Trusting and Verifying

My sister thoughtfully gave Heidi a petcam for Christmas, but after we set it up on a living room bookshelf it turned out that Lucy and the cats pretty much spend their days sleeping a lot and stretching a little and that’s about it. 

As such, the app has gone untapped on my phone for a while, until this trip, that is. When our first-time pet sitter had some trouble with the sliding glass door, it occurred to me that I could see her on the camera and offer assistance. Oh, she was able to resolve it without any real-time help from me, but now I’ve been browsing recordings of her spending time with the cats at our house, thumbing through her phone, watching TV, eating the candy we left for her, and keeping Milo and Tibby company, just as we hoped she would.

I know it seems a little creepy, but it’s not like I watch for hours; 15 seconds is pretty much my limit before boredom sets in. I also draw the line at only viewing recordings— it’s voyeuristic enough without watching the live feed!

Climate Control

It seemed so odd that the a/c Heidi’s mom has down in the guest room of their home wasn’t cooling the space as it usually does. We turned it way down and gritted our teeth, trying to ignore the incessant drone of the fan. 

At last this afternoon I climbed up to have a look at the unit, and I could see that although it was set to 65, the room temperature was actually 75. I did a quick check of the settings and restarted the unit, but it had no effect. That’s when I passed by the other machine that was also busily humming in the corner. It was a dehumidifier, and its heating element was on, so that it was working hard to keep our area both dry and toasty. 

Once I turned it off? The room cooled considerably. It seems like the a/c has a dehumidifier, too, so I’m hoping all will be comfortable and balanced, at least until Tuesday.

Not Another Delay

“My tooth kind of hurts,” Heidi reported this morning when we woke up.

“Uhhhh,” I said. “Should you call the dentist to see if they can get you in?”

“I’d rather have a toothache than have to tell my mother one more time that we’re not coming,” Heidi laughed. 

But she was serious— we packed the car and left for Buffalo a few hours later. Fortunately? The tooth wasn’t hurting anymore.

One Buy July

We were excited to discover that the four public tennis courts right around the corner from Heidi's parents' house are all marked for pickleball.

Willow Ridge Park is one of the most popular places to play pickleball in Buffalo, NY.

There are 8 outdoor hard courts. The lines are permanent, but you'll need to bring
your own net. The courts are free. 

Bring your own net!?!

Nowhere have we ever seen such a system, but not to be discouraged, I made an exception to my July spending holiday, and we ordered a portable net and had it sent to Buffalo, where it awaits us even now. 

Little Fires

We had planned to leave for Buffalo early today, but Saturday morning I was scratching Tibby under her chin when I felt a weird bump. It was large enough for us to be concerned, but even though we called the vet as soon as they opened, the first appointment we could get was today at noon. Tibby was not behaving unusually in the least, and so, with the luxury of teachers on summer break, we moved our trip back a day.

Today at the vet they felt the sizeable lump, but could not diagnose it. The doctor tried unsuccessfully to aspirate it with a couple of needle pokes and sent the tiny specimens she got out to the lab, and then she followed up with an ultrasound to see if there was any fluid that she might have missed. There was not, but Tibby was a champ throughout the ordeal. The lab results won't be back until Friday, and as long as our little kitty isn't uncomfortable, we are hoping for the best.

Then, when we entered our house this afternoon, it was clear that our a/c wasn't working. We called the service company we always use, and they were able to come out and fix the problem right away, but thank goodness we were here to deal with this little crisis. 

"I feel like the universe is telling us not to go to Buffalo," Heidi said, only half kidding, and in light of all the drama of the day, we pushed our trip to Wednesday, hopeful that doing so was just a precaution.

Last Game of the Week

One of our neighbors has been off all week. His accounting firm looked at the Tuesday Fourth of July holiday and the congressional calendar and called it a wash. That worked out great for me and Heidi since AJ joined us for pickleball every day. He was more than willing to play for a couple of hours with us on the empty courts, deserted by all those who were either at work, out of town on vacation, or put off by the heat and humidity of July in the DMV. 

We ruefully tapped paddles at the end of our last game on Friday, sorry that our week of fun had ended, but when the thunderstorms let up late this Sunday afternoon, I turned to Heidi. "How about some pickleball?"

She nodded. 'The courts will probably be open," she said.

We quickly changed our shoes and shirts for a sweatier occupation and headed out the door. On the way we passed AJ's place. The door was open, and Heidi knocked on the storm window. She pointed her index finger inside and then at the paddle in her hand. "Are you in?"

"My friends are going to play pickleball," we heard him call to his fiance, "and I'm going to join them!"

Why I Need a Barn

I've got a bumper crop of shallots and garlic. From the bulbs I planted late last fall, I've harvested several pounds of both. My trouble is in the step that comes next, curing the alliums. For that familiar papery skin to form before storing them, members of the onion and garlic family need to be laid in a single layer in cool, dry conditions for 2-4 weeks. 

My first thought was to find a place in the house, which we keep air-conditioned to the low 70s in the summer. I did not take into consideration the pungent odor of my crop. Heidi is tolerant of almost all of my wacky pursuits, but having our house smell like onions was not going to fly. As an alternative, I placed them in a single layer in some shallow cardboard boxes and put them in the guest bathroom. We were going out of town for a week, and I figured that would be time enough to cure most of the smell away.

Upon our return, the odor was gone, but there was a curious infestation of fruitflies, just one or two, here and there. We could not figure out where they were coming from, but the mystery was solved a few days ago when I finally got around to checking on the shallots and garlic. I quickly shut the box and took it out on the deck. 

I had had some good luck pre-curing the second harvest of garlic by leaving it on a grate in the garden for a few days. After that, I was able to brush the outer layer of soil and grime off, revealing a pretty purple and white skin beneath. My idea was to give the other bulbs the same treatment, but out on the deck. 

Unfortunately, we have had a stormy week, and the shallots and garlic have not dried at all. If anything, they are moister than before. So I spent a good 40 minutes or more this morning going through my bounty, trimming the roots, peeling the dry skin, and laying them on racks in the kitchen. "What's that smell?" asked Heidi when she got up.

Back to square one, I peeled the smallest of the shallots and pickled them, and I packed the rest in brown bags and placed them in a covered bin. So far? The smell and the fruitflies are gone. 🤞