Say what?

On their recent visit, Minnie mentioned how strangely Sectaurs writes up a grocery list;  "He puts down 'snakes'- what is that supposed to mean?"  J and I started laughing, since J has been doing this for years. I routinely shop for things like snakes and logs- snacks and ziti, although I must admit sometimes I cannot figure out what he meant and the joke loses him an item.

So I wasn't all that surprised last night to pull out some meat to thaw and find my label of 'pork' had changed to 'pork Sallie Annie'.*  

Suuuuch a funny man.

* for those of you not in our age group

This and That

Despite traveling to a funeral last week, J and I had several funny moments, some many most of which were at my expense.  Often when I get tired, my fibro can make it difficult to grab the word I want - sometimes I know the first letter and a few seconds wait gets the right word, but other times I think everything's going smoothly and the wrong word pops out.

Like while we were waiting in the car at the cemetery for the escort vehicle and I asked J if he wanted a 'bucket' of water from the cooler. He and Shoeshine thought that was pretty good, but really liked it when I asked him where (in the cemetery) his mother was 'parked'.

Later that night, we were recapping the day for my parents and described the nice wooden chest that the cremated remains were put in at the church for the service. J and his youngest brother had been asked to carry it up to the altar and did a great job, except that it was a little lopsided. T seemed to be lifting his end up and J had his (bad) arm straight. So I asked him if it was heavy. Without missing a beat, he said "no, he wasn't heavy, he's my brother"!

We talked about the plans for the next day, which included J hanging a screen door, and me cleaning the gutters. J asked if my parents had gloves. Now, he was facing away from my father, who has some hearing loss, which may explain why Pa promptly answered: "We do, but the skunks take care of them". After a quick mental picture of a skunk handing out work gloves, I explained it was "gloves, not grubs" that J asked about.

And speaking of gutters and doors, we enjoyed helping them out with that, as well a few other chores. My three sisters who live in R.I. do a great job of dealing with any house, car or medical issues that arise, so we are always happy when we can share some of that when we are visiting.

On our way home, we stopped at Ms. M and Mr C's house to drop off Shoeshine for his ride to the airport later that day. They had several questions about home and garden issues, so we answered the ones we could, and plan to go down in a few weeks to help with some repairs.

Then the plan changed and we packed up Shoeshine and took him a couple of exits further up 495 to Sectaur's house, and he drove him to a bus station later.We got to visit a bit and I borrowed a book from him so that worked out very well.

The book is Steven Erikson's The Crippled God, which is the final book of a very good, but long and complicated series. I have just started it and am trying to remember just where everyone fits in.  Oh, and I recently read this book:

It looked so pretty and was such a hefty book, that I was afraid it wouldn't live up to its cover- but it did. I must say that a little way into it, I was afraid it was turning into a vampire romance (of which I am not a fan) but it turned out to be okay. Not your standard vampire or witch book- a nice solid read. However- Spoiler Alert-

It seems to be the first in a series- poo! I still recommend it, especially to anyone who likes Diana Gabaldon.

I think that's about it for the mish-mash in my head today.

Who needs Roto Rooter?

You know what's not fun to do after working all day? Digging a two foot deep hole to access your septic tank, opening that sucker up and staring at it to report when 'stuff' starts flowing again. In 28 degree weather with icy winds blowing. And I had the good job!

J is the man! And I mean that in a cool, hip, complimentary way, not the basic gender- stating that means he gets the dirty jobs. (Although it does mean that too) He was in the basement, bravely removing the cap from the sewer pipe and steeling himself for the backflow-which didn't happen, thank goodness. I had excused myself to the yard to watch for developments.

[The back story (see what I did there?) is that the alarm in our septic tank had been going off now and then for the last few weeks. (What? You don't have an septic alarm? You don't have a septic tank? I don't need to hear bragging about city sewers, thank you very much) Since our leach field is on the other side of the driveway and 50+ feet away from our tank, we need a pump to send the fluid out from the tank and the alarm let us know that the pump stopped working. We attributed that to the massive amounts of rain we had and just kept resetting the breaker. Then the alarm stopped going off, and the pipes started backing up. This was Friday afternoon and we figured it was time to call the professionals, who said they would call Monday]

So instead of calling, the pump people showed up bright and early, startling Ameranth who had planned a leisurely arising on her day off, not 2 men asking her questions about the whereabouts of the septic tank. They found a shorted wire and a broken elbow on the floats- word was the pump was fixed. Yay!  Until we tried to wash dishes and flush the toilet. Pump people advised that we probably had a blockage and might be able to find it ourselves. Well, we did want showers and a flushable toilet so we dug the hole.

