Framing Continues, and a Super Glue Saga

Yesterday was one of those semi-frustrating days - a lot of wasted mats while trying to frame several pieces, and a few tossed razor blades which were causing the wasted mats. But, I also had myself to blame - sometimes my measuring skills just aren't up to the job. I did finally get a smaller piece done to my satisfaction, only two mats instead of the three I had wanted, but I'm happy with the piece. I also wanted to get the mats cut for a very expensive original artwork by an old friend - King Kuka. 

King Kuka was a Blackfoot artist working in watercolors 
and acrylics, as well as handmade paper. His wife, Sandra, 
was from the Twin Cities, so he was familiar with my area 
of the Cities. We always got along really well. I love this 
larger piece of his and want to frame it properly so that 
it really sparks the love. 

King was a Blackfoot artist, who actually lived in the Twin Cities for quite a while. His wife, Sandra, was from the Cities. I loved his smaller works of softly colored pressed paper pieces, but I have a large gouache of his that retails for $1200, and I want to get it properly matted and framed. That didn't turn out well - I couldn't seem to cut a straight cut, or measure properly, for anything. I finally gave up for the day, took a quick run to Michael's for a frame for the smaller piece, stopped by Chipotle to pick up our dinner, and called it a day. One of those "OK Great/Not OK Ick" days. 

King's bread and butter items were these smaller 
pressed paper, hand painted pieces, just flat matted, 
or framed. I sold a BUNCH of these, as did other 
dealers I knew. They were priced right, really attractive, 
and very distinct. King used heavy watercolor paper 
for the base on these. They were marvelous. 

Between everything in the framing area, DH came up to me mid-afternoon with his tube of super glue attached to his finger. We hunted for a small can of acetone, but only had half-gallon tins. So, off we went to the garden with a huge amount of acetone to get the glue and DH separated. Fortunately the acetone did exactly what was needed, and the tube of glue was separated from his finger quite quickly. He's been working on a lot of small repairs for various items that we sell at the shop. It's already the end of March, and it's not very much longer before we start our official Going Out of Business Sale. I'm petrified. 

Super Glue is great stuff, but it can be touchy to use on 
very small items. I guess DH was working on gluing at 
his workbench yesterday afternoon, with an almost empty 
tube of glue. He managed to glue his finger to the tube. 
NOT good. Acetone removed the two, but a new tube 
of glue was purchased while I was getting a picture frame 
at Michael's. After all of that stress, we decided on 
Chipotle's for dinner. 

On that note, I'm wrapping this up. My largest challenge over the next months will be keeping my stress levels under control. I just need to reach the finish line and close the door behind me. But until I can get there, there is SO much that still needs to fall into place. I just keep reminding myself to stay positive and trust in the system and the people that I've hired to help us. Our signs should arrive this week, and we'll be one step closer to removing my wrought iron gratings and locking the doors behind me. Scary! 

The Blog Was Delayed By The Oven Repair Guy

It's a very late blog today because the oven repair guy was at my door shortly after 7:00 am, and subsequently tore my oven apart, pulling it partially out of its' wall setting. After running some diagnostics and looking up a bunch of things on his laptop, the conclusion is that two things are wrong with it. The first thing is more mechanical and fairly easy to fix. Cost $500+. The second thing is in the electronics, a bit more difficult to fix, and closer to $600. *sigh* I'm hoping fix #1 will resolve the issue because I really would rather not spend over a thousand dollars on the repair. 

If the oven ends up only needing one thing (which won't be 
determined until after it's been installed and tested), then 
that'll only be about $500. If the circuitry is also needing 
to be replaced, it'll be an additional $500. It's like the 
world has determined that we'll be spending money like 
there's no tomorrow! *sigh*

But that was a solid hour out of my early morning, and then I had to discuss all of this with DH who had understood maybe one of ten words. Apparently both I and the service tech were very soft spoken, and DH just didn't understand what had been decided. Now we're waiting for Step Two. I can continue using my bypass routine which will allow me to still use the oven, just without the safety feature of an automatic shut-down and a functional cooling fan. 

We do a lot of shop expenses on American Express because 
it's really designed to be a corporate card. I have one, and 
I use it for ordering some supplies, but I really don't use it 
for anything else. 

The other thing I have to do today is get in touch with American Express to get a new card sent to DH. His card is set to expire at the end of the month, and I've already received MY replacement card from them, but his hasn't been delivered yet. We use that card a lot for the shop and for orders that we place, so it has to be current. I'll be attempting to get that expedited today. 

