Annisquam Puzzler

A few weeks ago I was hired to repair a broken hammer shank on an old upright piano. The customer wasn't sure they would be home, so they gave me the address, said the front door would be open, and they would leave payment on the piano. The home was on the water in Annisquam. Annisquam is a picturesque, upper class section of Gloucester. Lots of old homes on private roads. Great, I thought, I'll take the camera!

I was amazed that I found the home on my first try. Weaving around narrow private roads that were indistinguishable from driveways, then down a steep winding narrow road to the end. What a view. Guess what? The husband of the client had just arrived home and waited for me at the gate that led to the front yard and door. I thought it best to leave my camera in the truck for the time being. After all, I'd certainly have opportunity for picture taking once I was leaving.

The job was simple, getting access to the spot in the piano wasn't. As I was working, Mr. Client announced that he would be leaving for their summer home up the street. Huh? Yep, they own two homes there. The summer home didn't have "deep water" for below freezing temperatures. This house did. Fine with me if he left. It would mean I'd have more chance for picture taking!

I finished the repair, fixed the piano case so that it would be easier to get apart the next time, and packed up and left. I was anxious to get to my camera! As I exited the gated walk, a car pulled up next to my truck.

Mrs. Client.

Then Mr. Client came back.

They chatted and chatted until I had to leave for my next job.

No pictures.

So........

I went back about a week later with my Mom in tow. Just to tour around Annisquam. I took her down the winding narrow road and once we reached the bottom I was pleased that there were no other vehicles. Here's a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Client's view. All the way across the Annisquam River to Wingarsheek Beach and beyond to Ipswich.

While we were out driving about I took a few other photos. This is the back patio area of the Rockport Public Library. Mom had to drop off a couple books before we drove to Annisquam!

And here is a waaaaayyyyy cool tree growing out of the granite ledge!

Finally, this is the Annisquam puzzler for you all to solve. It's sort of an advance version of hidden picture.

The clues...there is one hidden object, it was to be the subject of the photo, I had to take this photo on the fly as the subject was uncooperative.

First correct answer wins the admiration of all those post readers who are still going cross-eyed or who couldn't be bothered.

Playing in My Sandbox

I'm going to try to keep this brief. I've met many wonderful people online and through this blog. I intend on meeting many more. Everyone is welcome to submit a comment on any of my posts. However, I feel it is only fair to publicly state a few conditions.

While comments are encouraged (there are some readers out there who don't, I know who you are!) , I will continue to moderate publishing comments.

General laid back conversational stuff is great.

Opinions are always read enthusiastically. I will even publish those that don't agree with mine!

I love "meeting" new readers and will ALWAYS check out any links that are a result of their comments. So, if you have a questionable content blog and want to comment on mine, you'll have to do so anonymously or with a different name so that the link to your blog does not appear.

That being said, I WILL NOT publish personal attacks on me or any other reader.
I WILL NOT intentionally contribute, even in a secondary manner, to the "rumor mill".
I WILL NOT allow links that I feel possibly contain offensive material. If this means that your comment is rejected, well, so be it.

I truly appreciate the folks who READ my blog because they ENJOY it.

The rest need not comment.

This is MY sandbox. Play nice with each other!

OH YEAH....I'm going to the other Cape for a day and a half to visit Dad's grave at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne and to visit my uncle at his new residence. SO...if your comments don't appear right away, don't worry, you haven't been banished! I'll be back Tuesday. (And I'm taking the camera)

Gala Event?

Ahem.............

If you remember a few weeks back I was invited to attend the 80th Gala of the Sandy Bay Historical Society. While being a specially invited guest saved me the $20 ticket, it cost me $91 for a suitable outfit! I guess I don't mind. Hopefully someday, before it goes out of style, I shall be able to wear it again. Seriously, it's not super dressy or anything. A nice pair of dressy black slacks and a pretty, lightweight, wrap sweater with a satin collar and side tie. And I got to wear my four inch heels. It feels strange to be tall! No, there will be no photos. I HATE having my picture taken. Besides, photos just remind me of how old I'm getting and I refuse to believe it.

The Gala was from 5:30 - 8:30 in the Grand Cafe of the Emerson Inn. Yep, we party to the wee hours here in Rockport. Since it is on street parking only, I got there a bit early to be sure I could find a close space. I can't walk very far in four inch heels. I sat in my truck watching some of the first arrivals. Two older ladies, an elderly man with a walker, a lady with a cane hanging on to a bent over man. Then came the lady with the pinkish hair and the ruby red pantsuit. She was followed by a couple that I know, the wife was also sporting a walker! And I was making an appearance with no accessories! Oh boy, this was going to be interesting. I got up my nerve and ventured from my truck to the entrance of the Emerson Inn. At least now I knew that there would be someone that I knew in attendance.

The Grand Cafe of the Emerson is a tastefully decorated period dining area on the first floor of the inn. For the $20 ticket, we were to expect fancy hors d'oeuvres. It was a cash bar. I picked up the professionally printed program of the evening and entered the main room. The curator, who had invited me, gave me a once up and down lookover. I smiled at her and said, "Yes, I can get dressed up you know!" There was a middle aged man playing "old favorites" on the Steinway grand, a table set up as the bar, and a small table with crackers, cheese, raw veggies and dip. Certainly this wasn't the fancy stuff? I grabbed a minute plate and loaded it with two cubes of cheese, two strawberries, a slice of cucumber, a sliver of red pepper and one cracker. It was full. I headed to an adjoining room where round tables invited my already tired, heeled feet. The couple I knew were already seated and I joined them. And to my relief, more food was brought around, on teeny tiny trays, by the waitstaff. The first tray had a dozen stuffed mushrooms. I HATE mushrooms. I just don't see the attraction of eating rubbery fungus, sorry. Still starving I anxiously awaited the next offering. As the little tray was presented to our table my heart sank. A dozen miniature open-faced sandwiches featuring some kind of ground up sausage. Nope, not for me. It's sausage-y and I don't do questionable cold meats.

Still starving at 6:30.

