was making a mechanical growl, took off the cover, and saw the gear grinding a few cog teeth one way and then the other. I tried thawing it out with a blast from the hair dryer and thought it'd worked but soon it was back to growling and not making ice. So I called Mr. Fixit and asked him if it could be repaired and he said there's no fixing ice makers, they just take them out, toss them, and replace them. He quoted me just under $300 for parts and labor. That seemed a lot like half of how much a new one would cost so I checked a couple places--and it's about a third. When I got home I decided to try one more time with the hair dryer but stand on a chair and thaw out and remove all of the ice in there, essentially starting fresh. And you know what? It worked! You could have knocked me over with a feather when I opened the freezer to see a row of maker ice on top of the ice 
I had high hopes of completing Dress no. 1 (v. 4) yesterday. I got the shoulders and side seams sewn and the bias binding of the neck and armholes applied but got interrupted (and too tired, to be honest) to hem it and apply the pockets. I'll do those things today. (but I did get the laundry done while I was down there--yay!)
One of the reasons I was tired was because after Durwood complained of a sore back when he got up I stripped his bed and turned the mattress. Actually I just rotated it 180 degrees; the next time it needs turning that will mean flipping it over and I'll probably need a helper.
The other reason I didn't get that tunic/dress done is because I made WW Shrimp & Grits for supper. Yes, you can have that rich and delicious dish on program. (7 points) There're lots of veggies cooked with the shrimp (thanks for all the chopping, Durwood) and a single smoked turkey sausage link is diced into it. The grits are cooked in low-fat chicken broth and cheesed with one of those Laughing Cow Light garlic-herb wedges with a sliced green onion stirred in. Yum. You totally wish you'd eaten here last night. (btw, I'm very disappointed that they changed the name from La Vache qui Rit to Laughing Cow [which is the same name only in English], I thought the French sounded cooler; way to dumb-down the cheese, guys)
This pair of young orioles has adopted our feeders as their own. They're even such good pals that they can share the birdbath with each other and other birds too. Not robins though, robins are just too enthusiastic and splashy bathers for any other bird to endure.
The garden is doing well. Tomatoes continue to ripen and one of these days, soon, I need to get out to snip off some leaves so there's air circulating in the tomato jungle.
August 23--Vincent van Gogh, Boats ont he Beach of Les-Saintes-Maries. Those boats looked all wrong stranded in the sand far above the tide line. There were four of them, their rigging all strung, rudders lying like broken wings across the seats. Daria liked the red one with the moustache painted on its bow. She thought it must look funny as it rode the waves with sea foam rolling off like shaving soap. Leo stood next to the mast of the green boat calling out orders to his imaginary crew. The twins, Fred and Tom, chose the two blue boats because they were identical and so were Fred and Tom. They fought off marauding pirates or savage natives. None of them noticed the dark gray clouds massing on the horizon until the wind picked up and pelted them with sand and spray. None of them noticed that the tide had risen to float the boats until they started to drift.
The hot and humid moved east overnight and it's gloriously cooler and dryer. I have the house open and real air is pouring in the windows. Ahhh.
--Barbara
1 comment:
Ahhhh that moment when you can open the windows and the breeze wafts in. Always loved that when we lived in Syracuse. And the orioles bathing together -- sounds romantic somehow! Kudos for the hair dryer fix of the ice maker. Well done!!
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