Luckily, I was able to take a shower yesterday morning with no issues, because barely an hour later I had a call from Rusty about a ruptured water heater!
Long story short:
Water heaters don’t last long with our uber-hard water — this is at least our 5th in 30+ years, maybe 6th
Almost 5 years to the day since the last time (memorable because our 2nd-ever Airbnb guests had just arrived)
There was still a year left on the warranty
Kate was around & able to assist as needed
It took all damn day (poor Rusty) (but he wanted to do it himself)
The weather was awfully nice, and there is, of course, no snow, which made getting the old one out & the new one in much more “pleasant.” We even sat on the pergola for a while!
I assisted just a little bit to get the new water heater positioned, and took out a bunch of packing to recyling/trash. I discovered a few things along the way:
Tulips outside the back porch door, allium & bleeding heart in the backyard.
I did a little running around on Saturday morning — an estate sale, stops at Home Depot & the grocery store, helping Kate load a table into the car for her new office — but the rest of the weekend was very C.H.I.L.L.
That’s my nap-time view to the Garden Room — one I enjoyed, at least momentarily, on both Saturday & Sunday. I slept for a solid & surprising 2.5 hours on Saturday afternoon… one of those where I don’t think I moved a muscle the entire time… still recovering from the bug I had earlier in the week, I guess.
I putzed & puttered the rest of the time. Chatted with Annie. Knit.
And enjoyed some video & still dispatches from Ali of a proud Ginny — who is starting to figure out the Rubik’s Cube! It was fun to watch her puzzle it out.
I’m doing okay with the time change, probably with thanks to the naps! Even so, I was glad that the Oscars started early. Did you watch? I think my favorite part was Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” spectacle!
I have one of my long weekends coming up… and I look forward to it all the way from Monday! My new living room light fixture will be installed on Friday, along with a couple of other lighting upgrades & consulting about a couple of other things. I’m thinking the rest will be filled with kiddo time, continuing with taxes & cleaning out/organizing my workroom, and whatever else comes my way… there’s always something else!
ONE I tagged along on a #whirlwindarttripwithkate to Minnesota last weekend. The impetus for the trip was a visit to the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona to see a show by Karen Goulet (Ojibwe) and Monique Verdin (Houma) titled Aabijijiwan / Ukeyat yanalleh (It Flows Continuously)for an article that Kate is working on for Arts Midwest. (Click that link to see her pretty face, then scroll down to peruse the articles she’s already written for them.)
All of those shows are mind-blowing. I took photos but, seriously, the museum does a much better job and visiting those links is well worth your while… and there is much more to entice. I am certain that I’ll be visiting that museum again!
From Winona we drove north along the Mississippi to Minneapolis. We stayed at a very fine hotel downtown, enjoyed some lovely meals & drinks… fancy digs for visiting thrift shops & used book stores! It was great.
I picked up a bug on the way home, though, and was pretty sick on Monday/Tuesday. I’m finally feeling close to 100% today. Thank god, just in time for the weekend!
TWO I brought knitting along, of course. I even brought Ali’s blanket panel — determined which colors I’d need, so I wasn’t schlepping more than necessary — but, of course, I didn’t knit a stitch of it. I did do a little looking ahead to Maddy’s panel, though, and put in an order to replenish some colors that are running low, along with more black for the border. It’s amazing to actually be contemplating knitting the border!
THREE That’s not to say that I didn’t knit! My current Musselburgh isn’t suitable for travel — I’m still figuring it out, so it’s neither mindless nor relaxing at the moment. Instead, I cast on a Garter Yoke Baby Cardi (Rav) for a coworker’s new baby girl, and I made some progress.
I had just sorted through a bunch of yarn, y’know, and came across this crazy hank — some bright blue, a little light pink, and quite a bit of purple. Purple : Amethyst : February Color (birthstone). I’m sticking with that. I added a slip stitch every 10 stitches in an effort to minimize weird pooling/flashing, and I like it… I also like that, by some stroke of luck, the pooling is happening in a pleasing & pretty symmetrical way!
That photo was taken a couple of days ago. I began the garter stitch border at the bottom edge of the cardi last night. I should have a finished sweater next week!
FOUR Everyone’s summer schedules/plans are on the calendar and I’m already exhausted! Kate’s heading west for work in mid-May, Rusty’s joining her in early June for a West Coast road trip, they’ll return in time for Maddy’s arrival, at which time Ann & fam will be wrapping up their month-long visit, and Viv will still be due to arrive!
There’s also a temporary change at work coming up this spring wherein I won’t have my lovely long weekends, but, in exchange, I will likely grab an extra day here & there throughout the busiest part of summer when I’ll need it most.
FIVE With all that in mind, Rusty & I took a good look at the calendar to plan a last-long-weekend-get-away… while we still can! So, last night I booked a sweet motel in Escanaba, where we’ll stay on a Friday night next month as we get a head start on our way to Sault Ste Marie! I originally looked at doing some of the Lake Superior Circle Tour, but really would like to just do a little exploring here & there while I mostly sit & watch boats go by. I found a sweet Airbnb for three nights on the Canada side, only about half-hour from Soo Locks, that looks perfect!
I would like to drive up the east side of the lake to Wawa… a little nod to nostalgia. My dad took us on the Circle Tour in about 1970 (don’t do the math — that’s an unfathomable number), which is the last time I was in that area. I’ll have to queue up Gary Puckett & The Union Gap for the drive…. that was the soundtrack of that trip! Have a great weekend!!