I don't have much for salad fixings in the 'fridge right now, 
so I need to get that taken care of today. I'm not going to 
be cooking today, though.

Oh, and of course there will be grocery shopping and a bit of cooking. I don't need much - salad stuff more than anything else. I've got plenty of everything else already in the refrigerator or on the countertop. 

I was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Disorder when 
I took the various memory and brain tests in early 
March. I get occasional bouts of brain fog, and sometimes 
things just aren't quite at the tip of my finger the way 
they used to be. Right now it's a mild inconvenience, but 
if I can learn coping mechanisms and what options are 
out there, that's all for the good. 

Oh ... and yesterday's first class of the "Improving Your Brain Health" class was quite interesting. It's a very varied group of people. All of us have been diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Decline/Disorder. As I recall, I was the first person to register for the class when it opened up. Claire (Chickie Mama) is attending the class along with me. I think we'll both enjoy it - it's eight weeks of learning about ourselves and ways to cope with MCD. 

So, I think I should probably get moving. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up this week. Slava Ukraini. 

The Trivet Was Collected and a "Bare" Refrigerator - Time to Cook!

The remainder of yesterday, after leaving for the swimming pool, actually went splendidly. I got all of my backlog handled relatively early and had a chance to work on some customer restrings. I had one that I had been stretching silk for, and three that were to be done on braided cable. I managed to get all four of them finished in the early-mid afternoon, contacted the two people about their repairs, and had three of the four repairs picked up by the end of the day. But, the most important pick-up was Cynthia. 

Finally, after a few cancelled appointments 
because of transportation problems, 
Cynthia was able to come to the shop 
yesterday and pick up her trivet repair. 

Cynthia came by yesterday afternoon to pick up her beaded trivet. She was absolutely DELIGHTED, and said I could charge up to $50 on her card, but I told her that I wouldn't accept more than $25 from her - that my friends and I had stepped up for her - that we wanted her to have this one really positive thing and she flashed a beautiful smile. She told me a bit of the history of the trivet that I'll share with you. 

Cynthia was SO happy with her repaired trivet. She's 
extremely thankful for all of you who helped her 
pay for her repair. It's really a lovely piece, and 
hearing the history behind it made it that much 
more special. Thanks to ALL of you once again 
for helping to make her life happier. 

Apparently it's something that her Grandfather made. He died in 1941 "just before the war", and she was born in 1942, so never had the chance to meet him. She said it's almost 100 years old, and that's quite possible given the beads and the history. She's going to have it put into a picture frame and put it onto her wall - a memory of her ancestors and their history. How wonderful! For those of you kind enough to give money towards her repair, now that she's picked up the item, I'll be depositing your checks. I didn't want to do that until she had picked it up. I'm sharing a photo of her with the finished trivet. 

Although my refrigerator is NO WAY this 
empty, it seems like it. I don't have any 
prepared meals available for myself at all 
right now. Time to get something cooked up 
today to carry me through the rest of the 
week (except for my final salmon of Lent 
on Friday). 

Now, it's going to be a very busy day today, and I've GOT to cook. I have no dinners left to grab - everything in the refrigerator has been eaten. Time to restock the fridge, so I'll be spending money and time at the grocery store today. Needs must, as the saying goes. Maybe I'll actually wash off a shelf or two before putting new stuff into the fridge. It could use a good clean. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

It's Warm - Record Setting Warm Here in the "Frozen Northlands"

Today we'll see a return of snow - not a lot, and not for a long time, but snow. I'm not sure any of us will recognize it after the winter that we've had.  It's been the warmest winter since we started keeping weather records, and that's a long time (for the USA, at least). We'll get snow this afternoon, however. My open areas of timid new growth may regret their early awakening. We won't get a lot of snow today, tomorrow will stay below freezing, but on Thursday we'll be back in the warm temps once again, and anything we get over these next two days will probably be melted before the weekend. It's the weirdest winter EVER, and we're setting weather records all over the place. 

One of my swimming buddies is over the moon about 
being able to golf throughout the winter. Courses that 
normally wouldn't be open until April or May, have been 
open since January. It's a freaky winter - the warmest 
winter on record for my state. 

