In the right place

At the right time.
That was us today. We drove into Winthrop to get chicken feed and swung up through town to drop off the phone bill, so went down a road we normally wouldn't. And what did we see but a big sign saying FREE and piles of shutters. We had to leave our garbage cans there while we took them home. We nobly ignored the free windows the guy had put out there in our absence.

Now you have to understand that we have been craving shutters for our house for years. We found one pair in our barn that had been on the house originally, so those we used on our porch. An antique place near us has stacks of them that have been sitting outside for years, but she wants $15.00 each or $25.00 per pair. That's too rich for our blood, especially considering the condition they are in.  Now these need scraping and painting too, but they were free! And they are the exact size we need- at least 7 pairs of them are. We took the smaller 8 pairs as well, because we can use them on a couple of smaller windows, and well, they were free. They have the hinges and hooks on them since they are old shutters that actually worked to close over the windows, but we don't have the part that goes on the house. We'll see what we can do about that when the time comes. 

We then went to Marden's and happened to see the 'Marden's lady' in person, but that was nothing compared to the fact that the 'hotdog lady' was open for business in their parking lot. J was able to get his first red hots of the season.

We decided to build on the great start we had and installed our clothesline in it's new, more convenient position in the front side yard. Normally I would not choose to air our laundry in the neighbor's view, but I had to go through the dog's yard to get to it in back, and that was a very big hassle. 

See that post in the back on the left? That was a huge P.I.T.A. for J to dig the hole for. It is right at the back of where the old barn used to be  and apparently several large rocks were buried when we had the hole filled in. I should have taken a picture of the hole which was about 3 feet across by the time we found a place we could go down deep enough. 

J had to adjust his snow numbers so we get an accurate measurement! I think this might be the 3rd time we have moved this clothesline, which was attached to the house when we moved in. The posts are new, but rope-holding boards are ancient. J keeps saying they should be replaced, but I like them. He humors me. 

He also humored me while I dithered about which way the lines should go, east/west or north/south? East/west was the winner since the wind generally blows from the west, so will go between the lines, instead of winding the sheets over the next line (they had been N/S) plus if I hang our underwear on the back line, it will be hidden from the road. Important considerations, J! Just as important as how your hammers are hung. Not to mention the sockets.

One of the secrets to a happy marriage. Humoring your spouse about things you consider unimportant, but they don't.