63°f/17°C, raining. We had rain all night Friday night and most of yesterday and last night. Today, guess what? Rain, all day. I am not complaining, because we really need it.
Some places are experiencing flooding in expected places, but in a neighboring county at least one family is having flooding that they claim is caused by the ongoing construction of a data center. There have been rock slides and falling trees too. We had to turn around and go out the longer way on Friday because a tree was across the road.
Friday was Ripkey on Sale, a yearly yard sale event across the whole town of Ripley. We live to go to this, and always find great stuff, but this year? Nope. Just too rainy to enjoy it. So who knows what treasures we missed out on? I don't really mind, as i have plenty of things still to price, paint, fix, etc.
We had planned to go to Vandalia Saturday. This is an annual celebration only our state's arts , music, and culture, held at the State Capitol. We go almost every year, but the rain and storms took care of that idea. I thought we might go to a local restaurant that was having live music in the evening, but that event was canceled. Vandalia was still going on today, but neither of us wanted an hour's drive in the rain, so once again we just stayed home, much to the delight of our dogs. So much for weekend plans!
I am also pretty much held up on gardening. I have boxes ready to put down for mulch and another load of grass clippings in the back of the truck, but we haven't had more than a couple short periods without rain since Thursday.
Friday morning we lounged around, then went out in the afternoon when the rain broke for a bit to do a little groceey shopping. We stopped at Shari's and had a long, leisurely visit with our friend Glenn, who lost his wife last year and is still struggling with being alone. Our friend Bill came in as we were leaving, so I suspect he and Glenn had a good chinwag too.
Suzy was there, having her weekly crochet class with a sweet young lady called Gnomie (no idea what her real name is), and Crystal came in with her daughter and son-in-law. It was lovely to just hang out drinking coffee, and not have to rush off. When we got home I got some housework done while Larry finally cut those branches that were hanging too low over the driveway trimmed off the mulberry tree. Poor man got soaked in the process!
Yesterday morning we bustled about , getting ready for the new fridge to arrive. It was here by 10:30am, having come all the way from Columbus, Ohio. Those guys were efficiency machines! They had to back all the way down our driveway because they had brought a big truck, even though i requested that they come in a small truck. In less than an hour the fridge was in and the door reversed to swing the way we needed it.
Changing out a refrigerator is a lot of work: unloading and cleaning up the old one, then reloading the food into the new one, cleaning up the coolers, etc. I was very glad when it was all done, and of course in the process did some dumping out of stuff thathad got buried in the back of the shelves. Which meant more dishes to be done.
And what did I do next? Sat down and read my book! I finished it too. Chris of the Always Smiling blog had recommended The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth, so I ordered it a few weeks ago.
It has been a very long time since I spent an entire afternoon and evening reading! It was a good read, with references to foods that sent me to Google to figure out what they were. The story centers on a recently divorced woman, Veronica, who takes a job as companion to a young, recently injured young woman who had been an Olympic snowboarder. Mariah had lost her mother, and wanted to write the book her mother was researching, a book that apparently would focus on the Parsi café culture and foods. To accomplish this, Mariah and Veronica traveled to the places Mariah's mother had jotted down in her vague notes, accompanied by a former war photographer, Henry.
The plot intrigued me, and I found the characters well drawn and interesting, but I squirmed at Veronica's seemingly submissive ways, particularly in relation to her ex-husband. What woman today would weakly accept a man just cutting off court-ordered alimony? I don't know any myself. Mariah was quixotic, sometimes charming, other times difficult, and often struck me as someone who had been too indulged in her life prior to tragedy striking.
As for Henry, he seemed again I cringed at the often-used romance novel trope of the wise man guiding the helpless females. Still, it was a good story, with enough of a mystery woven through the many mouth-watering descriptions of foods and meals, and the rich descriptions of the places the characters visited. It was an enjoyable light read, perfect for a long rainy afternoon. I liked it well enough to order another by the author, Barbara O'Neal.
Today we had a good, late breakfast, then got into some housework together while the rain poured outside. We went out briefly and I pulled weeds from the dill and basil until rain pushed us back to the porch, where I stripped tape from boxes so they will be ready to put down in the garden as soon as we get a break in the weather. And after I post this, I think I will go hunt up another novel!
