Last night I pried myself out of my living room chair and arrived around eight to the Williams College Jazz Orchestra spring concert, and what a good one it was! Outstanding program and the usual hard-to-believe-these-are-college-students level of excellence.

Ron had an accident earlier in the day so was hesitant to leave the house. Unfortunate because he would have enjoyed the performance.

Haven’t done anything useful today except make a huge batch of oatmeal with blueberries, order groceries for Ron to pick up at Walmart and vacuum the living room carpet and rug.

The hoses are in a terrible state. I can’t find the watering wand. It’s dreary and cold outside and I’d be perfectly happy to eat lemon cake and drink tea for the afternoon.

After adding a lot of new error-handling and some database field expansions, I dropped off Andi’s computer yesterday.

Did some maintenance on my laptop today freeing up unneeded files and cached RAM.

Learned about a new very helpful feature in Greylock Mobile and thanked their Tech Support boss for help received yesterday. They expedited processing of Ron’s check to beef up the account I use to pay our property taxes.

Yesterday Ron transferred funds from Rockland to Greylock. He wasn’t sure where the money went; it was to his personal account. There was no info in his activity center to show where the funds went. I was a madwoman until Rockland helped figure it out.

Today I dropped by the Mobile Food Pantry, which is open from 10:45 to 11:45 twice a month. I was on time but by then they’d run out of food. I got to talk with the truck driver, who was very helpful.

Since I was in North Adams, I stopped by the Food Project for lunch. They had stacks of meals from Williams College, including many veg options. I brought home two and some cake as well as a bag of wheat rolls.

Drove by Paretsky to check out the May Day event; just a lecture, so I didn’t stop.

Later Jett and I went to Town Hall to drop off a check for the taxes. Then returned a book at the Library.

Watered the new daylilies and mixed a bucket of heavy reclaimed soil with peat moss and a little water. Added an inch or so of the soil to the bed, then mulched. As a result, I’ve come closer to consuming a lifetime’s peck of dirt.

Made a sandwich of thin sliced Dave’s bread, cheddar and cabbage for lunch. Ron did a Vermont Liquor Store run for wine and beer.

Thought about attending a job fair that’s specifically for companies with second chances/CORI-friendly hiring policies. Found that one can do a search on Indeed and other online resources for jobs with companies like these: a check on enlightened corporate values or a suspicion that they want to hire people cheaply, as in Scarlett O’Hara’s wood mill in “Gone With The Wind”?

I decided not to attend the fair because I really can’t work and take care of a soon to be 80 year old husband and a sweet dog who is a fussy eater and inclined to mischief.

Pleasure to see King Charles on tv yesterday. I noticed he put his right hand in his pocket quite often and thought it might be to relieve pain since it did look swollen. Turns out that’s probably true.

Got a good deal on bare root daylilies that arrived a couple of days ago.

I forget if I soaked them in water today or yesterday but in any event, the twenty or so big ones are now planted. Also five little ones that I stuck in a pot. I have two tiny ones that I’m not sure where to place but maybe I’ll get inspired tomorrow.

After thinking it over, I put them by the deck stairs. Covered them with wire to discourage Jett, who suddenly decided he likes to dig there. May have broken a couple but so long as they take root, if they don’t bloom this year, they will the next.

I forgot about the sheets until 8:30, but we got the laundry put away and the bed made by 9.

Happy that the outdoor faucet made it through the winter. One of the hoses did not, another did.

I made potato chips and roasted cabbage in the oven. Both came out quite well. After we devoured the chips and I put a dent in the cabbage, we had ice cream for supper.

I tried flipping all the circuit breaker pairs that weren’t labeled. Something could have worked, the lower flap which had been open, closed, but still the unit wouldn’t run.

Around 6 an engineer from Blue Ridge answered my earlier call for help and instructed me to push the reset button, once. It works now.

This morning Jett kept me company while I dug up the last of the old roses. This afternoon he kept me company again when I spread mulch on the corner garden.

In the meantime, I added an error table and page to the Remedy app. Ashamed that I haven’t done this before.

Stunning day today, looks like another good one tomorrow.

Binged on a Netflix series that I really liked and Ron hated.

No luck figuring out why the mini split didn’t start. Checked the outside unit for a switch (none) and the circuit breaker box.

Ron made pancakes for lunch and raked the yard for sticks.

I did a small shop, mostly dairy products.

Yesterday I loaded the truck with four big leaf bags and brought them to the transfer station.

Also attended the writers’ slam at the Senior Center and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tulips are very nice this year, at least the ones that have bloomed. A bunch are either late or got eaten; we’ll know in a month or so.

Productive morning.

My eye exam went very well.

Ron drove us to Rutland to pick up the knitted hat that I won in an auction for Dismas House; they provide shelter and support to people making the transition from jail/prison and trauma.

We stopped at Remedy Hall afterwards so I could pick up the computer for debugging. Then to Spirits for weekend provisions.

Went pretty well – have the TV and phones set up – although I’ve yet to tackle VOIP. Phenomenal customer support person, Erica.

While I was at it, I tried to improve the state of the power cords. More to do.

Changed sheets.

Cooked one of the MyBacon packages for lunch. Very good!

We let poor Jett out by himself. Ben had to give us a heads up.

Many problems with GoDaddy and email account passwords.

Later (10:19): tech support person at Vonage got VOIP up and running.

Ron did laundry. I made a vegetable stew with onions, garlic, zucchini, red pepper and potatoes. Canned soup and cabbage salad for lunch.

We tackled the left side of the yard again, the side that’s been neglected for quite a while from the looks of it. We cut down more forsythia branches, pulled more vine and raked more leaves. I’m very happy with our progress!

Whether it was because of fatigue from outdoor work or something else, after having some stew, my stomach hurt so badly that I almost passed out. Laid on the floor on a pillow; was hot and nauseous.

Jett licked to console me, sweet dog! Ron got me a clean shirt and fed Jett. I felt better afterwards and did a little kitchen cleanup. Watched Watson; good episode!

The high school students from McCann were here yesterday for a couple of hours to do some heavy and much appreciated yardwork.

They mulched the hosta border next to the driveway and the daylilies around the driveway light. They trimmed so many too-tall branches of the forsythia and huge sections of an ugly entangled vine that they half-filled their pickup truck.

Finally, they moved the giant pile of mulch from the front to the back. Tremendous amount of work.

Shortly after they finished, we got a shower of hail then snow. Jett and I were caught in it briefly. He was a good dog while the students were here.

Ron braved the hail and picked up his med at Walmart and did a small grocery shop.

Jett bit Ron on the arm while they were playing fetch. Overexcited, I guess. Second time this has happened.

I’ve been working on a transaction for MRS.

The minisplit overheated the bedroom. This is not the first time. I contacted an online service that connected me to an HVAC specialist. Aside from turning the unit off then on after a few minutes, I haven’t found a solution.