Post a good thing that happened in your life today

[sb photos]

Unpacked a box that was delivered by DHL yesterday, contents checked out OK, not damaged on its trip from India. It was a μBitx Ver 6 amateur radio QRP (low power) radio transceiver kit. It's for use with my amateur radio hobby for which I hold a full license. It's been a hobby of mine on and off since I was around 15, and has been neglected for around the last 10 - 12 years.

 

Not so good, after patching up a section of my garden fence yet again, the repairs have only lasted until the next heavy winds. Have just ordered 2 panels and 3 posts to undertake a long term repair.

 

Then off for a walk in the local hills before rain potentially falls later this afternoon.

[sb photos]

2 hours ago, Bryan said:

Bought tickets for a folk concert scheduled for October. Almost sold out, couldn't get two seats together.

 

Fingers crossed it goes ahead.

 

Subject to no further lockdowns later this year I hope to visit my sister in Yorkshire. I could time it for when the Peatbog Faeries are playing at Settle's Victoria Hall. It's only a short drive from where I stay. They've played there before, as have many interesting musicians and bands. Settle is an interesting small town too.

[MandyD]

I got my Mom booked for her first dose of the vaccine!!

 

And Molly the cat update...her kidneys are not failing, her thyroid was just out of whack so the permakitten will make it to 16 years in 2 weeks time.

Edited March 14, 2021 by MandyD

[MizBrown]

Dog is better.  Cat is better but still not completely.  Both will be going back to the vet's for followup on Monday.  Should be getting the stimulus deposit if things go as they did for the $600 deposited earlier and since spent on vet bills and one piece of furniture that can't be as damaged by Lola leaking if she does continue with that, though she's now much less leaky.  Got cash out of the bank for that and to pay Luis for walking Lola this week, bought some packaged beef at Carne San Martin, and sent Luis off with C$120 and a plastic egg box for eggs from someone who has hens in her back yard in town.

 

Still no word on renewal.  If it goes well, I'll order another piece of furniture from my neighbor.  Good guess is that people are being trained to give vaccinations at this point and getting that done for Nicaraguans is top priority, and getting things done for foreigners from the US isn't.

Edited March 14, 2021 by MizBrown

[Thyrsis]

Was given the most amazing box of handmade chocolates for Mother’s Day.

[Bryan]

3 hours ago, sb photos said:

.

 

Not so good, after patching up a section of my garden fence yet again, the repairs have only lasted until the next heavy winds. Have just ordered 2 panels and 3 posts to undertake a long term repair.

 

 

I've had to replace or repair numerous wooden fenceposts at the allotments and in the garden.  People do insist on using concrete to install them, I do wish that they wouldn't.  When you come to repair, by placing a spur alongside, or replace, you have to spend an age chiselling out the old concrete, while, sure as eggs, the post rots just above the concrete. The recommended technique for farmers etc is to use rammed gravel, which provides some drainage and is much easier to remove when, inevitably, the post does need attention.

 

I seem to recall having this conversation once before?

[Mr Standfast]

34 minutes ago, Bryan said:

 

I've had to replace or repair numerous wooden fenceposts at the allotments and in the garden.  People do insist on using concrete to install them, I do wish that they wouldn't.  When you come to repair, by placing a spur alongside, or replace, you have to spend an age chiselling out the old concrete, while, sure as eggs, the post rots just above the concrete. The recommended technique for farmers etc is to use rammed gravel, which provides some drainage and is much easier to remove when, inevitably, the post does need attention.

 

I seem to recall having this conversation once before?

Yes, the criticism of my concrete fence posts still smarts....😁

[spacecadet]

1 hour ago, Thyrsis said:

Was given the most amazing box of handmade chocolates for Mother’s Day.

They look almost, but not quite, entirely unlike chocolates.

[Thyrsis]

9 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

They look almost, but not quite, entirely unlike chocolates.

They are like a box of chocolate Pollocks! 😉 And taste amazing! 

 

[sb photos]

1 hour ago, Thyrsis said:

Was given the most amazing box of handmade chocolates for Mother’s Day.

