Cool Adventures

I've been having such grand adventures!!! You will laugh when you hear them and wonder that I am so easily entertained.

First of all, with the onset of much warmer weather, we found it necessary to get the old swamper up and running. We had a few VERY warm nights in the house when we found it difficult to sleep. So, up onto the shed roof I went to get started. I was able (with Dan's help) to get the panels off, the pads pulled and and replaced and things put back together. I must say that I always put this chore off because there is ALWAYS something that has to be replaced or repaired. This year was no different. This time it was the drain. I worked on it for a good half hour before my neighbor took pity on me and came to see if he could help. He had trouble with it, too. But we finally got it fixed. We filled it and it was running beautifully. Later, after it was dark, I heard water POURING from the drain. My other neighbor heard it too and called me. I shut the water supply off and left it for another day. I knew that it was a "float" problem.

This evening I got back up there and immediately discovered the problem. The float is very close to the front panel of the cooler. When I put the panel on last night, it caused the float to get stuck and not rise and turn off the water supply. So, the silly thing overflowed. I was able to bend the float the other direction. And Hallelujah!!! We have it running. In fact, I just had to close my bedroom doors because I'm FREEZING!!!! And we did it all with only ONE trip to Home Depot!

So now, you know a whole lot more than you ever wanted to know about swamp coolers!!! I figured if I have to know, so do you!

I went to a cooking class this week (a Mother's Day gift from Dylan.) It was a Summer Salads class, and I really enjoyed it. I learned a few new things and left absolutely stuffed with delicious salads. First of all I learned that if you have arthritis or gout, you should not eat lentils. They cause those diseases to flare up. I guess this applies to all legumes, but lentils are the worst offenders. I also learned that when you're grilling steak, if you try to turn it over and it sticks to the grill, that means "leave me alone." It's just not ready to turn. Don't turn it over until it pulls away from the grill easily. One of the garnishes they used on the steak salad was little tiny julienned pieces of fresh ginger. I mean tiny--smaller than toothpicks. You fry them in a little olive oil then drain them on a paper towel. And my favorite thing was a garnish he prepared for a Ceasar Salad. He grated some Asiago cheese and covered the bottom of a saute pan--maybe 8 inches. He cooked the cheese until it started to turn golden brown around the edges and was dry. He then slid the cheese out of the pan and put it on top of an inverted bowl. When the cheese cooled, it was like a little bowl. You serve these "bowls" with the salad. You crumble the cheese and put it on top. Yummy stuff!!!!!

I have the day off tomorrow. YIPPPEEEE!!!! I have SO many things I'd like to accomplish. I need to clean up some big tool and paint supplies messes in the kitchen, do laundry, do paperwork, go to Sears, visit my ailing friend Elizabeth, do yard work, paint my closet doors, go to Barnes and Noble, wash and vacuum my car, clean the bathroom, drag the hose around, rob a bank so I can fill my gas tank and the gas cans, get my sweaters back on my shelves, shampoo carpet, and more. Do you think I can get it all done?????? Probably not. But it will all be waiting for me on another day. I will certainly not be in danger of being bored. I am taking a couple of vacation days in early July, so I hope to make some real progress in the coming weeks.

Wow, where does the time go? It's nearly midnight. I am so happy to be able to turn off the alarm clock and sleep until my body wants to wake up. Of course, that will probably be 5 am! Argh.

G'night all.