Door Seals. Second Donation Run. F/E Alignments.

I started out all bundled up in turtle neck and coat, but down to my t-shirt by 2.00 pm. At 7.30 am I was outside loading more boxes to go the second charity thrift shop, this one is closed on Mondays, but it could be donated today.

Both the Dakota truck and Puddle Jumper were going to get their Front End Alignments checked today. Ray is used to driving the Puddle Jumper, so I drove the truck to the front end mechanic in the next town, and Ray followed me. We dropped off the truck, but the thrift shop didn't open until 10.00, so after a quick visit to Home Depot to get a new little bell battery for the outside part of my wireless door bell, and some more door seals, we just came home.

There was a message from Jay that he wanted to work, and also needed a ride to the next town to do some business, so I picked him up. I told him that I would be driving back to the next town to switch out the Puddle Jumper for the truck, so he could go with me then.

First, Jay fixed a drawer on a wooden chest of drawers that I use for office stuff. The back of the drawer wasn't as tall as the front, and papers kept on falling behind the drawer so that I had to remove it to find papers that I just knew were in there. Jay added a strip of wood to the top of the back of the drawer.

The marmalade tabby cat, "Orange Glow", who has made his home here, likes to sleep under a desk in my storeroom, which is joined onto Ray's utility room. The storeroom doesn't have a door on it, but it is at the back of the left side of the 42' RVport, so no rain gets in there. But it is on the north side, and I found a place that could be drafty in there, so Jay screwed on some boards to fill in the gaps. I am going to make Orange Glow a nice bed under that desk for the winter. I hate drafts, I always say that if a mouse twitched his whiskers in Ruby's yard, (my neighbor across the street), that I would feel the draft !

Jay and Ray helped me move some stuff around, (a dryer, stove, and cabinets that I have for sale), so that we can stand up all the folded big yard sale tables where they belong, and get them out of the way till next spring. We did manage to get one table folded and put up today. Three more to go. Still a lot of stuff to donate, and some to be put up till spring.

Ray replaced the insulation strip on opening side of my front door that had got mutilated by Maggie, Belgian Sheepdog, who I used to foster. It goes in a groove in the door jamb. Then we needed to get Ray's outside back door to his utility room sealed. It is the only door on this place that faces the harsh north winds, up on this hill. Blackie, Shay's cat, sleeps in there at night, and also who wants a drafty derriere when they are doing laundry. Ray installed the new rubber strip in the threshold. We had tried to seal that door with that old timey copper strip, but this time I bought something that seals it better, and nails on, outside on the jamb. It should be a lot warmer in there now. Also Ray has a back door going from his bathroom going into that utility room, and needed sealing, too.

My back door going out of the side of the workshop, which is attached to my house as it was a garage, wasn't installed right by the contractors. I can see a daylight gap on one side at the top of it. Now we are talking about a pre-hung steel-clad door which was put in not quite square. So we might have to take the whole thing out and square it up. All the doors that my late DH and I installed are fine, but when he got sick, a contractor added the last room and garage under the roof that Jay and I had already built. So we will have to see what it takes to fix that side door.

As soon as the mechanic said my truck was going to be ready, Jay and I went back to the next town in the Puddle Jumper. I dropped him off to do his business and went to the Assistance League Thrift Shop and dropped off the whole station wagon load of boxes there. I picked up Jay and we switched out into the truck at the front end place.

We visited a couple of thrift shops that were nearby, and I bought some red jeans. Never had RED jeans before, Gee, you will see me coming a mile off. It will be cheery on the few cold days we will have. Isn't red what you are supposed to wear in the snow, which we don't have here? I bought a nice white jacket-type top to go with them, too. It has long sleeves with blue and red flowers, with pockets and cosy red knitted cuffs. I gotta have pockets. Also found a really nice quality heavy like-new teflon-coated frying pan. Jay had to buy that for me, as he has ruined two of mine by running the gas full blast and burning them. I don't fry much, but I do love to make hash browns sauteed in light tasting olive oil once in a while. Then one needs a frying pan to make salmon patties.

Another busy, sunny day.