A Gloriously Sunny Day!

Have I mentioned that I am solar powered? When the sun comes out, my energy warms with it.

Well, the day didn't start out so good but it did get better. Background is that last summer we bought a murphy bed frame/mechanism. But we needed someone with carpentry skills to build the cabinet and matching bookcases before we could set it up. (I have been sleeping on a couple of mattresses on the floor.) airshipjones and I can build simple bookcases and other such things. We don't have the skills or tools to do nice cabinet work. So we needed to hire someone. We always prefer to hire from our own community first. We knew someone who had the skills and tools. Problem is that we had tried to hire him a few years back to build a wheelchair ramp and he kept flaking on even showing up to start the work. We heard that he was more reliable now. So we have him do an estimate and he agreed to start work in January and finish by the end of Feb. Which of course, was yesterday.

He did show up and work diligently for several days. Then said he would be back in a couple weeks. On the day he was suppose to show, he didn't & didn't call. Three days later he shows up and works again for several days. At the end of those days with only the bookcases made and the bed cabinet partially cut out and not even begun to be put together -- he informs us that he is leaving town for two weeks. Then he will be back for a couple days and then leave again for two months. We told him this was not acceptable. That he was already behind schedule and that this was causing a lot of trouble for us. (Including the fact that our garage is full of pieces of wood in various stages of being cut. This leaves us no room to put the things away that are under a tarp on the back porch. A porch we have to have cleared in time for the egg hunt and potluck on March 12.) He said, sorry but can't finish the job until May.

He didn't even show up yesterday or today for the one day he said he would put in between trips. He didn't call. I had to call him. He said he didn't have time to come over before leaving again. We asked for the plans of the cabinet so we could try to finish it ourselves. He says he will mail them. I am not holding my breath. So if you know anyone with the tools and skills to help us complete this task, please let us know.

So the bookcases still needed the edging and staining done. So fuzzydragon helped me finish the bookcases yesterday and today. They look beautiful. We will move them up to the bedroom when they are dry. Hopefully we can go through the stacks of wood and figure out what still needs to be cut etc.

Then while fuzzydragon mowed the back yard, I weeded and began planting seedlings. I planted: tomatoes (cherry & 3 large varieties), green beans, snap peas, yellow squash, rosemary, lavender, and chamomile. Tomorrow I will plant the basil and spinach. I also need to repot the aloe and some of the other plants.

Then I made curried shrimp, green beans and rice for dinner.