At the Bolt Hole, April 20

I got about 2 1/2 hours of work in this morning before the wind kicked it up a notch. What had been a stiff 15 mph breeze suddenly became 30+ mph with gust going over 40. It was all I could do to keep my hat on let alone try to throw branches up onto the pile we've created.

The ProHauler parked in front of Mount Slashmore

It was time to do some plumbing work anyway. Which ended up as a bust. I could not turn any of the nuts holding the spray nozzle hose in place or the faucets. Even after I went to Lowes and got a faucet wrench (one of which is sitting in the Aerie's workshop), they just would not budge! In a fit of desperation I pulled out the duct tape, crimped down the end of the hose where it was leaking, dried it off thoroughly and the wrapped it in duct tape...and it worked! (That was $14 for the wrench, another $8 for a replacement hose, a couple of hours of fiddling trying to disassemble the faucet, and two hours back and forth to Lowes that I didn't have to spend. The duct tape was on the shelf here already.)

It started raining here around 1 PM and has been raining pretty hard for five hours now. The temperature dropped to around 30 degrees so some of the rain ended up as sleet. Whatever the precipitaion, it's supposed to slacken a bit overnight and the sun may even come out for a little tomorrow before the rain returns on Wednesday.

I did some food shopping while I was out so I'm set for a week or more. The coffee supply was getting low and the freezer meats were too. One package of pork loin cutlets and one of chicken breasts and I've enough for eight meals. Frozen mixed veggies and french fries will round out dinner. A package of spaghetti and a jar of Ragu incase I want some variety. A package of hot dogs and rolls along with a bag of potato chips takes care of lunches. (A couple of cans of chili incase I want variety there too.) I've eggs, oatmeal or pancake mix for breakfasts. A bag of mixed fruits (apples and oranges) for snacks. Two 10.3 oz containers of Folger's Gourmet Blend (Dark) for the necessary jumpstart.

If it's raining tomorrow morning, I'll have to swap out the dried up mess in the refirgerator. It's got to me done sooner or later and now that the kitchen sink is back in operation I've no further excuses.