I pulled another Tarot card this morning. In some fairly plain terms it recommended the consideration of "down time", or a vacation, or some means of renewing the soul. While a vacation is out of the question, a "staycation" might be reasonable--once the flood waters go down. But Quiet time, of a short withdrawal from outside forces would certainly be welcome.
Food for thought.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Just a note
David and I had a laugh this morning. After everything that's gone on the past three days we both slept better last night than we have in months. We must have been both physically and emotionally exhausted.
However, the washer had not been leveled, and that was our task this morning. David was up and out to Rona to buy shims, first thing. Then we spent several hours trying to level the damned thing. Finally, we decided that it was good enough. Very stable and, using three different levels, looked fairly good. Only later did we realize that the lid of the machine was actually slanted, and we would have never got it right.
By that time, it was 2:00 and well past lunch time. We put a load of towels in to give the machine a good test, and everything went well. Who knew you could wash a large load of towels with only 4 tablespoons of detergent? The other loads were smaller and used even less. WE may never use up the two gallon plus bottles we have.
After a trip out for coffee, and to the library, we tried to spend the rest of the day relaxing. Both of us had very sore knees, David more so than me, as he had been the one kneeling down to put in the shims.
So now it's bed time. Maybe we'll sleep well tonight too.
However, the washer had not been leveled, and that was our task this morning. David was up and out to Rona to buy shims, first thing. Then we spent several hours trying to level the damned thing. Finally, we decided that it was good enough. Very stable and, using three different levels, looked fairly good. Only later did we realize that the lid of the machine was actually slanted, and we would have never got it right.
By that time, it was 2:00 and well past lunch time. We put a load of towels in to give the machine a good test, and everything went well. Who knew you could wash a large load of towels with only 4 tablespoons of detergent? The other loads were smaller and used even less. WE may never use up the two gallon plus bottles we have.
After a trip out for coffee, and to the library, we tried to spend the rest of the day relaxing. Both of us had very sore knees, David more so than me, as he had been the one kneeling down to put in the shims.
So now it's bed time. Maybe we'll sleep well tonight too.
Library trip
Raced up to Library quick thinking it closed at 2 pm. As it was today is Tuesday and it is open until 3 pm. But, I asked re: Ann B. Ross Miss Julia books - they had only one so I took it. Not in order of publication according to the list I printed from net, but I wanted to get a taste. Called Miss Julia Renews Her Vows. So I shall have some reading for tonight and see how I enjoy this one - I can always order more books in if I wish.
Hope all is well with you and your repairs Pati and I expect you have had time to do a few washes by now - how does it work?
Back to work for me......take care.
Hope all is well with you and your repairs Pati and I expect you have had time to do a few washes by now - how does it work?
Back to work for me......take care.
All day I was thinking about you, Pati...
.....And here is your story wrapped up in one blog...a tale of the day. Oh, I hope this will get sorted out for you both. You have "contacts" though, so that was a good move to seek advice/help with the dryer hook up. We all need our washer and dryer - is essential, and every time I go down to do a wash I have a little prayer that they will function. Our washer is old and at times gives me a little trouble. But in my case, I would not be able to get a new one nor, have anyone deliver or set up. So my fallback would be the laundromat. It is open 24 hours here in Sundridge so I could work around that - but hope this will not be necessary. Cathy, didn't you have to get a washer in the recent past?
It is raining here right now with a warning of heavy rain and potential for flooding in low areas. I did all I could to set up the downspouts etc so again, hope for the best. We are to go to Huntsville this morning so will see what greets me when we get home. That ( water) and the greenhouses keep me busy haha!
The lady I care for - Daisy< has gone back down to Toronto with her granddaughter for a visit there - they are not sure when she will come back but will let me know. It is a blessing that they are taking hold of her care more, and that Daisy is actually receptive of their advances. Hope this too, will work out for the best.
Well, coffee time and then get ready for drive to Huntsville. Thinking of you both Pati and Cathy...take care XX
It is raining here right now with a warning of heavy rain and potential for flooding in low areas. I did all I could to set up the downspouts etc so again, hope for the best. We are to go to Huntsville this morning so will see what greets me when we get home. That ( water) and the greenhouses keep me busy haha!
