Power-Less

75°f/23.8°C, humid, breezy, mix of sun and clouds. 

The electric went off at 10am, and there went most of our plans for today. We had outdoor work to do, but we won't be doing that until the power comes back on because it is so humid, and already 85° as I write. Outside work would require a shower as soon as we came inside, and since we have a well, therefore a pump, there's no running water right now. (We do have water for drinking and flushing, though--we stayed prepared usually because you never know when someone might hit a pole, drop a tree, or whatever). 

So, a few little projects kept me busy for a while.

Like this Jack Daniel's lamp, which needed a little glue on the label, and a shade. Getting the shade to fit though? Major headache! I think I have it fixed, but we shall see if it decides to start wobbling again.

Yeah, that's a pile of projects behind the chair, which is also a project. Mostly mirrors, and I think a small shelf. I have three of these small orojects in progress right now, but don't really want to paint or wax without water to clean up.

The lamp below needed to be rewired, as someone had, for whatever reason, cut off the power cord. An easy fix, just takes a little time. We remove cords from non-functioning lamps before scrapping them, so I usually have a good cord on hand. We keep other parts too, and they often come in handy. 

See my stack of small projects behind the lamp? 

I had put this crock bowl in the freezer, so today I got to work removing the large nasty candle inside it. I picked this up for a quarter, so it was worth the work.

And work it was! Usually freezing a dish with a candle in it makes the candle come out easily, but not this time. This was the yuckiest, stickies wax I have ever seen. I think maybe the scent oil they used or something might have affected the wax. And it smelled so bad! Whatever that scent was supposed to be, in my book it was awful.

A lot of what we do is cleaning up behind people--repairing, sanding out scratches, painting, fixing broken drawers, scrubbing dirty stuff, getting out stains...all the reasons why stuff ends up at the thrift, in the trash or in an auction. It is satisfying to return things to usefulness again,  although there are times when we wonder if a piece is worth saving! There have been times when we give up, but we often save hardware or good wood for use on some other project.

Saving things, though, can create its own problems! We end up with too much, so then it means a sorting out: what to keep, what to donate, what to burn (if wood) or put in the scrap pile. Periodically Larry takes a load to the metal recycling place; he used to give it to our late friend Ernie, but now just hauls it himself. 

A call from the power company just now updated the restore time to this evening, so I guess I'll price stuff for the booths. Larry said he's going to cut grass. At least he can stay somewhat cool with his big hat and long sleeves. On to Plan C!

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

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Gardens and Blooms

71°f/21°C, rain in the morning, then partly cloudy and very humid. 78° as I write.

The recent rains hurt the blooms, but plants are grateful for the much needed moisture. Everything seems to have jumped up a foot overnight. Here's a quick look around.

I have never had flowers on the blue lace hydrangea so early. Usually it's August before it bothers to put out a few blooms.

This pink hydrangea bush is about 5 years old, and never gets very big. It did not bloom at all last year and I was afraid it had died, but it seems to be coming back strong.

The herb garden is going wild!

I am in love with these dark red snapdragons. I wish they were perennials. 

This is the first year I have had sundrops. I planted them a couple years ago and thought they hadn't survived but this year there are two vigorous patches.

This guy is surrounded by iris. Must deal with that this fall.

Lilies in bloom everywhere.

My butterfly weed is doing okay. The largest blossom fell down, not sure why.

In the vegetable garden:

I need to get over to Larry's garden for some photos. That's where the corn and tomatoes are, along with more onions, peas, and potatoes. 

Today I fertilized everything in advance of more rain expected tomorrow. I use a mix of wood ash, blood meal, bone meal, and rabbit manure. It's inexpensive and natural, and my gardens seem to thrive on it.  It is so humid that I was thoroughly soaked with sweat by the time I was finished. That shower felt heavenly! I will be back out this evening, doing some stringtrimming,  so I will be back in the shower again for sure. I really, really hate gardening in this kind of weather, and I know some things are getting out of hand. Frustrating!

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

Tuesday Trivia

70°f/2+°C, showers in the morning, storms and showers most of the say. Yes! 

Supper: grapes, raspberry-banana bread, and iced tea. Add my book, and a favorite photo of my Dad: perfect.

A rainy day is a good day for errands, isn't it? Can't work in the gardens, don't want to do housework, so Option 3: run errands.

First stop today was to buy these lamps from a friend.

Aren't they gorgeous? If you like Victorian decor, that is. My friend is liquidating her late mother-in-law's estate. We had bought some things from her mother-in-law a few years ago, when she was downsizing so she could move to a more suitable house. She passed away last year, and since she had only one son, he and my friend are the only heirs. Their children took what they wanted, and I am buying what's left. There isn't a lot, mainly glassware and a few lamps and framed art.

As you can see, we took them directly to our booth. No sense dragging them home first over our bumpy road! We must go back in a couple weeks for the rest, but it will all be nice additions to our stock. We took the cabinet we bought over the weekend to the booth too, so the van is, amazingly, empty for the moment. Rarely happens.

We had lunch with friends, then it was grocery store and feed store, and home, where I had ebay to pack...and my book to read. It is still showering a bit, and showers and storms may continue into tomorrow morning. We are so relieved; it looks like a rainy pattern for the next several days, and I will do my best not to complain, as we really need it. We are running our air conditioners, because humidity is through the roof, 99% right now.

And that is about all the news from here. I had nice long phone conversations the past few days with my sons, my sister Theresa who had her birthday Sunday, and with my friend Leah who is recovering rapidly from her brain surgery to remove an aneurism.  Oh, and with my friend Nancy in Arizona, and Melanie in Pittsburgh.  It's always good to catch up with everyone. Remember when long distance calls cost a fortune? One huge benefit of cell phones. I well remember $300+ phone bills when my sons were stationed overseas or on the other side of the country. At one time, we had one in Seattle, one in Germany, and one in Korea.

I'll close with this photo I took on our way out today, of our neighbor's hardworking dog.

Isn't he funny? He sure was proud of his stick!

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