Continuing Saga

I finally picked up my vehicle on Monday afternoon!!!! It's been nice to ride in my vehicle for almost a week now!! Since I do miss the CD player in the rental, I've decided to go ahead and purchase one in the near future. My speakers are shot and I would love to listen to my CDs while cruising down the paved paths of America. The manager of the place took some of the charges off of the bill in a "good-faith" gesture, including the radiator and oil pump screen. He also gave me 6 free oil changes. I felt as if he was kissing-up. He also told me that I needed to drive it to death and to make sure I come back if the engine light comes on or I notice another problem. After I get all the free oil changes, I don't think I will use them for regular maintenance. They don't seem to know what they're doing.

Well, Tuesday afternoon on the way home, guess what??? The engine light came on. I had the sunken feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. It stayed on for less than 5 minutes and then went off. It stayed off until last night when I was out and about. This time, it stayed on for longer. In addition to that, I noticed that the temperature gauge kept fluctuating. On the way to work this morning, I dropped it off again. They found that the new thermostat wasn't working properly and when they tested the engine light, they found that there are three possible codes that are reflections of the potential problems. The immediately replaced the thermostat, but I had to take it back on Monday because my car is so old, they don't have the proper testing equipment! They will know what to do about the codes by then and can fix it (hopefully in a day!). I am beginning to think that it's not part of the engine and therefore will be another bill to add! Oh well! Who needs to have loads of money, right???

Molly and Rolly have been visiting all week and Mom told me that they brought along Daisy and Duke to scope out the prospects. It will be interesting to see what happens with our goosey friends as the summer progresses. I don't think they will nest in the yard because it's not that close to the lake. Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) would and certainly do nest this far from a lake, but there aren't any trees with cavities big enough to attract them to our yard. We confirmed this evening that we have Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) nesting in our yard. I counted 5 eggs in the little cup-nest. I don't think she has stated incubating yet because they were cool to the touch. She might have one more egg to lay before beginning. I will keep you all informed of the progress. I know everyone is holding their collective breaths! :-)

Tomorrow is garden day. We are waaaaaaaayyy behind in getting it prepared and we really need to accomplish a lot tomorrow. Since some friends are coming to help, I hope to get far along with the work. The plants I ordered arrived today. I got 4 tomatoes--Pineapple, Tiger-like, Gold Medal, and Purple Calabash, 4 peppers--Fish, Miniature Chocolate, Purple Beauty, Italian Sweet, and 2 eggplants--Casper and Bride, that are not found here in the local nurserys. I will fill in with regular plants from around here and also plant okra, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, patty-pan squash, butternut squash, beets, and potatoes. The potatoes really need to be planted tomorrow as we are already late with putting them in the ground! If my arms aren't dead, I will let y'all know how it went.

Well, I hope everyone has a good weekend. I will be moving dirt and rock! At least think about me tomorrow! :-) Have a blessed day.