Keepin' Busy Today

Busy day in the old cabin this morning. Son-in-law just came over to take our 2006 truck for state inspection. He’ll go over it thoroughly first to be sure it’ll pass. We feel safe when we travel, knowing it is maintained so well. 

I have old fashioned style split pea soup simmering on the stove. Yesterday I cooked down the Easter dinner ham bone, put the pot outdoors overnight to bring the fat to the top so I could skim it off this morning and start the soup. It will be finished this afternoon and I will share some with our daughter, when her husband returns to deliver our truck. 

It is pouring down moderate to heavy rain as I write. The Mister is shredding old files that I shouldn’t have kept since 2002! Now it must be done. We have been procrastinating attacking this project for way too long. It is a start but will probably take us all summer to complete. The shredder is a small size and needs to rest and cool down after every ten minutes of work. The Recycling Center will take it all if we empty the big black bagfuls into the waste paper bins. So far we have two of them! We have no other way to eliminate such an accumulation of personal documents. 

We hung a clock and a lovely tile of a hand-painting on the log wall today. The clock was a recent gift from a dear long-time friend. The artist who painted the tile is well known in our area and a lovely lady and friend to boot. I’m proud to have two pieces of her work. The “Roosters” is a wonderful depiction of our country life.

Since going outdoors to clean up the yard is out of the question today, I hope to make some Rice Crispy Treats this afternoon to appease the sweet tooth issue we both have.

If you would like to see more of Christine's work, please click on the links below.

Artworks by Christine Lathrop

Art For Sale by Christine Lathrop

Fixin' To Go

The 2006 Ford truck failed inspection!! The rusty holes and wear and tear did it. In Pennsylvania all vehicles must be *inspected and get a new sticker every year. Ours was due during the month of April. The ball joints have already been replaced and it is now in the body shop. We have a small hole on both sides of the rear doors at the bottom.  The inspection rule pertaining to this reads: "The floor pan is rusted through so as to cause hazard to occupants or to permit exhaust gases to enter passenger compartment." The estimated cost from the body shop (an long established local and very honest business) is $600.00.

*at an official PennDOT safety inspection station with certified inspectors.

Besides emission tests, the inspection usually includes head and tail lights, turn signals and warning lights, mirrors, windshield, seat belts, wiper blades and other safety equipment; tires, brakes, steering and suspension. We also have to bring our driver's license, vehicle registration card, and certificate of auto insurance.

I'm sure you have already guessed that the Mister has done everything conceivable to care for this truck with as good care and maintenance as he possibly could. Oh well, just another bump in the road. So here we sit until the phone rings.

This is what I like about photographs. They are proof, that once, even for just a few years, everything was perfect.

True Friends...

True friends DON'T come with fragile stickers. Not at all. That's why I'm writing this for my friend who is now dealing with a difficult diagnosis. She will understand and even laugh a bit as she drives her rig across the country from South Carolina to California and back, regularly, seeing it all on her journeys of the trade.

Photos by Cindi

Dear Cindi,

I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn down your offer to trade Scaroidosis for Ed. Scaroidosis would get under my skin and not respect my space.

I don't want to share Scaroidosis with you either. That's a threesome that would be a sticky and tacky union.

I'm certain that I'd never steal him. You would just let me keep him and that would be no fun at all. I'd be out of breath all of the time!

If you had Ben (Gay) instead, I'd grab him in a minute. He'd be good to take to bed with me. Arthur (Rtis) is a "no-no" because he hurt me before and he always took me from joint to joint. Charley (Horse) makes me get up and go when I don't feel like it. Will (Power) would cramp my style and Johnny is cold right to the bottom. Al (Zymer) is always flirting with me and my other friends.

So you see, I guess I don't really want any companion anymore; especially one that causes me to have lumps and bumps. He sounds like a brutal and difficult cohabitant and besides, his feet are too big.

Please forgive me for my selfishness, but your generosity is well thought-out and very diplomatic as well. Oh, and cruel!

Your true friend, Gere

Note: (The bit about Ben, Arthur, Charley, Will, Johnny and Al has been taken from the experience of others, so no credit can be given here.)

