TheCapeBlog

No watering today but had lunch at the Project and brought home muffins and pumpernickel bread.

Went to the transfer station with Ron, then Chenail’s garden shop where Ron bought two cone flowers and a perennial hibiscus. I got the coneflowers in the ground, holding off on the hibiscus until I can figure out what is eating the leaves of the two in the garden now.

I made stuffed zucchini, new recipe, and corn for supper.

The boys rang the front door bell after dark, wanting to retrieve their balls from our back yard. We had quite a time getting Ben to stop tossing them over the fence.

We yelled and cheered throughout Tim Walz’s stump speech. Happy that young people are seeing an old-time political campaign like those we remember – fun, energetic and inspiring instead of the dismal MAGA spectacles of the last 8 years. Could not be more pleased.

So now the battlegrounds are down to the Blue Wall – Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan and the Sun Belt – Georgia, South Carolina and Arizona.

Yesterday I reorganized the pantry a bit.

Today I vacuumed carpets, disposed of two mice and washed the pantry shelves – a task long overdue.

Ron found a sprayer that fits the kitchen sink and popped a pizza in the oven for supper.

Cleaned both sinks, toilets and the small bathroom floor. Also cleaned the small bathroom shower.

Continued work on the 4 foot cedar planter. Ron also worked on it after his transfer station run. We are very close to done.

Neighbors are back from Cape. Hard to believe: their photos made me nostalgic.

The roofer never showed. Phoned him today, left message.

There is free activity at the College tonight, but I want to stay home. I’m feeling angry, deprived and depressed because money is so tight right now. Ron is doing his best to keep the coffers full enough to pay bills, and that’s appreciated.

It cost $95 but almost worth it to meet a real craftsman from North Adams.

Aside from getting the window rebuilt, didn’t accomplish much yesterday.

HMLP turned down my loan application, claims I’m not disabled enough to justify it.

Found more leaks in the garage roof. Sent photos to Insight, talked with a couple of roofers.

Muggy today, but off to a productive start: took a bunch of inside and outside photos for Lemonade renewal.

Poor Ron was up until midnight last night. He also made supper, angel hair pasta, and it was very good.

Stayed in after the writers group met. Made arrangements to drop off the window pane tomorrow.

Set up account with Insight Energy. System seems to be doing well so far.

Picked up produce, nice conversation with Justin about mini splits.

Today was productive. I moved the neighbor’s intact trash to the curb; it was picked up later in the day.

Washed the dehumidifier filter.

I got the smaller raised garden bed put together and removed most of the mildew from the shaded side of the deck. Regrettably, I didn’t get all of the mildew, it might take a power wash to do that.

Ron helped tighten screws on the raised bed and criticized everything I’d done, of course. He is ungracious and a bully.

The application for HMLP is done. At least I hope it is. There was a last minute nitpick about the schedule which all four of us squared away. The contractor has had the patience of a saint. I hope the job will be worth it for him – and us.

Ron did errands and spent money at rkMiles when he didn’t have to.

I’ve been spreading mulch the past couple of days and got the front done yesterday. Filled two barrels as well.

It rained yesterday morning. The mulch pile was well protected by the hemlocks but I put a tarp over it anyway.

The other “project” was to reload and secure the neighbor’s trash container after it was spilled two days in a row. We secured it with bungees and Gorilla tape and that worked well. I put it out at 6:30 this morning.

I was on the verge of tears yesterday evening, mentally and physically spent.

Leftover egg and chickpea salad for lunch, frozen mushroom cauliflower pizza for supper.

We watched a disappointing film on Prime, “Minari”.

K=M got the truck’s safety inspection done yesterday. For some reason, I was obsessing about getting it done before end of July but it was due in June.

I’m losing it, yesterday I left the car in the garage. Running.

We went to Walmart for one of Ron’s prescriptions.

Ron mowed yesterday.

I got an echocardiogram and have the results, will discuss with the doc next month.

I did transfer station and redemption center runs.

Gave Ben his birthday gift certificate to the toy and candy store at Norad.

Neighbors left for the Cape today.

I started spreading mulch and continued weeding the patio.

Ron reconfigured the silverware drawer pull so that it clears the oven door. He also picked up a couple of trash can tops at rkMiles. Not a great fit but I think we can keep them on with bungees.

Burgers and fries from the grill for lunch. Ron dealt with the dishes.

Kamala Harris is in Pittsfield today for a fundraiser.

Figured to put together one of the planters but Ron insisted on taking over, then discovered that two of the four foot boards have flaws.

Gardeners sent us a box of parts but they are for a different model. I emailed them again and told them we appreciate the effort and could they please send the right size boards.

We tried to drop off the mulch gift certificate but no one was there. Meanwhile, they delivered the mulch early and were so quiet we didn’t realize they’d come and gone.

We went to Norad Mill so Ron could check out the toy store. He ended up adding to the gift certificate for Ben.

While we were there, I was able to pick up the restored photo of Nonna from Computer Bug, which made me happy if $129 poorer (ouch).

K-M’s machine for state inspection has been offline so they were too backed up today to inspect the truck. I will try tomorrow either before or after my appointment at the hospital.

Have noticed the Frigidaire air conditioner in the third bedroom doesn’t seem to be producing cold air very well. Looked for a user manual in my pile of filing but I have a feeling we didn’t receive one. It’s available online, which is actually better.

The filter was a mess, not a surprise given the amount of construction in this room. I cleaned it and am hoping for the best. The filters in the other a/c’s seem to be fine.

While I was looking for the Frigidaire manual, found a bunch of repair orders for the truck. No exhaust work has been done in the last year so the source of the flaws in the tailpipe remains a mystery. Maybe mice, haha.

Get out the hats and hooters, Candidate Harris will be in Pittsfield for a fund raiser this Saturday.