Slowly Recovering - Russ working Hard

I've been meaning to make several posts about these last 2 weeks. So, I apologize for the lack of new posts. I've been fighting a nasty cold that has been wearing me down. So, my energy level hasn't been high. Thus, posting has been put on the back burner.

Monday, July 2nd and Tuesday, July 3rd I was babysitting Mitchell again. (The cold was sneaking into my life then.) I've got some pictures and videos of Mitchell while babysitting. Most were taken on Monday. I still plan to post them.

Wednesday, July 4th, Russ and I went to Duluth to watch the fireworks. We took a Vista Fleet dinner cruise. The dinner was first while having a bit of a tour. Then after offloading the dishes, we went back on the harbor for more of a tour. At dusk, the captain took us to a prime location on the harbor to watch the fireworks. The display was spectacular. I have from pictures from that day too, which I plan to post.

We stayed in Russ' travel trailer Wednesday night, then came home on Thursday. But, since Russ won't be working in the Duluth area any more, we packed up the trailer and brought it home. (Russ will be working in Norfolk, VA starting Monday, July 16th.) Since we had some troubles with the light hook-ups for the trailer that Russ had to take time to address, we didn't get home till probably around 6 p.m. After getting home, Bunkers came by for a visit and to see the trailer.

Friday, Dawne and I went shopping for pond filters. I called her in the morning to confirm our trip and she thought I was cancelling. You see, my cold had taken away my voice. I had laryngitis. We, of course, couldn't just shop for pond filters. We took time to check out other things too. We were gone most of the day.

On Friday, Russ did a little shopping too. He had to get supplies for a wiring project for the farm. He has taken 2 weeks of vacation time, starting July 1st and to end July 13th before going to Virginia. I don't know if I'd really call it a vacation. He and Ronny took down a small bin Saturday, July 7th in the heat. Russ also has been working on getting the farm electrical situation resolved. After many phone calls and much research of the Electrical Code, he decided that the main service will be moved into the old Milk House (attached to the barn). Then a service will run to the house and to the bin site. (Other things are involved, but I don't fully understand them. I'm glad he knows what is going on.)

While Dawne and I found some good bargains on flowers for around the house, Russ shopped for electrical supplies. Saturday rolled around and Russ did some wire locating and as, mentioned previously, took down a bin. (Ronny has been driving Over-the-Road this week. So, he hasn't been around to help.) I tried to rest on Saturday, hoping to get over this nasty cold. But, I was restless. So, I took a little time hunting for other pond supplies out and about. Colette had asked me if I wanted to go quilt shopping with her. But, since my laryngitis was set in big time, I wasn't in the mindset to make any conversation. So, I went by myself.

Saturday was so hot, that we slept on the air mattress in the living room after struggling to sleep upstairs. I was having trouble getting some good sleep with my cold. Then the heat made it more difficult.

Sunday rolled around and we had planned to visit Duane, Steph and Nicholas. I was on the fence as to whether I should go because of my cold. In the end, I went. I did my best to keep my distance from Nicholas and his mom and dad. I didn't hold him once. Since Russ hadn't seen his grand-baby for quite some time, Russ spent lots of time spoiling Nicholas. I reasoned that I'd being seeing Nicholas several times before the next time Russ sees him. So, I could much more easily hold off with holding him. With Anna's wedding shower coming up, I'll get my chance to spoil Nicholas then.

Monday rolled around and it was time for me to see Doc Gilles. My cold wasn't getting any better and I was feeling a sore "lump" in my throat when I swallowed - swollen gland. I've also become concerned that Russ would come down with this nasty cold after he leaves for Virginia. Then he would have to suffer while working on a new job. I brought up my concerns to Doc and Doc prescribed some meds for both Russ and me.

Tuesday rolled around. This was to be a full day. Russ had scheduled the Parson's truck to be taken in for repairs. Plus, while on the road, we'd head to Mankato to pick up more supplies for Russ' electrical project. So, Russ drove the Parson's truck to New Ulm and dropped it off at the Ford dealer there. I followed with our pickup and picked up Russ. After a brief stop at the Cashwise pharmacy for our meds that Doc Gilles prescribed, we headed on down to Mankato.

We picked up the needed supplies then headed back to New Ulm. I needed some plumbing supplies to make the pond filter fountain work the desired way. So, we stopped at Runnings. There, Russ picked up some other supplies needed for the project. Then we headed back to Cashwise. There, we picked up some groceries and Dog Food - for our poor, starving muttly (j.k.). Then we headed home. I don't know how late in the day it was by the time we arrived home. But, I'm sure Russ was able to monkey with the electrical a bit more before calling it quits for the day.

Since Dawne was having trouble with getting their new pond filter working the way she wanted, I insisted to Russ that we stop up there Tuesday evening - since I now had all the necessary plumbing supplies to get it to work. Then, I'd show them what I found was needed. So, we went up to Bunkers Tuesday night, leaving home around 6:30 or so. We had supper with them and I showed them what I had found. I let them have mine (I'd get more plumbing supplies later, now that I knew what was needed and where to get them.) Then we stayed there till around 10 p.m., enjoying the cooler weather and some good conversation. (The weather temps had dropped off some time during the day on Tuesday, I believe).

Wednesday rolled around and I was supposed to work on bookwork. I did very little of that. I was wore out from my cold. So, I rested most of the day. Russ worked on trenching and digging. He dug by hand first, to find the buried electrical lines and the buried phone line. Then he started trenching. But, he found out later that he hand dug around the old, no longer in use, phone line. He trenched through the good line - OOPS! (We had phone trouble a couple years ago and faught with CenturyTel to have a new line buried. The old line had been chewed by gophers. Since CenturyTel had to lay a line that was around a half mile long to get it to our house, they drug their heals and we didn't have dependable service that whole time. They had strung a tempory line above ground that was shorting out constantly, thus the undependable service.) So, when Russ hand dug around the phone line, he had found the old service line. I'm sure he didn't give it much thought once finding it. He had located the wires. But, mistakes happen and Russ cut the good phone line while trenching. Thus, we don't have land-line phone service. Thank God for cell phones. I'll just continue to use that. Very few people call us via the land line any more anyways. So, we aren't in any rush to fix it. We'll make the call to CenturyTel when we are good and ready.

While trenching yesterday, Russ also wore out the trencher. He had most of the trenching done when it broke down. So, Russ called a local electrician to see if he'd come and finish trenching. He is scheduled to come today, Thursday. Since the trencher broke down, Russ had to rethink how he was going to keep busy. Russ laid out the wire and worked on some other things that took most of the rest of the day. Russ also had a dental appointment. So, he stuck that in the day too.

The local electrician came today. He came around 9 a.m. He's finished and is gone by the time I finish this post. Russ continues working on the electrical project as I write. As for my cold, I'm still recovering. My laryngitis is slowly going away, as is the soreness in my throat. I'm hoping it will be all gone before Friday. If not, I'll probably be heading back to Doc.

That pretty much catches up my "briefing" of the events since my last posting. Be sure to look back to past postings in the future. I plan to add pictures from my babysitting Mitchell and from the 4th of July. I think I'll probably get to that after Russ heads out to Virginia. So, no need to rush with checking out old posts.