The visit to the Orthodontist yesterday was all good. I no longer have to wear my cross band on my front teeth (it was only worn overnight - so no impact when speaking to customers. Now I get to dump the daytime wearing of my side bands also! I wear them at night only. DH is overjoyed. He had a really hard time understanding me when I was wearing them, so now he doesn't have that excuse any more - LOL. 

I still have to wear my side triangle bands 
overnight, but only overnight. I can take them 
off during the day and have no bands on at 
all. That's AMAZING and makes me VERY '
happy. We're looking at an end of Summer/early 
Fall removal of the hardware. Outstanding! 

I contacted the people regarding their repairs. GG came in almost right away to get her two necklaces picked up. She was absolutely delighted. She's off to Paris today to spend some time with one of their kids, and she might pack one or both of the necklaces along with her for the journey. It was a fun repair - easy, as repairs go, which is always appreciated. 

So, apparently I'm batting 50% on my repairs this time. 
In baseball, that would be a great percentage. For repairs, 
that's pretty awful. One person loved the repair and happily 
paid what I billed. The second person apparently mis-
understood Chickie's quoting my hourly rate, lives on 
a fixed income, and can't afford to pay for the repair. 
I'm willing to negotiate, but I can only go so far down 
before I will inherit a pot holder I really don't want. 

The lady with the beaded pot holder, however, lives on a limited income and apparently understood Chickie to say that her repair would be $20, not $20/hour. That's a problem, because even with my subtracting a LOT of my time off the repair, I still need to charge her for 5 hours of work. We'll see, but I may have inherited a beaded potholder from the 1950's-early 1960's. *sigh* I'm quite sure she would be much happier with it than I would be. I emailed her back to find out what would be "affordable" for her and we'll see. 

Right in the middle of that dark red patch? That's 
where we are, and the winter we're experiencing 
is going down into the record books as the warmest 
winter we'ver EVER had here in the Frozen 
Northlands of Minnesota! 

So, I'm off to the pool in our "warm"" temps, not looking forward to our approximately one inch of snow later today. Still ... one inch in a winter of green? I can totally live with that even if I do have to shovel and scrape off my car before heading home tonight. Have an excellent Tuesday, I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

It's A Packed Day and I'm Sleepless in St Paul

In a little over two hours, I leave for my next orthodontic appointment. Normally I would have gotten at least seven hours of sleep, but not last night. My mind just wouldn't relax at all. I gave up and went to the computer, paid some bills online and checked a few things, then finally tried to get to sleep again and managed about four hours. I'll be a total ZOMBIE this week. I have swimming for the next three days, and those are days of approximately five hours of sleep. By the time Friday rolls around, I'll be exhausted and that's never a good thing. 

Normally I'm asleep within ten minutes of my head 
hitting my pillow. Last night, however, I just couldn't 
settle down. I'd blame the movie we watched - "Guardians 
of the Galaxy 3", but I know it wasn't that. The movie 
was a blast! It was too many thoughts running through 
my head. Totally my OWN fault. At least I got some 
bills paid, so it wasn't just tossing and turning. 

I have to hand off the two different repairs I did last week over the next two days. I spoke to my acquaintance for whom I restrung two necklaces of antique beads. She said if she doesn't make it into the store today to pick them up, it'll be pushed back a week or two while she goes overseas to visit with one of their kids. No problem. If she doesn't make it in today, that's fine. I'll hold them on the "Pick Up" board which we keep in our back room. 

I sell a lot of different types of antique beads, but my 
acquaintance had some in her two necklaces that were 
new to my eyes. It was a fun and fast project to do, the 
major time was pre-stretching the silk cording I used. 
That takes a minimum of 24 hours under tension so that it 
won't stretch out on the piece itself as it is worn. 

I emailed the lady who gave me that antique beaded trivet for repair, telling her that it was ready. It's an expensive repair, but there's really no help for that. She's disabled and relies on a specific transit system designed for those who are unable to be mobile on their own. That always requires her to make her travel arrangements in advance, and her timeframe is tight. So I assured her that it was ready, and that we would have all of the paperwork in order. I also told her the cost, so that she was prepared. It turned out quite nice, and I'm pleased. I had a blast fixing it - I've missed beading for the sake of beading. 

I know I have a print by JoAnn Bird (Oglala Sioux) in my 
prints. It's not this image, but similar in style. Most of 
my artwork is Southwestern in feel and the artists are from 
the many tribes of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and 
Oklahoma. I'm always pleased when I find a great artist 
from the Plains, though. JoAnn is one of those wonderful 
Northern Plains artists. 

