Monday, April 7, 2025 – Sanding, Painting, Trough Cleaning, Plaque Installation

Hi Sweetie,
My leg bothered me a bit overnight, I didn't put on one of Jo's Tiger patches last night like I did the previous night, don't know if that made the difference, but I did wake up with some leg pain several times. Laid in a bit, then got up and got busy. After chores and breakfast, I managed to rustle enough energy to get back to sanding and painting the trash receptacles, then finished off four of them by putting the hardware back on and putting them all together. After that I tackled the job of putting one of the Friends of Goethe plaques on the mounting block, which turned out to have a steep learning curve. The drill bit was a bit too small, and I ended up breaking off the head of one of the screws, even though I was doing it by hand, which I couldn't believe! I ended up with two holes that had broken screws in them, finally found a better drill bit size (after breaking one of those as well), and managed to use enough glue and to screw in the bottom two screws so that hopefully, that will be enough to keep it on. They're a lot smaller and flimsier than I expected, and were really designed more for just screwing onto a wood plaque to hang up somewhere, not really sturdy enough for concrete, but I'm sure I've learned a few secrets that will help for the remaining four. Anyway, while I was doing that job, a couple of riders came by and tried to get their horses to drink from the trough, but not surprisingly, they wouldn't because the trough was pretty nasty, so I decided to clean that out. Started draining with the usual skinny hose, then went and got the one Jo had donated, which is a really nice 5/8" or 3/4" wide, and it drained much faster. A quick clean-out, and the same hose refilled it nice and fast as well. All that kept me busy for most of the day, and by the end, I had to resort to crutches again, as walking really does aggravate my knee. Then, during the day, I got a text from someone I hadn't heard from since the early 80's, my 7th grade science teacher! For some unknown reason he wanted to track me down and his wife managed to find me. Well, he also came to visit me once I was an adult, and we hooked up for the weekend (I had always had a schoolgirl crush on him, after all!) and he reminded me that we went to a Yes! concert together, which frankly, I had forgotten. But then again, it had to be over forty years ago, so you can hardly blame me! We exchanged a few texts getting caught up (as much as one can in a few texts), and it was a real blast from the past, as they say. Incredible how technology had made the world so much smaller, and time so much more fluid. Anyway, read for awhile, then finally settled down for my usual evening. Glad I was able to check a couple of things off my list today! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!