Another little tray was graciously brought to our table. This time it was microscopic quiche tartlets. By then I was desperate. How dangerous could a mini quiche be? I took one. Only one because, presented as they were, it would have looked hoggish to take more than that. My hungry stomach was nearly crawling up my throat for that quiche. With good etiquette in mind, I took just a small bite.

And nearly gagged.

Anchovy! Eeeeewwwwww, yuck.

And there I was with 2/3 a tartlet left in my hand, no plate, no napkin, and nowhere for it to go but in my mouth. I took a deep breath and held it, popped the rest in my mouth and hurriedly chewed and swallowed before exhaling. Gone.

But that flavor...

just lingered....

and lingered...

I had to get to the cash bar for something to wash the abhorrent taste down. A glass of wine sounded good, but I'd had next to nothing to eat since noontime so I didn't dare. I opted for my easy, non-alcoholic stand by, sparkling water with lime. It was served with lots of ice and an almond sized piece of lime in a small wine glass. It cost $2.75! When I returned to my table, the lady sitting next to me eyed my drink and inquired what it was. After I told her she asked, "Did you have to pay for that?" When I responded, yes, she told me her glass of white wine had cost her $6.00!

There was a little program presented by an ancestor of the founder of the historical society (twas founded 80 years ago, thus the gala) and a short talk by the curator (my host). We chatted at the table for a bit more and then called it an evening. As I was making my exit, I ran into another acquaintance. She was having a good time standing next to the piano singing. She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me over. I was trapped. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and indicated that I should sing along with her. I made good fun of it without actually participating! Then I grabbed my free candy sampler donated by Tuck's Candy and made my escape.

And so went the 80th Gala! In all honesty, I did have fun. Out for a bit socializing is nearly always fun. But, am I ever glad that I was a guest and didn't have to pay the $20! The historical society did a spectacular job with the invitations, printed programs, speakers and the exhibit (forgot to mention that they had a mini history of the historical society table). Even the piano player was good. I was less than impressed with the Emerson Inn's catering.

postscript - The candy was given to my mom. I'm not a big fan of candy. You may call me weird.

Frigate Friday

It's been over a century since the original plan. It's been 57 years since the last appearance.

What, you ask?

The Sandy Bay Harbor of Refuge.Yes, we were to be the home of the North Atlantic Fleet. The "Great White Fleet" of President Theodore Roosevelt. The 1906 photograph above shows a line up of battleships entering Sandy Bay from the north. Many large warships would come and go as the twentieth century began it's infancy, but by the time WWI came along, Sandy Bay had dropped out of the picture as the home port for the Atlantic Fleet. Annual stop-over visits by the fleet became the norm from 1896 until 1919. Then with the halt of the breakwater construction, subsequent years saw only visits by a single ship. This continued annually through 1950, with one ship making the visit to the Sandy Bay Harbor of Refuge. Then the visits ceased.

Until this year when Rockport Patrolman and Navy veteran, Roger Lesch, along with other interested parties including Representative Verga and Senator Tarr, arranged the first visit by a naval vessel in 57 years. This year we were visited by the frigate USS Boone. The hope is that once again a yearly visit will become a reality.

It all began on Friday the 12th. A miserably damp and windy day for the Boone to arrive in Sandy Bay. Here is the frigate at anchor just off Rockport. The arrival of the Boone coincided with Rockport's annual Harvest Fest so there would be a lot of people in town to see the ship. Many events were planned including a reception at the Sandy Bay Yacht Club, ship tours for the public, tours of Thacher Island for the Boone's crew, golf at the Rockport Country Club for the crew, a nighttime softball game at Evans Field with the crew pitted against the Rockport police and fire departments, a tug-a-war on Front Beach, and a kayak race. Here are some pictures from Evans Field. Seems the Rockport guys were playing much better than the crew. I didn't stay to the end because it got way too cold to be standing on a granite wall so I don't know the final score, but how much practice at softball can you get while stationed on a frigate?The Boone's crew seemed to have a fantastic time playing and watching the game. The town provided hot dogs and burgers and hot chowder and coffee for the game.

The crew was invited to tour Sandy Bay on local lobster boats, there was a public open house at the American Legion, and a concert by the Navy Northeast Show band at the high school. As you can see, our weather had drastically improved by Saturday!Sunday would be the last day for touring the ship and at 6 p.m. there was a VIP reception on the aft deck.What a successful weekend for Rockport. Town was packed with people for the Harvest Fest, sidewalk sales, craft fair, children's activities, concerts, games, and of course the visit of the USS Boone!

I Really Shouldn't

be taking time to blog. I should get to bed and get a good night's sleep in anticipation of.....


The gargantuan amount of work that I've got to do.

I'm reaching borderline panic stage.

In some ways I hope that it slows down just a bit! Well, actually I'm thankful that the income is good but the timing could have been a little more evenly spaced. Here's what my job board looks like. Names have been altered (squiggled) to protect the mostly innocent. The black check marks show jobs that have been completed. Those are from the last couple weeks of September and the first week of October. Customer X from the last post has finally sent the money and his keys are being worked on. By the way, here's a picture of how customer X packed his keys. Now tell me, would you want your finished keys packed in that manner? Yeesh, I'll have to find a bigger box to pack them properly to avoid damage in shipping. Customer Y has paid in full. Customer Z still owes me. Another technician's keys were completed and shipped today. H.....'s keys arrived today and the rest (another four sets) are due to arrive on Friday. The Bo....job in the middle of the board is a big one. I placed one supply order for that job and I have to wait until the work arrives to order some more things that are custom sized. And still two in home service jobs tomorrow morning, the reed organ to finish and the player piano parts to finish and return to the piano in the customer's home.

All before the end of the month.

Must mention that there will be more key jobs arriving in the upcoming weeks to add to the load.

I told you that H's keys arrived today. H is a really nice customer. He sent keys for rebushing, does not need new keytops but wanted to know how to clean up the existing tops. They are made of pyralin and many are badly stained. I experimented with one today and steel-wooled the stains out and then carefully machine buffed the keytop. Pyralin will burst into flames with very little heat so buffing has to be swift and cautious. If you get a bit zealous, well.....poof! I'm going to surprise H with a cleaned up set of tops - no charge.

