It’s the start of the ugly times for the gardens, especially those with not a lot of sun so it seems.

Jett and I were out cleaning up the back yard in case Ron wanted to mow. He’s done the front already today, figuring to beat the rain this afternoon. Removed dead leaves, trumps and a pile of mushy hibiscus gone-byes.

I called Reynolds about their bill which I haven’t seen.

Called K-M to see if they have a copy of my last Tacoma appointment on July 14 or 15. This was about the air conditioner. We’d asked Mark at Berkshire Transmissions about this but that kind of work is not his bailiwick.

K-M made a copy of the parts order list for me – very much appreciated. Turns out they can get everything on the order. Some will need to come from out of state. Why they said they couldn’t get the parts is a mystery. In any event, we’ll put this off for now. They assured me that the condenser isn’t needed for the defroster or the heater. So much for lousy information I’ve been given in the past!

Ordered a device to open the painted-shut garage windows.

Cleaned Jett’s ears. The left, which was bad, is now better. The right still has a way to go.

Ron mowed the back as well as the front.

S&S pizza for supper. I’d bought the wrong kind – barbecue chicken with cilantro – but I removed the chicken and it was good anyway.

Good news from our solar company: we got a credit for under-production.

Submitted a claim for Jett’s eye and ear visit and treatment to Spot Pet.

Poor Ron, I shared some research on how Venezuelan oil differs from US oil, how it is going to be used to refill our reserves and what we do with oil reserves anyway. It’s a twisted tale and it took a while to figure it out, assuming I’ve got it right at all.

We were listening to Heather Cox Richardson, but this was one of the most disconnected lectures we’ve heard. She seemed to imply that the Trump Administration has cut back on funds to rural hospitals because they don’t care of the people live or die. That makes no sense to me since rural communities are strongly pro-Trump. Seems more a case of collateral damage due to the Project 2025 War To Enrich The 1%.

Day 4 for Jett. Canned soup and rolls for lunch, cereal for breakfast. Trying to use up what we have before the food pantry pickup tomorrow. Enjoying music throughout the house.

Day 5: finished with Jett’s eye drops. Thank goodness: he hated them. Five more days for his ears.

Got to the Food Pantry, nice provisions, as always.

Did a Stop & Shop run for ice cream, cookies, peanut butter for Ron, biscuits, Rao’s marinara sauce, hummus, chips. Surprisingly, prices were pretty similar to Aldi’s.

Tried to reach K-M for info on the last truck visit, phone kept ringing.

Picked up books on hold at the Library.

Swept and removed cobwebs from the front and back landings. Cleaned bird debris from the garage door. Cleaned up Jett’s vomit in the living room.

Signed us up for Nationwide auto and homeowners insurance for a nice savings. Let’s hope we don’t need them.

Ordered a wall unit from Macy’s for Ron’s room. Greylock kept blocking my card. Fortunately they make it easy to approve the transaction without needing a phone call.

Stopped off to see Andy, who was very upset, 3-month anniversary of her dog’s passing. One of the volunteers was loading piles of clothing into her car for washing and drying. She does have some great people helping her!

Roasted the four ears of corn from the Pantry for supper. Watched some cool videos. Last night we saw a fine British film set in World War I on Netflix “The Choral”. The cast includes Ralph Fiennes and Alun Armstrong, whom we know from “New Tricks”.

Jett got his eye drops and ear meds.

Having measured the space in Ron’s “tiny room” I did some looking around online for shelving.

Ron picked up a new battery for the bathroom scale; it works.

Got both SONOS speakers set up.

Touched up the paint in the bedroom.

Checked out prices of plexi for the doll collection buffet in the living room.

Oven roasted corn, tomatoes and beans for supper. Cinnamon rolls for dessert.

Trying a baking soda/hydrogen peroxide mix on baked-on grease.

I was able to get a same-day appointment at 1:30 with the vet to check out Jett’s left ear. It doesn’t seem to bother him but it’s nasty.

We were expecting friends of Ron’s to drop by so did a little house and yardwork.

Ron had broken down a pile of boxes yesterday for the transfer station paper recycling. He put three pieces of unused stereo equipment in the garage. Last night I cleaned and set up a little table in the living room to hold the phone, modem, router, Sonos.

Did garden and deck cleanup this morning. Gave the bathrooms a wipe. Washed the deck door. The rest is what it is. Our house is comfortable but not usually company ready, and it won’t be today.

Put gas in the car and since we were early, made a couple of stops on the way to Pittsfield, but didn’t buy anything.

Jett has a yeast infection in his ears and conjunctivitis in his right eye. The latter was unexpected. I came home with three meds and a huge bill.

Stopped at the A Frame for baked goods for tea.

Meanwhile, our guests arrived at 2 but Ron didn’t hear them. They went back to their friend’s house. We will make plans to see them, maybe in Marlboro. We have to get to a Rockland branch and it’s not that much further than Fitchburg.

Ron almost ran me over today. Twice.

We were trying to park for a local event. Ron chose to pull in to a crowded lot after I told him not to.

I offered to help guide him because it was pretty tight quarters. Ron was able to back up to a spot where he thought he could turn around.

I was standing behind him. To our right, a gentleman started to apologize “Did I take your space?” and then started screaming. I thought he was psycho but he was trying to save me from being run over! “He could have killed you!” “Who is that??” he asked. “My husband.” “He shouldn’t be driving!”

