Tuesday

 Woo, What a day this has been.  This one was really rare, and I hope doesn't happen again for a long, long time.  Maybe never.  More about that later.  

I will add it was an afternoon thing.  I slept in today.  Doug usually asked me if the coffee maker started up by itself.  I usually say no.  The no is because I start it myself because I'm up before he has set the time.  So today I thought coffee would be ready when I hit the kitchen.  Humm.  He forgot to push some buttons.  So, I started it once again.  And I had coffee with bran flakes and blue berries again.   The bird work was done early with only a Carolina Wren in attendance for a very short time.  It was cold outside,

I prepared more burps by doing more marking, a whole lot more marking.  I did some phone calls and received one that told me the sewing machine was ready.  So at some point we were on our way to Select Sewing to pay the big bill and take my play toy home again, all fixed just like new.  I asked what a sewing machine sort of like mine would cost now.  Answer 3000,00.  Mine was about half of that and I would say a good chunk of change back in the day when it came home with me.  I would add. it has been worth every penny spent.

We went on to JoAnn's looking for some yarn and no. 13 knitting needles.  Marcia my Novi friend told me what yarn to buy, and needles need.  I found the yarn but no needles.  

 Kat ordered the 13 size needles needed.  I'm going to knit a few little neck scarves for a few friends.  Marcia sent me the pattern later in the day.  

                                            This is one way to get a picture on the blog.

So, the machine came home, and I got right at getting it on the table and plugging it in.  That's when the trouble started. Sparks flew when that happened, and all the wall plugs with one exception on the bedroom level quit working.  There was a sort of a burnt smell on that same level.  I checked the breakers and of course one was flipped and could not be reset. ( I learned a safety feature)  Now electrical problems never turn into something cheap you know.  

It seemed to me to be a huge problem that would take days to fix so we moved the sewing machine into our bedroom where there was one working electrical plug. It was the same place my Singer machine once was when the boys were still at home. 

                                            Ready to sew...and I did. This is until Andy called. 

I got to thinking and decided to call our friend Andy who is a retired electrician to determine what company to call for a fixit job.  It took some time to hear back, and, in the meantime, we got extension cords of all kinds and ran them to the ground floor area where there still was working electricity.  Crazy afternoon I would say.  

I sent Jared, my fixit son, a picture of the extension cords. I challenged him to guessing why extension cords.   And he had many questions and suggestions.  Andy called back. We talked through a bunch of things with questions and answers.   I took the plate off the wall plug and the solution was to reattach a wire that had broken apart from wire still attached to the screw. 

                                                            Not a loose screw but a broken wire.   

I stripped the insolation around the wire and reattached the copper wire to the screw, reset the breaker and it worked!!!!  LIFE IS Good. I love it when a plan comes together. 

                    The bottom screw is once again holding the copper wire that has a white covering. 

 So, from thinking that perhaps there could be a new electrical box ( ours is 65 years old) needed which is a bit pricy, that would fix the problem or would it be something else.  I love the something else solution.  So now that I've done that, I don't want to ever do it again.  I hope.  

                                            Done, fixed and the lights were back on.  

So the extension cords were gathered.  The sewing machine moved back to where it belonged.  The phones, computer, lamps and TV all worked again, and I will sleep well with my C pap machine plugged in to a working socket. 

What a day this has been.  Supper was easy.  Already made split pea soup with a few other things.  

I haven't had a chance to see many birds.  I did see Mr. Robin sitting atop the black sunflower seed container where I had added a few meal worms.  So that came in the house.  There was another sunflower seed container available for birds.  

I would say it was another good day although it had its unexpected happenings.  I've learned that the challenges of the day fall into a forgetful memory box over time.  That's a blessing.  So playing it as cool as possible will lessen the stress that is so harmful.  While writing today I've been sipping coffee.  For me it smooths things out.  It's another blessing to find those smoothers whatever they may be. 

And yes...the Ohio State Notre Dame game is next Monday.  Dah.