The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker

I don't eat meat very often. I bake my own bread. With the advent of electricity I don't have much need for candles, or candle sticks, for that matter.
That being said, in the last seven months I have needed a handy friend, a handyman, an electrician, no, two. The bug guy shows up every couple of months. I've hired a contractor, had the heating/cooling system serviced. The plumber came to snake out the sewer line. Again I'm waiting for a plumber to fix the leak that has developed on top of the water heater. The hourly rate for a Saturday job is $125. It has not flooded the garage, yet. So far only the rug in front of it is being soaked. Shel placed a basin under the leak that we empty periodically. Good thing it hasn't dripped over night, not everything in the garage is waterproof.
This will make the ninth service guy here in a short time.
I'm doing my part to keep things rolling economically.

The Blue House

I've had little news to write about this past week.
The little blue house across the street has changed hands. The next door neighbor bought it for a song. So I've been watching the transformation this past week.
The house began during the Depression as a one room dwelling with dirt floor garage attached. The siding had been opened tin cans, flattened and nailed to the boards. "Old" Joe lived there for many years, like a hermit. (he was hard of hearing)
Then, twenty-five years ago, a retired woman saw some potential. She turned the one room into kitchen and bath, as well as dining area. The garage became her living room, having added a fireplace and cement floor. She added another room in which she slept.
Though the house is small, it became too much for her to take care of alone. Little did we know how messy and unhealthy it had become. She'd stayed with family this past year but was reluctant to sign any papers to sell the place. Finally, the county's code enforcement agency got involved. Clean it up, sell it, or pay fines, was their judgement.
So the 'kids' came, got what they wanted.
The new owner is a guy who's always on the move. He has many friends willing to help. The new roof has been laid. Another section has been taken off and rebuilt to current specs.
I'm happy to see that the property is being improved. I wonder how they will use the house.

Autumn

Once our summer was over we'd gone straight to cold.
I'm happy to report we're in the middle of autumn now. Light breeze, sunshine, open kitchen door, no heat on in the house. Nice.
I might have to find be a sheltered spot and sit out there with a book for a while.

Huge Waste of Time

I drove for more than an hour today to get a friend to an appointment out of town. We were delayed, having taken a wrong turn. We had to ask for directions and arrived at the location with three minutes to spare.
And were told that our appointment had been canceled! "We tried to call...blah blah blah.. the number we have is .....( clearly not our number.)
We stretched a bit, got back in the car and I drove back.
I entertained the friend at my house since her ride home was delayed.
I am tired tonight, but my friend must be totally wiped. Her day had begun much earlier. My guess is that she probably already asleep.
The next time I will call ahead before I get in the car and end up driving that distance without reason.

33 Years Ago Today...

...the Edmond Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior. This ship sank fast, very near to safety, no one survived.
Legend has it that should a ship sink during November, the lakes won't give up the dead.

Multi Talented

I was watching this William Shatner clip when Elton John's Rocket Man was playing on the radio. So I took this as an omen to send this out to you.
Enjoy!

Progress

Four days and eighty yards of trash.
That's how long it took the two children, and their spouses, to clean out the little house of our neighbor, and fill two of the largest dump bins. All that remains are a few pieces of dated, cheap furniture and a dusty mess on the floors. There has been some water damage to the ceilings, but all in all it's not in bad shape. There hasn't been any maintenance to the house in twenty-five years.
Now here's the good part: It looks like the neighbors in the adjoining property are buying the place. They like the land, clearly the house is not a selling point.
Hopefully the squatter has moved on. It's creepy to know he, or they, are there. (Let's hope they are not moving into the empty house alongside of us.)

Naivety

It's been fifty years since the radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds". I drove Suzanne's auto, the CD was in the player, so I listened to it.
It is an interesting sci-fi story, not generally my genre of choice.
Hindsight being perfect, it strikes me how naive the listeners have been to truly believe there was a Martian invasion.
The story's airtime was less than one hour. Scientists were trying to explain seismic activity on Mars and subsequently on Earth.
Bulletins fly from New York City to a farm in New Jersey. Remote broadcasts are set up within minutes. Fires flare and are put out in minutes. How did the fire department arrive in practically negative time? Martians emerge from their ship, military groups are called to service with their equipment and, poof, there they are. The same with squadrons of Red Cross workers. Poof. All before wireless communication, and the government didn't work any faster then than it does now. Supposedly many people were fooled into thinking this was a real invasion.
Or were we fooled into believing that people bought into the story? Where were the people that said:"This makes no sense at all?, but it's a great story."
One would like to think that our children are smarter than we, the parents, are. Were we so very gullible only half a century ago?

Actually....

....it was more than seven months since we have had a countable rain.
I measured 2 1/2 inches of precipitation during these four days.
That would be 22,500 Gal of water on my property alone. Meaning six weeks worth of minimum use for this household. Not everyone has this much space per ca-pita.
We need more rain!!

Birthday Cake

This is how the cake looked when it was finished! You remember! The cake I made for a friend the middle of October.
Youngsters especially like to get a leaf - or two, or several - with their slice.
White cake, butter cream, a thin layer soaked with current jell, topped with a sheet of marzipan/almond paste. All coated with semi-sweet ganache.