That green box in the middle of the garden is the electrical stuff for the pump. We use that and the two lily clumps to gauge where the other opening should be.  I tried not to say too much about the bulbs and plants we dug up today. I sensed it would not go over well.

The plumbing snake was deemed too small (plus we couldn't find it) so he used a 50 foot garden hose to probe the darkness. He got a little perturbed when I pointed out that it looked like he used a good hose, not one of the leaky ones that were going to be thrown away anyway.  I reported a lot of water coming through and we thought it was all good but tests soon showed that we still had a problem. That's when Super-J stepped up to the plate. Or down to the hole. He reached his hand into the pipe with a scrap piece of electrical wire and cleared it the rest of the way. I stood there holding the flashlight and thinking "That is some man I have! Thank God I'm married to a handy guy! He certainly deserves the first shower. And everything he's wearing need to be disinfected or discarded."


So much for my sort-of plan to take a nap so I could get up and watch the Patriots-Jets game tonight. Monday night games stink. Hmm, that reminds me, I need a shower too.

Veteran's Day

Thank you to all veterans and the folks serving now, especially the ones in my family. J, Shoeshine and Mr. C of course, several brothers-in-law, cousins and uncles, J's Dad and uncle are/were veterans. One nephew is a captain in the Army now and several more are reservists or National Guard. And thanks to all of the families as well. It's tough when a loved one is in the service.

Here's my two Army guys- I wish I had a picture of Mr. C in his Navy uniform!

November Birthdays

I had to wait for Ameranth to upload the pictures from her camera, making our birthday pictures  a little late. J's is on the 1st and 30 years later, Ameranth was born on the 7th. As you may know, Rosie ate J's original cake last week and then I was busy learning how to work again, so they shared the spotlight last Saturday.

I found a bottled glaze for the Boston Cream Pie, which worked pretty well. It heats in the microwave, was easy to apply and tasted pretty good, so that turned out okay. Ameranth's cake was a layer filled with bananas and pudding and topped with more pudding mixed with whipped cream.  Both were yummy.

There was a little discussion about eating them on Saturday, when Ameranth's birthday was not until Sunday, but I told them I wasn't waiting until then to have a piece, so start singing.  Neither wanted the song, so I got ready to cut the cake. What an uproar!  No candles???! Alright already. Sheesh.

                             I sang to them anyway.

And then nearly caused another riot when I unthinkingly went to put out the candles. Hey there! Step away from the cakes, we'll do the blowing out around here!

And here's Ameranth modeling her present.

Travels with J

We visited R.I. this weekend for a niece's wedding and had a great time. Ameranth drove separately with Anna, since on her way home she stopped in MA. and picked up Mabel, Ms. M's and Mr. C's beagle. They left Sunday evening for a vacation in Romania and Moldova, which is where she served in the Peace Corps 10 years ago.

So, yes, we have 4 crazy dogs for the next 10 days- what fun! But that's another post for another day. (When I can write it without having Mabel's parents freak about my harsh language- because I'm sure it will go more smoothly as the week progresses- If you guys are reading this- don't worry, she's fine, just......insistent).

Back to our traveling. J was driving so that meant I was the stewardess, since I could access the cooler and snack bag. Because, goodness gracious, you can't travel 4 hours in a car and not eat!

J: Would you open the potato chips, please?
Me: Okay, just a minute. (trying to be vewwy vewwy quiet with the bag so the dogs don't know he's eating)
J: And get a bottle of water?
Me: Sure (Twisting behind the seat to open the cooler that is propping up the folding kennel which keeps Boomer from hijacking the car)
J: Do you have the Swedish Fish right there? (A treat we buy for road trips)
Me: Yes! Which do you want????
J: I thought I'd have both- fish and chips!  Ha!

So the next day Ameranth was with us as we ran some errands and headed back to my folks' house, down a narrow road lined with stone walls and trees (much, much too close to the road, I might mention. I've noticed older roads in MA and R.I. often have no shoulders and have huge old trees within six inches of the pavement. Maine roads have shoulders that are filled in and graded each year, plus shallow ditches to push the snow off into, before you get close to any kind of shrubbery).

