Repairs, Projects & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Last week started out with a glitch in our A/C.  We noticed it running and running, but never getting cool.  Turns out, there were tiny ants in the contactor of the heat pump.  In fixing that, J burned out a fuse.  He searched his parts bins, and had it up and running the next morning.  I occasionally get tired of all the "useful stuff" we seem to accumulate, but am thankful when some of it does indeed turn out to be useful, and thankful for the one who knows how to use it.  The amaryllis and 12 apostle lilies have been blooming.

The honey bees have been working the winterberry bush.  You can hear their buzz from a distance.  While at the dentist for a cleaning, I didn't want the fluoride toothpaste, and was given 4 dental floss instead.  That's a win.  I finally finished sewing the last of the summer bed cover.  There wasn't very much left to do.  I just had to make time to do it.  On one of my recent work days, J went to visit his Mom.  He came back with an air fryer she sent.  I need to do research on what I can do with it.  I understand I can make fries with it, but not sure what else I can use it for in the vegetable realm.

A friend and I went to hear local music one night.  It was free, with donations accepted.  We had a great time, and I laughed until I cried, which is always a good thing IMHO.  My friend gave me a number of things, including several raspberry bushes, seeds and cat food.  I shared several tomato plants, soaps and an autumn clematis with her.  The next night I met my niece and sister for dinner at a restaurant I'd never been to, and it was delicious.  It's nice when that happens.  I gave my sister a dozen eggs.  She bought my dinner.

I cleaned out several flower beds, pulling weeds and cutting wild blackberries, cat brier, small saplings and honeysuckle.  I made a quiche, which used our eggs and parsley.  Two loads of laundry were done, and dried on the line.  I worked on readying my friend's vintage/antique items for sale on ebay.  All the cleaning, photos, research, measuring, and shipping info was figured, so on Sunday, all I need to do is list them.  We had J's son, his lady friend and daughter here on Saturday.  His son helped J with putting up a structure for our solar hot water, something that's been on our to do list for a number of years.  It is being built over two of our water cisterns, to shade them from the light.  Afterwards, the guys cooked most of dinner on the grill.

On Sunday, I helped the guys a little while with the solar hot water installation, but, for the most part, I worked on ebay listings.  After I had listed my friend's item's,  I decided I was on a roll, and listed a pile of books I've been wanting to sell.  A few were mine, but most were my friends.  Quite a few are more than 100 years old.  I have no idea if they'll sell.  They weren't in pristine condition, but I thought it was worth a try.  With it being in the 90's outdoors, it seemed a good use of my time.  I'm quite sure it's a personal record, listing 26 items in one day.  I used a free listing offer for them.  All three solar panels are on the roof.  J has to make brackets to angle them a bit, then hook up the plumbing for them.  I'm so excited to be close to having solar hot water!  Wishing you a most enjoyable Memorial Day!