And while I'm doing a work related post I will include a "What's It?" This tool belonged to my paternal grandfather. I want to know what it is. The "handle/gauge/whatever" will slide up and down the incline and can be locked into place at any point along the slope. So are there any machinists out there that know the function? My grandfather was a machinist for McCall's magazine, maintaining all the printing equipment for the company sometime during the 1940's and 50's. And sparring partner for Jack Johnson on his (Jack's) voyages to Europe, and a no hit pitcher! Stories for other times. Anyway, show this picture to your knowledgeable friends if you don't know what it is, and get an answer to me.

Thanks and good night..............

Can You Spare a Dime?

There are some moments in time when lots of annoying things seem to collide. I guess this week was one of those moments. And it's not even a full moon!

Now, for those of you who don't know, as part of my business I do piano key recovering for the trade. In other words, piano technicians from around the country ship damaged or worn piano keys to me. I make them like new. A bit over simplified as an explanation but it will do.

I guess I'll attack this chronologically.

Customer X...Last July I received a set of keys from a new technician/customer. As is customary, he enclosed prepayment for the job. Only problem was that his prepayment was $15.00 short. Not a problem, I thought. When I shipped the finished keys back to him I put a note with the receipt that "current due" was $15.00 and included a copy of the price list/ad that runs in the Piano Technician's Guild Journal.

Customer Y...This past August I received a set of keys from a longtime customer. They rarely prepay and I usually receive payment within a couple weeks. I did the work and shipped the keys back with a bill.

Just over two weeks ago, another set of keys arrive from customer Y. He requests a specialty keytop that is $125.00 more expensive than the "normal". He also had some questions, so I called. During the conversation he remarked that he was sending the payment for the previous job. Okay with me. I did the special job, still hadn't received the arrears payment, and wrote a bill and included it in the return shipment of the second job. The bill showed the amount due on the current job as well as the amount overdue on the previous, and the total.

No money.

Customer Z...needs a piano tuned at a certain location where I am normally the "contracted" tuner. I tell customer Z the price and we agree on the date that the piano will be tuned. I go and tune and mail the bill to customer Z. That was over a week ago.

No money.

I email customer Y asking that he check on the status of my payment. He owes $410.00. He replies that the check was issued on Sat. 22, that he'll put it in the mail on Fri. 28. Huh???

Well, at least it's progress of a sort. Maybe, just maybe?

Still no money and....

A box arrives. Customer X has sent another set of keys. Packed so poorly that there would be no way to return ship in the same undersized box without the new key coverings being damaged. And a prepayment check, $15.00 short. I emailed detailing the problem. Arrears $30. No problem, he says. He was looking at an older ad, he says. Sorry, he says. Whoever unpacked the previous keys must have thrown the bill away, he says. A $30.00 check will be in the mail. He says. The next day I was getting ready to head for the bank to deposit the check that he had enclosed, albeit for the shorted amount. And guess what I discovered?

He hadn't signed the check. (Have you heard my screaming around the world?)

So I emailed again with a copy of the unsigned check attached. I told him I would not be starting on his keys until I had received full payment. And I mentioned the packing problem, too. So sorry, he says. He take care of it.

Yesterday we were out for the day visiting friends in Plaistow, NH. When we got home I headed for the mailbox, truly expecting to be disappointed once again.

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! A check from customer Y. I finally got it on Oct 4 (it was postmarked on the 2nd). For $135.00 too much. Now I'm sending him an overpayment refund check. How long should I make him wait?

Which leads to the even bigger question.
Why, oh why, do I enjoy being self employed?


Do you think this guy had the same problems way back then? Found in an old upright piano. Check out the little phone number!


P.S. Still waiting on Customers X and Z.

His Honorableness

Judge Richard Mori has headed the Gloucester District Court for five years. He will now be working as a circuit judge, overseeing jury trials. This will take him from the district court here in Gloucester as it does not handle jury trials. He has been temporarily assigned to Salem District Court until his trial schedule is determined. Seems a strange thing to say, but, I'll miss him.

When the Rockport Police and the District Attorney decided to pursue criminal harassment charges against my ex-husband, I was asked by the DA's office to file a Restraining Order against said ex. I was told that they were asking for this as a precautionary measure in preparation for the time when he would be required to appear in court locally. I made my appearance in Judge Mori's court and with full understanding of the unique circumstances (my ex having returned to the UK), his honor granted the temporary RO and per law scheduled the hearing for 10 days later.

Well, the courts do not allow long distance phone usage for serving papers. No faxing! Therefore the RO would have to make it's way through the US postal system and the UK postal system to arrive at my ex's local police station. Once there, it would have to be hand served to my ex, a copy signed and dated by the UK police and that copy returned to the court here - before the scheduled hearing.

I can assure you it takes longer than ten days for that to happen.

So........

I returned to court ten days later. No Judge Mori. There was a "fill-in". I'll refer to him as Judge JJ. Well, obviously the court had not yet received the "return" on the RO. Judge JJ was irate and asked why I hadn't seen to it! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He extended the RO for an additional week and told me to make sure the return was there by the next hearing. He had taken me by total surprise in front of open court. It was humiliating. I headed for the clerk of courts office and asked if I had been remiss. Was there something I was supposed to have done and not realized it? The clerk could tell that I was upset and assured me that Judge JJ had been out of line with his comments.

I was a wreck as I approached the next hearing so I checked with the clerk's office about the paperwork before entering the courtroom. The paperwork had been returned from the UK. And to give praise and credit, the UK police (Met) who had served the RO had called the Gloucester court to tell them when it had been served and to let them know that it was on the way back!

Phew.

I walked into the courtroom just before the end of the first session. Judge Mori was back.

The second session started and I was first to be called. After I answered a few questions, Judge Mori granted the one year RO and scheduled a renewal hearing for the following year.

And then.

He did something that will endear me to him forever.

He apologized for the treatment I had endured from Judge JJ.

As Judge Mori moves to preside over jury trials I only hope that the next time I'm called for jury duty it is in his courtroom.