As we drove by a horse farm, Ameranth remarked at how large and pretty the field was that ran from the road down to the farmhouse.
J: It used to be bigger.
Me: No, it didn't. 
J: Yes, it was-it was sold.
Me: No, that's still a farm- The field is the same size.
J: Some of it was sold- it's smaller.
Me: J, the field is the same friggin' size!
J: No, it's not.
Me: It runs from the same stone wall at the road down to the same old house! How can it possibly be smaller?
J:

I think at this point Ameranth tried to leave the car, but the Boomer barrier prevented her from reaching the door locks. 

Still Mr and Mrs Crazy after all these years

Saturday was our 33rd anniversary- go team! We had a very nice day, taking a little road trip and eating out, which we don't do often. More about that in a minute, first I want to reminisce (boy, is that a hard word to spell, it took me three tries to have word checker get it) a bit.


J and I first met in 1974, when I worked in the credit union down the street from his job at the hardware store. The first Friday night he came in to cash his check, I was hooked. He says he was too, although it took two years for us to date. J's story is that was because he knew we would get married and he wasn't ready yet. I left that job and worked one year as an aide at an elementary school where his mother was a teacher's aide, and his brother-in-law taught 5th grade. So I got to know them before I went back to the credit union, and walked past him every day to get a soda from the corner store. J would just happen to be out on the front step most days to say hi.


Our first date was his store's Christmas party, and I believe the only reason he was finally pushed to ask me was that another guy who worked there said he was going to. A couple of weeks later he called again, and that was it, we were engaged by St. Patrick's Day. For such a romantic guy (and he is mushy) the (first) proposal was anything but. Sitting in his truck outside my house, he asked me if I liked camping (yes), kids (yes), and spaghetti(no), then concluded 2 out of 3 wasn't bad. J then stated: "We've been spending a lot of time together. Maybe we should break up?"
Me: "Do you want to break up?"
J: "No. Do you?"
Me; "No"
J: "So, do you want to get married then?"
Me: "That's not the kind of thing you ask after drinking so many beers. You better go home" (Note- Apparently I didn't think he was too drunk to drive home, but I worried that he would forget that he had asked me. How embarrassing would that be?)


When I told my mother about this, she almost died: "You didn't say yes?!" (I was 23 and she was worried about old maidage) I told her not to worry, he would ask me again. And he did. 

And immediately said "We don't have to tell anyone right away." 
After straightening out that he just wanted to enjoy stringing his eager family and coworkers along a bit:
Me: "Okay, when do you want to get married?"
J: "Maybe...1980?"
Me: "How about July?"

We couldn't do the cool 7-7-77 date because it wasn't a Sunday. And we chose to get married on a Sunday because of J's boss. The hardware store was open 6 days a week, and Everett didn't want to have to close so everyone could attend the wedding. He made an offer we couldn't refuse.

                             7-17-77 still sounds good.


Fast forward to Saturday and our ride. We drove east, then south along the Kennebec River, and found some roads we'd never been on. I remembered to take the camera, but J isn't very good about slowing down for photo ops. That's okay, the windshield contributes to the road trip vibe. Some cool silos. Papa, Mama and baby sizes.

                          Over the river in Richmond.

Woolwich, I think? J says these are buoys, but I prefer to think of them as unexploded mines.

Back over the river- I tell you, it was a gorgeous day and there were lots of nice shots that got away! This is what I was able to get.

Okay, now in the interest of national security, I cannot tell you where or what these next shots are. Suffice it to say that J worked here for 15 years- well, his working period covered 15 years, but with several layoffs and a strike, he probably worked about 12 and half of the years. 

As I was photographing the drydock skyline, I commented that I hoped taking pictures wasn't illegal. It was then that J noticed the purple sign stating no pictures were allowed. We quickly left, taking the back roads to shake off any tails. I must admit, I struggled with this since I am a rule follower, but what the heck, I am sure my readers are not troublemakers. Right? 

We then zipped back up to Augusta for some food, along the way passing a snazzy little red sports car.( Obviously, this is not my picture)

J: "When I win the lottery, that's what I want!"
Me: "Well, you'd have to ride in it alone, because I couldn't get in or out of that thing"
J: "Babe, if I drove that, I wouldn't be alone"

Stopping by the grocery store later, we parked right next to a similar car. J takes a good look.
J: "Hon, you could get out of that car"
Me:"Kicking me out before you even get one?"

