most of the hamburger mixture,  despite me opening a can of beans to make it all go further.  Suddenly, B said, “I forgot to add beans to my tacos!”  That explained that!  Anyway, we have enough for another round of tacos.  Remember, I am on a high protein diet, so either the hamburger or the beans will fill the bill, along with cheese.  Despite everything, the meal came out fine.  I know some people also fix rice as a side, but that was a bit much for me to do yesterday.

Today is much cooler than yesterday and now it is showery.  There was sun earlier in the day.  It is still mild, but nothing like yesterday.  B said when he went out to go to recycling that there were lots of motorcycles out on the roads.  In New England on the first spring-like day, people ride around with their car windows rolled down, t-shirts on, and the radios blaring.  Also, out come the shorts, flip-flops and the motorcycles.  Everyone is wearing a huge smile and by the end of April, the ice cream drive-ins open for the short season.  However, up here in the hinterlands, early spring means the ice is coming out of the dirt roads and the mud is oozing.  I would never pay for a mud facial no matter how exclusive the spa is!  Okay, so that is why I call myself Clampetts!

We went out this morning to the Mason’s lodge here in the village, for their monthly breakfast.  They sure do know how to cook fluffy omelettes.  Anyway, since we are one of the regulars and they know I have been laid up, they gave me a get well card.  I was quite touched.  Despite not wanting to go in a wheelchair, I was glad I went.  B has gone solo for the last two months.  I ate so much protein, I am not hungry for dinner!

Over the weekend, B has been busy.  Saturday after the recycling center closed at 2:00 PM, B stayed for the first Recycling Committee meeting.  We both went to a village meeting way back in the fall about recycling and how we can no longer send all our recycled stuff to China.  Anyway, at that time, B signed up to be on a committee to find another solution.  It took this long to pull a meeting together!

B is also slowly cleaning out the shop from the building debris and starting to move things in.  He got held up by the rain.  His business is in a growth spurt at the moment so that, too, has been labor intensive this weekend.  I am trying to help him out by doing most of the dishes.  He still has pots and pan duties, though.  He also did some laundry this weekend.

Well, it is after 6:00 PM, which now means it is officially evening, and it continues to shower.  We saw the pair of mallards swimming around our little pond today.  The ice is now mostly out of the pond.  It is fun to watch them dive down and come up with something or nothing.  Frick and Frack are not happy to see intruders in their pond while they are behind a fence!

Stay well.

 

A Pair of Mallards and Wound Update – April 11 – 12, 2019 – at the Clampetts

Hello Folks,

Here we are at Friday again and another weekend is sitting on our doorstep.  It is pretty chilly too. We had a really warm sunny Thursday, but today is raw and windy, despite the 46 degree temperature.  I am snuggled under the mink blanket and I am still chilly.

Thursday was a busy day and, as noted, a  warm one too.  B got busy and finished spraying paint on the inside of the shop.  Done.  He was originally going to roll on the rest, but once he finished fixing the sprayer, he decided to continue with the spraying.  He didn’t use as much paint as he did on the first half.

B is also continuing to convert old tapes to DVD format.  Some of the newer movies have restrictions on them and cannot be copied.  There was lots of cursing going on when this was revealed.  Also, the discs only hold 2 hours worth of material, so any movie over 2 hrs requires inserting a new disc.  B says t;s very time-consuming to do each copy.  He came home from John’s with more tapes to convert and he continues to find more old tapes of his own to convert.  My eyes continue to roll.  How many old tapes do I have any interest in converting?  Zero!  My hunch is, B will rarely, if ever, watch these DVDs.  The good thing is, they take up far less space than old tapes.  But will B get rid of the old tapes now?   That remains to be seen.

Speaking of recording, makes me think of streaming, which I happen to think is a good idea, at least in theory.  Because I tend to fall asleep during Masterpiece on PBS, I missed out on some key information on the very interesting  “Mrs. Wilson” drama.  A fascinating story, by the way.  Since I subscribe to VT PBS, I have access to their streaming, called Passport.

Of course I had long since forgotten my password and it is upstairs in my jungle next to my computer.  So I had to get a new password which became a mini nightmare anded up with me emailing for help.  Their tech support was very attentive and helpful, and I soon had a working password.  Yes, I wrote it down this time.  B and I had a bit of a discussion about my method of managing my passwords, which pretty much consisted of writing them on scraps of paper!  B was not at all impressed.  So now I at least write them on a single sheet of paper.

