Little Things

Thursday, August 14, 2014

On Wednesday Terra and I planned a shopping trip to the city. I drove out to her place, wanting to see the new siding Lares put up this summer, and also try out the new patio chairs they just purchased for their verandah. They got a steal of a deal on those chairs, so comfortable! The verandah is wonderful, it overlooks a bay of Lake Ontario, the view is beautiful. Terra and I never did tear ourselves away from the view and our visiting, to go shopping. She showed me her garden, where everything is lush and green. After picking fresh spinach and kale and beets, she used her juicer to prepare vegetable juice for us. I stashed the beet greens, rescuing them from the compost heap where they were headed, to take home with me for my dinner. The juice was very good! She also prepared kale chips, and I have to say they were impressive, we both loved them. Lares, he did not care for them at all.

On my drive back home from Terra’s, I stopped at a roadside stand. The woman who has the stand is a hobby farmer, a sort of market gardener who puts her produce in the stand for passer’s by. I bought one huge heritage tomato, a zucchini, a green pepper, two garlic bulbs, and a quart of tiny new potatoes. The daily corn was gone, so she gave me two of the older cobs. When I got home I got busy, boiled the potatoes, boiled the beet greens, boiled the corn, and sat down to a veritable vegetable feast!

Thursday, Terra arrived at the little house, so that we could go shopping. It was a rainy day, so shopping seemed like a good option. The one goal I had for the day was to dispose of the old bathroom sink and faucet. That meant a visit to the Restore. There are two Restores equidistant from the house, in two nearby cities. Terra hated the parking lot at one of the Restores, so I assured her the other Restore, in the other city, had an accessible and roomy parking lot. So off we went, in my car, to drop off the sink and check out the items for sale at the Restore.

It turned out to be a good choice. Terra found baseboards for her entire living room, solid pine, for $5.00. I found a dusting device meant for blinds, which we have a lot of in the country house. The total bill was $8.00, and they accepted the sink for their stock. Our next stop was the Value Village. Most of the prices there are quite high, in my opinion, for items that are a little more than gently used. We did come away with some very nice items though. I found two bed sheets in excellent condition, to be steam cleaned when I get them back to the country house, and a Wedgewood Peter Rabbit coin bank for $3.99, which will be a lovely baby gift. Terra found a basket, a Christmas ornament, and a mirror. Quite a successful day of shopping, and we spent less than $20.00 between us.

Friday and Saturday, August 15 & 16, 2014

Friday, I looked in the mirror at the worst haircut I have ever paid for, and decided to do something about it. I looked at salon revues, picked a salon, made the call, and took the opening that had come up the same morning. I had enough time to eat my breakfast, get dressed and drive to the city. But I did get lost when I had to take a downtown detour. I drove in circles for a while, then stopped by one of the dump trucks on the construction site. I rolled down my window and shouted to the truck driver for directions. He was a long way up in that very large dump truck. A friendly fellow, he gave me a two sentence explanation of how to reach my destination, which I followed carefully, and arrived at my destination.

The new haircut is a huge improvement. The top was cut a little too short. My hair has to handled with caution, cutting it short is cutting it loose, it takes off in all directions. This time the short top layer is heading up on a space flight mission, elongating my head by several inches, not good. It isn’t perfect yet, but I am optimistic that by the time I get it cut again, it will be well on its way to being exactly what I want.

After leaving the hair salon, I was hungry, and had forgotten to bring food with me. The only two restaurants I have found that take responsibility for adequately identifying their ingredients, all of their ingredients, is McDonalds and Pizza Pizza. The McDonalds was close, so McDonalds it was. Since my “eating out” experiences are limited, I always enjoy McDonalds hamburgers, although so many people speak of them disparagingly. Luckily, I have learned to like what I can have.

After arriving home, it looked like rain. Being optimistic, the shop vac was dragged out of the garage, and the task of vacuuming the car was undertaken. The job was completed and it never did rain.

A quiet evening of reading and watching Netflix ensued. The sleeplessness has subsided, making for restful nights. Thus far, this has been a peaceful and productive visit.

Saturday was a quiet day, here at the little house. I called Attila as arranged, just after 6:00 a.m. Since neither of us is up to much, there was little to say. Attila is working, stacking firewood, cooking, eating, bathing, and sleeping… round and round he goes.

My existence at the little house is a bit more varied, I try to do something productive every day. Today the daughter of the neighbour across the street had a yard sale, I purchased two mugs, gave her three times what she asked, although we do not need them. She is trying to find the cash to buy a $300.00 used text book for one of her third year courses. It is an outrageous price for a used text book.

Her Mom observed that Attila and I have a difficult time keeping up with the lawn mowing, since we are seldom here this summer. I think it bothers the neighbours a bit, when we don’t keep up. She told me she will get her son to do the front yard, which is really very, very nice of her, and him! They have a birds eye view of our front yard, so I suppose it will also be nice for them, to look out over a nicely mown lawn. They will only be cutting the front yard, as I specifically asked her not to mow the back, since we have a double lot it would be a lot of work, and we can catch up with it when next Attila visits. I wish I could do it! But that old push lawn mower is just too much of a challenge for me. A new self-propelled lawn mower is under discussion.

I am searching for the mouse traps we bought a few years ago. Attila put them away when the mouse issues seemed to be solved, but who knows where, neither he nor I remember! The mice are back, coming in through the ceiling of the linen closet, which thankfully does not contain linens. It is being used as a tool closet, and the only thing the mice could find to chew on were my work gloves!

We will be looking at where the mice might be coming into the house, in order to block their entry. In the meantime, if I find the traps, I will set them, in hopes of catching the little fiends.

Another project I accomplished on Saturday was spraying another work shirt with permethrin. The work shirt I first sprayed for myself was actually Attila’s, which I mistakenly took for mine. I left that one with him, since he will be working outdoors with the firewood in the evenings, when the mosquitoes are fierce. I don’t need a mosquito proof work shirt at the little house, but it will be packed in the car and ready for use when I return home.

I also washed the interior of the car. It didn’t look that dirty to me, but the water was almost black when I was done, so I guess that tells the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Highway 11, Ontario, heading south towards North Bay. Trucks! Rock cuts! Caution! Beautiful!

Worldly Distractions

Weather

16°C
Date: 7:00 AM EDT Saturday 16 August 2014
Condition: Not observed
Pressure: 101.1 kPa
Tendency: rising
Temperature: 16.4°C
Dewpoint: 12.0°C
Humidity: 75%
Wind: SW 17 gust 30 km/h

Quote

“We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.”
Frank Tibolt