 

Looks very nice. Our cat Bran gave my wife a card saying she was purfect, and a nice box of chocolates and flowers. He is a very thoughtful cat.

[Betty LaRue]

Mother’s Day is in May, here. Father’s Day in June.

[Michael Ventura]

My sister and her husband stopped by yesterday briefly yesterday, it’s been well over a year since I last saw them.  He is British born but now an American citizen.  They told me that they will be spending a year in England, both will be retired soon, leaving late this summer.  They will stay nearly free at his parents’ two bedroom flat at Milford on Sea.  Both of his parents recently passed away (not from Covid) and the flat is sitting empty so they thought, why not spend a year there, he still carries a U.K. Passport.  My sister is getting the proper visa for a year long stay.  So I thought, I may have to go visit at some point!

[Thyrsis]

19 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

My sister and her husband stopped by yesterday briefly yesterday, it’s been well over a year since I last saw them.  He is British born but now an American citizen.  They told me that they will be spending a year in England, both will be retired soon, leaving late this summer.  They will stay nearly free at his parents’ two bedroom flat at Milford on Sea.  Both of his parents recently passed away (not from Covid) and the flat is sitting empty so they thought, why not spend a year there, he still carries a U.K. Passport.  My sister is getting the proper visa for a year long stay.  So I thought, I may have to go visit at some point!

 

Great place for you to visit with the New Forest close by. Some of the most expensive properties in the UK are at Sandbanks just along the coast to the east of Bournemouth

[Allan Bell]

14 hours ago, Thyrsis said:

 

Great place for you to visit with the New Forest close by. Some of the most expensive properties in the UK are at Sandbanks just along the coast to the east of Bournemouth

 

My holiday house is there.

 

Joking.

 

Allan

 

[Allan Bell]

YIPPEE!  My new replacement washer/dryer arrived today to replace my old broken machine.

 

NOW! Go to the "bad thing that happened in your life today".

 

Allan

 

[Betty LaRue]

We were in a bit of a drought from a dry winter. I got 3 inches of rain in my rain gauge in the past 4 days, some of it wet, melting snow. There was a heck of a storm Tuesday night, though. I’m sure glad I got my back fence replaced, or parts of it would have blown down. (Again)

[Bryan]

Looking through the junk in our garage I came across a roll of foam backed insulating material that you use under laminate flooring. My greenhouse is aligned east west with the northern edge against a fence, so it sees no light from that direction. I therefore cut a length of this stuff and placed it against the glass under the staging. It's heavy and difficult to work with so I decided against placing it high amongst the plants. However one thing leads to another and I lined the top half of the north face with kitchen foil held in place with double sided tape, thus reflecting those useful photons back onto the plants. An old large black plastic bin filled with water has long lurked beneath the staging acting as a thermal reservoir, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night.

 

I've had this greenhouse for 40 years, and don't know why it has taken this long to bring about these improvements !

[Stockybro]

Today I made a 3d model using my imagination concepts.

[MizBrown]

Yesterday, Luis, my helper, and I went by taxi to La Colonia, Jinotega's upscale super market.   All the taxi drivers wear masks.  La Colonia does the hand spritz and temperature taking before letting people in and also requires masks.  Got some fruit and veg there, and saw the latest octopus in the fish cooler, but it was too big for one person, so didn't buy it and even wondered if they used an octopus more to get attention than with expectations of selling it.  Luis introduced me to a nice whole wheat cracker with chia and flax seed, which I'm right now having with peanut butter (Nicaraguan made, with honey instead of sugar) that I also bought.  Splurged on a new white bath towel and a granite-wear Chinese-made small frying pan which looks like it was made by the same company that made the larger non-stick pan I bought here with a different non-stick coating.  Handles are the similar, both have an induction plate on the bottom, and both are heavier than most frying pans sold here.  This one is a perfect size for two egg omelets and cleaned up well afterward.   Also, bought a small loaf of bread that's baked in house and split it with Luis since I'd otherwise eat the whole thing in one sitting.  Also, gave him some sweet lemons, which are not as acidic as the usual lemons or limes here, and which made a nice lemonade.  Had my (expired) cedula with me when we went to pay so got the senior discount. 