Anyway, I finally got set up and streamed the 3 part drama.  I highly recommend this drama, based on a true story.  Ruth Wilson played Mrs Wilson.  By the way, the story was based on events that happened to her own grandmother!  But you do need to stay awake in order to catch all the clues.

I found steaming the show to be much darker and not as clear, at least on this old iPad.  I could not figure out how to use closed caption either.  However, I got enough of it to make sense and not have to ask B to tell me the ending.

Today we spent the early afternoon up at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center again.  We have a standing appointment on Fridays at the wound center.  B likes a Friday appointment because he likes the professionals to change the wound before the weekend, when the wound goes longer before being changed.  Things are coming along, but slowly.  The nurse checked the computer and the wound has shrunk since last week.  More importantly, it is healing the way it should be.  I keep being told to beef up my protein consumption, so I am trying to do so.  B insisted on making me a (huge) omelet for supper.  Well, I guess we certainly do have the eggs for it.

B was able to watch the professionals without feeling quite so queasy, so that was a good thing.  Because Karla was a good girl, she got a piece of pizza before we left the hospital!

B had a lot of errands to run, so after we left we drove over to the hangar to pick up an item and then there were stops along the way home.  His business has picked up lately, so he is pretty darn busy.

On to the pair of wild mallards!  Every spring we have wild ducks fly into the pond.  What makes this year different is there is still ice on most parts of the pond, with just a small area of open water.  However, this morning, we both saw movement.  I only saw the female mallard, but B could see the male from the upstairs windows.  Finally, I was able to see the male as well.  They seem to like all the vegetation in our little pond.  I suspect every year we attract young pairs who haven’t found a permanent place to raise their young.

I also noticed that Frick and Frack, our two male domestic ducks were hanging around the fence area.  In fact, that is what caused me to look at the pond in the first place.  I am convinced they know there are “intruders” on their pond!  They used to chase them off when they had access to the pond.  If they could keep their hinies home, they too could be on the pond.

So, that about covers the last two days.  I hope you all have a nice weekend.

Stay well.

 

 

Brownies – April 9, 2019 – at the Clampetts

Hello Folks,

I hope the iPad doesn’t have a hissy fit like it did this morning.  I was about at the end of a long email, and I lost the whole thing.

We finally have the wood stove going.  B came downstairs today, Tuesday, to find me with a blanket over my head.  My hands were like ice cubes, as well as my nose.   So B so he got busy building a fire, but of course, first he needed to clean out the ashes and just now is going for more fire wood.  However, the house is beginning to warm up.  It takes awhile to get it toasty in here, but once it is, it lasts a long time.

It has been another dismal, cold, and now windy day.  In fact, around 3:30, just as B was driving home from errands including a few more groceries, it began to rain, then sleet and then snow.  It snowed hard for a good half hour.  By the way, the icicles hanging from the deck are still hanging off the deck!  Most of them have now dissipated, but a few are left.  Sometimes it is hard for me to believe this is April, although I consider April a transitional month.  It has all kinds of highs and lows and boy, we are in a low right now.

I mentioned a blanket earlier.  I have had two blankets and a puff over me ever since I returned home from rehab.  When B was in the Marines and was assigned to South Korea, the guys often talked about getting “mink blankets.”  When B first told me about mink blankets, I half thought he meant a blanket made out of mink hides.  I could just picture in my mind Koreans raising minks, tanning them and making blankets!   B said that’s what he first thought of when he heard about them.

I really wasn’t to interested in some smelly old mink hides, but when I actually saw the blanket and snuck a peek at the label, I was more interested.  Well, the mink blanket and I have been friends ever since I moved here.  Any time I have gotten ill, my go-to is the mink blanket; even taking it off the bed to use as my comfort blanket.  Our blanket is authentic, as the label does say it was made and sold in Korea.  The fabric is polyester but it is the warmest, softest blanket I have ever had.  It’s kind of a super thick fleece, and it has a big picture of a lion on it.  It has been washed and line dried often and continues to hold its warmth and shape.  It is getting a little faded but so am I so that is okay.  B is going to have to re-enlist if anything happens to it just so he can buy another one.  If any of you really want a warm blanket, check out a mink blanket.

