Dear Ones,
This has been a day of diverse tasks and accomplishments. Ken and I walked our 3 miles, then I worked in a bit and left on time at 9:30 to drive to Newcastle. I miscalculated and arrived early! So I shot comps first and then inspected this nice little ranch on a hillside with barn, garden area, large garage with an in law, panoramic view of distant hills. It was a perfect day. Driving all the comps for a ranchette property can take some time. The GPS is a huge help and found every property no matter how small the road. Then I found the downtown area of Newcastle which is a few blocks in size. My discovery of the day was a small store with a huge variety of things, all cute, all unusual, all country and all were left in the store. I have enough yard sale items without buying more to add to the stack. They did have a nice deli and made me a cheese sandwich on multi grain bread, wow was it good and along with a coconut and strawberry smoothie the meal was perfect.
I left this small mountain village and traded the peace and calm for a loft property located in walking distance of the capital building with all the noise and traffic of the urban area. That stop only took a few minutes since I've already measured the buildings and know the basic scoop on the property.
I headed home and noticed that I was approaching 500 miles on the current tank of diesel. Yet as I drove home the gauge hardly moved and I reached Discovery Bay before the warning buzzer sounded and the yellow warning light lite up. All in all it was 571 miles which yielded a mpg of over 45. That felt nice even though the costs of the fuel are on the rise. Knowing I have wonderful guests on Wednesday evening I have prepared a brief list of things to do. This afternoon it was edge and mow the lawn, change water in the fish tank and make a bank deposit. When I opened the mail I found to my shock and delight 5 checks and I had brought one home from the ranchette. So I deposited these 6 checks along with the two I already had and it was the largest deposit in over a year. With payroll to cover, both vehicle payments behind and Blue Cross coming up soon the money will soon find a home, yet I was humbled and thrilled to see several checks for appraisals I did months ago, loans are finally starting to close!
This evening I found a 5 gallon bucket in the garage and a tube to syphon with and drew out 25 gallons of fish tank water 5 gallons at a time. I lugged each bucket to the street as the sale water would kill my growing things. The I started to put fresh salt water in 5 gallons at a time. Mind you each 5 gallons is about 40 lbs and I can feel it. Between edging next to roses bushes and working on the fish tank I have about 4 open bleeding spots on my arms and hands. I'd actually prefer to keep the blood inside where it does the most good.
Now the tank is clearing and I was even able to use the new scraper and get some of the brown algae off the glass. Its a start at least.
Tomorrow's list will be a challenge but the thrill of having family here is well worth it.
Tomorrow morning I'll drive up to Sacramento to meet Roger and Carol who are arriving to visit their children for a few days. Since they have a few hours between arrival and when the kids all get home from school I'll get to have lunch with them and do some catching up. These are the dear people that Nan loved to visit in North Carolina and she and Carol were regulars at Dollywood in Pidgeon Forge TN. They drove night and day to Boston to be with Nan after her surgery and to give her a lift, it was an act of kindness I'll never forget and it touched Nan so deeply she never forgot either. It will be great to just see them and feel the warm embrace of a most valuable thing, friendship.
So good night my friends and family,
love to all
Tim
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