A Quick Dash across

Our lumber yard had called a couple of days ago that a part I had ordered for my angle grinder had finally arrived. Since I also had to order an amount of pine boards and on top of that needed kitchen supplies I decided to make a quick dash to Machias, ME today.

Bea had planned a trip to the medical centre this morning so she would take the Jeep, leaving me the choice of the big truck or our LTD convertible. Because of the beautiful weather I couldn't resist the temptation to  take the LTD for a spinn. I had actually never taken the car farther than Lubec and I was curious how it would run when the engine got really warm over a longer distance. But it was still chilly at 9am so I kept the roof closed.

It was truly wonderful to ride the car through this coastal area. Deep blue waters, small boats everywhere, and most tourists were gone. When I passed a construction area the workers turned their heads after the passing car.

The big V8 "bubbled" along just fine.

After a stop at the lumber place I went on to the grocery market. I packed 3 cartons of organic whole milk (what's all that fat free stuff doing there anyway?) 3 yoghurts, a sour creme, a pair of pork chops and a bag of prunes and a pack of coffee filters. I am just on 14 items when i approach the express line at the cashier. I leave the store with four shopping bags and put everything into the big trunk. 

While the car was sitting in the parking lot it got very hot inside, so now is the time to roll back that roof. 

Ah...so much nice air...let's go and hit the road. Passing a few gas stations I wonder about the gas prices. Raw oil is down somewhere in the upper eighties, about what it was a year earlier, but the price at the pump is about 1DOLLAR/gal. higher than last fall. These oil companies are taking advantage of us --- big time.

At Lubec I had to get another gallon of white house paint primer. Customs people are thinking we EAT that stuff.

I got home just in time for lunch and then I did some work on the house.

When early afternoon came to an end a peculiar and very enticing smell permeated from inside the house. Bea was in the kitchen - doing something very useful. She was baking a cake! 

An hour later I was enjoying German-style Prune Cake. What a feast! 

And you know what, there is more tomorrow!

Have a good one! 

(recipe @ www.dinner-fourtwo.blogspot.com

August 08


Alright, gone shopping
The day started out with gray fog and slight rain, which at times increased in intensity. A day which would be no good for any outdoor activity. So, since I needed to make orders for doors and cedar shingles I decided to take a ride into our neighbouring country and visit a few building supply centers. I took the truck, just in case I would find a nice bargain on the 2 entry doors I was looking for. 


On the way down south to Machias I met a couple of huge Motor Homes on their way north. And then I took in on a nice big and shiny AIRSTREAM trailer. I guessed it to be around 28-30ft long. It was pulled by a pickup truck and the traveling party was from Texas. They were lumbering along at 50-53mph, just under the speed limit of 55mph. These trailers design is as old as RV'ing itself. They have been admired and loved and upgraded over decades.


I ordered the shingles in Machias but I would have to wait for delivery until Friday morning as the shingles currently were not in stock at this location.


For the entry doors this place was not competitive enough, so I continued the ride further south to a major National Building Supplier in Ellsworth. After walking the aisles up and down I finally found an associate who was eager enough to do business with me. Together we found two doors at an acceptable price and loaded them onto a dolly. I also found some hardware and was headed towards a check-out where I could bring my truck around. 


When presented with the Grand Total I had kind of given the guy my debit card, but something was ringing a bell in my head. It might have been the gray weather or what ever, but when I finally looked at the receipt I knew what was wrong. It was the inflated price which had rung the bell. Looking closely I found out that the total was for three doors and two of them at the wrong price too!! The cashier was not pleased about my delayed reaction to it, but called out for another employee. Finally I was ushered to the customer service desk, where I should receive the refund for the 3rd. door and the wrong price. When this service guy looked into his cash box he realized that he had no money for the refund. (I don't understand why they do not refund to the debit card which was used in the first place) Anyway, I made it out the door with 241 bucks in refund. It is very, very rare that I carry that kind of cash in my wallet, so I figured I could go over to Walmart and get rid of some green-backs again.

When I walked by the cheese desk I saw that they had my famous Norwegian Jarlsberg Cheese. So I immediately ordered half a pound of it sliced up. When the girl handed me the cheese I routinely glanced at the label and was stunned that she had affixed a label for some meat cold cuts which also showed a higher price pr. pound. Was this the day where people made mistakes by error or was everyone trying to take advantage of my sleepy appearance? I wasn't sure at all, but the girl changed the label apologizing profusely. 
Looking at the clock I realized that hours and hours had passed since leaving home and that I was starving.
From the Deli desk I retrieved a sandwich which later after check-out was completed with a cup of coffee from Dunkin' Donut. I refused the temptation to have a doughnut added to the coffee, but felt almost sorry about it afterwards when sitting in the truck munching away on the ham sandwich. Sometimes I am just too cheap against myself.