Short Takes from Lanesville 3

Well, I've delayed some in writing this story as I was hoping to come up with a photo to go with it. After about a week of on and off hunting, I have come up with....

Nothing.

So, without illustration, here's the story.

It's called "Stumped".

It was twenty-nine years ago this month. Doc and I had been living in the house for just over six weeks. We had been working hard, inside and out, to get everything ready enough for winter weather. With Halloween approaching, we had become concerned about practical jokers and worse. The house had been broken in to so many times over the years and as recently as two weeks before we moved in. Area teens had used it as a "party" house and we thought they may resent that "their" place was no longer available!

In anticipation of many dreaded possibilities, we decided that we should clear out some of the overgrowth surrounding the house. Years of neglect had encouraged the growth of many saplings. Mostly sassafras trees and straggly young oaks. We spent an entire week of free time with Doc brandishing the chainsaw and me hauling and loading the limbs into his truck. All the trees were left with the main trunk remaining about 2.5 - 3 feet above ground. Several dozen of them. This would provide the leverage to enable us to dig around the base, attach chain around the stump and to the truck, and pull the stumps with their roots. Stump pulling would have to wait until springtime when the ground would be soft and soggy.

We had visitors one evening shortly after we had thinned out "the forest". Not the invited type. It was coal black outside. Must have been a new moon. We heard a couple voices out back. Doc went into the kitchen to take a look out the window. Since the lights were off in the kitchen, no one could see him looking out. He said he could see two teenage boys climbing over the stone wall at the rear of our property. They were heading towards the house. We decided it would be best to just politely scare them off.

Doc opened the window a mere crack. Enough for his voice to be heard yet not enough that they would see or hear the window opening.

With a loud, stern voice he called out, "This is private property. You're trespassing!"

Their confident swaggers swiftly became panicked gallops as they headed past the house towards the front wall and the street beyond. But there was something powerful out there that they hadn't been able to see in the pitch blackness.




Those 2.5 - 3 foot high tree stumps.

The night awakened with yelps of pain.

Those Were The Days

Here it is, mostly for Little Wing, but I thought the rest of you might enjoy it, too. It's Shirley and Al on Al's "putt-putt". A late 1940's Harley...... in yellow.

Amazing A Maize Maze

Wednesday morning we headed out at around 9:30. Our first stop was Building 19 so that Mom could be sure that there wasn't an oriental rug there that she preferred to the one from Pelletier. We flipped stacks of rugs for about 45 minutes and then headed for Skip's for lunch. Since we had some time I decided to drive the less used (by us) side of the river. So instead of crossing from Haverhill to Groveland, we stayed on the Haverhill side. I had the camera with me and I wanted to stop and take pictures of the llamas at a local farm.

Just before we got to the llama hang out we came across a corn field maze. Guess there's more money in amusing folks than feeding them! It's a small maze but the first that I have seen in person. Since it was 90°F we didn't get "amazed". Maybe another day.

The llamas didn't cooperate for photo shooting but here are a couple that were the closest. There were half a dozen roaming around outside and a couple in the barn. Just managed to catch this one peeking around the corner. Too hot for them, too!

From the maze and the llamas, it was only a 10 minute drive to Skip's. Lori Matthews is in charge. Her mom and dad, Dot and Dave, the owners have semi retired. Lori was working the window and we told her how much we would miss our cheeseburger specials until Spring. I posted a photo of the Skip's sign on my post"Nummmba Foewha" when they opened for the season, so here's a picture of the front of the building. In the days I worked there, the front was "open air" and everyone ate in their car or at picnic tables. Now there is a dining room where people can eat in air conditioned comfort. We don't.

We decided that we needed to head directly home. Amanda had to be to work for 3 p.m. so there would be no stopping along the way.

We thought.

Some things you just have no control over.

Like bridges opening.
This is the Rocks Village bridge across the Merrimack River between the Rocks Village section of Haverhill and West Newbury. Since the river has been cleaned up there is a lot more boat traffic. This time of year people are moving their boats up river to be hauled for the winter. The Rocks Village bridge is a center swing, manpowered turnstile. Four men, two on each arm of the capstan. In the picture you can see the opening. When I took this they had just started to crank it closed.

And here we are waiting for the "stop arm" to be swung back and traffic to move. I took the picture from the driver's seat. Amanda did make it to work on time.

Hey, Hay guys!

On Tuesday we made our trek to Marini's Farm in Ipswich. Not far to drive compared to our normal excursions. There is not much to set Marini's apart from other country farms with roadside stores other than.......Hay People.Yes, we make the half hour (one way) journey each year to see these. And we buy a couple pumpkins. This year we bought some yummy tomatoes, too. Here are some more of the hay family.And the fourth.Here's a picture of Amanda and my Mom being pumpkin heads on the shoulders of one guy. Aside from being the "organizer" of pumpkins so Amanda and Mom could look them over from a distance and then being the carrier of the chosen pumpkins, it was a fun visit. I will say that Amanda and Mom weren't too bad about it. They only chose six to be lined up for judging and then picked two.

After the farm stop, we headed for the Northshore Mall so that I could shop for some dressy slacks and top for the 80th Gala of the Rockport Historical Society. I hate to say it, but it took far too long. TWO HOURS. I despise shopping when I HAVE to find something. And I spent more than I wanted, as well. Amanda bought some jeans and Mom bought socks. On the way home we stopped at Pelletier Rugs. My Mom picked out a nice 5 X 8 oriental for in the den.

We got home around 6 p.m. exhausted. I went down to the workshop for about an hours worth of work and then quit for the day.

Today it'll be work in the morning before leaving for Skip's for lunch. Our last cheeseburger specials for the season. Skip's closes this week and then opens again in late April. I wish we could avoid winter!

Poor Plumbing(er)

I am soooo #%#!!&%# irritated at the plumber that did our addition. If I were a violent person, well..........thankfully we'll never find out.

About a year ago our bathroom sink started draining slowly. Amanda has the bad habit of brushing her long hair over it, doing her makeup over it, and that adds up. No problem, I thought. I'll just pull the trap and clean it out.