The lady I care for - Daisy< has gone back down to Toronto with her granddaughter for a visit there - they are not sure when she will come back but will let me know. It is a blessing that they are taking hold of her care more, and that Daisy is actually receptive of their advances. Hope this too, will work out for the best.
Well, coffee time and then get ready for drive to Huntsville. Thinking of you both Pati and Cathy...take care XX
Monday, April 3, 2017
Well----let me tell you about my day
Yesterday, after two days of frustration, we contacted the contractor who did our kitchen, by e-mail, and asked him of he could recommend someone who might be able to help us with the dryer venting system. I figured that phrasing it that way, he could either offer to help or give us the contact info for one of his sub-contractors. We got a message back asking us to call him this morning.
The washer was to have been delivered today. We had been told that we would get a phone call, between 9:00 and 9:30, from the delivery service telling us when they would be here to deliver the machine, set it up, and remove the old one. There was no call by 9:45, so David called Kern Hill, and we got a call shortly after, telling us that they would be here between 1:00 and 4:30. Then he called the contractor who, after some lengthy discussion, said that he would like to see what's going on, and that he had to come into the city for a medical appointment and would be here around 4:30.
My Tarot book was to have been delivered last week and never arrived, so yesterday, when I got a request for feedback from Amazon, I contacted the seller by e-mail, and got no response by noon today. So I filled out the feedback form and sent it away. The book arrived early this afternoon.
I played telephone tag with the dentist's office, in hopes of changing and appointment for April 11th, as I was double booked and had cracked a crown, over the weekend, so would need a longer appointment than booked. Got that sorted out.
The washer arrived at 1:45, but the delivery personnel refused to set it up for us because of a policy change in their business, effective this morning, that came as a result of a very expensive law suit. So David's on the phone to Kern Hill again, and promised a call back. Finally they got back to us, and promised to get here about 4:30 to hook it up.
Yep, you guessed it! Right at 4:30 two men from Kern Hill showed up at the back door, and the contractor at the front door. They all ended up in the laundry room at the same time. The salesman from Kern Hill had brought a young fellow from the shipping department, so he could learn to hook up a washer, as it's going to be his job from now on. Naturally, they didn't bring the right tools and had to borrow some from David. But it's hooked up. I just hope that it isn't in the way for the fellow working on the dryer. He's now out to Rona to buy some sort of flexible hose that is up to code, in hopes that he can fix the dryer problem. I certainly hope so because I have two full laundry hampers.
I decided to do a little mindless machine sewing--maybe a some piecing of squares, for a charity quilt. Stress reduction therapy. Got everything set up and pulled out the many, many Ziploc bags, each full of squares that had been carefully counted out so as to have one large quilt square come from each of them. Don't know what I had been thinking, but every bag has a miss-count in it. Put them away again.
The phone has rung more frequently today that the total number of times over the past two months. It's now 5:00, and I have nothing out for supper.
And how was your day?
PS
By 5:15 it was determined that the contractor would prefer cash, but wasn't sure how much, as he had to buy more supplies. So off he went, and off I go to "find cash", somewhere, somehow, as the bank closes at 5:00 on Mondays. Of course, driving out of the bank parking lot, I hit a curb. So much for the front end alignment David had done on Friday. It's now 5:45, and they are still working in the basement, and we still have nothing out for supper. Good thing I got enough "cash" for McDonald's.
The washer was to have been delivered today. We had been told that we would get a phone call, between 9:00 and 9:30, from the delivery service telling us when they would be here to deliver the machine, set it up, and remove the old one. There was no call by 9:45, so David called Kern Hill, and we got a call shortly after, telling us that they would be here between 1:00 and 4:30. Then he called the contractor who, after some lengthy discussion, said that he would like to see what's going on, and that he had to come into the city for a medical appointment and would be here around 4:30.
My Tarot book was to have been delivered last week and never arrived, so yesterday, when I got a request for feedback from Amazon, I contacted the seller by e-mail, and got no response by noon today. So I filled out the feedback form and sent it away. The book arrived early this afternoon.
I played telephone tag with the dentist's office, in hopes of changing and appointment for April 11th, as I was double booked and had cracked a crown, over the weekend, so would need a longer appointment than booked. Got that sorted out.
