Holy Smokes

Wow! What a crazy summer it's been. We packed in a trip back home, a week at Cub Scout camp, a week in Pennsylvania and another trip back home all between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Sprinkled in there were three cases of strep (none of which belonged to the kids),a couple sets of out-of-town guests, a record-breaking heat wave and a blown transformer on the air conditioner. Now that we are in the end of summer, the AC has been fixed... yesterday. Part of the joy of owning a hundred-year-old house is the daily guessing game, "What's Going to Happen Next?"

Our first contestant was the home inspector. He got to play a rousing game of "Did Someone Just Flush the Toilet?" along with "How Fast Can I Evacuate This Crawlspace." Apparently after the addition was completed, the toilet did not get properly connected to the sewer. I thought that would have been a pretty essential job to do and that it would have been painfully obvious if it weren't done correctly. I also would have thought that someone would have noticed the accumulation of... umm... personal waste products in the crawlspace, especially considering the toilet was installed approximately 25 years ago, but I was very wrong. A couple thousand dollars and a removal team later, the plumber (not the original one) was able to get under the house and fix the pipe and we were all able to breathe a bit better.

Once we got moved in, we earned the opportunity to play "What the Hell is Bubbling Up in the Bathroom We Just Fixed?" While it does get the heart pumping, this is not a game I would recommend for families with young, inquisitive children. Another call to the plumber while en route to the store to procure a cheap mop and bucket, a gallon of disinfectant and an economy-size package of rubber gloves. Sure I keep most of those supplies on hand, but if you think that mop and bucket was going anywhere but to the curb, you are horribly mistaken. I know the disinfectant did its job, but the mop still gave me the creeps. Turns out the next pipe down the line had worked loose and created a backup.

Our next exciting installment was "How Many Fans Does It Take to Make the House Bearable?" This game began at the beginning of the aforementioned record-breaking heat wave. Fortunately we have two large trees which shade nearly half the house. Unfortunately, despite borrowing some extra fans from friends whose AC was still functioning, we were unable to determine the final answer. All we know is that it is a number greater than ten.

The most recent episode I lovingly refer to as "How Many Tries Does It Take to Repair the Front Door?" I long ago decided that the house had apersonality of its own. That's a large part of the reason I fell in love with it in the first place. But like many other relationships, once the gloss and shine of new love wears off, you're left with the gritty, less than ideal reality. In this case it was the front door. Recently it had become difficult to close. Not in an obvious way. Not in a "you pull the door and it stops before it should" kind of way. No, this was much more subtle. We would leave and pull the door closed behind us... or so we thought. All too often I would remember some forgotten item and head back up the steps, keys in hand only to discover the door was open about half an inch. I'm sure it was closed, it felt like it closed, I even scraped my knuckles on the door jamb for Pete's sake! One afternoon, on my way to run a quick errand before my son's soccer game, the door began playing its little tricks. I understand it was just crying out for attention, but in my frustration and hurry I closed it a bit more firmly than intended. It was one of those time-stopping moments. I knew as it closed that the slightly wavy glass was history. Sure enough, it shattered. We were able to buy a new piece of glass at the local hardware store, but had to wait a couple days to install it. As we were trimming the glass (I was not responsible for the measurements on this one. That job I left for my husband) we encountered a weak spot and nailed the plywood back up until we could get a new pane cut again. I have a new window again and the kids have a vivid lesson in why we don't slam the doors, so I guess it worked out O.K.

On the plus side, we had a lot of fun this summer, we sold our old house in record time and I was finally able to purchase a new digital camera. (My old one bit the dust several months ago.) I now have a Canon Power Shot that I think I really like. Aside from the fact that I have set an option and can't seem to straighten it out, I'm pretty pleased with my purchase. Of course the camera I was using (on my phone) looked like it was on a three day bender if the picture quality is any judge, so whatever I bought would have to be an improvement. I got it just in time to see the Yarn Harlot as she visited Virginia. More tomorrow... with actual knitting and pictures...