It was a good day.

Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good, I knew that I would

I finally got a chore monkey off my back and my heart is soaring. Okay, okay that's a little over the top- it was just something I had to get done and put off all week. Amazing how things kept cropping up that I just had to do first.

The last few days were very achey ones too- stress (over serious stuff or not) does not play well with fibro. The weather has finally gotten to summer-like and I am very ready for that too.

Speaking of getting distracted, having Ameranth and her computer in the same room as me and mine can lead to major detours! She apparently reads forums where she feels the contributors are wrong, very wrong- on the Internet, can you imagine!- and she sputters a lot, to keep herself from setting them straight.

This afternoon I heard: " Oh, I have problems- ooh, what's that?"  So her moments of angst are short-lived, as are her productive moments. It's like little birds are circling her constantly and sometimes the black, angry ones land on her shoulder, then a pretty bluebird comes to chase them away. More happy birds than sad ones, thank goodness.

                         Ameranth and J on our back porch

We are off to get some replacement hens tonight- not sure exactly how many, since I was told he could do a better deal than advertised if I took all 9 instead of 6, so he could be done with it. J is upset that I didn't ask him what the deal would be, but I figured I'd wait and see, since the guy was a rambling talker and if I don't like the deal, I'll only pay for the six.

I have now gotten into the summer pattern of me shutting the hens in at night, so we should be fine. During the winter J does it, but the hens stay up later than he does now!

Another Random Tuesday

RIP Floyd

I didn't want to talk about it, but the Weasel won another round last weekend. Floyd seemed to be the only victim, but we noticed yesterday that two hens were not their usual perky selves. When I let them out this morning, they just stayed on the floor, and this afternoon J found one had died. I like to think Floyd took one for his team.

When I came downstairs and Ameranth informed me we had no eggs, I asked her if they had checked the coop.

A: "Yes, that's when Dad found the dead hen- oh, and he didn't move the body"

Me: "Oh  poo- he never likes flinging the dead hens"

A:"Well, who does?"

Turns out J had a reason this time. The horse owners had their little girls up at our end of the pasture and he didn't want them to see the dead bird. He did dispose of it later.

J scored a hole saw holder that the store was throwing out, so he installed that today. He took some pictures and asked me to resize them for emailing. Busy with supper, I told him I would do it later. 

J: " Okay, I just want to send the email tonight to show off the new saw rack. I'll just send it to my brothers."

A: "What, your sisters don't appreciate a good rack as much as they do?"

Ba dum dum.

And in case anyone cares- all those yellow things are his hole saws:

My peonies are blooming and haven't been mashed by rain as they usually are. I got these and 4 blueberry bushes from #5 two years ago and they have settled in well. 1 blueberry died, but the others have new shoots this year and I saw one cluster of flowers.

Here's J's garden goddess:

And this is an older peony being overtaken by the evil multiflora rose.

I guess that's all the random I have today.

We're home again, and so is Ameranth

It was a very nice weekend in R.I.. It didn't rain too much, and we didn't have to be outside when it did. (Apparently home got a lot of rain Saturday, with a tornado touching down about 30 miles to the west of us) The baby shower for a niece was fun- we didn't have to play a single game, just eat and watch her open gifts.

My nephew is in the Army, and they know it is a boy, so there were camo sleepers and Boston Red Sox onesies that were really cute. Plenty of size ranges too so they shouldn't need to get much more than diapers when he shows up next fall.

This photo is blurry but I wanted to show a family trait. This sister-in-law gave me this not-so-candid shot, and then I went around the corner to get a picture of the grandmother in waiting. See if you can pick out her sister in the next photo.

Re is the one above, and the past 12 months have been quite a trip for her. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, and successfully treated for that, her son got married and is now expecting a baby, plus he got a 6 year old son as a bonus with the marriage.  Definitely started off low and improved as time passed!

I'll end with a picture of J and Ms. M taken at the house where he grew up. A 3rd sister lives there now, and it is still a family gathering place.

Oh, yes. Ameranth got a ride from a nice woman who was going to Boston from Rochester Sunday evening. She was nice enough to drop Ameranth off at Ms M's house at 1:30 AM, and we swung by and got her on our way home.

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.

