There's One Born Every Minute.

Quite a time back, we'd found a couple of ceiling fans that we both liked. They were on a market place site, and the people were replacing them because they wanted to go with a new look. That's always interesting to me that people just can simply afford to rip expensive stuff out and replace it for no other reason than they are redecorating, but people do, and we've been awfully fortunate to pick up some nice things for very little money. We paid $25 each for these fans, but minimally they sold for $250. (It's hard to tell for sure, because they are a discontinued style). They went with the look we had in mind, and so we brought them home and they've been sitting in the basement waiting to be installed. 

 The electric has proved to be a right pain in the behind. Tim had wired the house, but it kept blowing the breakers, and he could not figure out why. At first he thought it was a faulty breaker, but replacing the breaker didn't help, and two more went. He tested and tested, and could not figure it out. My brother in law came over and was able to quickly tell him that he'd done the wiring right, a huge relief to Tim. Dave had a suspicion about the electric box out on the pole outside that brings the power to the house from the line. They went outside to do some testing, and there they found the problem. The breaker in THAT box had corroded. It wasn't anything Tim had done wrong. That breaker needed to be replaced. 

Tim bought the breaker he needed for that yesterday, and we replaced it. That work is something that always makes me very nervous. You cannot shut that power off like you can to the house while you're working on it, and if you don't know what you're doing, you can electrocute yourself. But all's well that ends well. He changed that out, nobody got fried, and when we came into the house and turned the power back on inside, everything worked just fine. This morning, everything was running just as it should. 

So today was the day to hook up the lights. We put up one of those ceiling fans in our bedroom. 

We put the other in the living room. 

We put up 5 motion detector flood lights outside. 

 A light went up in the entry way, the kitchen area, the computer nook, the bedrooms and in the cubby where the washer and dryer combo is. 

The kittens continue to thrive in the garage. We're saving a fortune on cat food since we've made the place inaccessible to raccoons. Today, I brought along cat treats. I set out a taste for each of them, and they all loved them. But after their taste, I was firm with them.  If they wanted more treats, they had to come and take it from my fingers. So far, only Tiger has been brave enough to do that. The others watched a bit enviously as he gobbled down his treat with obvious gusto. 

It was a cool day today and I needed a sweater. As we worked, Tim said, "We'll need to bring the furnace up from the old house and put it in the garage." I wondered why. I didn't realize when the excavation work was done, he had them run a gas line to the garage so that he could install a heating system. It will make him comfortable when he works on cars out there, of course, but he wanted to make sure the kittens had a place to get out of the cold this winter.

I don't say anything, but I kind of marvel at this change in him. He is not an animal person. Never has been. But today, we drove home after putting in a day at the new house. Goblin and Houdi were waiting at the back door as usual. Another cat was there too, a new one. Tim said, "His name is Boots." I smiled to myself, and fed them. Made me feel better to know that I'm not the only sucker. 

Oh, I forgot. I am feeling better. I find that if I take two aspirin before going to bed, I don't wake up feverish and sweating. I still have a cough and a sore throat. My sister asked me if I had any onion soup mix. "No," I said, "but I do have beef broth and a colander of onions." She suggested making up a pot of French Onion Soup. 

I am fond of onion soup, and it felt like that would be good on my throat, so I sliced up two onions and set them to simmer with two cups of broth. I added a heaping tablespoon of garlic for good measure as well. A half hour later, I sat down to a hot mug of soup, and it felt good on my throat. I doubt it is the cure-all that my sister seems to think it will be, but it certainly can't do me any harm.