DH is talking about doing a "Collectibles" sale next, and that would certainly be an easier sale to manage than the Swarovski crystal sale. I'm also working on inventory sheets for our clearance bins. Chickie maintains the inventory, but it's taking WAY too much time. I think I've devised a system in conjunction with DH, that will speed things up a LOT. We need that because wasted time just isn't in our stars right now. 

It's taking Chickie WAY too long to do inventory on 
our seed bead clearance boxes. I think I've devised a 
way that will speed her up and increase our accuracy, 
I just need to devise the form. Between the three of us, 
we might have figured this PITA out and streamlined 
a very important part of our inventory process. 

So, I forsee a lot of computer work at the shop today, and a very tired me at the keyboard tonight - if I even bother with any computer work at home tonight at all. I hope all of you have a wonderful Monday and I'll be back on Tuesday for a short post before heading off to the swimming pool. Keep well, be kind, Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל. I'll be back tomorrow.

It's Going to be a Busy "Day Off" - Not Much "Time on my Hands" Today

It's a "day off" today, and I'm already busy doing laundry and thinking about my grocery list. I need to make some dinners for my next week ... what to make? It's a nice problem, but I will need to actually make up my mind before heading to the store later this morning. I want to continue working on this repair today, and I have a lot of housework and cooking that I want to do as well. I won't be bored, but I also won't have a lot of "extra" time on my hands. 

We have a meeting with our accountant tonight for our 
business income taxes. Those meetings usually go quickly, 
but I'll have to make sure that dinner is done early and just 
kept in a warm oven. The longer meeting will be for our 
personal taxes, and that one will be next month. 

I did finish one of the two restring jobs I had from GG. I really like how the first one turned out. I had to double the thickness of the silk I was using - these are OLD beads and the holes are larger than most of today's versions. So I had to use double-thickness on the thread to make the repair really work. Since I only had two strands of the silk pre-stretched, I quickly grabbed a second set of two and put those out to stretch for her second strand. It's a shorter strand, and I'm thinking about the clasp and whether I should change it to my most popular one or not. I don't have to decide until tomorrow, so I'll concentrate on household chores today instead. 

GG's beads are rather fun (the pictured beads, although old, 
are rather boring). Still, the larger knots between the beads 
are exactly what I had to do to make hers work well. I'll 
try to remember to photograph the finished pieces when 
I finish the second one tomorrow. 

Which means ... I really have to make up my mind about what I want to cook for my next few meals. I'm tempted to make a batch of chili - that's always tasty. But a batch of my roasted peppers and tomatoes soup wouldn't be a bad choice either. Hmmm ... decisions, decisions. I think I'll pull those recipes out of my stack quickly and take a look. Maybe looking them over will help me make up my mind. 

I love making my roasted peppers and tomato soup, so I 
might make a batch of that one today. It's pretty easy - 
roast the veggies to peel them, then toss them into my 
blender to make the soup (on the "soup" setting - very 
powerful and more than six minutes of intense blending). 
It might be the perfect choice for a day when I need to 
make my chicken a bit earlier than usual. 

I never mentioned, but my dehydrated pineapple chunks turned out FABULOUS. It was a great pineapple, really sweet. I'm slowly munching my way through the pieces - a few on a salad here, a small handful to munch one piece at a time there. Dehydrating it was a brilliant idea. That also reminds me that I had purchased two Star Fruits at the same time. I had never eaten star fruit before. I was underwhelmed. The texture of the fruit is similar to that of a watermelon, which actually is quite tasty. But the actual taste was really "meh". It just didn't have a lot of taste. Maybe I chose poorly, but I decided life was too short to waste my time and calories on food I didn't like, and tossed them after trying them for a few days. I didn't hate them, but they weren't really tasty either. 

I'm simply honored in my friends - old and new. I needed some information about a specific factory's beads, and thought of an old friend. Barry and I haven't spoken in years, but in the old days, I used to call him to place orders, and then we would sit on the phone and just chat for 30-45 minutes at a time. We also met up when I was at the Tuscon Gem & Mineral Show one year. It was nice to have a face-to-face meetup with a vendor. He's a direct importer from this factory, so I figured he would have the information I needed. I emailed him, and within a day, he was back to me with a complete listing of exactly what I needed. Friends - they're absolutely AWESOME. I'm very grateful for every one of them that I have, and those friends include YOU. My readers! So, go forth and have an absolutely amazine day. Spread some joy - a little goes a long way. Think kind thoughts, try to stay away from the negative for a single day - your body will thank you. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

 

ARGH - Just ARGH!

