Until now I’ve not understood what Edna St. Vincent Millay meant by “A yellow darkness, sinister of rain” in untitled Sonnet XVII.
Today, though, Canadian wildfire smoke has turned the sky light yellow and almost vanished the mountains.
It’s been overcast most of the day I figured good time to clean the windows since sun can cause them to streak, supposedly.
So I did 10. Ron’s “tiny room”, the big kitchen window and one more in my “office” are for tomorrow.
Fixing the air conditioner in the truck would cost over $1500 so we opted for just an oil change.
After Ron shaved, the stopper in the downstairs bathroom sink became unusable. I don’t know if those things were related; only that I was able to pry up the top enough to unscrew it so at least we can use the sink.
Ron fumed about picking up the truck while I was working on windows, so I ended up wearing sleep/work clothes to K-M since “(He) thought we were going together” and I’d shuffled funds around to pay for the work. Lord forbid Ron should have to write a check (his wallet and debit cards are still missing).
If it turns out that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I should advise Bonnie to get a divorce before Peter turns 80. Only joking, Peter is not lazy or selfish or lacking common sense (Me: “Can you please push up the top pane?” Ron starts tugging on the bottom because of course he KNOWS and I of course do not.)
He was sarcastic about not stopping at rkMiles on the way to K-M so we could see what time they close (!) I showed him how to use the phone hands-free to find that out…
They didn’t have what he wanted anyway.
I went to a reading by a writers group member who authored her first book. It was well-attended. Didn’t stay for refreshments, which looked terrific. She did an admirable job.
Potato and egg for lunch. Carrot and hummus for supper.
I got up at 5:30, fussing about whether the new plants need water. We’ve been on the go since 9 this morning.
Brought Jett to Pittsfield, got a good report from his doc and a slew of vaccinations. She said his weight is “perfect” – a great relief to me since in I’m the one who feeds him. He should have another round of teeth cleaning between now and mid-November. Maybe later, this is an expensive month.
She said Poodles are fussy and high strung. Who knew after Lizzie, who was so calm?
Did laundry, changed sheets.
Just got back from Stop & Shop. Not much time to rest, Ron has an appointment with his new Primary in 45 minutes.
I thought this was Peter’s last day in retail. It’s not, still a week and a half away.
When the day comes we hope it’ll be forever. It’s been a grueling experience for him and we’ll be glad when it’s done. His new gig will be lucky to have him.
Ron saw the doctor and is not clear about what was discussed or decided, so I took a look at the visit notes in his patient portal. Turns out the doc thinks the problem is minor but ordered a CAT scan to be sure. Ron didn’t remember any of this until being reminded.
Finally, we left the truck at K-M for air conditioning work starting at 8 tomorrow.
Put in the second yarrow this morning. Nice out but hot in the sun.
Drilled drain holes in the round and new rectangular deck planters. Mixed soil from the corner garden with peat moss for the big planter; planted the annuals from Elhannon. Could use a couple of spillers.
Spread mulch in the back of the corner garden. More weeding and watering.
Ron is mowing the back.
Cold cereal for supper.
Got one Yarrow in the ground. More weeding in the corner and deck gardens.
Williams College sandwiches and chips for lunch.
Ron brought two leaf bags of yard waste and a trash bag of trumps to the transfer station.
Ron is doing the front lawn now.
I put up the shell pagoda. Ron loves it.
Scrambled eggs for supper.
Brought Ron to Williamstown Medical for his fasting bloodwork, took way too long, will do the hospital the next time.
Finished trimming the yews in the front. Very happy with the new hedge trimmer. Good upper body exercise, too, that battery pack is heavy.
Jett and I drove to Elhannon Garden Center for Yarrow plants. They were almost giving away annuals so I brought home five of those as well as a White and a Yellow Yarrow.
Turns out I’d ordered a 24 inch deck planter that arrived today. It’s the perfect size for the annuals and as a bonus, is visible from our bedroom window.
Got my work cut out for me this weekend.
My glasses also arrived today as well as a second battery pack for the new hedge trimmer. Glasses are still not right for reading. I’ll need to pay an optician to adjust them, I guess.
Ron never left the house for his eye exam so we had to reschedule it for next week.
Convinced Ron to eat a can of vegetarian chili for supper. He said it was good. I had the rest of last night’s salad and cookies.
Finished a month of Tai Chi inspired standing exercises so have started a new series which is very modified dance routines. Continuing the chair yoga.
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Raspberry bushes are starting to ripen.
Today Jett and I dropped off a LIthium battery at the transfer station, a video at the library and picked up a salad at Subway and goodies for lunch at Dollar General.
It’s a bit oppressive out there.
The new hedge trimmer works great but the battery pack ran out. Finished one Japanese yew with the hand trimmer, pulled weeds, will try to do the rest tomorrow.
Worked on Remedy app, needed some little changes. Having two sets of code hasn’t been as much of a problem as I feared.
Turns out Dr. Kahn can’t give my hand a cortisone injection so just as well that I have an appointment at North Berkshire Ortho.
Ron’s wallet is still missing. I ordered a new driver’s license for him, printed off the receipt for him to show if he gets stopped.
He was having computer trouble, again, started making a phone call to “Microsoft Technical Support”. I read him the riot act about this, he knows better. I do hate using his computer. Poor thing is old and slow and doesn’t have a mouse. I dropped mine today and seem to have killed my mouse. Fortunately I have a backup.
Pizza and a really nice salad made by Ron – lettuce, cuke, edamame, carrots – for supper.
Listened to Eric’s new song, “Seasons”: love it! Great melody, would like to put different words to it.
I feel for Scott Bessent. He had a vision for the economy that on the surface sounds pretty good. Unfortunately he got tangled with the gang that authored Project 2025. Worse, he allowed himself to be drafted by The Incompetent One.
When you sleep with dogs you end up with fleas. Unless the dog is wearing a Seresto collar.
Russell Vought who authored a section of Project 2025 would like to annihilate the lower and lower middle classes. Bessent on the other hand wants to make us all successful capitalists.
Bessent almost looked ill as he stood with Trump, Hegseth and Rubio at the NATO summit in Turkey earlier this week. An aristocrat waiting for his turn at the guillotine while the rabble prattled on. Cabinet meetings must be enough to try his soul.
Got to the Food Project just before 1, in time for a nice lunch. Afterwards got the truck inspected successfully at K-M Toyota.
Put new stickers on the car and the truck.
Loaded up the truck and made a Transfer Station run. Matt told us the old Ryobi battery pack is recyclable. Got wine at the Vermont State liquor store in Pownal.
Made an appointment to be seen at Northern Berkshire Orthopedics.
Weird supper. We ate a chunk of the delicious sliced Asiago French bread we brought home from the Project then had toasted Williams College hummus/veg sandwiches.
Starting Remedy versions review. Got both to compile.
The delivery people dropped off Jett’s dry and wet food and a gigantic box of MilkBones. He’s set for a while.