Until....

I discovered what our plumber had done. The primary reason for a trap is that it traps water thereby preventing sewer gases from entering the house. The secondary purpose is to trap the stuff and gunk that you eventually need to clean out. For that reason traps are simple to remove. Loosen two large "nuts" that hold it in place and voila'.

So why would our plumber "hard plumb" one end of the trap? Yep, glued the joint. No nut. I resorted to chemicals down the drain.

Today I decided it was about time to find out why our shower merely drizzles water. It's possible that the shower head is somewhat obstructed with sediment and needs cleaning. Or maybe we just need a different type. This is a simple job for a homeowner. They sell shower heads of all varieties at home improvement stores. Just unscrew the old head, peel off the used teflon tape on the threads, put on new tape, install new shower head (or cleaned old one).

Unless you've had the plumber from hell.

The idiot screwed the shower head on sooooo far and sooooo tightly that I can't get it to budge. The entire angled pipe coming from the wall wants to unscrew first. I've used every possible tool and clamping device for the pipe that I can come up with. The shower head will NOT unscrew.

Now while it is possible that I may be able to safely unscrew the entire pipe and replace the lot, I was not going to try that a half hour before our local hardware store closed for the day!

This is not supposed to be this difficult! I replaced both shower heads at our house in Florida. One of those had been there since 1949 and even it unscrewed with no problem.

Idiot plumber.

Ability and Lacking

A day or two ago, while my Mom was out working in her front garden, a lady from a ways down the street stopped to say hello and ask how we all were doing. My Mom proceeded to fill her in on our activities including my recent "job" of installing Pergo flooring in her den and hallway. The neighbor looked at my Mom incredulously and rhetorically questioned, "Is there anything that Deb *can't* do?"

Well, there obviously is a lot that I can't do. Especially little things like...

Oh....

Flying a jet, walking in space, underwater welding, climbing Everest, bronco riding, and bull fighting come to mind.

Yeah, weird list.

So, here are some pictures of the Pergo job at my Mom's house. At the end of the hallway there is a door that joins to my house. And here is a view looking towards the deck where Squirt visits. He still comes a few days each week and several times those days to get peanuts. One more shot of the back wall of the den, next to the hallway and opposite the deck side.

Comments like the one the neighbor, Mrs. F., made and comments from Mary have prompted me to sit down and write my Ten Can't List. Aside from the biggies and the outlandish here are some things I just can't do or having to do keeps me awake at night and sickish.

Public speaking
Playing the piano for an audience (of one or more)
Highway driving in extreme weather conditions or in anticipation thereof
Driving into or through Boston (guess that could be any major city...Tampa doesn't bother me, though)
Heights (I'm good for about one story, then it's iffy. But I love ferris wheels)
Taking tests

and

Copper plumbing (my soldering would need loads of practice)
Major electrical (I can do minor things like new plugs and lamp wiring)
Automotive work (add to that lawn mowers, they're yucky and greasy and gasoline can go boom)
Operating a chainsaw

No need to remind me of the multitude of other can'ts.

Some of these things I really wish I could do. All right, most I wish I could do. I have decided that I shall not learn or unnecessarily force any of the above upon myself.

I'll add that in order to do the Pergo job for my Mom, I had to use a table saw. This is one of my least favorite power tools but I can make myself use one.

P.S. See that little oak bench used as a coffee table in front of the sofa? I made that, too! My Mom asked for one for Christmas a few years ago.

********************************
Just had to include this for the fun of it. Credit to D. Fandrich for the photo.

Nothing Fancy :-(

Just felt the need to "report in". Been busy. Really busy. Work, work, work. On keys (two sets shipped out yesterday), on the reed organ (working on some veneer repairs), and yep folks, working for my Mom (volunteer work).

Would someone please buy me a roll of duct tape for my mouth?

That way I would quit volunteering to do stuff.

On and off over the past week I've ripped up the wall-to-wall carpeting and the padding and the tack strips in her den and hallway. I had to remove all the baseboards to do this. I'm installing the Pergo flooring. It's now mostly done with only one last intricate corner board that also spans three doorways! Oh yeah, she wants the linen closet floor done, too, but that will be a cinch.

Today we hauled all the carpet and stuff to the dump and had to buy a $5 coupon at the DPW office to get rid of the debris.

My workshop looks like it snowed beige dust from all the sawing! What a mess to clean up.

I ache. My back, my wrists, my ankles, my legs, even the palms of my hands. My right elbow is the worst. I've had a lot of tunings mixed in between hammering and prying and driving "snap" joints together.

The floor is looking good, though!

I'll take pics when I have the energy.

More blogging to come later this week...even a Lanesville post!

Charity Case

I hate asking anyone for a favor. I have to be in dire need. I have learned over the past 15 years of being single (and only parent 24/7) that sometimes I just have to grit my teeth and ask for help with something. I pay back the favor, in turn, as soon as I can...or if it is someone that will accept nothing in return, I try to do an extra for another person. Passing along the good stuff about caring for one another (how sappy).

The past week's mail has been quite charitable. Oh yes, the normal bills and junk mail but... this arrived on Saturday while we were on our northern excursion. Enclosed with the invite was this note from the president. I guess they are appreciative of the reed organ rebuild that I donated to the historical society!

If I had received only the invitation, I would have probably paid the $20 and called it "advertising" by keeping my presence "out there" visible. I called and graciously accepted the special invite...thank you very much Sandy Bay Historical Society!

Monday's mail came as an enormous mound of envelopes. Oh drat, I thought, more bills. Amazingly there was not one bill. The bank statements (two for each of us), some catalogs, junk mail, and this... My mom got one, too. Ellen's has frequent diner cards. After filling them in (several meals to fill them) you gain points earning an amount off your following meal. Then you turn in the card (plural if you eat there a lot) and there is a drawing in the Fall. Biggest prize is $100 gift certificate. Several other lesser amounts are awarded ($50, $25). Seems we didn't win at all this year but they know we eat there a lot and were generous.

I'm feeling like a charity case!