My one accomplishment today was making a pan of brownies.  I wish I could say I made them from scratch, but I cannot.  I had a brownie mix in the house just for times like this.  Anyway, I had B get out some cooking paraphernalia  for me so I could make them.  As always, I don’t trust my oven, but I think the brownies came out okay.  Last evening I had a great hankering for chocolate.  Of course for me, having a food craving isn’t unusual, but this was a pretty strong one.  I was quite sure I had at least one brownie mix in the house and in fact, I had two boxes, so I have a spare, courtesy of clipping coupons.  Brownies are difficult to bake and get right.  B brought home vanilla ice cream to go with them, along with sherbet that I again have fallen in love with.  Tonight, no chocolate craving!

B has been busy with his new project of converting tapes to DVD’s and learning as he goes.  I believe he has mastered it.  And he is rather busy with his business.  Last evening he never really got to watch television.  He went to bed at some really really late hour.  I was snoozing.

So that about wraps up our day.  For a brief time, the sun came out but did not melt those darn icicles.

Stay well.

A New Project for B and Wound Update – April 8, 2019 – at the Clampetts

Hello Folks,

Here we are almost Monday evening and there are still icicles hanging off the deck railings.  We have had a cold, rainy and icy day.  We have talked about building a fire in the wood stove, but nothing yet.

B has managed to get himself another project!  He came home yesterday from his friend John’s with a DVD recorder and a whole slew of blank discs.  Sigh.  A few weeks back B got out a pile of VHS tapes to convert into DVDs.  He had contacted a local guy to do the conversion for him when he happened to mention this to John.  John comes riding in with news he has a DVD recorder and discs.  No need to PAY someone to do this!  And B offers to convert some VHS tapes for John.  So, you know what has been going on here.  Luckily, you do not have to watch the tape while recording.  You also know who went to bed very late.

I stayed up later than I intended, but of course I also woke up early as well.  I did a few more dishes and decided in the early afternoon to roast a marinated pork tenderloin.  We also had a bag of veggies that needed fixing soon.  I got the bright idea to roast them around the pork.  Normally I would prepare my own marinade, but things being what they are, the pre-treated roast was the best I could do.  B thought I should have waited until later in the day longer to cook the tenderloin, but I needed something to do, so we ended up with it being cooked and ready to eat by about 3-4:00.  I needed a little help, so B put the roast in the oven and removed it for me.  The veggies, especially the carrots,  are a bit crisp for my taste, but B was concerned we would over cook the meat if we left it any longer.  I took a taste test and pretty darn good.  This is my first “meal” prep in months.

Also, today being Monday, it was time for B to change my dressing.  Fortunately, he only has to do it twice this week, as I have to return to the wound clinic Friday.  He also said he again felt slightly nauseous at times. so I guess I am making my husband sick!  He did not experience this feeling when he was changing the dressing every day, but it got to him fairly significantly when we were at DHMC last time. Anyway, since this was the first change since our visit on Friday, B had questions about the written directions. so he called the clinic.  The first two steps called for things we had not been given.  We had to wait and wait for a call back and by then, B had given up waiting and had just started in with what we had.   The nurse asked a few questions that didn’t make much sense to B.  Anyway, he was already on his way, and the nurse concurred with what he was doing.

Shortly after B finished, our UPS driver came chugging up our driveway.  And guess what he brought me???  A box of supplies including the two missing items! !!  So that was what the nurse was talking about.  I said to B that apparently all those supplies means  this is going to be a long process and he said, “You have a significant wound.”  Great.

We have now had our dinner (earlier than usual because we didn’t want it to cool down too much and we didn’t want to reheat it right after cooking it.  As noted, the carrots could have been cooked a little more, but the other veggies were fine.  The meat was tasty but again, I prefer my own marinade.  Overall, I would give it a B+.   B said it was quite tasty and it was tender, but just a tad dry and not as juicy and tender as the one Sandy had made.  He said maybe she got a piece that was especially good or maybe we got one that wasn’t quite as good.   He assured me it was a matter of the meat and not the cook!

