Days off

J had to use up his vacation days this month, so took Friday, Monday and today off. Yesterday we drove around a lot, going to Freeport in the morning, and to Augusta later to scrap some metal- a first for us.  Having read in the paper about Rt. 9 being widened in Lisbon, we checked out the carnage work done so far.  Dozens of huge trees have been cut and front yards cut in half.  What had been a tree-lined road is now stump-lined and bare dirt back 50 feet in places.

In some areas there are new stone walls obviously bulldozed into place. 

By the way, it was one lane at this point, J really wasn't just wandering over into the left lane. I felt so bad for the homeowners in this next picture, looks like a big lilac clump was cut down, as well as their trees. 

Happier news concerning the scrapping. We got rid of a snowblower attachment for our old tractor, a push mower, a grill and old lamp and made $24. But the big score was the 24 pounds of woven copper wire from our old lightning rod system- $61 for that. Well worth the trip.

More cleaning up today and this afternoon we take the dogs in for their shots. I picked a day when J could help and I could take one in at a time. I am ashamed to say that we have not clipped Boomer's nails since we got him. He's hyper and the nails are tiny and black. There is no way that wouldn't end badly. I am hoping the vet will do it for me today. 

 We've had a good time the last few days, puttering and visiting and driving. I have even been able to move my bedtime up and get up earlier. Boy, the days are sure longer when you get up before 10!

Mr Crazy goes to bed

J went in to bed as I was brushing my teeth, and when I walked in, he asked:
"You didn't hear me yelling?"
"No, what did you want?"
"I said 'COME IN HERE, WENCH, AND GET ME WARM!' because I'm a Viking and that's a woman's job"
"And that is why there are no Vikings left"
...
"Their wives killed them all?"
"Yes."
"Well, the bed is warm now, so I don't need you."


A minute later he starts roaring with laughter, and says "I was imagining you putting that in your blog- 'J the Hun'"
"J, the dancing Hun"

We had tried a new Wii game earlier, Just Dance, and it was hilarious. We sucked big time, but boy, was it funny! You are supposed to mimic your mirror-image dancer on screen, and get points for combos and such. I couldn't get the mirror part down, and kept trying to use my right hand to match the dancer's right hand. I did get more points than J once, but that was because he had to sit down to laugh in the middle. I think I've mentioned that I have no sense of rhythm and cannot dance, but it was a workout! 'Eye of the Tiger' went pretty well for me, I thought, but J won with 'Girls just want to have fun'.

Worthy Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Saturday was an excellent adventure- we left home at 8:50 and got back a little after 7:30 that evening. The dogs were just about to freak, since it was getting dark and they were aloooooone.

We brought birthday presents( Happy Easter Birthday, Mr. C), two shovels, a rake and a hoe for him, and assorted gardening hand tools, a tote and a seat for her. Then they fed us lunch before we started work.

The first project was the replacement of these:

with these:

Better, huh?  We were very pleased with how they turned out, plus it took a minimum of adjustment to make them level. J moved onto installing a motion sensor light for them.

Then, J directed Ms M in the doggie door insertion. She learned how to put a blade in their new jigsaw and she cut the wood out to make room for the door.

Mabel used it after some coaxing and having the flap held up for her. We all thought it would be better if the flap were clear, so the dog could see through it, but, it wasn't. I'm sure she'll pick that up in no time. 

Their new fence is very nice and makes their yard look bigger, rather than smaller as I expected. Mabel loves being outside and her parents love being able to send her out without them accompanying her. 

We swung by Sectaur's house, about a half hour north of Ms. M's, where we picked up a twin bed and dresser that we took back home, since Ameranth is leaving soon. J is out sanding the dresser as I write, to prep for a paint job. And since he keeps coming in to ask me about doing this or that, I better wrap this up now.

What do you do with a talking husband?

What do you do with a speaking spouse?
What do you do with a prattling partner?
Early in the morning!

We are driving down to MA this morning to install steps and a light for Ms. M and Mr. C. It's about a 3 hour drive so I need to get up earlier than usual. (J gets to sleep a couple hours later than his usual).

I can take conversations like me asking J "Did you take a longer shower than average because I totally ran out of hot water? Or,  "I really wish you had either let the dogs out or shut the bedroom door when you got up, so I could have slept 20 minutes more".

But when I am getting ready to eat breakfast and read the paper, I am not Chatty Cathy.  This conversational gambit annoys me: "So, what's the weather supposed to be today?" as he heads to the computer to check it out. He's already read the paper and the news for two days has been about how warm and nice the weather will be this weekend. It's a little foggy right now, as it often is in Maine and he should know that because he is always awake at this time and I am not!

Although I do, of course, politely answer him "You know what the weather is going to be. Nice! Warm!", he seems to sense I am out of talky and it is blissfully quiet.

Until he bustles through just now saying "It seems a little chilly out" as though it's my fault he needs to add a flannel shirt.