Now, anyone feel like paying off a mortgage? No? How about a little Toyota Tacoma with only 14 payments left?

Guess no takers (giggle).

Intervale

Well, well, I must truly be a glutton for punishment. Ya see, I hate highway driving and I hate it even more when downpours are expected. No, make that absolutely dread the downpours. So what did I offer? Why to travel back to Intervale for a day trip on Saturday.

The initial weather forecast was for a sunny day with a chance of showers in the evening. This would be all right as I was planning on getting home before dark anyway. By the night before our departure the forecast had changed. Huge thunderstorms a possibility between 4 and 7 p.m. They would be moving in from the north northwest. Oh splendid. Now I need to get back home before all that. Or at least to familiar territory.

I didn't sleep well Friday night and was awake before the alarm went off at 5 a.m. We were leaving at 6 for the three hour drive. Yes, I was a wreck about the weather.

And just why were we making the trip? Remember that A sold his house in Intervale? He hurt his back last week and is trying to recuperate before his trip to Germany at the end of the month. He has ALL his stuff still in the Intervale house. We asked how he was arranging to get it back to Rockport. A didn't want to have to worry about it. He said that the new owners had told him he could just leave everything there if he wanted to. They'd take care of it, use it, whatever.

Uh huh.

No way. These people got an extremely good deal on the house and now they offer to take his stuff "off his hands". This means the paintings, furniture, china, silver, tools, grand piano, and more.

Sooooooo, I offered to make the trip, load as much of his personal belongings as possible and get them back to Rockport. Mostly the paintings (his, his deceased wife's, his father's, grandfather's, and his wife's father's) and a bit of small furnishings, tools, the silver, china, some linens, personal papers and photos, and a gorgeous ship model.

A was thrilled that we would do this and told us to bring back anything that we wanted for ourselves! Well, that would be impossible as we would need to add on to our house to have enough space for all the things we admired!

We left at 6 a.m. and made a pit stop in Newburyport 45 minutes later. Coffee from Dunkin' Donuts! Then it was on the road north with me keeping an eye on the sky. Things were looking good. Very little traffic and only patchy high clouds and some blue sky. Until we got to the Tamworth area and the sun went away. I noticed that the clouds were getting a bit of cumulus build-up. Oh yuck. It stayed cloudy all the way to Intervale (we take West Side Road to avoid traffic near the outlet shops). This map shows a big X where A's house is located. You can also find other interesting places including "Scarecrows" where we ate dinner last time and "Glen Junction" our favorite breakfast and lunch spot. Click on the maps to enlarge them. Amanda requested lunch at the Junction, this trip, so we called it her Choo Choo Chow.

We arrived at A's just before 9 a.m. and immediately got to work. We started upstairs before the day got too hot. Temperature's were supposed to be in the 90'sF. I hauled most of the paintings down the stairs and a rocker and two old footstools while my mother and Amanda packed up some linens, clothing, books, and glassware. We started stacking everything in the middle of the living room floor. Next we walked around downstairs selecting the best of the artwork from those rooms and packed up the ship model, china, silver, and more linens. I found an accordion A had mentioned and a recorder. He had also mentioned bringing back two small tables. Amanda and I climbed the steep stairs to the studio loft and found art portfolios and a nice oak straight chair. We had quite a "pile" and decided that it was the end of the "first choices". Time to load everything in the van and see if we had any room for "second choices".

First I loaded the furniture. The rocker, the straight chair, two stools and two little tables. On table is a very small gate-leg, the other a drop leaf. Then came the boxes with linens, the accordion, and the china. After the big and heavy things were loaded, I started standing the art work, one after the other across the back end of the van. On top of the heavy boxes I stacked a carton of smaller paintings and the carton with personal photos and the ship model. There was only a bit of room left. Just enough for a few hand tools, a couple more paintings, and a hall mirror that I really liked. We decided to check the cellar to see if there were any more tools to bring to A. Nothing much was left down there other than an enormous table saw. Impossible for us to transport!

We were loaded up and ready to roll! It was only 11:30 a.m.

Off to Glen Junction for Choo Choo Chow!

We were done with our lunch around 12:15 and hit the road for home. It felt good to be heading back. Still no rain in sight but I had this feeling that it wasn't far away. The sky had THAT look and the leaves on the trees were blowing showing their silvery undersides. I said that we would drive until we reached Newburyport and then we could get out to stretch legs and straighten aching backs. I could handle driving the back roads from Newburyport to home in the rain. The van could probably do the trip without me steering....yep, it's made it many, many times.

Then we changed plans. Instead of continuing on Rte 16/Spaulding Turnpike we decided to get off on Rte 125 in Rochester, NH. It made for a more interesting drive. It was so much nicer being on a two lane road rather than highway. The downside was that it added an extra half hour to the already long trip. Then we couldn't agree on a suitable"stretch stop". Since I was doing all the driving, I made the choice of NO STOPPING.

A very poor choice.

My butt really hurt. I'd been stuck in the same position for 3.5 hours in a van seat that is too deep for my legs. By the last half hour every bump in the road hurt.

We pulled in the driveway at about 4 p.m. I could barely straighten up when I got out of the van. We walked around for a bit and decided that we needed dinner, so guess what? Back in the van to drive to Friendly's. By the time we finished eating, it had started to sprinkle. By the time we got back in the house it was pouring, thundering and lightening. I was very glad to be home.

footnote: A was thrilled that we had manged to bring back so much of his stuff. Along with the furniture and other stuff, we brought over 50 paintings, numerous unframed watercolors, and several sketchbooks. From that Mom chose the rocker and a footstool and four paintings (two by A, two by A's father-in-law), Amanda wanted the "gothic"style straight backed chair, and I chose the gate-legged table, the hall mirror, and 3 paintings (by A's father-in-law, A's wife, and A's grandfather) and a signed lithograph. And we all ready own several of A's and his wife's paintings.

A kept wanting us to take more.

New Toys

Well, I went to Sears and picked up my new sander. Like any new toy I had to get it out of the box and set up. Some assembly required. I'm not as pleased with it as I am my older bench sander. They just don't make them like they used to. Literally. It will, however, suffice as a back-up and if needed to become the primary machine, will function well with a couple easy modifications.

