An Update: Sadly... Pictureless

In short: Computer Crashed, Washing Machine Broke, Poison Ivy
Yes, It's been a rough week. My computer has given up the ghost, but my brother is supposed to be finding a part to fix it. Apparently, I didn't have enough operating memory to run the computer, and the memory that I did have was corrupted, so he's looking for some new memory to run my computer. In the meantime, we are using Arthur's computer, which is probably 4 or 5 years older than mine, so it will not run the driver that runs my printer. Bummer. Also, I don't really want to take the time to attempt to load a program that will allow me to put my pictures on here, just to save them for a computer that I will not be using for long, so here I am, pictureless. I had a lot of pictures I've been wanting to post too, and I promise I will try to post them as soon as I can when my computer is up and running again.

My washing machine has been spinning slower, and slooower, and slooooooooowwwwwer. It finally quit never to spin again (at least not more than about two seconds at a time). I found a washer and dryer that was on year old in the paper for a good price, and while my dad was here visiting, he and Arthur were going to go get them. My dad, however, had a stroke of genius and decided that it would be better to try to fix the washer we had. Now that washer was not ours. It was our landlords. They told us we could use it until it quit, but if it did, they were not planning on replacing it. It was just an old one they had. I had been wanting to get our own anyways, because if we move from here at some point, we will have to get new appliances anyways, so I figured it'd be easier to buy them piece by piece when we got the money rather than trying to buy them all at once when we moved. However, my dad convinced Arthur that it was a good idea not to drive all the way to St. Louis to pick up a used washer and dryer when you could use someone else's used washer and dryer right here, given a five dollar belt and a few minute's labor. So, Dad rode his new motorcycle into town to get a belt. An hour to an hour and a half later, he came back with the belt. It only takes five or so minutes to get to the store, but apparently, the first place he looked didn't have the belt, so he was "forced" to go to Hechler's Hardware, where he has cousins. Of course they had the belt. They have everything there that no one else carries. They also had cousin's who were eager to try out the new bike... not that my dad was at all eager to show it off ;-) . Anyways, he finally got home, and the belt did not fit. Another trip to Hechler's, another long wait. The second belt did not fit. A third and shorter trip to Hechler's, finally a belt that fit. Laundry goes in, washing machine starts, washing machine stops. Puzzled expressions, a bit of tinkering, washing machine starts, washing machine stops. Burning smell. Tinkering, start, stop, burning smell. "Umm, sister, I think you need a new washing machine." Did I tell them? I told them. The motor apparently was burned up, and he decided it was NOT worth hunting down a new motor! I give Arthur the number to call the guy with the washer and dryer and get directions. He calls and gets directions just as I realize that that was the wrong guy. Oops. I give him another number. He calls and gets directions. We are nearing Troy, about five minutes from home. Dad whips out his phone and calls his cousin Michael. "Is there an appliance store in Troy? Uh huh, uh huh, okay." He reasons that it's crazy to drive to St. Louis to look at used appliances that we may not even like when we could look at new ones right here in Troy. I reason that we have very limited funds to work with and are looking at a very good price for one-year-old appliances. He reasons that he has money and wants us to get good appliances that will last awhile and asks what I would get if I could have any washer and dryer I wanted. I reason that the washer and dryer I would choose would be waaaaay out of our price range for quite some time. He reasons that we could pitch in what we were going to spend anyway and he could pitch in the rest. I reason that that would put him out a lot of money. He and Arthur decide that we will at least stop and look in Troy and see what the prices are there. We stopped at the appliance/carpet/flooring/mattress/furniture store to discover that they are going out of the appliance business because they make most of their money in the carpet/flooring/mattress/furniture business. They have one washer and two dryers, and the matching ones are pretty much exactly what I would have chosen if money were not an issue. My dad haggles with the salesmen for awhile (at least one good skill he acquired as a little Grenadian). He comes down by about $400. He and Arthur talk it over and decide to go half and half. We ended up spending more than we were planning on spending, but I think it was worth it to get a really nice washer and dryer. Thanks, Dad!

Even after all the fuss, I really like my new washer and dryer. They are front loading and have sensors to detect how much water, heat, time, etc. is needed, so they save on energy bills. The washer has a delay timer, which I love, because I can throw a load into it at night and set it to wash the clothes just before I get up in the morning. That way, when I get up, I can put the laundry straight into the dryer and have it done in half the time. They also both have a beeper that sounds when they are finished, which is a big plus for absent minded me. Arthur will appreciate his laundry being less wrinkled as a result. They are much roomier than my other washer and dryer, so I can run bigger loads. Also, the dryer takes about half the time (sometimes a bit more than half for bigger loads) that my old dryer was taking. They are also stackable, which isn't a big issue now, but if we ever move somewhere with a smaller space for the appliances, that will be a plus. I know I am getting old when I get excited about new appliances, but I am excited.

I am also excited about my garden (okay, okay, OUR garden, Arthur). I am not, however, excited about the poison ivy I got working in it. Actually, I was working in the raspberry patch. It finally stopped raining enough for us to till, so we got most of our garden planted. It's going to be BIG. We went back last Wednesday to plant some more corn. Arthur was running the tiller, and there was nothing for me to do at the moment, so I had a brilliant idea. The raspberry patch was all grown up with weeds. You couldn't even get to the bushes. I had the brilliant idea to take the cutlass and cut a path through it. Arthur's family mulches with carpeting, which works great. I figured, I'd cut paths between the rows and we could lay carpet down. Then, when it came time to pick the berries, we could just walk on the carpet and pick and wouldn't have to fight the weeds, brush, critters, etc. It really was a great idea except the part about a cutlass splattering through poison ivy. The berry patch now has three nice neat rows of carpet, and I have lots of mean, itchy splotches. The arm that I was hacking away with has a particularly nasty rash. Next time I go into the raspberry bushes, I think I will take boots and gloves.
The garden is coming along nicely. Everything is starting to pop out of the ground. There will be summer squash, zucchini, peppers, peas, green beans, onions, potatoes, corn, corn, corn, more corn, okra, lots more okra, tomatoes, rhubarb, maybe strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and grapes- lotsa grapes. The cherry tree by the garden has a lot of cherries on it, but Arthur says most of them will rot off. I may try to thin them out and see if that helps. Anyways, there's my long little pictureless update. Hopefully I'll have lots of pictures soon!