B is converting and watching a tape he’d made in the late 1980s of a winter camping trip he and a friend did in the Sierras.  The general gist was that, despite B’s fitness, the altitude was really kicking their butts.  The tape also contained full live coverage of the 1990 Los Angeles Marathon.  B ran the LA Marathon that year and finished.  He said he didn’t even train for it and had never run more than about 8 miles before the race; he just signed up for it and went up to Los Angeles on the day of the event and ran it.  Hard core Marine.   Of course, the tape includes the commercials and it is interesting to hear the old commercials from LA at that time.  It was only the 5th marathon ever run in LA.  It sure doesn’t have the history that Boston has.   B said he was toward the back of the start, behind about 20,000 people, and he said it took quite a long time after the start before he could even begin moving at all – just shuffling at first, then walking, then finally the mass of people started moving enough that he could begin running.   He said the race was a giant linear party, with bands and other entertainment all along the course.

B also made a DVD of a VHS movie he had from the early 1980s that featured him and his pals motorcycle racing in the Mojave Desert.  The movie is long since out of print, so B wanted to preserve it.  This movie was what precipitated the whole VHS to DVD project he’s on now.

So with this info, I am closing this blog.

Stay well.

 

Weekend – April 6 & 7, 2019 – at the Clampetts

Hello Folks,

It’s now late Sunday afternoon.  Even though I am housebound most days, I am still amazed at how time escapes me.  Yes I get bored and fidgety at times, but overall time goes by quickly for me.

Yesterday was the Claremont Kiwanis Club annual live auction that I mentioned in my previous blog.  I had already placed my bids online earlier in the week and a good thing I did, as their online system bogged down while the auction was going.  You could, of course, also call in your bids, but I am much to shy to do that.  Anyway, B brought in an industrial radio he has so I could listen to it, but I found that way too annoying.  Finally, as they were on the last three groups, B managed to get into the online bidding from his laptop and we made a few adjustments to my original bids.  As it turns out, I went way over my intended budget, but I was having way too much fun and the proceeds go to local charities for children.

So what goodies did I win?  Well, two cheese pizzas from a local pizzeria that I figure will come in handy.  Then there was a Walmart gift card and a gift card from a local smokehouse.  We are soon going to be out of bacon from our own pigs, so this will be handy.  I won a gift card for B from a local well known gun maker.  B can choose anything from their shop.  And finally, a load of fill from a local sand & gravel company.  We already knew we’d be needing some fill this summer, so that was handy.   That item we didn’t save a lot on, but we would be purchasing it anyway, so every bit helps.  The trick with the online auction was you had to be available when they called to tell you you won, or the item went to the next highest bidder.  That was not an issue for me.

Of course, the next issue was going to pick up the goodies.  The Kiwanis club runs a tight ship and the pick up times were 5-6 Saturday evening or 9-11 Sunday morning.  B chose this morning, as he was going to the hangar, so the stop was (sort of) on his way there.  One small issue was B had never been to the pick up location.  I did receive a few texts from him while the club was calling to remind me of the pick up time.  There were a few tense moments, but B finally found the appropriate door!  You all know how B hates to wait in line, but by the time he got there, most people had come and gone.

B has been busy this weekend.  He sort of got caught up on his lack of sleep from Friday on Saturday morning.  Then it was the run to the local recycling center before they closed and once home, helping me with the auction.  By then, it was almost time for the local church supper.  Last night started the “season” for the monthly pot roast church suppers.  B took our own containers for my dinner (good thing it is an all you can eat meal), as he brought home enough for two meals.  The dinner sure did taste good, though.  After all that, B worked in the shop while I watched cooking shows on PBS.  He now has all the new parts for the sprayer and tested it with water and it works!  The problem was an “O” ring.

As I mentioned, B went to the hangar this morning.  Today a guy flew in from NY state to look at the plane.  Since the day is very calm, but not particularly sunny, the two guys went up for a flight.  I heard them go over the house.  I was glad B got a chance to fly.  Meanwhile, I managed to make a green salad using the limited veggies we have.  Also, B had hired his friend’s son, Ben, to come and do some raking for us.  Poor Ben also got stuck cleaning out both the chicken coop and the duck pen.  Those are stinky jobs.  As I write this, B is delivering Ben backto his house.  He must be chatting, as he is not home yet.  I do not think the coop has any shavings in it, so the girls are not too happy.

Sunday night is a good evening for PBS watching.  I hope I stay awake through the shows!  Lately I have started slipping into my old bad habits and dozing off during shows.  I then heatedly deny I am dozing. By says it is difficult for me to deny it when I snore.  Busted!

So with this, I am closing today’s blog.  B just rolled in as well.

Stay well.