Independence Day
Jul. 4th, 2012 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoWe are independent. We did not grill anything. We did not set off any fireworks. (No, we're not responsible for the heatwave.)
We did wash the dining room windows so we can see the birds better.
We did replace our waterbed mattress with a brand new one. The bed frame and pedestal is 33 years old but I like it and I'm not giving it up. It's an enclosed box with mirrored headboard and ceiling made of dark-stained heavy pine boards. The mattress was 17 or 18 years old, and they are normally expected to last about 10. No wonder it had many patches. When it recently began to leak around the valve, I knew it was time. I ordered a complete new mattress setup, liner, mattress, heater, thermostat, and pad. About double what I paid last time for just the mattress and pad, but the technology has improved again. Getting the old mattress drained and removed was the hard part. The new stuff installed easily and fits perfectly (I hope.)
Not telling how much dog and cat hair was underneath the old mattress. How does it get all the way under there anyway?
The other highlight? Owls. Two young screech owls visited our birdbaths at dawn. And just after dusk they were there again, splashing in the water like songbirds. I've never seen an owl do that before, but I suppose they find this weather just as awful as we do.
Today's high here was either 101F or 97F depending on which thermometer you believe. It felt like 110F because there was plenty of humidity and no wind. Leaving the horses and ducks out in their yards again tonight rather than locking them up. We do put the sheep in, but they are recently shorn and their pen is just inside the large barn door that we leave open in summer. Particularly with the young lamb among them, I think it's better to bring them in.
We did wash the dining room windows so we can see the birds better.
We did replace our waterbed mattress with a brand new one. The bed frame and pedestal is 33 years old but I like it and I'm not giving it up. It's an enclosed box with mirrored headboard and ceiling made of dark-stained heavy pine boards. The mattress was 17 or 18 years old, and they are normally expected to last about 10. No wonder it had many patches. When it recently began to leak around the valve, I knew it was time. I ordered a complete new mattress setup, liner, mattress, heater, thermostat, and pad. About double what I paid last time for just the mattress and pad, but the technology has improved again. Getting the old mattress drained and removed was the hard part. The new stuff installed easily and fits perfectly (I hope.)
Not telling how much dog and cat hair was underneath the old mattress. How does it get all the way under there anyway?
The other highlight? Owls. Two young screech owls visited our birdbaths at dawn. And just after dusk they were there again, splashing in the water like songbirds. I've never seen an owl do that before, but I suppose they find this weather just as awful as we do.
Today's high here was either 101F or 97F depending on which thermometer you believe. It felt like 110F because there was plenty of humidity and no wind. Leaving the horses and ducks out in their yards again tonight rather than locking them up. We do put the sheep in, but they are recently shorn and their pen is just inside the large barn door that we leave open in summer. Particularly with the young lamb among them, I think it's better to bring them in.