As Ron worked his way around, a lady with a child in her arms watched in horror. I said “You have the right idea.” She said sympathetically “He could have run you over.”

We never got to the event.

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day is observed annually on August 28th to honor and remember pets who have passed.

I’m thinking about Paula, Teddy and Lizzie as well as Andi and Dan’s Rugby, but especially Teddy.

Teddy was part or possibly all Chow. We had no idea of his former life so a person with normal empathy would have treated him with special care and gentleness.

Unfortunately, Ron did not respect Teddy’s boundaries. Teddy bit him on the arm once and in the face once, ruining a pair of glasses.

At that point, I made a terrible mistake. I trusted the Animal Rescue League of Massachusetts to advise us of the right course. They decided Teddy needed to be murdered, i.e., euthanized.

So, we brought Teddy back to the shelter. Because Ron had signed the original paperwork and was the one who’d been injured, I left the decision to him. I will regret that for the rest of my life.

Teddy was not a bad dog. He needed probably more skillful care than I knew how to give him, and the sad thing is that one of our neighbors who described himself as “part dog” probably could have taught me/us some handling strategies.

I sobbed all the way home from the shelter and mourned for months afterwards. I finally called one of the managers at MSPCA to discuss their decision. She tried to console me. I hasn’t worked, years later.

Today I made a beautiful zucchini lasagna and a big salad for lunch. Ron sat through the meal with a look on his face like he was crouched on rocks.

Ron invited old friends of his to visit us tomorrow. I’ve been noticing how foul-smelling our garage has become because of a compost container that should have been emptied a week or more ago. It was covered with maggots, inside and out. It weighed at least 45 pounds, I didn’t measure it.

I’ve asked Ron to do two things in preparation for his friends’ visit: clean off a little table on the deck and bring the compost container to the transfer station, which has a compost shed.

Of course he wouldn’t do either thing so I did.

Later he almost ran me over, twice, scaring a couple of bystanders to death.

So let me ask you: which would you value more, a good dog or a lousy husband?

Not a trick question.

Lots of fine tributes to Dolly Parton. What a life well lived!

I was disincentivized to do anything this morning.

Showered, dressed, Ron and I made the bed.

Met with a nice woman from Home Depot about replacing the two garage windows. $2,560.

On a better note, got quotes from a local insurance agency for homeowners and auto insurance that are $600 less than what we are paying this year.

Grilled veg burgers, squash and eggplant. Disappointing. I overcooked the burgers and the eggplant was awful.

Vacuumed the living room after putting down some borax and baking soda.

Picked up a book by Roxane Gay on hold at the library.

It’s thundering right now, as predicted.

Clayton, the tradesman who knocked out two major home maintenance tasks for us yesterday, also moved here from Mashpee. His reasons were the same as ours: too crowded and didn’t care for the people. Interesting because he lived in Mashpee Center, which is home to a number of Wampanoag families. I guess he was talking about everybody else, the people who wouldn’t piss on you if your hair was on fire. “Too expensive” was another one of his reasons, which didn’t apply so much to us since we owned our home and the mortgage was affordable.

I miss being near Woods Hole and Falmouth Heights. I miss the trails in Barnstable, Town Neck and Sandy Neck Beach, Scorton Neck and Scorton Creek.

I miss the salt marshes, Long Pasture, the Knob, the Canal.

We need to leave the mountains for banking business, so who knows, maybe we can plan a trip back there next month and not tell anyone about it.

Today I talked with Reynolds Plumbing about adding a sediment filter to the water line. Told the boss how much we appreciated Clayton’s work and his great personality. Sounds like the boss thinks highly of him, too.

Roasted potatoes, cauliflower and green beans. Steamed the rest of the corn from Chenail’s.

Did 30 with Jett. Gorgeous day today but bugs were killing me, afternoon and evening.

Set up the Sonos speakers. Update failed on one, will try again tomorrow.

Cancelled the WSJ. Too expensive to renew.

Made an appointment with Home Depot for an estimate on replacing the garage windows and troubleshooting the window in the sunroom, i.e., the ill-fitting pivot bars.

Ron and Jett played outside at least twice.

I have subscriptions to two event announcement email lists. Rarely find anything worth attending. Either too acoustic guitar-y or even at the usual modest prices, not worth the expense.

I always have to look these up:

Bought house in December 2022

Roof was put on January 2023

Furnace was built in 2006 and should be good for 30 years with care

Water heater was installed in January 2023 and flushed August 2026

It all got done today: furnace and mini-split cleaning and hot water heater draining.

The hot water heater was so filled with calcium sediment that it clogged the craftsman’s pump. He recommended installing a sediment filter.

The furnace craftsman brought his family along, including his 11 year old daughter who helps him on jobs and is learning the trade. He said the furnace is a good one, 20 years old and would last another 10 years. He replaced a part – might be a rollout switch or a high-limit switch. They found that a pipe had disconnected from the vent. We had aluminum tape so he was able to fix it.

It took quite a while to clean the mini-split because of how it had to be mounted: it couldn’t be pulled in one piece from the wall. At least I think that was the case. In any event, the innards were green with mold so it was due to be cleaned.

Jett stayed in my room for part of the time and was very good once I let him out. Except when he ate a huge block of cheese while we were watching the news.

Confirmed with Rockland that we need to visit a branch to sign the beneficiary designations.