A very pleasant day!

24.IV.07 - MoM

I was happily surprised when Ted arrived this morning to spend the day cleaning up the winter debris and leaves. He also got my little spout of water going into the former fish pond. (As he said, " - until the next raccoon decides to try to drink from it and messes it up.") I had talked about liking bamboo (even my favorite set of dishes has them). He was nursing a small type, and it seems to have survived the winter so he may be able to split off a little for me. I am so happy with my new thermometer that I showed it to him. He was very interested, and is going to order one at once. He also was happy to hear that the AeroGarden really does what the promotion says and is looking forward to having the herbs in the kitchen handy for cooking.

There was no chance for a nap today. Charlie was here before a dental appointment so my birdbath is no longer plugged in to keep from freezing, the indoor reading rain gauge no longer has an anti-ice snood and has moved from beneath the bench on my deck, ready to measure rain, and this weeks garbage/trash is now in their dumpster. He also took on the fountain that I had been storing in the sunroom. It is now in pieces so I could start cleaning it for deck installation. I had to soak and scrub the corroded stuff from water with white vinegar. I worked on it off and on all day with much scrubbing and it is pretty well finished and ready to get it back on the deck.

I was surprised to see Charlie again about noon as I thought he had finished his dental appointment earlier and had gone home. The dentist has a cancellation so had a little time so he did a needed root canal. Since it was lunch time, he had gone by McDonald's and along with his lunch had my choice -- a "Happy Meal" complete with the toy that we save for Ben. It is just the right size for me.

My good stands of jonquils, especially the ones Ted planted last Fall, brought back my earliest memory of them. In 8th grade art class, we were to design a cover for a journal-type book. I don't know where I got the idea to make repeat squares of a single jonquil. We hadn't ever had them in our yard in Iowa or Berkeley. Perhaps I had seen them as cut flowers in a florist window. The teacher was quite pleased with my effort and I got an A in that class. I was strictly a B student, except for music and art.

I think the habit of laying out the next day's clothes is a good one. It would have saved me a lot of stress, if I had known about it. As it is, my life is simple, but I always know what it is going to be, and, if it is a day out with Sandy, I decide ahead, sometimes modifying it due to unexpected weather.

After such a sleepless day, I am going to try to get to bed early!

* * * * *

This letter from Chris was August 27.1986. I sure there are some letters in between and I hope I will turn up more from you, too, Suzy. I know I have a lot more Dan letters somewhere in my closet chaos.

Dear MoM and DOD,

Got Dad's note on Monday and called the insurance agent today. They said you had been billed $927 and had until 9/15/06 to pay. Your new policy won't include theft as you feared. I'll call again early next month and arrange payment if it hasn't been received. I see you had the checkers on your checkers - Bill Fendrich called me about an hour after I'd called the insurance agent. I explained the situation and that everything seemed to be under control.

The cucumbers and squash are finally slowing down. I've put up about a dozen quarts of dills and given loads of stuff away, Wish I could get you some of the pickles. They are particularly good this year - not bitter at all. Tomatoes are just now ripening, but most have end-rot. It's not just me either, something to do with the climate this year has affected most in the area this way. I'm not really too unhappy about it as there has been plenty of other stuff and I'm looking forward to Fall and a break from this grind of daily picking, skimming, washing, etc. I licked my ground-hog problem by setting out strips of very thin (1/4-mil) aluminized mylar, very shiny stuff which waves around in almost no breeze at all, and that's enough to scare off the beasts. Result: beans that won't quit. People here at work love me as I give them excess.

Please excuse extra spaces between words: the space bar sticks on this cheap damned keyboard. Glad to hear Lala is recovering from her stroke. I may go to China (PRC) next summer, although not at all sure I can. Looking forward to a few days at Hatteras next month. There! I fixed this stupid keyboard with a shot of WD-40. How do you live without things like this in Austria? Ugh. Bowling starts next week. I won $23 in the bowling tournament I was in May. Big deal since it cost me $19 to enter, but better than nothing. If my partner had not sagged in the Doubles part, we would have won $250 … oh well. Suzy is all moved into her new house and is happy with it. I'll see it when I go down there for Xmas. I have renewed study of ancient Rome and am especially interested in comparing what I read and what I saw in Rome among the ruins. Now think that was the high point of the visit, and will be sure to want to do more of the same when I return. The books I bought there (particularly the one DOD and I bought on the city tour) add to the enjoyment and understanding.

Love, Chris