Yeah, RT, my fingers are itching for a pen and I plan to do something about that soon.

We'll find out tomorrow how much this new repair is going to cost. Skywise has already agreed to work Saturday -- again! -- to help cover it.

Hehehe You must have missed it, RT. I live in the woods, literally! There's no major bodies of water nearby but "the woods" starts about 12 to 15 feet from the front door and about 10 feet from the west end of the house. The south side of the house is where the septic field is so the woods are farther back on that side. We are pretty much surrounded on all four sides except where the Guest House's backyard connects with our driveway. Deer grazing in the yard is NOT an uncommon occurrence!

Well, Skywise is home and I'm heading out.

Everyone sleep well and be safe.

I didn't realize you were actually out in the woods!  I really envy y'all now!  I suppose with all your furry friends that a fish pond/ water feature would be more of a cat feeder but if I had that kind of property I would really want one, with a bit of a fountain...  Ironically, the MIL on the other side of town does have deer grazing in her yard on a regular basis, even wild turkeys!  They lost so many trees down there from our big storm though I don't know that the deer will be staying so close come winter time.  There simply isn't the cover down there anymore for them.  In the core here we see the occasional rodentia.. rabbits and hares.  When the flooding was really bad we had beavers, musk rats and groundhogs walking along the street!  Poor things!

I'm glad the van isn't going to be too expensive!  Repairs on the car put a bit of a crimp in what we wanted to do this summer as well.  The bloke is on lay-off after this next set of shifts so at least we will have time for other maintenance and improvement projects;  Finally completing the floor upstairs, new "drainer" sinks installed for both little kitchens in this house, new kitchen counter downstairs and permanent drinking water filter installed for the kitchen.  I'm hoping we can also redo the bathroom while we repair the plumbing for the bath.  Hopefully by September we will have a shower again!  I have to price out what kinds of options we have for tub surround and lino for the downstairs bathroom.  we've been accumulating the required fixtures and supplies for most of this over the past few years so it's time to get things in place   I gotta go eat and then get cracking on the jelly.  Ended up with 6 litres (so a gallon and a half?) of crabapple juice.  Thinking I want to hunt down some fresh cranberries to add a bit more zing to taste and natural colour.  The juice is such a pale pinky peach right now.  I'm also going to make it as a low-sugar jelly.  It's been suggested on several sites to use the left over bits to make apple cider vinegar so I'm going to give that a shot as well.  I'll let you know how things go.  Have a great day!

Skywise is home and I'm heading out. Grocery run tomorrow.

Everyone sleep well and be safe.

It did. Ground beef and chicken was on sale so I stocked up as much as freezer space would allow.
Sorry about the canner. That's a bummer especially since all you need is a hot water bath for the jelly. At least you got your money's worth out of the microwave.
We were talking about it on the way home and Skywise wants to replace the van first since it's nearly 20 years old (we got it VERY used about 7 years ago), everything is wearing out and parts are getting very hard to find. The car is an '02 that we got used too but it had been part of a company's fleet and had been very well maintained. We've kept up with the maintenance so while the body is showing some wear, it still runs really well. We're hoping that we can get another year or two out of the van (since we put a newish engine in it last winter) before we replace it. Of course, if something else major breaks, we may be shopping a lot sooner!
NOT gonna think about it now though!

Morning! We're back and I can collapse. I got up feeling like I'd run a marathon and hadn't slept at all. Fortunately, protein, caffeine and high fructose corn syrup seem to be reviving me a bit. I'm going sit here, get caught up and try to get my cognitive functions online.....

Skywise called a bit ago. He called the auto shop after he left -- cellphones are handy for that -- and the new parts are put in and were being tested. The owner of the shop is also going to see what he can do about our temperamental windshield wiper. He thinks a new blade assembly might help. Replacing the entire windshield wiper system is impossible. They don't make them anymore. Big surprise! So we (him and us) are hoping that he can get it working well enough to hold for a year or two. Meanwhile, Moonie has started a "New Van Fund" at the "First National Bank of Peanut Butter" -- a large, washed out peanut butter jar -- to help out when the time comes to get a new van. I hope we can find another Windstar, we really like this one.

There is a hornet's nest around here and the damned things keep getting in the house after dark when they SHOULD be settled down for the night.

Dreary, rainy day. Makes me sleepy. We got home from Greenwood, the Queen laid down on me and I promptly fell asleep. She wouldn't have caught me if I hadn't gotten prone to rest my legs.

Morning.
Danger Princess, the Prince and Skywise are all on the roof.

Dinner is cooking. The humidity is FINALLY starting to go down. It looks like it will be reasonably clear tomorrow with no rain so we'll be able to run our errands and pick up the van without getting soaked. Thanks be to the Weather Gods!

I've been figuring out how big the new map of Samgara should be and how the grid system will work. It isn't perfect as it makes no allowance for the fact that the planet is more or less round but for what it's needed for, it will work. The map will be 69 inches high (one inch equals 80 miles) and I don't know how long yet but 7 or 8 feet does not seem unreasonable.

Time for me to head out.

Everyone sleep well and be safe.

Well, I cooled off and got caught up. Then I went outside and got all sweaty again but I did get a couple of pressing outside chores done. Barring downpours, I'll be working on the window well drain tomorrow. I might do some "preliminary" today but I'm not sure. It's hotter than it is has been and I don't want to get overheated. It will be somewhat cooler tomorrow -- at least in the morning -- so that's when I should do the heavy digging.