I hurt my knee over a week ago. I was walking and it just gave out on me, it was very painful. The pain was significant for the first two days, and then it has been a little bit better every day since. I still have a bit of limp. but that is improving. Now it just aches sometimes, like a toothache.
On Sunday we visited the camp, and the dump store. In order to keep a few items at the camp, we moved an old car top carrier, a plastic shell, behind one of the brush piles. For now it will hold an ancient and worthless, but useful, set of pots and pans, and two empty water jugs. We have a few old plastic dishes, which I plan on taking to the camp and leaving in the plastic shell. It will be interesting to see if the bears take any interest in the plastic shell.
Then we visited the dump, where we bumped into Harriet and her friend Nancy, who was visiting the cottage for the weekend. That is where I picked up an old 1961 Electrolux vacuum cleaner. It had two issues, the on/off switch did not work, so to turn the machine on and off one would have to plug it in, and unplug it. Also, and more seriously, the clasp that holds the canister end against the seal is broken, so the canister falls open, and suction is lost. My Mom had a canister Electrolux vacuum cleaner and it worked like a charm. It would be nice to use the one found at the dump today at the little house in the city.
Attila found an expensive chain saw at the dump, we do not know yet what is wrong with it, if anything. If we cannot fix these items we will return them to the dump to give someone else a shot at it.
Harriet found a stainless steel Thermos for Attila. Attila needs a new thermos at least once a year, sometimes more frequently. He works in a rough and tumble environment, and his thermoses take quite beating.
Then we drove back to Granny and Grandpa’s house, parked the car, and went for a walk down the track. I wanted to see if there were any wild raspberries there, as there were forty years ago. Sure enough, the wild raspberries are still lining that section of the track.
We moved slowly, I was being very cautious with my knee. The scented breeze was intoxicating. The familiarity of the path was comforting. It did not rain, as it was threatening to do. We enjoyed our walk, and could view our camp from the path.
That is when I noticed a young man in a bright orange t-shirt, who appeared to be coming out of our camp lot. He was on foot, carried nothing, and had no vehicle. Must be one of the neighbours checking out our old car top carrier. It is a little creepy, only a little, the thought that someone ventures over to check out our camp after we appear to leave. Really, he could come over and introduced himself to satisfy his curiosity, while we were there.
After our walk we drove into town and purchased supplies. Then it was home, dinner, and an early night.
Two projects were on the go this week. The first was to get the Electrolux working. I found a fellow online, Eluxurious, who collects them, and wrote a comment in his blog asking for help. What a great guy! He immediately identified the problem, and after following his advice I had the machine running smoothly in a about five minutes. He also suggested a great resource, the Vacuum Cleaner Collectors’ Club, which I will be reading with interest!
The house is now dust free and tidy! I like the Electrolux machine better than any vacuum cleaner I have ever owned. Of course, this 1961 model was the absolute top-of-the line machine in its day, and I have always purchased bottom-of-the-line machines, the ones I could afford, until now!
Now I have a Made in Canada vacuum cleaner, and stainless steel soup pot made in Canada… livin’ the dream!
The second project is to clean and sterilize a thermos found at the dump. It was dirty, but otherwise in like-new condition. After cleaning it with a steel scrub pad, bleach was added and the whole thing left overnight. This morning it was spotless, shiny as new. In order to dispose of the bleach, and not destroy our septic system, the bleach was poured into the stoppered sink, baking soda added to neutralize the acid, and then the inert mixture was allowed to drain into the septic.
 |
Monday night Attila took a drive to put some fuel in the car. On the way he must have run over a nail, and on the way back the nail blew out and the tire went flat. I thought he was gone a very long time, and had started to wonder if he had had an accident. He got the car off the road and managed to get the spare tire on to get home.
Yesterday I drove to town to see if I could get the tire repaired, I am running around in the car using the spare tire. Bad news I am afraid, the tire is ruined. I ordered a new one, which should arrive today, it did, and off I went the is morning for another round of change the tire. Success!
So, that is what we have been up to this lovely first half of July, 2014! Some downs, mostly ups!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
17°C
Date: 3:00 PM EDT Wednesday 16 July 2014
Condition: Cloudy
Pressure: 101.1 kPa
Visibility: 16 km
Temperature: 16.6°C
Dewpoint: 10.7°C
Humidity: 68%
Wind: W 15 gust 28 km/h
Quote
“Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression.”
Isaac Bashevis Singer
1904 – 1991
Ah, locomotion challenges. Would that your knee could be healed as readily as the tire was swapped out. Knees are tough and I do hope yours heals completely.
