I am a retired 44-year veteran of the Real Estate Assessment field. As with real estate assessing and how it applies to real estate taxes, one can make many acquaintances, but not many real friends. It was a great career choice.
It has been nearly 10 years since I reclaimed my home and my real passions within my home. I enjoy it more each day and tip my hat to those who I left behind.
Each day I try to stretch myself with the use of my computer as it relates to this site and using it to print out labels for quilts for trying to incorporate photos into my sewing. Life is so full and I know that I have room for more.
We have now found the perfect pepper mill. Our battery operated mill ate six Triple A batteries at one crack, and they didn’t seem to last very long. The twist and turn pepper mill was a bit too hard on the arthritic hands. This ratchet operated pepper mill is wonderful, as we do use a lot of pepper.
What a white carpet. I really didn’t think the weather man knew what he was talking about last night on the news. But, he sure did. We have the drive and patio cleared of about five inches of the soft white snow that seems to be apt to blow around with just a sneeze. I did take note how striking the Blue Jays looked against the white. Never fear, the water bowl has warm water for the wildlife and the Meow Mix bowl is much like the salad bowls at the Olive Garden restaurants . . . never ending.
This cold weather has caught a lot of us off guard. The old wives’ tales would tell of a house needing to seal itself up to ready itself for the long haul of winter. I do remember when Orlin and I farmed in Boon Lake Township, October was the time to get the window screens off the windows and drag out the wooden storm windows. The result was the air trapped in between the panes of glass provided for extra insulation. It did take more than just getting them on the windows: fall rains would soak into the wooden frames, swelling the wood and seal them extra tight to prevent drafts around the window frames. Needless to say, that tactic was given over to the aluminium windows that were to save a lot of work, by leaving the product on all year and either lowering or raising the sashes. Very bad fix. Of course, now there are double pane and triple pane products that are quite efficient. I still do believe that to a point my one-hundred-year-old home has to seal itself up to prepare for the frigid weather. Can you hear the creaks that occur in the cold night, telling me it is snugging itself up?
I’m enjoying watching the huge snow flakes flutter to the ground. Very peaceful. Peaceful is good.
Dark blue skies today that kept me guessing what might fall from the sky. What did come out of the blue, a skylight washer. The ladder was whipped out of the garage and Dennis’ grandson, A.J., was in charge. I must say, after A.J. was done, I had not realized how much grim and corn chaff had dimmed the view through the glass. A great, appreciated surprise.
Within 24 hours of the Culligan man making a service call on our failing 36-year-old softener unit, the team reappeared and the rental unit was in place and operational. Living in a small community may have limitations, but you cannot beat the great service that is available for plumbing, wiring and heating issues. It feels good that we can greet each other by our first names and have a bit of chit chat during the service call. Life on Stauffer Avenue is good.
A very uneventful day. Sometimes that is just what is needed. Catch ya all later.
Oh my gosh, I have my laptop back after a tune up. It has been a long three weeks, but I sure appreciate Dennis sharing his setup with me during that time. The fellow that worked on my laptop was getting all updates checked and fixing an error on my part when I tried to upload a program on my own that eventually did not allow any of the automatic updates to be done automatically. Not a good thing, and I have learned my lesson. As he was reloading all the programs, the six-year-old hard drive crashed. Good timing from my point of view. A trip for Paul, to Best Buy, and all is well. I had my little corner of the living room all tidied up ready for this day. It’s a good thing.
Seeing special people today took the chill off of the day. My heart will sing this entire next week. We had a lot to catch up on with brother Michael, and his wife, Jo Ann. Son Kevin, and his wife Kersten, can’t help but make me smile as they emit enthusiasm for life. Special people makes for my life to be quite special.
The sun can make the coldest morning of the season look very inviting. Dennis and I had a great day. The red Ford pickup has had the oil and grease job, so the wheels are ready to go again when the mood strikes. I have been fitted, and am sporting a lumbar back brace. Time will tell. I hope, I hope, for a bit of resolution on keeping arthritis at bay. As the body begins showing signs of a busy, sometimes a physically hard life, I have no regrets. It has surely been a good life, and I plan on continuing on in that same vain, by honoring what the body tells me it needs help with.