Her reply:

"Leave it to you!! Brought a much needed smile and giggle though. Thanks."

And I Know Why........

First a rant............

This early morning I rushed to town with my two baskets of laundry to get it washed before the laundromat became crowded. I have been doing this since 1997 when we moved into the cabin.
I'm lucky to have nice weather today and they will dry on the line well. It's a beautiful day!

Usually, I stay in the small laundromat, reading, but this morning I decided to sit in my car while listening to the radio. The laundromat is 5 miles from our place at the lake and I don't often go into town except for laundry and grocery shopping chores. That may be why I never before noticed how many gas drilling trucks travel to, through and from our little town. They sure caught my attention with their oversized loads and number! And it is SUNDAY!

I observed these huge and invasive, to my thinking, carriers traveling fast and furious on the main avenue. They were all in transit hauling water, frack sand, frack fluids, fracking pumps, residual waste and more.

Some call them soup trucks or kettle trucks and I call them AWFUL. Their stacks emit black stuff to pollute my air. They're noisy. They cause damage to the roads. Some nearby counties have had their roads put off limits to natural gas drilling trucks by PennDOT until the roads are repaired.

The natural gas extraction in my area has grown and I don't like the activity at all. People jumped at the chance to earn money by leasing their land and now the cost is very evident.

In 1900, 1,827 people lived here, and in 1910, 1,914 people lived here. The population was 1,664 at the 2000 census. A 2007 estimate states that the population is 1,843. This town of Montrose was laid out in 1812 and incorporated as a borough on March 19, 1824. It sure seems a shame that it has changed so much in the name of "Progress."

The truck that was involved in yesterday's accident is owned by Casa Grande, Arizona-based Southeast Directional Drilling LLC according to the Times Tribune. I noticed that many of the tags are also from Texas, Wyoming and others.

Fatal Crash

By WBNG News

July 30, 2011

Updated Jul 30, 2011 at 5:18 PM EDT

Liberty Township, PA (WBNG Binghamton) A Susquehanna County man has died in a crash near the state line.

Pennsylvania State Police say 57 year-old John Jones of Brackney was killed when a Mack Truck used to haul natural gas drilling materials overturned on to his car.

The accident happened around 8:00 p.m. Friday night on Route 29 near the intersection of Laurel Lake Road in Liberty Township.

Jones' passenger was an unidentified seventeen year old. She sustained moderate injuries.

50 year-old James Hoffpauir of Montgomery, Texas was driving the truck for Southeast Directional Drilling, based in Arizona.

State Police are continuing their investigation.

Man Killed in Susquehanna County Crash

• By WNEP News

9:04 p.m. EDT, July 30, 2011

We now know the name of a man killed in a crash in Susquehanna County.

According to state police, John Jones III of Brackney died Friday night when a mack truck overturned on his vehicle.

It happened around 7:00 p.m. on Route 29, just north of Montrose.

The driver of the mack truck was injured.

Troopers are still investigating what led to that deadly crash in Susquehanna County.

Start of a New Week

This will be a busy one. Today we have to take "Pal" to the vet for his annual booster and 3 year rabies injections. His Science Diet food supply is always purchased there, both canned and kibbles, plus it's time for a Heartgard replenishment. It will be a costly morning. He's absolutely worth it, and at age 10, is vibrant, healthy and gives us much joy.

I will have my annual lab bloodwork tomorrow in preparation for the once-a-year checkup. The only thing that I know, is that my endurance has faded and my body has enlarged! (Probably related, ya think?)

My husband has just had the truck inspected and serviced and is ready for travel south in two weeks. The car is scheduled for the same, to stay home and be ready for July, when we return. There's grocery shopping, a trip to town for laundry, a 30 mile trip to Wal*Mart for necessary economical needs in larger sizes and a bi-annual dentist appointment for checkup and cleaning all on the calendar for this week.

I want to create three birthday cards on the computer to take with us for my May birthday daughters and grandson. I WILL find time.

The sun is shining brightly as I write and James is back with restored headpiece arrangement after being battered and blown with the spring storms last weekend.

I see buds on the trees now and a very VERY large woodpecker was on the ground this morning poking his awesome bill in the damp earth for grubs.

The week has begun.