I sat down with a repair yesterday and worked on it all day. It's a beaded pot-holder - a trivet - and it's old. I'm guessing it's from the 1950's or early 1960's. Now mind you, I can't really consider that "old" because I am of that vintage, but in the realm of beaded items, it's more than 50 years old and that qualifies. It's a lovely thing that finally fell apart on her in the center, where the heat would have been most focused for its' long life. I had counted the beads she had once I deconstructed it, changed the pattern by pulling two rows out of the pattern to allow for shortages, and dove into making it once more. 

I was afraid I'd be short of the light blue beads, but 
it turned out that I was (am) short of the dark blue 
ones. I'll have to make a major alteration to this and 
that won't be fun. It's actually turning out to be lovely, 
but it's just not quite working. *sigh* Back to the 
drawing board. 

Unfortunately, as I approached the far end of the piece, it became apparent that two rows simply hadn't given me enough excess of the dark blue beads, and suddenly, I was sunk. These are old beads - they aren't made anymore, and what I have for substitutes aren't good substitutes. I tried a couple of options that DH suggested, but they just don't look good. I'm sitting down with the photos and the graph once again at the shop, and I'll change the pattern again. I really don't have a choice. Then I'll start the beadwork from scratch again and, hopefully, have it completed by tomorrow night. At least it's an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday. 

I think this describes my current mood to a "T". 

DH isn't on the bandwagon for an Autumn closing of the shop, however, wanting to push it into April of NEXT year. I'm having total fits about that - I'm really not sure what to do at this point. This is totally a rock and a hard place and I'm a bit speechless right now. I guess my needs aren't important to him, and that's not really a surprise, but it is a disappointment. 

It could easily be a raccoon in the chimney. We do have 
them up here - in large numbers - and they have enough 
dexterity to get up and down. The sound seemed too loud 
to be a squirrel - the other major chimney resident of the 
area. I like raccoons, but don't really want to share my 
house with them. 

Right now, I'm just going to wrap this up and face a day that will be a lot of thinking. One fun thing to share, however. While doing my morning meditation, I kept hearing regular breathing and light snoring coming from my chimney in the living room. I guess I've got a critter nesting there for the winter, and it was having some dreams. LOL I'm glad it's feeling comfortable enough to sleep that deeply - an unexpected house guest (which had better stay away from the actual interior of the house). Have a good weekend, I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

A Tale of Two Sewing Machines

I had dreams yesterday. I wanted to get my "work" out of the way early and settle down at my sewing machine for an hour or two. I have aprons on my mind. I own two waitress-style aprons, both given to me by a long-time customer. One is Halloween themed, the other features small snowmen against a medium blue background. I want to make several more aprons - a Minion one to match my favorite face mask, and other colorful ones to feature fabrics I've collected for years. 

I love my sewing machine. It's quite similar to this photo, same
model, but all white. It does a TON of stuff, without being
impossible to deal with, and it sews through a large variety
of fabrics and weights effortlessly. It was expensive, and worth
every penny. 

I settled down at my faithful sewing machine and realized I wanted turquoise thread to match the background fabric. I pulled out the appropriate spool of thread and an empty bobbin. Time to wind some of the thread around the bobbin - an automatic process for most sewing machines, and one I've done hundreds of times. Except this time. This time, my bobbin winder didn't wind - the machine sewed perfectly, but the bobbin winder was on the frintz. But wait! All was not lost! I had another machine I could try. 

It was a rainy day yesterday, but you can still see
tomatoes ripening on my container tomato plant.
The plant has thrived. I did give it two doses of
calcium as a fertilizer (four broken and pulverized
eggshells for each dose), and it perked up
beautifully. It's healthy and happy. 

When my mother passed away early this century, I inherited her sewing machine and it's the same make and model as my own (although much more heavily used). I pulled her machine from the craft room and settled it in place of my own. I loaded up a bobbin and voila! No ... no voila. Instead of "Bobbin Winding" appearing on the activities screen, I saw an error code. No error code when I switched back to stitch mode, just for bobbins. I was doomed! 

The new row of rocks is the probable new edge for our
down-slope drainage ditch. We need to have a larger
backsplash area and probably will raise that edge another
inch or so too. 

