Now in recovery

It's all over now. The graduation ceremony was the worst ever but I was hooded and received my diploma. Here's the picture I took of it during the ceremony from my cell phone.


The party was fabulous. There were lots of good friends, good food, and good drink. Our friends and family know us well. Just about everyone brought us a bottle of wine or other fermented drink, which is fabulous. I think we have about 3 cases of wine and other spirits in the house. So, I guess another party is in order.

The Big Family Visit was smooth, with only one small hiccup. Now, as you all know, there were 8 adults and 1 child in the house for 5 days. On the 3rd day, the water heater decided it just had it. Or rather, the gas regulator, which keeps the pilot light lit, decided to act like a petulant child. The Good Mr. Dr. had to coax the pilot light on every morning so that some of the guests could take a shower. On the morning that most people were flying out, the gas regulator simply gave out. Luckily, we didn't have to convince the manufacturers that their warranty was illegal in MA (warranties follow products, not people despite what the companies will try to assert). They went ahead and sent out someone to replace it at no cost. We now have a functioning water heater.

The last guest has finally departed and we are slowly putting the house back in order. We've decided to take a break from remodeling efforts. Not just because we'd like to enjoy our house, but because we need to save the money to get to the next project. We went to the first Brimfield Antiques show of the year on Wednesday and found a beautiful mahogany sideboard that would be perfect in the library - once we knock down that wall and build the library. So, we had to pass on the great offer the vendor made. Instead, we bought a 2.5 foot stone Griffan which is now sitting in the vineyard. This morning I saw a squirrel try to check it out but deciding that 3 feet is a safe distance to sniff at it.

In other news, spring has sprung. The grapevines are sprouting, along with all of those things that the Good Mr. Dr. is allergic to. That's not going to stop us from getting out there and enjoying the good weather while we have it. We discovered that 4 of the bushes planted in the vineyard are an invasive species, so we need to find replacements and get those out of there. The Good Mr. Dr. is still not sure what we're (or really he's) going to do with the vineyard but I think he's slowly getting a plan together.

That's all for now. I should get in the shower and do a little cleaning before taking the rest of the day off to enjoy the only weekend this month with no meetings or other obligations.