After two days of crazy noise and stress, we officially have a new roof that (hopefully!) doesn't leak. (There is actually a guarantee.) Like any good home improvement project, this was a can of worms. Internet/Phone/Cable had to be disconnected for the majority of the work, which left me unable to work, and few options but to knit whist pushing panicking animals off my lap. The roofer had to purchase a new flange for our swamp cooler system, and basically told us NOT to ever use the existing one again... aka buy a new one, which really isn't in the budget right now... so... tolerance is in order. I'm hoping for a mild summer. Further, our skylights no longer fit the way they should and the roofer told me I'd need new ones when we start the rest of the construction. When I inquired as to what "rest of construction" he smiled and said, "You need new stucco and new windows and new doors... and new skylights like I told you... and new air conditioning, you understand, rest of construction. But now you are ready - roof is done." Can't wait for John to get home so I can lay that one on him.
He offered to show me the roof after his final inspection. I explained he would need to call the fire department. A serious language misinterpretation happened there briefly - he thought I was telling him I would be angry at his work when really I was telling him I could get onto the roof, but I'd need rescue to get back down. Once he understood he laughed. Almost as hard as our bank laughed when it overheard him say "rest of construction".
Chica and Haley are very grateful the construction is over. Chica panted non-stop and barked every time the doorbell rang. Haley hid behind furniture and when you did see her, returned your gaze with a tea-cup saucer stare. Stinky didn't mind so much. The initial scrapping was the loudest and he didn't like that, but he snored through everything else that wasn't an opportunity to be pet by strangers.
Arizona is experiencing wild fires again already, and sadly, we are experiencing their smoke. Everything for a reason... when it's smoky you don't want to run a swamp cooler because is sucks the smoke into your house and chokes you out. The smoke makes me sad. We are literally hundreds of miles from the fires and yet the smoke is so thick, we can't see the mountain less than 5 miles away. I feel bad for the people living much closer or worse, in it. The mere smell of it here makes us nervous... I'm sure for some the smell means terror.
I'm still busy knitting. I'm working on a gift, a pattern test, a shawl for myself for work, and a new technique sample right now. I'm taking most of the summer off from teaching - it's just too busy with roof repairs, motorcycling, Sam's visit, and a new schedule at work. My next class is "My First Shawl" in August. It's a new offering and I'm excited to teach it. It is one of my own designs and I'll be covering a lot of material over 4 weeks with students. Cross your fingers it sells well. I have lots of ideas for new pattern designs and seemingly never enough time to knit it all.
John and I are each taking our turns at the dentist... yuck. We've each had our cleanings. He has two wisdom teeth that still need to be extracted and I've got a couple fillings coming up. My root canal from last October is still giving issue and we suspect the tooth is actually cracked. I'm supposed to go see a surgeon, who I'm told will most likely want to redo the root canal (NO!) or cut off the apex of the root (NO!) or suggest the unknown. Credit to my dentist (who I'm still convinced is under 25 years old), he felt really bad. In my last conversation with him I emphasized my dislike of these options and we discussed simply pulling it and installing a permanent bridge which, oddly I prefer over pulling and installing an implant. Everyday at the doctors office I witness how much your dental health and procedures impact your overall health. I'm aiming for the healthiest options possible.
Garden is doing great! We actually ate cherries off our cherry tree this year - we got about 9, the birds got the rest. Lesson learned - net lots, net early. Our pear tree has three or four fruits growing. In the regular beds we've planted red & white onions, garlic, carrots of multiple varieties, bell peppers, snap peas, 2 varieties of cucumbers, turnips, rabe broccoli, zucchini, 4 varieties of tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and sunflowers. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.... there is soooo much! Just about everything is peaking up.
So far we have only had one break-in. We suspect the driving force was a bird stuck under netting, and we don't think the usual suspect worked alone. I'm very careful not to say too much about the incident for two reasons. 1) John gets pissed every time he thinks about it - the usual suspect is lucky to be alive, and 2) the Universe has a sense of humor and likes to remind me that "never again" really only relates to very short periods of time.
John and I did get to go out and observe the eclipse. We rode out on his dual sport into the middle of the desert and observed through welder's glass. It was a really amazing/cool/weird thing to see. I find it sort of funny that my memory of it is green - but that's how I saw it through the glass. Because Albuquerque was right on the center viewing line we were able to see it full and perfectly. We are hoping to go out and observe the passing of Venus in front of the sun as well. Talk about putting your troubles into perspective - seeing these celestial bodies just make the dust bunnies under the coffee table seem so insignificant.
Memorial Day is upon us. John is hoping to go riding with his friend Martin as some point over the weekend. We've been invited to a pool party (not really John's thing!) Sunday. We haven't made any hard fast plans yet. I'm sure time will be spent with friends and food will be consumed.