I went to my trusty computer and called up a sewing machine supply company I had dealt with many years ago for a successful repair on an old Bernina machine I had used. Did they repair New Home Memory Craft 7000's? Why yes, they did, and they were located very close to my house. I made sure they were open to the public, put my sewing machine, the foot pedal and power cord into my car, and drove over. 

Here's a close-up of the eastern end of the wood shed.
Looking to the left, you can see how high DH had to
build it up to get level. We have quite the down
slope in that part of the yard. You can also see the
landscaping fabric, the edging and the river rocks. 

It'll be three weeks or so, and cost me $100 or so (the original machine was $1200, so I'm perfectly fine with paying a reasonable repair cost), but I'll get my baby back home again. After I've got mine fixed, I'll think about getting Mom's fixed too. But...it's more important to get mine up and running again. Of course, to get the cords unplugged, I had to pull out bags and bags of fabric. Guess what I'll be cleaning up over the next 2-3 Wednesdays? LOL 

Here's the full view of both sections after the edging has been
put down and the rocks placed. It's working really well with
the water now. We checked and double-checked it during
yesterday's rain. Today the black fill dirt will be delivered and
the next stages of the landscaping projects can commence. 

I've peppered this post with pictures of the woodshed progress and my container tomato which is so happy and providing me with 1-3 nice tomatoes almost every day now. I hope you have a glorious day and that all your problems will be as minor as a broken bobbin winder. Have a wonderful Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Stay at Home - Day 31 - A New Ride

Minion is at the body shop and I'm driving a rental. It's a smaller sedan, a Hyundai Elantra. It's a very different experience sitting so close to the road after being elevated with my PT Cruiser and even more elevated with my Mazda CX-5. Now I'm low, and if I'm going to be low, I'd much rather be in a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. *SIGH* Alas, dreams of a great sports car are just that ... dreams. Still, after I managed to link up my phone over Bluetooth, at least I'm able to pull in my Sirius on the radio, so at least I have decent tunes. 

I'm now driving a Hyundai Elantra. It's not bad, gets really
excellent gas mileage - close to 500 miles per tank. Once
I got the car to talk to my phone via Bluetooth, I could
listen to my own music, so all is good now. Still, I miss
Minion and can hardly wait to have my car back home. 

DH and I braved the lines and crowds and went to Home Depot for gardening supplies yesterday. It was a beautiful day. The store was limiting the number of people allowed in and there was a long line, but it actually went quickly and before too long we were inside the store looking at flower seeds, plants, lots of different grass seed, lots of soil and dirt and top soil, and a new 100 foot hose because our old hose was ... (wait for it) ... hosed! LOL (Please limit your throwing things in my direction to either money or marshmallows.) 

This is the type of cherry tomato we planted yesterday. I love my
cherry tomatoes, and adore the fact that we always have at
least two different types. They taste differently and they mature
at different rates. 

We came back with smaller June-bearing strawberries for our strawberry pot (hopefully this year the deer won't eat them), a single larger everbearing strawberry for my little patch where one of the plants didn't make it over the winter, and a lovely cherry tomato plant. After replacing the bad hose with the new one, DH played happily with dirt and shovels, getting all of my plants into their new homes for me. We still need one more cherry tomato plant and some annual flowers, but I haven't seen the plants I want for flowers yet. 

I adore Lantana Camara flowers and we had purchased some
last year from a large nursery on the south side of the river.
We'll probably have to make one trip out there because
they have the best selection, but since things are still on
lock-down, we weren't willing to go that far yet. I want
several of these lovely flowers - the butterflies love
them and they bloomed throughout the summer. 

Here's hoping your Spring (or Autumn) is going well. So far we're still in the final full week of our lock-down, and our Governor has actually started a slow open. However, our numbers are still increasing, and we're not on the downward trend yet. Although I'm planning on being open on Monday, I'm still not 100% sure the Governor won't require retail to remain closed for a longer period. I guess we'll have to see what happens. Meanwhile, stay safe, stay home, and stay well. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Stay-at-Home - Day 30 - A Venture Out, An Adventure

Today I have an 8:30 am appointment at the Auto Body Shop for Minion. They'll replace the shark fin and fix the roof. The shark fin is the easy part, the roof repair might end up requiring a complete replacement of my roof. I cleaned the car out on Saturday while helping DH rake the thatch from the grass. The car hasn't been this empty since I bought her years ago. The insurance company arranged for a rental car for me during the time of repair, so I'll have a strange car in my garage for a while. I have no idea how long this fix will end up taking, but it is what it is. I just hope they do a good job. 