As for your Electrolux, not only did you get the top-of-the-line model, but it’s red, to boot! Congratulations on an excellent find and recovery of a machine which will probably give you many more years of service.
I had an Electrolux a long time ago but I wore it out! Now I have a Dyson which I love (well, as much as anyone could love something that requires hoovering the house and dog furs all the time!). But yours is fabulous. I have a small vacuum cleaner I got in the Vermont Country Store catalog for $99 a long time ago and that little thing works great and always has. I keep it upstairs. The suction is incredible.
Maybe you should post a sign on a tree at the camp saying “No Trespassing – Police Take Notice” or some such thing… just so they know…
Tbanks Wendy, I hope my knee heals completely too, but at my age and with my family history, well, I have both fingers crossed. My Grandpa had both of his knees replaced, in his eighties… not there yet myself.
The red models were made in Canada, and collectors call them Cranberry. My Mom’s was green, about the same vintage, I don’t think it ever wore out and it was used on a farm, cleaning up after a family with six children. I am hoping the Electrolux will outlast me, It is already 53 years, maybe it will run for another 53 years!
Bex, hour Dyson sounds like a good machine. I certainly can’t imagine wearing out an Electrolux!!! Having a vacuum on each floor of the house is great idea… I am going to keep my eyes open for another discarded Electrolux!
We don’t know our neighbours yet, not all of them, and there aren’t very many. The person coming out of the driveway was youngish, probably a teenager, Attila figures curiosity got the better of him, and common sense does not run strong in most teenagers. No harm done at this point. Once we get to know the rest of our new neighbours we will decide how to handle any future intrusions. For now we are only keeping items that are worthless, or almost worthless, at the camp. So that is why my small pile of cement blocks, which is really my rocket stove, the old garbage like plastic shell and our lawn chairs from the dump, are probably not in much danger.
I would feel really, really, really sorry for someone who was desperate enough to steal items that were collected at the local dump!!!
I have a feeling it will all work out fine, but will take some time.
What a shiny red beauty your new vacuum cleaner is! Did it originally look that good or is there a lot of elbow grease behind that shine?
Between the vacuum and the raspberry picking, you’ve touched on my childhood memories again. My mom and I lived with my grandparents and my grandmother and when I saw your pic it reminded me that my grandmother had a vacuum something like that. It was a gray-blue color but I’m not sure what kind. And the raspberries, oh the raspberries!
My childhood hometown is Seattle and wild raspberry bushes grew all over the place there. We use to walk down the dirt alleys and stuff handfuls of berries in our mouths. The bushes were HUGE, way over our heads and even over adult heads. So fun!
Hope your knee is better very soon. I have knee trouble sometimes and I know it’s no fun to feel uncertain when you’re walking.
The picture makes the vacuum look better than it is TopsyTurvey. I did clean it, but it definitely has some interesting scars and scrapes!
Lucky us, to have these peaceful, happy memories of childhood! So simple.
And so off-grid!
Thanks for the good wishes on the knee trouble. The upside to the whole thing is I am having to turn down work, except for the very few pleasant locations, where common consideration and courtesy make the difficult possible. The other thing is, I am moving slow enough to “smell the roses”!
I LOVE your Dump Stores. Our dumps have nothing but dump. 🙂 The vacuum looks fabulous! Electrolux is my first choice vacuum but I can’t afford one – and no used ones seem to become available, My mother used an Electrolux. My mother-in-law used an Electrolux. When I was first married my mother-in-law wanted to give us a housewarming gift. Guess what I asked for? An Electrolux! No fancy pants stuff for me! I went for practical. Gosh, I wish I still had that Electrolux. 🙁 Hope your knee has improved since your post. xo
I never could afford an Electrolux but I had a good vacuum from Sears that lasted years. My main problem with vintage vacs is that they are heavy and my back complains about heavy stuff. Our dump is pretty dumpy here. Country dumps are better I think.I do pick up stuff off the curbs here in town and that’s what I do with things that am discarding. I put them out and they are gone in a few hours.
I always wanted one too Irene! My Mom had an Electrolux, and I remember when it came into the house, we kids would argue over whose turn it was. I was so excited when I found one at the dump, one that worked! The knee is better every day, not quite back to normal though.
Ava, it is great that you can put out unwanted items, and those who can use them can simply pick them up, and put them to good use. And you are so right, the 1961 Electrolux is heavy! I plan on using it on one floor of the house, and would love to have a vacuum on every floor of the house. For the well to do, I notice that there is an Electrolux central vacuum system… and Aerus is the brand name to look for because the Electrolux name was sold and the new owners don’t know what the word quality means, in my opinion.