My Pole Bean Wall

Word of the Day

Time hole - A device or seemingly harmless collection of objects, either real or digital, that absorb particles of time unless one is wary enough to keep a strong sense of time passed. Considering the low impact black holes have had toward life on Earth, time holes have shown far greater affects on life as we know it.

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"Steve" showed up at around 9 AM (not quite MY definition of first thing in the morning) to fix the generator. It didn't make me feel all that great to have him ask me what the problem with the generator was...after he finished fixing it. I blinked and told him that the control mechanism that regulates the flow of the propane into the generator (the fuel)had a valve that was sticking and that the other generator guy recommended replacing the mechanism. OK? *sigh* I asked him if I should call them if I had any more problems. Meanwhile, I'm wondering if he shut down my AC unit...like the other guy. Since I haven't had to use the AC for the last few days and I won't be needing it in the coming week, I may have to check before I NEED the AC...just to relieve my mind. I don't like dealing with new guys who I've never met...new guys that look younger than #1 Son....lots younger. Not that I'm an ageist but...

Having blown off yoga for the day, I decided that Kylee REALLY needed a bath. I didn't feel like driving into the city to check out the groomer (besides, Stan's friend does dog grooming and...),but, Kylee has been shedding like crazy and smelling like a dirty dog so I decided to give her a bath. Nails...forget about it. I don't do nails. Did I mention that I got the windows cleaned last Friday? After giving Kylee a bath, I had to wash the two huge windows that adjoin my bathtub. I suppose I could have washed her outside but it's been pretty cool outside. I could have given her a bath in the bathtub in the basement but...from past experience...that would have ended up being an even bigger mess. The carpeting in my bathroom got a bit wet despite the two huge swim towels that I used to dry a sopping wet Kylee after her bath. Kylee has a LOT of hair. She doesn't mind baths, much. She did look a little disgusted with the whole process but only shook off the water a few times, thus showering my clean windows, the tub surround, AND me with water. Thankfully, she waited to shake off until I'd thoroughly rinsed off all the soap. Then, after I pulled her from the tub, wrapped securely in a swim towel, she graciously allowed me to attempt the hopeless task of drying her off before she decided that she'd had enough and raced off into my bedroom, rolling madly on the floor, racing into the living room and rolling on the carpet in there, and then jumping on my bed....but she didn't have a time to roll around on there before I chased her off. I put a clean, dry towel into Kylee's kennel and treating her with a Milk Bone, stowed her safely in her kennel where she could dry in a safe environment (safe for my furniture, carpet and bed).

Kylee was still a bit damp when we took our walk to the main road and back later in the afternoon. She didn't seem to notice or mind. The deerfly seemed to be attracted by her new scent but she didn't seem to mind them either. She was just glad to be out for an actual walk...on leash. I don't walk anywhere near the main road when I have Kylee with me without having her on leash. When I was a child, we had a dog who went off exploring on her own and ended up being hit and killed by a car. I don't take chances and though I allow Kylee off leash near the house and around the lake and into the surrounding woods, she's NOT allowed to go up the driveway off-leash...and she knows it.

We met up with Stan...second time for the day...after Kylee and I had checked the mail at the road and rolled the garbage barrel back. He wanted to know where the pin cherry tree was that I'd mentioned earlier in the day when he'd stopped by. He walked with us halfway back to the house to where the pin cherry trees are located near our logging road. For some reason, he was expecting to see chokecherries. I explained the difference, telling him that chokecherries are different than pin cherries. Actually, I prefer pin cherries to chokecherries. The chokecherries aren't ripe yet. I also showed him the gooseberry bushes, loaded with green gooseberries.

I really should go out and pick some for gooseberry jelly. I won't be getting any red currants this year. All my bushes are totally blighted with some sort of fungus. I'm going to go out and dust them with fungicide but the damage has already been done for this year...maybe forever. The bushes look HORRIBLE! All this happened while I was in Ireland for those three weeks. Hopefully, the bushes will survive and come back strong enough next spring. Thankfully, the black currant bushes don't seem to be effected by the fungus. If necessary, I'll dig out the old, damaged bushes next spring and replace them with new plants...but...I'll worry about that next spring. In the meantime, I'll see if I have enough black currants to make black currant jelly and pick enough gooseberries to make gooseberry jelly....AFTER I make six batches of strawberry jam from all the strawberries that I have prepped in my freezer.

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Random Quote of the Day

You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.

Vernon Howard