At the very least, they'll have to pull up the depression in the roof and
repaint it. At the most, they'll have to pull the sunroof out and pull off
and replace the entire roof with a new one. I have no idea, I'm just very
grateful that my insurance will cover the cost. 

For the first time in over a month, I actually woke up hours before my alarm, at my usual time of 3:15 am, and I couldn't manage to get back to sleep. So here I am, almost on my old schedule of posting times. Not a bad thing, but 90 minutes before I wanted to get up, and WAY too early for me to get onto the treadmill. So I'm catching up with email and doing my blog and other miscellaneous things. 

The rules are pretty simple - don't go anywhere unnecessary, wash your
hands often, keep social distance between you ant others, etc. It's
almost become a mantra. I wonder when hugs will return, I miss them. 

I really don't have much to say today, life has been rather boring while we're housebound. DH still thinks the Stay-at-home will be pushed outward to the end of May, I'm still thinking we'll be able to re-open on May 4th. I guess we'll have to see what happens. 

Did you get a chance to see this amazing photo released by Hubble to
celebrate the telescope's 30th birthday? It's called "Cosmic Reef" and I
loved it so much, I added it to my computer's Wallpaper rotation. Just
stunning! 

So that's life from the trenches of the Frozen Northlands, which isn't frozen anymore (except in the far northern portions of the state) and which has trees that are actually starting to show their first leaves. We're sitting outside on the patio almost every day for an hour or so, just to get a bit of fresh air and enjoy the early Spring. The flowers will come, but they're slow, and DH is chomping at the bit to go to the local Home Depot and buy plants. Maybe we'll do that later today. Have a great Monday, stay safe, stay home, and stay well. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Stay-at-Home Day 26 - Escalations in Timing

Stay-at-home in my area is in effect until May 4th, although DH suspects it may be extended until the end of May. Either way, I have a car needing help and, fortunately, insurance adjusters seem to be considered "essential". Therefore I met Cindy in my driveway this morning, as she took a careful look at my poor car. 

I adore my car, my Mazda CX-5 has been a great car for me, filling
all of my needs for more than five years now. I'm not sure I'd
look at a different brand when it comes for replacement. It really hits
almost all of my buttons. 

After consulting with DH yesterday, I phoned my insurance company yesterday and discussed getting my shark-fin replaced. He said I had comprehensive insurance and no matter what, it would only cost me $50 up front. Finally, the multitude of dollars I've paid for insurance will have an opportunity to pay me for a change. Whoot! 

Whoot! I'll get my car fixed and it's only going to cost me
$50. (Of course, that doesn't really count, since I've paid
my insurance company thousands of $ over the years.) 

I met their adjuster this morning who said the roof looked dented to her, and additionally, with the hairline cracks in the paint finish around the fin, she said it should be fixed by a body shop which would be able to repair or replace whatever needed doing and get my poor car back to showroom finish. 

Sometimes we all get caught up a creek without a paddle.
Life happens. Hopefully, the water is shallow enough that
you can walk yourself out once again. 

She said the insurance company would cover all incurred costs including a rental car for me for however long my poor car will be at the car doctor. The estimate she sent to me and the body shop she recommended came to more than $1600! I guess that rock did a lot more damage than I originally had thought. I'm so relieved I have insurance that will cover this. I'd be totally up the creek without a paddle without it. I would have a really hard time coming up with that much money. 

It was a delight to hear from my old friend. I've kept in touch
with her for many years, and it was wonderful to catch up again. 

On a totally different note, I got a lovely catch-up letter from an old friend yesterday, a screen name that some of you may recognize - Kymahalei. Many years ago, when one of her kids was applying for one of the local private colleges in the area, she had come up from Indiana and we had a chance to meet at the coffee shop next door to my shop, to share a cuppa and gossip. I send her a holiday card every year, and it was absolutely lovely to hear from her. I thought I'd let all of you who remember her fondly that she's doing great, she's teaching and excited to be helping students once again, and if you want to transmit messages to her, I'd be happy to pass them on, or her old email is still current as well. . 

On that note, I'm out of here for the day. Late once again, but it's amazing how busy I can be during an enforced vacation time - LOL. As always, Stay Safe, Stay Home, Stay Well. I'll be back tomorrow.