 

I also bought grapes, bananas, and a red cabbage to turn into slaw.

 

Today was the last day for Prednisone for one of the cats, who, even hungry, does not like the taste even mixed in food.  I've got more antibiotics to give her, which seem to taste less nasty.   Her belly looks a lot better than it did.  Like the new vet better than the earlier vet, who seems to be less good with cats and who doesn't keep a stock of meds.  Luis asked the new vet earlier about a med for incontinence in dogs that's not a hormone, but it's not available in Nicaragua, so Lola the somewhat cocker is on a Cani-Tabs UT Support tablet that's supposed to be chewable, but which has to be wrapped in beef or cat food to get Lola to take it, but she will do that without suspicion or fuss.  Lola does appear to be better.

 

So a decent morning.  Luis had homework for his local equivalent of a GED, so walked Lola early yesterday and won't be coming until this evening.  Lola uses the courtyard when he doesn't come by.

 

Like Nicaragua quite a lot on days like this, when it's cool, but not so cool that I want to put on a fleece jacket.  Drinking local growers' coop coffee that I ground this morning from beans and brewed in a French press that I bought in Managua.  Thinking of more things I can shoot around the house with the AD200s bounced from the white Styrofoam board ceilings.   Keep forgetting to ask Luis to buy me a nacataml on a Sunday (traditional for Sunday breakfast or lunch) so I can reshoot that with more control of the lighting and focus. 

 

Getting out yesterday made today a good day.    So far, nobody on my block has had the virus or the health department contact trackers, clipboards in hand, would have been by to check on the rest of us.  My friend who lives next door to a house where someone died last spring says a health department representative has been working with the landlord to sterilize the house after the surviving former tenants, who used the house as an office,  moved out.  They worked for the state-owned Agricorp which had had its building burned in 2018, but is repaired now.   Last spring, she had two health checks in the month after the death.  People with clipboards came by to see if she had any symptoms. 

 

Things I could photograph: my cane, the dog's Cani-Tabs, leather gloves on the small table in the front room, my rice cooker with steamer top, the beer bottles for locally made beer (perhaps need another beer to fill the lager glasses), the peanut butter jar with the cracker box and the last three crackers spread with peanut butter, and the Chinese non-stick frying pans.  Maybe, but now I have a list.  Feeling calmly lazy right now.   Have everything I need for now, not everything I want, but hey.  

[Mr Standfast]

33 minutes ago, MizBrown said:

Yesterday, Luis, my helper, and I went by taxi to La Colonia, Jinotega's upscale super market.   All the taxi drivers wear masks.  La Colonia does the hand spritz and temperature taking before letting people in and also requires masks.  Got some fruit and veg there, and saw the latest octopus in the fish cooler, but it was too big for one person, so didn't buy it and even wondered if they used an octopus more to get attention than with expectations of selling it.  Luis introduced me to a nice whole wheat cracker with chia and flax seed, which I'm right now having with peanut butter (Nicaraguan made, with honey instead of sugar) that I also bought.  Splurged on a new white bath towel and a granite-wear Chinese-made small frying pan which looks like it was made by the same company that made the larger non-stick pan I bought here with a different non-stick coating.  Handles are the similar, both have an induction plate on the bottom, and both are heavier than most frying pans sold here.  This one is a perfect size for two egg omelets and cleaned up well afterward.   Also, bought a small loaf of bread that's baked in house and split it with Luis since I'd otherwise eat the whole thing in one sitting.  Also, gave him some sweet lemons, which are not as acidic as the usual lemons or limes here, and which made a nice lemonade.  Had my (expired) cedula with me when we went to pay so got the senior discount. 

 

I also bought grapes, bananas, and a red cabbage to turn into slaw.

 

Today was the last day for Prednisone for one of the cats, who, even hungry, does not like the taste even mixed in food.  I've got more antibiotics to give her, which seem to taste less nasty.   Her belly looks a lot better than it did.  Like the new vet better than the earlier vet, who seems to be less good with cats and who doesn't keep a stock of meds.  Luis asked the new vet earlier about a med for incontinence in dogs that's not a hormone, but it's not available in Nicaragua, so Lola the somewhat cocker is on a Cani-Tabs UT Support tablet that's supposed to be chewable, but which has to be wrapped in beef or cat food to get Lola to take it, but she will do that without suspicion or fuss.  Lola does appear to be better.

