Thursday, April 11, 2013

Another Truckload Of Bricks & Other Things


G says this pile was good enough to fill five wheelbarrows.  So he lifted them once, into the wheelbarrow (five times).  Twice, into the truck bed x5.  And, a third time to drop them off as "fill" in another town x5.  Lots of work.

As a reader mentioned.  The chimney is too short.  A chimney mason did offer ($$$$) to take off the crumbly top, rebuild a new top, making it very high, very narrow, using steel rods etc to attach this very high chimney to the top of the roof.  Of course, high winds (this is Maine) might just rip the entire thing--roof and chimney off.  He couldn't guarantee anything.  And we do have ANOTHER chimney, perfectly good condition, which serves the fireplace in the living room.  I think one chimney per house is enough.  Plus wood smoke makes me sick.  Actually, quite ill.

Now, my day, yesterday, was no plate of cupcakes either.  First one into work so I had to open, turn lights on etc all the while glancing out the window at the very large truck sitting just outside our front gates.  No one else was showing up for work.  I cashed up the cash registers just as one more person showed up and one called to say he would be late.  Turned out the three of us unloaded 517 pieces of Nursery stock, I took inventory as they all disappeared.  It went like that until 4:19.  We were always three people short.

I finally got to do what I usually do in the morning.  Water the greenhouse.  Only it was now 3 pm.  I drove home with wet clothes and socks.

Life at home was no plate of cupcakes either.  G selected the Chinese restaurant for dinner.  I was too exhausted to put up a fuss.  He loved his food.  I did not enjoy mine but ate it because I was hungry. It tasted okay but the presentation was disgusting.  If I had been my usual self--I would have complained and sent it back.  Service was so slow--I would never have gotten anything to eat. We got home to discover that Riley had completely destroyed G's new library book.  Completely. We have to take the bag of scraps to the library and write a check.  The barcode is still readable.  We were very shocked and sad.

I watched my recorded Mad Men.  Went to bed.  Dreamed I was living in a foreign country (soon to be packing up for home) and kept losing my son (who was, at times, small or a preteen).  Confusion and loss.  Comforting.  I am up early and tired.  Hungry.  If this was a work day I could do as the 20 somethings do--call out because I "hadn't slept well".  Instead, I started in on the laundry.  If it isn't too cold outside, I will work on digging the clumps of grass out of the next perennial bed.  And see if any soil has thawed in the vegetable garden so I can plant my onion sets.  And leeks.  And cabbages. I also need to think about starting my tomato seeds.  Eggplant??  No rest for those who "haven't slept well".

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