While I was downstairs with the camera I decided to take some shots of the workshop. It all looks so confusing in these photos. Not really. It's also not as cleaned up as it was a couple days ago. I've been working on the upstairs woodwork, and the player, and the reed organ, and now two more sets of keys. This shot is of the "front" side of the shop where I do most of the key work. You can see the stairs that lead down from my kitchen in the back. This next one is the "back" side where I do most of the player piano and reed organ work. This last photo came out very strangely color-wise. There is no good explanation for this. This end of the shop is still getting organized. This was part of my Dad's half. Still to come is "his" other half where at present we are storing all the stuff for a late Spring yard sale.

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Another new toy. This time for you. As part of the upgraded Blogger, it's easy to add new page elements. So over time I'll be doing that. For now the new toy in the sidebar is a short list of blogs that I regularly read. If you haven't seen some of them, check them out. I'll be adding more eventually, but for now I listed the ones that I have been reading for quite some time.

Also, as promised for those of you that do not have an email address for me already on file. If you go to my profile page you will see a link for email. This address is checked only a couple times per week and is only for folks who have no other way to get in touch with me. It's just part of the anonymity of the Internet!

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Speaking of email, Internet, and just weird stuff. Some of you who have been reading here since the beginning will know how much I hate coincidence, yet have a fascination with it. Well, here I go again.

First thing yesterday morning I received a "junk" email on my business email account. Not spam. One of those fwd, fwd,fwd, sorts from someone I know. A piano tech that I do business with. The subject line was something to do with "as seen on a couple morning TV shows". I simply deleted the message, never bothering to open it. The reasoning was, first this tech would only be getting in touch about key work - nothing else, secondly multi-forwarded stuff is usually junk urban legend stuff. Okay so far. I finished reading my other email, digests, and checked in on a couple bloggers, then went downstairs for coffee. About a half hour after I got downstairs the phone rang. I have caller I.D. (so don't mess with me!) It was the same tech that the junk email had just come from. Weird. I picked up the phone expecting to hear him apologize for having inadvertently sent the message, or that some mass email address harvesting bug had gotten to his email account address book or the like.

Nope. Never a mention. He needed key work done.

Very weird.

Off, Running, and I Must Be Nuts

Is it still Wednesday? Yikes. Well, today was supposed to be sort of a day off. Amanda didn't work, of course Mom is retired, and that leaves me. I'll work any day. I like to work. this morning, shocker of shockers, Amanda decided to walk with me down to the Whistlestop Mall for the newspaper. After that I went to work frantically on a set of keys, to get them to a drying time so that I didn't feel so bad about taking the rest of the day off. Once I reached that point, I got changed and got the gang headed for the car.

Our first stop was at the "big" Home Depot. My Mom has decided to remove all the wall-to-wall carpeting in the den and the hallway and replace it with Pergo flooring to match the rest of the house. The "little" Home Depot near the mall didn't have any in stock (we had checked on the weekend). "Big" HD had it but we had to wait for the forklift guy to get back from lunch to get a new pallet-full down from the top rack. We needed 17 cases. And underlayment. My time off just created more work for me. Installing flooring for my Mom. This stuff is heavy by the case. Fortunately, my Mom's van has an automatic load weight compensator! Really! I loaded 13 cases in the back of the van and another 4 at Amanda's feet, mid van. On my way back from returning the big, flat cart, I took a look at the van. Sorta low in the back and we had a pile more miles and errands to do. I started up the engine to leave and heard the compensator purring away.

An easy couple of miles down Rte. 114 and we made our next stop. Lowes. A Home Depot competitor. Mom had purchased an area rug for the den a couple days ago. She really liked it. It did look nice. Only problem was it was too big. So back it went to exchange it for a smaller size. She had bought a 5 X 8 and needed something along the size of 4 X 6.

They don't make it that size.

Looked once again at the van as we headed out of the store. Gotta love that compensator. Didn't look like there was anything weighty at all in the van. On to the next stop.

Target. For Amanda. As I was looking down to put the keys in my purse, I noticed a dark spot on my gray shirt. Hmmm, not too noticeable. I mentioned it to Amanda and then she said, "You've got a lot more down near the bottom in the middle." I looked. Oh crap. Grease marks all over my shirt. Must of come off of the handle of the big, flat cart. While Amanda was looking at CD's I went and bought a new shirt. A reasonable purchase at $7.99! I headed for the restroom to change. Off to the next stop, skipping the store I needed to go to, sort of, maybe. And that's why we didn't make the stop.

On Saturday I had gone to Sears and ordered a new bench sander. 2 X 42 belt and 8 inch disk combo. The one that I use for keytop work still runs fine, but this is the only machine that I do not have at least one duplicate of. Since keytop work is the major income generating part of my business, I like to be prepared and equipped with a secondary machine if the primary should fail for any reason. Anyway, the new sander was supposed to be in today. They would call and let me know. We left the house around 11:30 and I had not heard anything, so I decided not to waste time waiting in line only to find out that it was not there yet.

So we hauled our lightweight selves with our packed heavy van up the highway from Danvers to the Newburyport exit and then hit the back roads to Merrimac and Skip's for a late lunch. I kidded my Mom about going across the Rock's Village bridge with such a heavy load. It's a steel, swing bridge but the "pavement" is wood covered with macadam. Every here and there the macadam is missing and you get to bump down on to the wood planking.

It truly is safe. I think.

The cheeseburger specials were as good as always, but the news was disappointing at Skip's. They are closing for the season on September 30th. Two weeks earlier than usual. Drat. I was planning on taking a friend there when he visits in October. Maybe we'll have to just do a drive-by. I am NOT happy they are closing early. NOT. Screws up my plans.

Well, headed home the non-highway way. I'll be doing enough highway driving again this Saturday. Got home and had the not so pleasant chore of carrying the 17 cases of Pergo up the front walk, up the front steps, and making three piles of them in the house. Amanda helped with the hauling which was great.