Meanwhile, the sun had come out and made the air incredible humid and "muggy". So when heading north again at mid-afternoon, I opened up the windows to let the air stream through the truck, screwed the stereo to a full blast and was looking forward to getting home.

See the ship diving in the evening fog?

July 28


I don't know what to call this
Ok, it's not a piece of blank paper when you use a computer, it's a blank screen which stares at you. But the challenge is the same. 
Anyway, today was a good day, the sun was out all the time and I made great progress on the porch project. Kind of worked my way around the corner and joined Bea there who was scraping off that old paint from the wood shingles. 
You know we had to buy a heat gun for that task.  Well, some places that paint falls off if you just breathe at it, but then again it can be a pain to clean the shingles. A neighbour has already given the verdict: We are NUTS! Yes, that's what she's said. NUTS! Of course we could just blow some new paint on top of the old paint, but you know how long that would last, right? So here we are trying to do it the right way, and people think we have cracked.


Around noon, I was just getting ready to re-start work after lunch again,a nice young girl steps up to our door. She has two letters with EXPRESS printed on it. I almost kissed and hugged her, but took myself back a step. These letters contained our passports! Spankin' new Canadian passports. And I had those feelings that we'd never see them passports again. You know like: Lost in the mail.  We had sent passport applications with mugshots and everything pr. express letter on June 14. Then, what happened was that Canada Post went on strike!  From there to July 05 it is about 3 weeks right? That was the day when Passport Canada received our express mailings. I see our passports are stamped July 22. July 22!! That was the day when Norway was attacked by that lunatic. Today is July 28, and it is 6 weeks after we sent our applications. But time is nothing, if you look at where they are issued:  It says Victoria, BC. Now Victoria is probably the farthest away point of civilization in Canada. (around 6000km?) 
I won't speculate about any reason for that.

Well, later in the afternoon it got kind of hot outside, and since we needed to get a refill for the fridge, we took off heading south across the bridge and on to Machias, where there is a bigger and well-equipped super market. When we stopped at U.S. Customs I held our new passports out the window. These guys were getting used to receiving paper copies only from us for the past weeks. So now he eyed the new passports saying: "Let's see whether them work. Yep  yours work, now lets see about your wife, yep works also. have a nice day!"  What nice guys the U.S. has stationed here at Lubec!


Before we were heading off south we dropped in at Martha's home bakery. Martha says I am regular now. I am grueling the day, when being in California again having to live without Martha's bread for 6 months. Maybe I have to come home earlier.


We had a real good shopping spree in Machias. That Hannaford Food Market is sure a nice place. Got all the goodies I need. Bea bought a build-on pizza. Know what that means? You kind of buy a pizza foundation with some cheese on it, then at home you can build on to that with whatever you have and like. I bet she is just about putting the pizza on her blog. 


And that's it for today folks, wasn't so bad, was it?

July 6


Make-over
We are in the middle of a make-over with our house again. Last year we did the entire 1.floor, this year's spending is going towards the front of the house and the porch. 
The old porch was in need of a major renovation and currently I am tearing down the old construction. The asphalt shingles were nailed down with 1 1/2" nails!!! They are long enough to stick out underneath the boards. I had a horrible time to get those shingles off.

Then, yesterday and today, I had to take the boards of the joists. Those were old and brittle and, using the crowbar, they came off in thousand bits and pieces. 

With the roof off the porch, our living-room feels like an Arizona Sun-room. That porch roof sure stole a lot of light.
The new roof is going to be somewhat higher at the front and will hopefully permit more light into our house.


This morning I went to Machias,ME to get our truck into a FORD dealers shop. FORD Canada had been so considerate to send me a letter to get a slight adjustment in the electronics. While in Machias I stopped by the lumber yard to order materials for our porch renovation project and got a few groceries. On the north end of town I am always passing a Dunkin Donut, which is the American version of Tim Horton. Funny enough I never get myself to stop there, despite I am always thinking of fresh donuts and good smelling coffee. Maybe next time. And now I am thinking of Al from the Bayfield Bunch who seems to be "hooked" on Mc.Donalds Burritos at least that's what I am reading in his blog.


Thinking of working in the tourism industry again. Over the next three days I will be conducting a market survey for a sightseeing service on the island. If the results are encouraging I might get a van and start the enterprise next summer. I just love to show the island to visitors.


Had a nice clear day today and discovered that the freighter had re-emerged from the fog.