 

So a decent morning.  Luis had homework for his local equivalent of a GED, so walked Lola early yesterday and won't be coming until this evening.  Lola uses the courtyard when he doesn't come by.

 

Like Nicaragua quite a lot on days like this, when it's cool, but not so cool that I want to put on a fleece jacket.  Drinking local growers' coop coffee that I ground this morning from beans and brewed in a French press that I bought in Managua.  Thinking of more things I can shoot around the house with the AD200s bounced from the white Styrofoam board ceilings.   Keep forgetting to ask Luis to buy me a nacataml on a Sunday (traditional for Sunday breakfast or lunch) so I can reshoot that with more control of the lighting and focus. 

 

Getting out yesterday made today a good day.    So far, nobody on my block has had the virus or the health department contact trackers, clipboards in hand, would have been by to check on the rest of us.  My friend who lives next door to a house where someone died last spring says a health department representative has been working with the landlord to sterilize the house after the surviving former tenants, who used the house as an office,  moved out.  They worked for the state-owned Agricorp which had had its building burned in 2018, but is repaired now.   Last spring, she had two health checks in the month after the death.  People with clipboards came by to see if she had any symptoms. 

 

Things I could photograph: my cane, the dog's Cani-Tabs, leather gloves on the small table in the front room, my rice cooker with steamer top, the beer bottles for locally made beer (perhaps need another beer to fill the lager glasses), the peanut butter jar with the cracker box and the last three crackers spread with peanut butter, and the Chinese non-stick frying pans.  Maybe, but now I have a list.  Feeling calmly lazy right now.   Have everything I need for now, not everything I want, but hey.  

 

A lovely post.

👍

[MizBrown]

2 hours ago, Mr Standfast said:

 

A lovely post.

👍

Thank you.

[aphperspective]

A couple of weeks ago my GP took a reasonable sized suspicious blemish from my arm. Yesterday the result came back as a positive Carcinoma, that was bad news, the good news was he took a big enough margin to get it all so all clear, that was good news. A cheque came through the post from a British bank I had long since closed an account with. This large cheque was issued after an audit revealed I was owed funds for wrongly taken charges. The bad news was it was in Pounds Sterling not Euro, my local branch in Ireland said it may take weeks to clear. The good news it cleared the same night (apparently cheques drawn against banks are pretty much cleared straight away). So between the good news and bad news it was pretty much OK ish. 🙂

[Colblimp]

I've managed to find a barber who will give me a black market haircut.  👍😎

[MandyD]

1 hour ago, Colblimp said:

I've managed to find a barber who will give me a black market haircut.  👍😎

I had my first cut the other day in 461 days....by the same woman who cut my hair as a kid. I didn't have to sit on the board to make me taller or anything this time. 😄

[Betty LaRue]

My good thing is my son came back from a week’s business trip. I watched his dog while he was gone. Big mistake. My yard isn’t fenced and Sophie didn’t enjoy doing her business on a long leash. So instead of taking her out 3 times a day, it seemed it was every hour before she’d finally perform. Two of those days was cold and windy, one was rainy. She’d sit on her rear in the grass and roll her eyes at me like she’d never heard “go potty” before.

Then Thursday, she started heaving and ran behind my couch to throw up on my rug. I had to lift and swing out the end of the couch, grab her and run for outdoors. I’m not supposed to lift.

We made it to the garage where she threw up before I could leash her. Then I discovered she’d had diarrhea on my hardwood floor and rug in a bedroom. Four places. 😖 She felt better after eating some grass salad. She couldn’t help being sick, poor thing.

 

Jeff left with her this morning and I celebrated the rest of the day. I’ve always been a dog person, but this dog!!! She is sweet, I gave her lots of love and petting. She never knew I wanted to pinch her head off a few times.

I'm having a real good rest of the day. But I keep thinking every half hour that I have a dog I need to take outside. Again.

Edited March 21, 2021 by Betty LaRue