The washer arrived at 1:45, but the delivery personnel refused to set it up for us because of a policy change in their business, effective this morning, that came as a result of a very expensive law suit. So David's on the phone to Kern Hill again, and promised a call back. Finally they got back to us, and promised to get here about 4:30 to hook it up.
Yep, you guessed it! Right at 4:30 two men from Kern Hill showed up at the back door, and the contractor at the front door. They all ended up in the laundry room at the same time. The salesman from Kern Hill had brought a young fellow from the shipping department, so he could learn to hook up a washer, as it's going to be his job from now on. Naturally, they didn't bring the right tools and had to borrow some from David. But it's hooked up. I just hope that it isn't in the way for the fellow working on the dryer. He's now out to Rona to buy some sort of flexible hose that is up to code, in hopes that he can fix the dryer problem. I certainly hope so because I have two full laundry hampers.
I decided to do a little mindless machine sewing--maybe a some piecing of squares, for a charity quilt. Stress reduction therapy. Got everything set up and pulled out the many, many Ziploc bags, each full of squares that had been carefully counted out so as to have one large quilt square come from each of them. Don't know what I had been thinking, but every bag has a miss-count in it. Put them away again.
The phone has rung more frequently today that the total number of times over the past two months. It's now 5:00, and I have nothing out for supper.
And how was your day?
PS
By 5:15 it was determined that the contractor would prefer cash, but wasn't sure how much, as he had to buy more supplies. So off he went, and off I go to "find cash", somewhere, somehow, as the bank closes at 5:00 on Mondays. Of course, driving out of the bank parking lot, I hit a curb. So much for the front end alignment David had done on Friday. It's now 5:45, and they are still working in the basement, and we still have nothing out for supper. Good thing I got enough "cash" for McDonald's.
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Oh what a day for you Pati!
And a new washer to look forward to having. Sometimes things just work out right! Too bad the new washer doesn't do it all on its own - you know, carry, sort, fill, empty, etc. In my case I always have help in folding the nice warm newly washed and dried cloths that I bring up from the basement. The cats are attracted to the warm I guess and know when I come up and are at the ready to jump up on the bed where I dumped the basket, and snuggle in.
We are heading out to Bracebridge early this morning as Harry has negotiated some items on Kijiji to pick up. I have been working on my "little bitties" as I call it to try to clean up a bit - most often it is just moving items from one place to another but I had to engage myself in the reality that it is "I" who has to do something. So to be picking up new items on a regular basis doesn't quite fit into my plans haha! Oh well....
Time for my coffee and to check my Lottery ticket for a win!
We are heading out to Bracebridge early this morning as Harry has negotiated some items on Kijiji to pick up. I have been working on my "little bitties" as I call it to try to clean up a bit - most often it is just moving items from one place to another but I had to engage myself in the reality that it is "I" who has to do something. So to be picking up new items on a regular basis doesn't quite fit into my plans haha! Oh well....
Time for my coffee and to check my Lottery ticket for a win!
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Mission Impossible or Today's challenge
Recognizing that we can only go so long without clean clothes, and delivery can often take 7-10 days, after tucking plastic money in our pockets, we set out this morning to look at washing machines. It was the "plastic money" that hurt the most, as we had finally paid the card off, on Wednesday. We decided to start at this end of Nairn and work our way down toward the east end of Regent.
OMG! Have washing machines ever changed in the past 15 years! Other than the scarcity of top loaders, the most surprising was that government regulations now require machines to be "High Efficiency". This means that the machine itself decides how big a load it has and what water level will be required. Special detergent is also required ( Have you ever seen High Efficiency laundry detergent?) The first place we hit was Kern Hill. There the nice man showed us several machines, including a GE one that I fell in love with. Of course we played it cool and thanked the man very nicely, taking his card, and telling him that we were just starting out, but expected to make a decision before the end of the day. As we went out the door, I told David that I really liked the machine. He looked at me said "so buy it." We turned around and bought it. Delivery on Monday. They'll even take away the old one and hook up the new one.
We had just bought two very big containers of laundry soap and headed home to see if we could find the receipt so we could take them back and buy the other kind. Imagine our surprise when we looked at the new bottles and saw the High Efficiency label on both of them.
