Since life is kind of humdrum at the moment, I have let this blog sit here and get stale. So I will try to freshen it up a bit, even though there is nothing going on around here. Maybe you all could let me know if any of it is interesting to you.


Yippee, we got the washing machine repaired! We called several appliance stores here in Bloomtown and Spencer to see if we could bring in into their shop (cheaper ?)and get it repaired and were told by all that they still charge a 70.00 to 80.00 dollar service charge just to look at it and " no, we only come to the customers home, we don't do our work here at the shop". E knew someone (the owner) of an appliance store in Martinsville from when he was still working in that town. He called him and was told to bring it on up! We did and they replaced the pump. The bearings had gone out. (this machine is only 3 years old, mind you!) We drove up and brought it home a few days later and did a couple of loads of laundry and it was still doing the same thing that we had been having trouble with for several months (a separate problem from the bad pump, which went out the weekend before we took it to Martinsville.) When running a load in it, it would do the wash cycle, then when it was ready to spin, the tub would spin very, very slowly, and if you weren't right there when it started to spin, it would smell like burning rubber and all the dirty water ended up on the floor. I would have to set the timer at the beginning of the wash cycle to 22 minutes, then be on hand when the timer went off and it was ready to spin. Raise the lid and set it back down, and wa-la! it would take off and spin like it was supposed to! Repeat with the rinse cycle. So were were a slave to the wash machine!


Since it was still behaving like a naughty child, E called them and they sent a repairman down here to the house, no charge! He wanted to see it in action. He tried several things, including checking the belt. But he said it was still tight. He was very puzzled and said in all the many years he has repaired these machines, he has never had one do this. (why did raising the lid and closing it again make it take off and spin?) Finally he said he would try one last thing! Replace the belt and see what happens! Well, it worked like a charm and has continued to do so. The old belt was tight, but it had a couple of shiny places on it, and it was slipping just enough to keep the pump from doing its job. Only cost me the price of the belt! Glad they got that figured out!


A couple of weeks ago, I was given a greenhouse. Well, a greenhouse frame. We had to disassemble it and haul it home. Here is a photo of it before we took it apart.









And this photo is of the frame laying on the ground in our yard. When we were taking it apart, we discovered that 10 boards (2x4's) have rotted ends and will need to be replaced. The only part of it that was built with treated lumber were the 5 2x4's that came in contact with the ground. The rest of it is not treated. If we choose to replace them, we will use treated lumber. But now that we have it home, we are trying to decide what to do. How do we heat it? It is a long way from the outdoor furnace which would heat it very nicely and cheaply. But...there is no place to put it near the stove that has enough light for a greenhouse! The trees in our yard are too big and would shade it too much. So now what? We are still thinking on that perplexing problem.



E has been out sitting in his tree stand the last couple of mornings. It was 29 degrees yesterday morning! EEEEK! Too cold for me!! He has seen several deer but so far nothing in the right place at the right time. I watched two bucks come up the back pasture yesterday evening with the binoculars, while he was still down in his treestand. One was a six point, and the other was larger but it was too dark to really see how big. He said "I hate you" when I told him what I had seen! (he wasn't serious). But this is the third time I've seen a big buck, when he was out hunting! He also said yesterday morning he saw something that was either a weasel or a mink!







My Thanksgiving Cactus sat out on the porch all summer and when the nights get below 45 degrees it starts to set buds. Here is a photo of it. The whole plant is about 18 -20 inches across and is covered with these pink flowers. It is so pretty.

S and I went on a field trip last Saturday with the Photo Club. We went to Cascade Falls and McCormicks Creek State Park. It was very overcast and chilly, but we took some nice pictures. S and I went with two other ladies and one of them mentioned that she wanted to sell one of her cameras. (she makes her living with them, doing weddings, custom work for people and other photography jobs) She needed to upgrade and she always has two cameras with her at all times so she always has a back up. I asked her what kind she had and she said I have it here, do you want to use it today? I told her sure, and she handed it over! After getting a bit of instructions on what does this button do, or this one, and what is this for, I was good to go. I spent our entire field trip using it and S used my own camera. At the end of the day, I bought it. She is letting me pay her in installments, as I don't have that much cash laying around. I'm so excited I can't hardly stand it! It is a Canon EOS 30D. It can do a lot more than my own camera. Maybe I can make some money with it? I would like to try!! The lady I bought it from is very talented and does excellant work. She told me that I had a very artistic eye. She looked at the photos I took that day and said she really liked a couple ot them, and asked me if she could take them and 'tweak' a couple of them in Photoshop. (I don't have that photo program). Hmmm. Maybe there are possibilities here? We shall have to see where this leads me. Until next time, Sharon