Inspector Gadget

We had a frost last night.  I meant to throw a sheet over the serviceberry, since it seems like every year the blossoms get killed and produce no fruit, but, well, I was tired and it got dark out and somehow it just did not get done.  This morning the shrub looks okay from the house.  We'll see how it fares.

Meanwhile, I have a couple of new gadgets for the house.  Gadget number one is a refrigerator/freezer monitor.

At the point where this photo was taken, I had installed sensor number one in the refrigerator, although I am not particularly concerned about the temps in there as every time I pull something from its shelves (which occurs multiple times a day), I can tell whether it is cold enough.  I am more interested in sensor number two, for my new freezer.  It requires lithium batteries, so did not get installed until after a trip to the store.  And when I first put it in the freezer, the monitor would not register its existence.  After I pulled the batteries from the monitor and reinstalled them, though, everyone was talking to each other.  I purchased this online at Amazon.

Gadget number two is a CO detector.

I already have a CO detector, but it takes eight (EIGHT!) AA batteries for backup, while this one uses a single 9-volt.  Also, the first CO detector was designed to be hung on the wall, its cord snaking down to an outlet with an adapter.  My cat kept rubbing against the adapter, dislodging it enough to cause the eight (EIGHT!) batteries to run down.  After a while, I moved the thing to the bathroom, which is really not a very good location for it, but the outlet was out of the cat's reach.  This new one plugs directly into the socket AND has a button on the back, so if it is dislodged from the socket, an alarm sounds.  A LOUD alarm.  This one I bought at the Home Depot.

Today is a lovely day weather-wise, but I have commitments and will have little time for outdoor pursuits.  Last night I did get the driveway and front walk edged.  And the onion sets and glad bulbs I ordered from Pinetree Garden Seeds arrived yesterday.  I'm wondering if I plant some onions next to the porch to the French doors, if that will discourage the rabbits living there.

And, in the Eccentric Neighbor Department, I find myself talking to wildlife.  Like the hawk soaring overhead yesterday while I worked in the front yard, whom I exhorted to visit my backyard because there were tasty rabbits there.  Or the bluebird I saw this morning, who I pleaded with to kick the sparrows out of the house meant for him and his kin.  So, yes, that eccentric neighbor would be me.