Last day of March

J got a late Christmas/St. Patrick's Day combo box from Shoeshine today. It was filled with Irish goodies: a book to learn how to "talk Irish", a bumper sticker, some note cards, etc. But, the crowning glory (pun intended) was this:

When he found the hat at the bottom of the box, he started laughing, oh, ho ho. When I told him yes, Shoeshine had given up the hat for him, he couldn't believe it. All the time I was getting the camera, I heard happy chortling, ho, ho, ho. I asked him why he sounded like Santa when it was a St Patrick's Day hat? I could tell he was happy, but couldn't see if he was smiling for the camera.  Afterward I asked him did he really have part of the beard in his mouth?  Well, yes, he had to hold it in place somehow!

J had the pipe prop, but thought he should have a stein in his hand. I told him the cookie jar was good enough.

And by the way, it's time to put the decorations away. 

Well, we couldn't get Giselle....

I just sent an email to my kids explaining that J was busy painting and prettying up his shed for our company tomorrow, so he did not do his whole St Patrick's Day photo shoot.  Of course, other years I was usually working, so he had no one here to interfere help.

 He came back inside and sighed about no pictures. Then he wondered out loud if the dogs would mind posing in a hat. "Come on, Rosie!" he chortled, and I figured I better grab the camera before he did. He got the hat and I contributed a shamrock doggie kerchief. 

Foreseeing some rowdiness, we went out to the porch, but we totally underestimated Boomer's excitement level about the wearing of the green. Any bystanders would be forgiven for thinking we were running a dog fighting ring, judging by the ferocious snarling coming from our yard. Boomer tends to berate Rosie whenever he thinks she is not cooperating, such as when he walks through the door first, then turns to leap on her because she is not out yet.

 

Boomer is not biting J, he has a ball in his mouth and he thinks J is stealing it, not trying to get him to face the camera. Totally oblivious to the kerchief, so we tried it on Rosie. Yes, it's a neckerchief, but I think it looks funnier over the ears, like a babushka. Then Boomer was jealous that Rosie looked better than he.

We finally managed to get both "dressed" and in the same shot. I think Rosie looks like she's had a hard night partying! 

She's such a good dog. (That one foot of hers was reaching out to fend off the bad dog).

Anyway, that was the celebration this year.

3-17-2010

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Last year I wrote about marrying into an Irish clan, so I won't repeat myself- at least not intentionally. Suffice it to say this is a celebrated and decorated day at our house.

My last post  with Shoeshine's picture drove J to learning how to comment on my blog! Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? He hasn't found a similar hat yet though.

 Speaking of Shoeshine, he sent a new picture of Ladyslipper last night, not clad in green, but still very cute- he called it Disco Baby:

  I don't remember those little elastic hairbands when my kids were little, but I love them. And Ms M certainly could have used them, I don't think she had much hair until she was at least a year old. Ameranth came with hair. Ha, that makes her sound like a Barbie or My Little Pony. Fully assembled, no batteries needed.

Anyway, this is a good week for us. Far enough north that we missed the torrential downpours, it's sunny and above normal temperatures, company is coming tomorrow, so the house is clean(er) and best of all, J's tongue biopsy came back all normal, nothing to worry about. A very good week indeed.

Odds and Ends

Several projects advanced this weekend- not to completion, but a step closer. Speaking of steps, we have moved from planning to acquisition of material for Ms M's and Mr C's replacement steps.  This is what the house came with:

Amazingly they held up during the move of all the large pieces through this porch. They just settled a bit further askew. Oddly, the step tops are hinged. Why? It's a little big to hide a key. Would you store gardening tools there? I wouldn't.We offered to build a new set for them and J was able to score some pressure treated cull wood on Friday.

Saturday we got that last bench built in the shed, and we have power out there now! Not warm enough today to paint the shelves, but it will be soon. Notice the clever spaces left underneath for the shop vac and the kerosene heater to be stored when not in use.

Today, we spent some time spring cleaning the kitchen- the ceiling, the knickknacks above the cabinets, etc. The dusty stuff you don't notice everyday, but you do when company is coming.  And we are having company next week! One of my sisters, #5, and her husband are driving my parents up for a 3 day visit.

My father has been told he will need dialysis in the near future, probably within 6 months, and then travel will become more problematic. He is a bladder cancer survivor, but scarring from several operations have caused his kidneys to slowly fail. One quit years ago, and the other is down to working at about 14% capacity. Apparently the scarring makes an organ donation out of the question. We'll plan on getting them up here once more during the warm weather.

