Whew!

The electrician came on Friday, which is another phase in the process that doesn't produce very obvious results but is very important.



Besides the usual outlets and switches, I am having some outdoor outlets and fixtures plus an outlet in the floor, as I expect to light primarily with lamps but don't want cords running all around.

A victim of all the deconstruction and construction has been my phone line. Last week service would mysteriously come and go, and when it was on, it was sometimes full of static. The electrician kindly checked things out and discovered two problems. One was a remnant of when I was self-employed and used the Florida room as my home office. There were two phone lines, one of which was still active. The active jack had the hole pointing up, which left it naked to the elements, i.e. rain, once the Florida room was dismantled. The second problem was a pinched wire. Even though the Amish have cell phones, they must not quite understand that landlines need their current to flow unimpeded.

So, phone service was reinstated, but not Internet access. For some reason, the wireless is hosed, but after about 1.5 hours with Verizon tech support, I am now back online via Ethernet. Better than nothing. My wireless tech support guy is my son-in-law. Guess I will have to cook up a Sunday dinner to lure him over to fix the wireless. Again.

Next week is insulation, drywall, and siding. That will provide some more interesting pix.

Someday, the view will be spectacular, or at least, better than this.



And, just for fun, a panoramic view of the back of my house, in progress.



There is some color in the yard these days. Here is a goldfinch on the past-their-prime coneflowers.



And hardy asters, which look much prettier than this photo shows.



And the brown-eyed Susan that are part of the nascent dye garden.



If I were bolder, I would go investigate my neighbor's yard, as I am betting that is how I contracted poison ivy, thanks to my dog. At least, that is my theory: dog nosing around neighbor's bushes brings home a scourge that is now evident on my hands and FACE. Today I am washing, the dog and the dog bedding and my bedding and towels and clothes. And trying not to scratch.

Post Number One Hundred!

Last Friday morning, while I was having my car serviced, it poured... at the dealer's. It is only three miles (as the crow flies) from my house, but nary a drop fell in my backyard. When I arrived home from work that evening, the rain gauge was bone dry. I ran the dog to the vet for a nail trim and butt squeeze (she is the only dog I have ever owned that needs to have her anal sacs emptied periodically), and while we were on the road, it rained again, big fat rain drops that could easily have turned to hail. This time we were luckier - the rain gauge registered a whole inch. Who-hoo!

That meant my heavy clay soil would be softened up, so Saturday I dug up Queen Anne's lace and pulled thistle until my hands hurt. And today (Sunday) I pulled more weeds, in the front of the house. I had mowed the front yard last Wednesday (against my will, but the neighbors on either side were making my lawn look scraggly), so I mowed the back today. I'm not a lawn and weed fanatic, but I have to admit the yard looks nicer after a trim.

I carried my camera in my pocket while weeding, hoping for some photo ops, but the butterflies and hummingbirds just would not cooperate. This fat bee was all I could snap, and he's hard to see on the Brown-eyed Susan:



The daylilies are winding down, except for this freebie by the front porch. The flowers are very fragrant.



And I noticed that the 'Hamelin' dwarf fountain grass is sending out its first seed heads.



Reminder: Don't forget to enter the contest to celebrate my 100th post!