This Week's Home Improvement Show

Rain this morning,  51°f/10.6°C, then later clearing to partly sunny.

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada friends!

We have had almost 4" of rain since Saturday. I took this photo Sunday morning. 

The ground is saturated once again. I am so glad I picked my roses  which still look lovely here inside the house.

Last week's home repair it was the water well, and thankfully it was not nearly so expensive as we were afraid it might be. This week? Larry decided to install the new-to-us gas fireplace that heats most of our house.

Should be simple, right? Just unhook the old stove and hook up the replacement. Since they were almost identical (we bought the "new" one from am acquaintance who said they hardly ever used it, and it does look new), we figured it was an easy job.

Yeah, well. The old fittings were frozen so we soaked them with penetrating oil. When it broke loose,  we found the old valve was not reusable. Which meant a trip to town (for Larry) to get parts. Doesn't every home repair require at least one unexpected trip to the hardware store? Ah, the joys of home ownership!

While Larry was gone, a neighbor called. His daughter was visiting from Seattle and they wanted to see Sarah's cabin. Larry came home while they were here and we had a nice visit, then finished up the stove install.

So nothing on my to-do list actually got done, so frustrating. But it was good to get this stove job out of the way, and we ended the day with a nice fire in the firepit. 

And I spoke with my friend Suzy, who must have a 

heart bypass after all. In a weird way, it's good that she had that heart attack, scary as it was. Life is strange, isn't it?

Stay safe and stay well, friends.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

One More Quiet Day

56°f/13.3°C, cloudy after heavy rain all night. 3.5 inches of rain in the past 24 hours.

A lazy day around here! I finally made brunch around 11am--cheese, sausage, onion and celery omelets with sliced garden tomatoes and fried diced potatoes. Then coffee on the porch. A nice start to the day. 

I had a long phone call with my friend Suzy, who had a mild but alarming heart attack and is in the hospital.  Very upsetting to her many friends, but she is glad to know what was causing her fatigue and shortness of breath. We had planned for her to go with us to the John Prine tribute, or for her to join me for the broom dance practice. She will have a heart catheter procedure tomorrow,  and depending on the results may have a stint put in. Our friend Becky is also in a Charleston hospital; getting old is tough! Please send good thoughts, energy, vibes or prayers for them both. Both are doing well, and it's a relief to know they are getting the care they need.

I also had a nice call with my friend Rachel, who moved to Florida last year. She is back in town to visit, and I am looking forward to seeing her Tuesday.  Rachel taught me a lot about the antiques business. Then my son Derek called to catch up; he spent the day working on a friend's truck. And granddaughter Grace and her dad, my oldest son George,  just finished the 150-mile Cumberland Gap Trail, a bike trail from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland. Son Aaron has been in Edmonton, Canada this week, his job this time to freeze-proof oil wells.  His hob is so varied it's never boring!

As it was so very wet outside today, we opted to do indoor work.  Larry worked on stripping the paint from two chairs, while i put another coat of stain on a tea cart, put the first coat of paint on a small table, and did a few ebay listings. Leftover stew for supper, then we bathed the dogs again as they are still scratching! I am not sure what's going on but we will bathe them one more time and if that doesn't work, then it's off to the vet to figure this out.

In the late afternoon, I decided to go to the Artisan Market for the broom dance practice after all. It was fun! I need to do things like that more often. They will have a Witches Party next Sunday evening, then perform for the open mic, and do another performance on the 24th. I am glad I am back involved with this group again.

So nothing exciting here, just another rainy day in the Appalachian hills. But I realized I still have photos from last weekend, so I will share some now since I took none today. These are from Clendenin, where we went after we left the festival in Elizabeth. Clendenin is the home of the first library I managed,  and has a piece of ny heart. 

The new handstand downtown, part of efforts to revitalize the town after the destructive 2016 floods.

Dalton's was quite the thriving department store in Clendenin's heyday. Today it safly stands abandoned; the cost to bring tge building up to current building codes is probably prohibitive. 

All the many, many times I drove past this building, I bever realized it had been a bank!

Inside Paddler's Bar and Grille,  named for the kayaking on the Elk River which flows through the town (and has flooded the town several times).

Enough for today!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Quiet Saturday

51°f/10.5°C, overcast then rain later, leftovers from the hurricane whose name the newscaster have a terrible time pronouncing.

It was a stay- home day today as we waited for the rain. We had considered a run to Spencer for the Black Walnut Festival, but honestly? We were both just tired. So I did housework in the morning, and mucked about in the kitchen for the rest of the day. I canned the last two gallon cans of beans that were given to us, and did a few black beans because there was room in the canner. Then I priced things for the booth. 

I did get outside a bit and planted some small mums in planters, tidied up the porch, and enjoyed coffee on the porch before the rain started. It was just a really nice day.

We still have a few tomatoes from one Amish Paste plant in the garden that I protected from the deer with netting. Larry picked them and we have ripened them inside. There are a half dozen more in the fridge--a blessing, really, at this time of year.

I picked a couple yellow squash, and then a few flowers too, as the rain would have beaten them down. And anyway, who doesn't enjoy fresh flowers in the house?

The porch decorations make me happy.

More flowers...

Just too pretty! And very fragrant.

Last night's sunset.

A spooky picture i took on the way home from town yesterday.

Near Ravenswoid, a farmer has started harvesting his corn.

We went over the river to see if gas was cheaper at an Ohio station, since Ohio has suspended its gas tax, but I guess that station isn't bothering to lower their prices! I snapped this of a barge passing under the bridge as we drove it.

And now, a question: tomorrow evening there are two things I want to do, and I am so torn! So, which would you do?

A. Go to the John Prine Tribute at a Charleston brewery, featuring some good friends 

Or

B. Go to the WV Artisan Market and practice the Broom Dance with a local yoga group? I am a terrible dancer, but I love this dance! And they are going to do it at our next open mic.

So, which would you choose? Decisions, decisions.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.