Lastly, Shoeshine sent a picture yesterday that has J green with envy.

I added a picture of J, just to show that he does not need a(nother) St. Patrick's hat. 

 And neither do his ghoulies.

J and Janis

Poor J had some lesions removed from his tongue a few weeks ago, then had to have a little more of the surrounding area taken Tuesday to be tested as a precaution. He went back to work today, and I asked him how he was feeling.

He said this song just kept running through his head:

"I'll say come on, come on, come on, come on, yeah take it!
Take another little piece of my tongue now, doctor."

I didn't see that coming, surprisingly. 

And, along the same note (ta dum dum) what makes that squiggly feeling in your innards when discussing icky things like tongues and knives in the same sentence? I mean, what actually causes that sensation, because everyone seems to get it. Is it some sort of sympathetic primal response? It makes me wonder. 

The Treasured Tool

J likes his tools grouped together and displayed just so, but there's only one he doesn't like others to touch.

That would be his left-handed Stanley rule, or tape measure as we non-afficianados would say. J is not left-handed(he probably would have been had the nuns stayed out of it) but likes the tape worn on the left. Although the numbers face away, this way the "little lines" or fractions are closest to him and easy to mark. (J also wears his watch on the 'wrong' wrist, his right, as does Ameranth. They both  can bat on either side as well).

Most tapes have the belt clip attached so they face frontwards on the right side and sadly, Stanley stopped making the left-handed tapes more than 10 years ago. J is very careful of the ones he has left. When we work on a project, heaven help me if  I ask to use the one on his belt- he will fetch another for me. He doesn't actually use it himself except for measurements at work.

The eight tapes on the left are the good kind, however, they have all lost their tension or whatever makes the tape go in and out. They are saved in honor of their meritorious service, and for potential parts, I think.

I tipped over the metal strip they are clipped on by mistake last week and after they all clattered on to the floor, there was a dreadful silence. I remarked that at least they weren't the precious ones, and J said quietly that yes, they were. I felt like I had clubbed a baby seal.

As you can see, we do not have a shortage of actual working tapes to choose from. And these don't include the ones in the house. Or car. Most people have a flashlight in their car- we have a tape measure. You just never know when you might need to measure something.

I've suggested that we might find other left handed tapes made by other companies, but so far, J has resisted that idea. He's worn Stanley tapes for 43 years and doesn't want anything else, dammit!

Faithful is good.

Gettin' her done

We didn't get the new bench up after all, since we found we didn't have the right size lumber. But we did add a storage shelf to the second bench J had painted, and made a clever support for the chop saw. It is level with the benches on either side, so we can use them for supports while sawing. Great, eh? I saw this in an article.

 

 

Still very much a work in progress, but it's getting there. J's moved in a lot of his special racks, etc. to temporary places.

The coffee cans each have a different size screw or nail, all labeled and usually with a sample attached to the outside.

These are the smaller wood and metal screws, nuts and bolts. And yes, those blue boxes on the end are made of cardboard from beer boxes. The smaller boxes inside are made of Prince spaghetti boxes, so the colors match. (J had several layoffs during the 90's and put his downtime to good use. And again yes, I worried about him and his box-making, but it kept him happy)

Oops, I just realized I didn't take any photos of his lights- be right back. 

Over the years, J has saved any number of fixtures that other people have decided were outdated, old or ugly. These have been hanging from the rafters in our old shed, and now are being put to good use. We are definitely cheap packrats environmentally conscious recyclers. Ignore the wiring hanging hither and yon- they are temporary placements while he figures out where he wants them.

(Ha. I just noticed his Kerry/Edwards sign prominently posted here. J collects political bumper stickers and signs, but lets just say this is not one that reflects his opinions. We have a mixed marriage)

J has the wiring all set from our breaker box out to the old shed, through underground conduit to a little breaker box in the new shed.  He just has to run the rest of it inside, meanwhile he is using extension cords.

Let's see, the last fixture is the wood stove that he will have for heat next year. It looks like we'll have to pay for the double-walled stove pipe, which is not something people get rid of. Not in usable condition anyway.  We have our .10 tiles ready anyway. J has it lying on the floor for looks- when we install it, it will probably be built up a little off the floor.

     Looks sort of like a giant bug in this photo. Kind of.

I can't figure out why the old shed doesn't look any emptier yet.