No Such Luck

Well.  Turns out that the previous Fixit guy didn't have to lay hands on the fan & motor to do what he did so there was no earthly way that he was responsible for the fan flying off the air conditioner.  *sigh*  It would have cost about $1600 for them to replace the fan & motor and then there was no way to know if the flying blade had nicked or punctured the coolant lines, so if it leaked we'd have to get a whole new a/c anyway and wouldn't get a rebate on the sixteen hundred clams.  We got a whole new air conditioner.  (It cost a little more but it has a 12 year parts warranty, 12 YEARS.)  It was installed in about 5 hours (with 3 guys and a lot of duct hammering) so by 9 PM cool air was once again flowing into our house and the pollen, molds, and other particulates that make breathing a challenge for Durwood were on their way out.  You know, I never really think about how much work it must be to breathe until I look at his face at the end of a day like yesterday, then I give thanks that I'm spared that.

I got to drive over the new flying ramp from Highway 41 North to Highway 29 West yesterday on my way to a holiday lunch.  It was very cool and wa-a-a-ay up in the sky, also not so much of a hassle to make the transition as it was when you had to exit the highway, go through about 3 traffic lights, and cross a bunch of heavy traffic to get to the other road.  I will be very glad when all of the road construction is done.  It's annoying with rough roads, detours and closures in surprising places, and it isn't going to end anytime soon.  I feel sorry for the people who live close to Hwy. 41, their houses have to be filled with noise and dirt.

I couldn't resist starting another yarn-y project last night after I mowed the lawn (around the a/c installers).  I've slacked off making chemo hats, only made one in May and none in June, so I need to get back on that horse.  I frogged the beginning of a hat made with 2 colors of Microspun (it's really soft) and Tunisian crochet, and just used the yarn to start a hat with my old favorite crochet pattern.  This yarn's a bit thinner than worsted so I'm hoping that it'll make a good hat for a newly bald head.  Fingers crossed.

This morning I heard tapping on the patio door and looked to see a little chickadee clinging to the chicken wire around my lettuce planter.  It dropped down onto the step and sat there peeping, looking pretty sorry for itself.  I figure it's one of the latest batch of chickadees hatched in the birdhouse nearby.

July 6--Mesopotamia, Head of a Man.  Bonny kept looking at the ivory head she had unearthed all the while she was planting her witch hazel.  It stared back at her with its empty eyes and prim mouth.  She had read accounts of farmers in England plowing up golden treasures for years but she couldn't for the life of her figure out where the local tribes would have gotten ivory to carve.  She supposed it could be woolly mammoth ivory, there was one of those on display at the museum downtown so they must have lived around the area.  Once she had her bush planted and watered she carried the head over to the patio table to examine it more closely.  She used a soft rag and plain water to get the dirt off, then she looked at it for tool marks and hoped to find a way to identify who made it or where it came from.  When she looked at the base she found a mark.  It said "Made in Taiwan."  Disappointment flooded through her.  She picked up the head and shoved it face first into the dirt under her newly planted bush and went inside to clean up.

I want to make a batch of coleslaw today for a lunch side dish so I'm off to Walmart for ingredients.  It's got fennel bulb in it.  Have you ever had that in a salad?  It's really good, kind of a surprising taste in an old standby.  Better print out the recipe...  Talk amongst yourselves.
--Barbara