Good bye tent

I was kept awake last night by the sound of something scratching in the attic. It was larger than a roach but smaller than a dog. I got a broom to tap on the ceiling. I tried cat sounds, and screeching like a hawk. That only worked for a minute. I put strongly scented essential oils on a cotton ball and threw it into the attic stairway. That worked for awhile, but I guess the smell wore off.

At some point I fell asleep because I woke up with my mind churning over the problems in Pinehurst. I tried imagining what it must feel like to earn a million dollars a week like Taylor Swift (actual earnings are slightly higher). Then I got out of bed to send Chris a message about the varmint. While sitting in the sun, I spent 20 minutes reading “Ageless Body, Timeless Mind” by Deepak Chopra.

Then I swished, and took some glutathione, and exercised. Then I took the vit C and B. I watched a video interview on a cell phone movie called Mobilize. I looked up handsets for cell phones. I juiced, and then called Jane to make sure we had quilting today. We did, so I got dressed and went to quilting. Jane had made a beautiful quilt. I talked to Beverly who has a sewing machine much like mine. I promised a lady I would bring my d-link next week to see if that is what she needed to get her laptop on the internet. When everyone was gone, I drove out a different driveway to avoid starting on a hill (because I was in Chris' car). I went to the Asian store for kimbap and sprouts. On the way home, someone beeped at me for taking so long to get started at a light. When I got home, I ate the kimbap with kimchi. I found a bait station in the garage. The one outside looked like something was nesting in it. I put the smaller one in the attic, but there was one already there. It was surrounded by rodent droppings. I boiled lemon peels and mashed them. Some of the mash went on a lid which I put it the attic because I read that rodents don't like the smell of citrus.

I swept out the tent, and started folding it up. There was water in some of the poles which got on the tent so I dried it with a towel. I folded up the tarp into a long strip. I used it to haul the pile clippings to the street. I got an e-mail from our agent saying the water is leaking in the house in Pinehurst and the paint job is so bad that she wants me to come up there to see just how bad it is because pictures don't do it justice, and that it will all have to be redone because she doubts the guys who did it are able to fix it. I forwarded her messages to Chris. I called the handyman who said he would turn the water off. I cooked turkey burgers in the oven. Ralph called back to say he turned it off and it wasn't leaking. We talked about the number of hours his workers billed for the job and he indicated that it seemed like a lot, but that the older guy was like a son to him and wouldn't cheat anyone. I ate one burger and put the rest away, and put the lemon mash away. It was only midafternoon, so I made breakfast, and worried about whether I was handling the situation in the right way. I looked at my phone for a headset port and could not find one, so I looked at my former phone and saw the headphone mark but not the hole. So I went to the website to look it up and got in a live chat. Then Chris skyped me, so I had two conversations going. Then the chat ended and Chris got my full attention. With his help, I tried to load software to install D-Link on the old computer so it can access the internet wirelessly. But that was too much for the old girl and she crashed. I removed her memory stick and put it in a case to take to the computer store tomorrow and match it with two new sticks. (Rx for an ailing computer: Take two memory sticks and call me in the morning.)

Then Parker called. She talked for hours about all the things she found wrong with the house that she hadn't seen last week: paint on the screens, broken door lock, ceiling only partially painted, peeling paint painted over, nastiness in the masterbathroom toilet. The good news was, after all the rain they had, the basement was totally dry! And most of the ceiling fans can be saved. So her plan now is to meet the handyman tomorrow to point out these things, and see what he is willing to do to put them right. We considered that he may not be capable of doing things right and we will have to pay someone else to make it all right again. After she hung up, I cleaned up a little in the kitchen and posted to my blog, hoping to sleep without distraction from 'the critter'.

*  Jane's quilt is a panel print with embroidered birds, butterflies and birdbath.  *