Feb 23, 2021
Marty and Wendy are here for all our laundering needs! They even sing a lively tune to tell us all is clean.
If you need me, I’ll be doing laundry for the next week straight.
Fact: There is no man or beast alive that moves faster than one who thinks he sees the internet truck pull up after not having internet for almost 3 weeks.
Spoiler alert: it was the power guy checking to see how bad our “tree to power line contact” was before deciding whether we were on the top or the bottom of the list to trim it.
Further spoiler alert: we are on the bottom of said list.
Tyler tried calling again and the receptionist was all, hmmmmm, I wonder what’s going on. And said she’d call us back when she finds out. Hopefully it wasn’t a clever way to run away and get us to stop asking (because that is totally something I would do) and doesn’t take another week for her to call back.
That said, I am amazed at how friendly people here in Vermont are. To be honest, I kind of expected the general shortness and cold shoulder associated with New England. But that is very much not the case here. Yes, it took some real positive energy to get some friendliness out of the lady who worked at the true value. But, working retail can really do a number on the soul, so I will give her a pass.
But when the washer and dryer guys came to install the machines (okay, I’m coming clean here, I had my washer and dryer installed by the Best Buy Geek Squad which feels very un-Vermonty. Don’t judge.) they raved over how lovely our sun room is.
And when the chimney guys came to install a new chimney liner, they told us how well our chimney was held up and how easy of an installation it was.
And when our neighbor (who used to live here) came by to give us info on hooking up the generator, he gave us lots of helpful info like “Don’t park your RV there unless you want a roof-full of snow falling on it and burying it.” and “for god sake, don’t feed the birds unless you want every beast within a mile radius entering the house for supper like you rang the dinner bell.” Okay, I embellished the words, but the point stays the same. And I’m torn with the bird feeding. It’s like nature is either giving me an ultimatum or a huge lesson in animal equality. Because those chickadees are just so dang cute. It would be like refusing to pet a kitten. Who could do that?
But on the other hand, my cat had a living “something” cornered under the stove the other day. And it just happened to be when I needed to start cooking. And all I could picture was a mouse scampering over my toes while I cooked. Now, I’m trying so hard to get over my fear of mice. I mean, they are adorable if they are in enclosed spaces and not running free about my house. But they are so… skittery. And there isn’t a whole lot of escape room in my kitchen. And my cat isn’t as good a mouser as she pretends to be. Yet. Not to mention dead mice might be scarier than live ones. I don’t know why. Maybe because I’m certain they will come back to haunt me for killing them. Or death is scary. But, I managed to fight through the fear and made my dinner. It only took boots to cover my feet, a step stool to raise me off the ground, and blasting empowering show tunes to get me through. I’m working on it. Again, don’t judge.
Speaking of wildlife, the other day, Tyler and I decided to take a walk around the grounds. This was mostly a mistake because the snow was like 2.5 feet deep and we kept slipping and sliding and falling. Okay that’s a lie. Tyler stayed upright, while I did the slipping and sliding and falling. But on the way, we saw several different tracks in the snow. My new England wildlife book makes me think it was rabbit, fox, squirrel, and field mouse all have a “bring on the spring” party in my yard (rude that I wasn’t invited) but there is also the likelihood that it was a neighbor’s cat roaming around. My tracking skills are a bit rusty. Or nonexistent.
But I am cautiously eager to see some life. I love animals. I really do. I love seeing them, watching them, drawing them. And every morning I wake up and peek outside, anxious to see something. They are absolutely lovely. I always wanted to live on a real farm growing up. With cows and horses and pigs and the works. Except for one thing. Animals, in person, scare me. They are big and fast and unpredictable and if I say or do the wrong thing, they can do me bodily harm. And I’m really good at saying and doing the wrong thing. It’s my superpower. I am working my way up to a sense of peace among the animals I love. I’m okay with squirrels and rabbits and birds and even deer at a distance. But I’m going to really have to dig into my inner Pocahontas if I’m going to be okay spotting a raccoon or fox or what else while I’m out and about. But until then, I’m happy to view whatever crosses my path from the confines of my house.
But our electrician showed up after semi ghosting us! They are all ready to start grounding plugs. It will only take 875 phases over a long period of time to finis! Which means we are getting close to being done getting the big inspection findings started and can start phase 2 of the “make awesome house even awesomer” process.
And, to wrap things up, I made homemade buttermilk biscuits with fresh blueberry jam and I could live on this for the rest of my life.
Crossing make buttermilk biscuits off my farmhouse living bucket list!