Rocky Raccoon

Came by for dinner and a visit. Technically, I invited him. Rather than take the crab carcasses to the compost (say that five times fast), I wrapped them tightly and left them on the deck so that I could move them in the morning light rather than the creepy night.

We realized we had a visitor when the light with the motion detector stayed on – for quite some time. We investigated and found a furry friend happy on the deck having a crab feast of his own. Seriously adorable (even Michael agreed). The photo makes Rocky look menacing with the glowing eyes, but that was the flash and in no way a comment on his personality.

We don’t have a pet so I considered feeding him a second night in a row. I even had visions of domesticating him. Those thoughts were quickly forgotten as our friends told us about their raccoon, and a not so happy ending.

No revival for this Rocky.

Thank goodness I’m grounded.

And other electrical lessons.

I tried to use the dryer the other day. It sparked, and then didn’t start. Great. Wet clothes, no dryer.

I pushed the start button again. And again, a spark. This time it arced from the dryer to the vent and burned a hole. Figuring the third time would be the charm, I pushed the button again – no spark and the dryer still didn’t start.

I decided to bring in reinforcements. I called for Michael and told him what had happened. He got over the fact that I hit the button three times including a burn pretty quickly and he got to it.

He checked the wiring from the dryer to the wall – fine.
He checked the wiring from the fuse box to the floor – again, just fine. He headed for the dreaded crawl space.

Eureka.

The problem?
The former owners. Can you believe they (or folks they hired) changed the gauge of the wire below the house to save a couple of cents? Neither could Michael. He fixed the wiring and the dryer is back to normal.

Sarcastic Instructions Free with Purchase

For the record, Michael assembled the utility cart in far less than an hour. We had to replace the one we found after three good seasons of use.

Sew out of control

I wanted to buy a few outdoor pillows. I stopped by a couple of stores and wasn’t impressed with the prices or the fabric choices. I had some outdoor fabric left over from the chairs I restored, so that was a start. Then I found some really great outdoor fabric for half price one day. A few days later another print that would look great with the first.


















I made a bunch of pillows, and then still had fabric so I made some more pillows – for the hammock, and still had fabric so then I made an umbrella cover. I used all of the fabric and love the pillows, but now we need more outdoor furniture.