Then came the challenge. Could we get the laundry room cleaned up and ready by Monday morning? It's been spot cleaned, but never fully cleaned since we moved in 18+ years ago. Well, we (??the Royal we??) have been working like dogs. Everything has been disconnected, including the almost full wine rack, and moved. The room emptied of all but the washer and dryer, and shelving unit in the far corner. The shelving unit was emptied, moved out, washed down and moved back into position, after the floor and wall around it were washed. Now David has to buy replacement vent hose for the dryer, as that broke when we were moving the dryer. Tomorrow we'll look after that, and hook the dryer back up. We decided not to replace the plastic sink, as it is only discoloured, not damaged, and it might be hard to find one the right size. Then we wait for the new washer to be installed, and then put the rest of the stuff back.
Most of this activity was accompanied by a gentle, but accepting, discussion on how poor health over the past few years has lead to not keeping up with the major cleaning jobs that are part of owning a house. We haven't come up with a plan for dealing with that--yet.
In the meantime, I've started on a new series of books--The Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross. This appears to be an up beat account of a childless, gentle "Southern Lady", who has been protected and coddled, and generally treated like a 10 year old all of her life. Now in her 60's, she is suddenly widowed, and forced to take a look at her life. It is a humorous, but well written account of her awakening to her strengths and abilities, as a woman, despite being treated as almost mentally challenged by her husband and many other men around her. (Her female lawyer has to teach her to write a check) There is also a cynical account of the role of the church in her rigidly Presbyterian life--and how she starts to view that relative to the situations she finds herself in. These books may not be for everyone, but I can't seem to put them down!
This is long enough! Time for tea ( and more of Miss Julia)
OMG! Have washing machines ever changed in the past 15 years! Other than the scarcity of top loaders, the most surprising was that government regulations now require machines to be "High Efficiency". This means that the machine itself decides how big a load it has and what water level will be required. Special detergent is also required ( Have you ever seen High Efficiency laundry detergent?) The first place we hit was Kern Hill. There the nice man showed us several machines, including a GE one that I fell in love with. Of course we played it cool and thanked the man very nicely, taking his card, and telling him that we were just starting out, but expected to make a decision before the end of the day. As we went out the door, I told David that I really liked the machine. He looked at me said "so buy it." We turned around and bought it. Delivery on Monday. They'll even take away the old one and hook up the new one.
We had just bought two very big containers of laundry soap and headed home to see if we could find the receipt so we could take them back and buy the other kind. Imagine our surprise when we looked at the new bottles and saw the High Efficiency label on both of them.
Then came the challenge. Could we get the laundry room cleaned up and ready by Monday morning? It's been spot cleaned, but never fully cleaned since we moved in 18+ years ago. Well, we (??the Royal we??) have been working like dogs. Everything has been disconnected, including the almost full wine rack, and moved. The room emptied of all but the washer and dryer, and shelving unit in the far corner. The shelving unit was emptied, moved out, washed down and moved back into position, after the floor and wall around it were washed. Now David has to buy replacement vent hose for the dryer, as that broke when we were moving the dryer. Tomorrow we'll look after that, and hook the dryer back up. We decided not to replace the plastic sink, as it is only discoloured, not damaged, and it might be hard to find one the right size. Then we wait for the new washer to be installed, and then put the rest of the stuff back.
Most of this activity was accompanied by a gentle, but accepting, discussion on how poor health over the past few years has lead to not keeping up with the major cleaning jobs that are part of owning a house. We haven't come up with a plan for dealing with that--yet.
In the meantime, I've started on a new series of books--The Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross. This appears to be an up beat account of a childless, gentle "Southern Lady", who has been protected and coddled, and generally treated like a 10 year old all of her life. Now in her 60's, she is suddenly widowed, and forced to take a look at her life. It is a humorous, but well written account of her awakening to her strengths and abilities, as a woman, despite being treated as almost mentally challenged by her husband and many other men around her. (Her female lawyer has to teach her to write a check) There is also a cynical account of the role of the church in her rigidly Presbyterian life--and how she starts to view that relative to the situations she finds herself in. These books may not be for everyone, but I can't seem to put them down!
This is long enough! Time for tea ( and more of Miss Julia)
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