TheCapeBlog

I planted 25 daff bulbs yesterday in the corner and center gardens. Measured, cut and installed wire cloth in the center garden.

Ron did a massive cleanup of fence detritus. I helped by raking. He started mowing up the last leaves, hoped to finish this afternoon. Unfortunately, the lawnmower didn’t start. So, we ended up raking the rest. It went fast. We topped off a bag.

Meanwhile, I’ve been going over our finances for the next 5 days. A break: homeowners premiums aren’t due until December. We did take a break from house stuff, went to the Log Lunch and heard a presentation by a Mass. Dept. of Agriculture person.

I’m thinking about ordering gutters for the rest of the house before the tariffs kick in. We might get an estimate next week.

It’s 3:31 am. I’ve been up since 1 or so with stomach pain.

I tried Pepto, ice, baking soda and a slice of bread. A small handful (less than the maximum permitted) of pseudo-Tums seems to have helped.

Didn’t do much today besides figure out how to pay for the latest home improvements and attend the writers workshop. Small group.

Ron picked up his meds at Walmart. I put together rice and leftovers for lunch and pizza for supper.

Turned it back on around 7.

We did a lot of yardwork yesterday. I cleaned up the left side yard and both of us worked on the front. Ron used the leaf blower to clear around the Rose of Sharon and the low-lying juniper, the boxwood and arborvitae and the lawn. Filled eight bags.

Today I visited the Salvation Army to get the ball rolling on their Neighbor to Neighbor program. I also picked up groceries at Stop and Shop and dropped by State to see Alyssa.

Ron brought multiple leaf bags to the transfer station. I dug up the grass that invaded the low growing juniper, mulched and pulled dried stems from the base of the Rose of Sharon.

A new HVAC expert I found online did a thorough exam of the furnace and found nothing wrong. In fact, he praised the cleaning done by our oil man last Spring. He replaced the controller in the hope it’ll be more reliable and provide more info if the furnace stops again.

He assured us that we don’t need to consider replacing the furnace.

So this year we added a mini-split, a paved driveway, solar, had the garage roof fixed, replaced the frig and the furnace controller, removed the dangerous pile of cement blocks in the bulkhead and installed a gorgeous set of cement stairs.

Ron realized yesterday that he’d lost his iPhone. FindMyPhone located it this morning at Aubuchon.

We went to the Harvest Fair at Sweetwood yesterday and bought some homemade goods, sweet and sour cabbage and cherry preserves.

I did some garden cleanup.

We cooked and/or prepped two multi-part entrees. Always a lot of chopping and cleanup, which fell to Ron.

We woke up around quarter of two this morning, staggered downstairs in the cold: the furnace was off again. I went back to bed, powered it back on this morning after seven. Ron had microwaved thermal socks but left them in WAY too long so he couldn’t put them on.

We changed the sheets. Ron went to Aubuchon for his phone and dropped off film to Walgreens.

For lunch, we combined white beans, fresh tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms and yesterday’s prep: delicata squash, onion, carrots seasoned with garlic powder, sage and oregano. I made a no-bake cheesecake. Ron volunteered once again for cleanup.

I dug up a number of Goldenrod from the garden next to the deck. It was awkward working on the slope. Did about an hour of Fall cleanup.

We did get to the jazz combos concert at Williams College last night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This morning I dropped in on a lecture about bullying at the Senior Center. Didn’t stay because I (and others) couldn’t hear the discussion and the chairs were way too close together. It also was geared to the residential community rather than Williamstown.

Feeling fine today.

Mailed Ron’s enrollment form for Legal expense benefits.

Went to Stop & Shop for a few items that Ron forgot yesterday.

Ron and I went to Bennington for gutter covers. I bought a can opener at Walmart while he had his hair cut at Super Cuts.

Got home in time to throw together a pot of chili and steamed greens before the Williams College jazz orchestra performance.

The concert was mind-blowing.

Woke up at 5. Tried everything – omeprazole, pepto, baking soda, alka seltzer, ice – was still hurting six hours later.

Ron heated up some soup for lunch. Drank some oat nog. Fingers crossed.

Fortunately, I have no chores today. Hoping we can make a jazz combo concert this evening at Williams College.

Weather has been exceptional: mild with no wind.

With the leaves gone, we have our obstructed mountain views back.

We stopped by the Bike Exchange last evening. They were closing early but stayed open long enough to let Ron see the Schwinn that interested me. We were invited to make an appointment to see it before the next open house in December.

So we will suffer with Project 2025 because millions of non-college graduate Americans had their feelings hurt by people they don’t know and will likely never meet.

I wonder how many of these boat-owning, SUV-driving not-so-juvenile delinquents with bleached blond wives could buy and sell us multiple times over.

In other words, where’s the beef?

Today I brought 10 bags of leaves to the transfer station in two trips.

Also stopped at the Food Pantry for produce and peanut butter.

I raked and bagged the leaves off the yard on the right side of the house and did a minor sweep of the driveway. Also vacuumed the living room and kitchen.

Chopped up veggies for soup, hoping Ron will cook. I’m beat.

The roofers were here for 5 hours and left around 2.

In addition to the leak they intended to fix they found another: the cap sheet hadn’t been run up the wall of the garage. Their supervisor spotted that one.

They built a cricket to deal with the first diagnosed leak.

Ron made an excellent main dish of Delicata squash and quinoa.

I cleaned roof detritus from the deck and finished leaf removal from the back yard.

I was able to give blood today. Ron was anemic, first time that happened. He took an iron pill when we got home.

Not much outside work today: I swept the driveway and the front walk and that was it.

No cooking, either. I tried to tie up loose ends, clean up emails and follow election news.

Received a check from my health insurance company. Now, that’s a new one!

I set the clocks back an hour.

When I got downstairs around 7:30, the temp in the house had dropped to 60.

I found the furnace reset button. Fortunately, we have good instructions for the controller. I held the button down for 15+ seconds and the furnace turned on.

We’ve been denied fuel assistance again. I’m trying to figure out how much we lost but can’t get that info from the LEAP office. We can get something from the Salvation Army as we did last year; anything helps although being disqualified is a blow because it would have come with other assistance.

We spent the afternoon “doing” leaves. Ran out of gas so Ron took the truck to Cumby. While he was gone, I emptied the lawnmower bag but didn’t put it back on securely, so it fell off just after Ron got the machine restarted. Of course he couldn’t crank it back to life again and was not too happy with me. He took a break, then got it going and finished the front.

A lot of work over two days. I’m very happy about that and amazed at how much we got done.

I was in a lot of pain last evening, left shoulder hurt, but am in better shape tonight.

Split the last enchilada and a salad for lunch, cauliflower pizza for supper.