Tired as I was, I still had to go work on the keys. Got the new tops glued on and quit for the evening at 7 p.m. Returned a couple phone calls to customers and crashed in front of the TV. Oh yeah, there was a message waiting form Sears. The sander is in! The phone rang three more times and the people left messages but they'll wait until morning. All job stuff. Even one from a lady in Montana wanting to know if I could refer her to someone to rebuild their reed organ!

Back to Sears tomorrow.

Now I just have to survive Saturday's excursion.

Back to Intervale!

For the day!

To play household mover.

Remember A's house had sold? Well, the new folks said that if he didn't want to bother moving his stuff out, that he could leave it. NO WAY. There are things that he shouldn't just give to them. To strangers. Family paintings and such. They were (are) all artists. Anyway, A isn't feeling well and can't get up there so we volunteered to haul as much of his stuff as we can fit in the van back to Rockport for him. The paintings, some small furniture, linens and clothing, some dishes, and few odds and ends.

3 hours driving there, pack the van, quick lunch, pack some more, leave by 4 p.m. or so, 3 hours driving back and home before dark.

I'll take the camera!

If I'm not nuts now, I'll be crazy by Saturday night.


And one final update. Ronnie's mascot finally fell. I got the word a few days ago.

Fingers Crossed

.....to see you soon!

I'm going to update my blogger account. I've been postponing this for weeks. I hate sending major changes drifting through cyberspace hoping that they will survive the trip and be recognizable at the end of the journey.

Sometimes I'm so in the fog about this stuff....

Crossing my fingers!

Morning, Noon and Night

When I woke up this morning I really felt as if I was coming down with something serious. I felt lousy. As tired as when I went to bed last night, headache-y, run down, yucky, cold sweat, shaky, you name it. BLAH. I kept it to myself. What's the worst that could have happened? I could have felt even worse, in which case I'd have had to 'fess-up and gone to take a nap, or I'd eventually feel better.

Ate my usual two slices of toast, but without the apple jelly. I was saving my sweet intake for later. Downed a cup of coffee, black. Squirt showed up for walnuts so I fed him. He takes the half shells up on to a lounger to eat. Squirt is not nearly as pushy as Squeaky. He just looks in the window pleadingly. Yah, I know.

I walked to Rite-Aid (formerly Brooks - formerly Sandy Bay Apothecary, anybody else remember those days?) and bought the morning paper. A waste of 50 cents.

Got home and took the recyclables to the dump. Amanda went with me for the ride. We checked out the Swap Shop but there weren't any good finds. Rummaging in the scrap metal pile is no longer allowed. NOT FAIR. What if I see something that I can use? Ran into a former newspaper customer of Amanda's and he asked "how's my sweetheart?" I think he and his wife would adopt her! Where were they 10 years ago when that would have sounded ideal?

After the dump Amanda had to tackle a massive bedroom cleanup. It's amazing how she can accumulate so much crud. Oh sorry, I guess the stuff is valuable to her. I went downstairs to the workshop to pick up and clean there. I was interrupted only three times by my Mom who wanted to stain the front of the house. She has "her" projects but they require the assistance of others, namely me. So got the ladder up for her, found the gallon of stain she bought, trimmed the shrub that was in the way of the ladder (it has died and needs to be dug out....another day.....sigh).

The workshop is looking really good. I should get around to posting some pictures of it!

Oh yeah, while I was hauling stuff up the bulkhead stairs for my Mom, I decided I might as well get some other heavy work done, just to make myself feel really rotten. I carried up the pump unit to the Smith American reed organ and got it installed. Phew.

By then it was lunchtime. Amanda had decided to sit out on the deck in the sun. The end of summer comes around and she panics about looking too pale. I made a peanut butter sandwich and grabbed a handful of potato chips (crisps far east) and joined her on the deck. I sat under the umbrella. Sunshine and peanut butter aren't a favorite combo. After finishing lunch, it sounded soothing to have the hot sun on my aching back and shoulders so I sprawled on the lounger for about 15 minutes. Break time was over too soon. Back to work.

I was hoping to get Amanda's room primed and painted before putting up all the stained trimwork. No such luck. I've been storing all the finished trimwork down in the workshop and worrying that extended storage in the work area would result in it getting damaged. I made a goal of each time that I went upstairs, I would measure for at least one section of trim in Amanda's room. This afternoon I made a huge dent in the job and have cut and installed about half the trim. When it comes to time to prime and paint I'll have to mask all the woodwork, but, oh well.

So there I was at 3 p.m. feeling much better. I don't know why. Maybe it was the peanut butter LOL. It's a good thing I felt better as I had made a big promise to my Mom and Amanda about what I'd cook for dinner.

When I was growing up, my Dad always called them English Pancakes. Now that they are popular, most of the world refers to them as Crepes. Sometimes my Dad called them Crepes Suzettes, but I think he was just trying to be fancy. When I was a kid, all my friends wanted to have dinner at our house if my Dad was making English Pancakes. What kid wouldn't want paper-thin pancakes rolled up with butter and sugar inside for dinner??

This was Dad's specialty and he had learned to make them from his mother. He said that they never rolled them up when he was a kid. His mother would layer them on a plate, with butter and sugar, and keep the stack warm in the oven until she had made enough. Then she would cut the stack into servings like you would a cake. Anyway, my Mom NEVER tried to make them. It was only my Dad at the skillet.

But I watched. And every once in a while I'd ask a question. My Dad asked if I wanted him to teach me how to do it. I declined his offer. As an adult, the only time my Dad would make them is if I asked. And later, as he got older and less patient, he'd only make them for my birthday.

Little did he know.....

I had learned.

About 10 years ago I started trying to make them. There is a definite knack to it. It took me a few tries before I had a method down. First the batter has to be just right. It has to flow through fork tines at the correct rate and with the correct look. Then there's the skillet temperature - fairly hot. And finally the quick swirl of the batter in the skillet and the "pour-off" to achieve the perfect round shape and the exact thinness.

So, tonight, after a 5 year lapse in practice, I made English Pancakes. Yummy.

But after 3 or 4 you feel like you've swallowed a cannonball.