Mountain Mama's Point Of View

  The continuing saga of the stove I got for Christmas. Lovely as it is ..... it is still missing the oven door. The repairman was scheduled to come last Thursday, but was delayed until today. It will be yesterday when you read this. I had already posted today while waiting for the sun to burn bright and warm the day. You may recall that I stopped the man with hammer as he headed for the stove to "fix" the problem. He made all the necessary calls to GE for the warranty and they contacted the repair facility they contract with. The man called and said he was on the way. I didn't move, as I was in the middle of a thought. Still in my doxie pj's I heard the arrival and scurried to corral the canines and head to my bedroom to contain them and put clothes on. HeWho is not cognizant of his surroundings opened the door and let the man in. Much barking and sniffing ensued and the furry clad contingent seemed to like the intruder. He was very nice, but appalled at the conditio...

  I was sitting here in my favorite spot, reading blogs and sipping coffee when I heard a scratching behind me on the right side. It sounded like it was inside and I immediately jumped up to look. Logically, I knew it was nothing actually in the house. The three canines would have alerted the world to the presence of an intruder. Bo would have screamed and Toni Louise would have risen from her nap behind the recliner that is usually being held to the floor by HeWho. Eddie, being a dachshund, bred to hunt small critters would have done just that. So, no mayhem inside the house had me looking out the window. No problem finding a window, since my entire outer wall is covered with windows. It was loud enough that I expected to see a bear, but they are hibernating currently. Aren't they? Maybe one awoke and decided to visit and complain that my garbage bins were empty ... I saw nothing. Nary a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. For someone who likes critters, I am not at all fond ...

  Dora, the turte is happy with a larger area to explore. She even has a floating log. My idea for a sunning platform is not working, so I ordered one and I can hardly wait to put a lot more water in her new home so she can dive to the bottom. After hunting for a larger habitat and finding aquarium prices to be like a mortgage payment, something I no longer have and don't want, I found a substitute quite by accident while wandering around Walmart. I am pretty sure it is meant to house Christmas decor, but it is narrow enough to sit where the old habitat sat. It is deep enough to hold many gallons of water for Dora's adventures. Dora loves it! The old habitat was blue and she couldn't see clearly, now she follows my every movement. I think she might be smiling. So far, we have yet to make a good seal in the hole HeWho drilled, knowing he had the wrong size bit. Swore he could "fix" it. He purchased three corks, none fit, then he decided to carve away at one and it ...

  The recent warm days have had me in my She Shed. Hours spent with the drill and jig saw, as I am rethinking my lay out. The shed is big, but space is still a premium not to be wasted.  One dilemma is access to the lofts on either end. I have a ladder, but I have to haul it up to my shed from the tool shed. Kind of awkward, not that heavy, but if I decide to leave it in my shed, it takes up precious space. I am thinking to make some cubes along the wall in the middle of the floor space. I can stack them  and use them as steps, and storage. In order to do this, I need to move a counter top and some wood to work with. In order to move the counter top, I need to move all the counter tops .... I am basically starting completely over. Progress seems to be slow. My drill battery died and I had to quit for the day.  I needed my sewing machine for some mending and set it up on my kitchen table. Much to my dismay, it needs some work. I took it apart and clean and oiled every...

  Aging is a strange thing. Memories can be triggered by the oddest things and once prompted you tend to ponder the memory and remember all the details. One such memory got stuck in my mind as I went about my daily chores this morning. I was making the bed and suddenly thought of a woman I had not thought about in a long time. I don't remember the exact year, but thinking back to how old the children were I have narrowed it down to the early 1980's. We were attending a Pentacostal church in our search for the perfect fit for our family. Turns out, there is no such thing. Since a church is made of the individual people who meet there every week and not a one is perfect, you will find that there is no perfect fit. This one was pretty close and most of the people we encountered there are remembered with heartfelt fondness. There are always those in any group (church or otherwise) who tend to feel they have a handle on everything and their way is the "right" way. Above cr...

  When last we met, I had the stove, but it did not have a power source hooked up and was missing the oven door. Sorry, let me rephrase that. The door was here, just not actually attached to the oven. The delivery guys took it off to get it through the door opening. HeWho needed it off to facilitate his tinkering, so it was not an issue. The stove was all tinkered with to change it from natural gas to LP gas and slid into the gaping hole in the kitchen. I was watching a movie on Netflix to keep myself occupied during the tinkering. I tend to want to question the man and offer suggestions. He does not appreciate my input, so it is better if I am silent. He was hooking up the existing line to the new stove when his wife's nose twitched. "I smell gas." I figured it would not be a good idea to remain silent since I have a very keen sense of smell that HeWho does not have. Gas leaking into our confined space could not be good. I heard the burner ignite and hoped it was burning...

  The new range was delivered without a hitch late yesterday afternoon. Wait, I lied. Of course there was a problem! It came with out the orifices needed to change it from natural gas to propane. HeWho had to drive to Murphy to get them, so it was dark by the time he returned with the needed parts and our dinner. We ate and then he fiddled with the new stove for a bit. Bedtime came and we called it a day and retreated to our bed. The stove is still in the middle of the room, waiting to be moved into the kitchen and hooked up to its power source. This is progress! Slow, but progress, nonetheless. I just might cook today. I might bake a cake in case you are coming over! Such excitement, I can barely stand it. I will not declare victory until it is actually hooked up and in use .....