Things that Make You Smile

Good morning, my friends. It was a rare no-sewing day here at the Three Cats Ranch. After writing my post yesterday morning, I moved to the living room to spend some time with my slow-stitching. While I sat, it felt as if cold air was blowing on me. The furnace was running, and so I didn't think too much about it. But then, I went down into the basement for something, and it felt as if a cold breeze was blowing up the stairs. And it was darned cold in the basement...not unusual, but it seemed colder than expected. And that breeze...what the F? It was as if a window or door was ajar, and letting in the cold air.

So I glanced around...didn't see anything open. When I went back upstairs, I checked the indoor temperature. It was 66°F. And we keep the thermostat turned down to avoid high heating bills, but I was pretty sure it should be warmer than that. Holding my hand over the heater vent, sure enough...cold air. Hm.

So I mentioned it to Mike, and he checked the furnace to find that a switch (simplfying this explanation) that kicks in and shuts off the furnace as a safety measure was tripping when not necessary. He simply reset it, and the furnace started working again...for about ten minutes, and then it shut off again. Uh Oh.

Well, okay, so he diagnosed the problem quickly. Unfortunately, the part is not sold locally. You can buy a whole new furnace locally, but apparently nobody sells parts. And this is the original furnace...at least 30 years old. Mike has already changed out the electronic control panel once, but this was a different issue. He was able to find the part he needed, but it won't arrive until Friday. In the meantime, he used the "get-a-bigger-hammer approach" by banging the thing on the countertop a few times. It's been working ever since. Happily, we'll get the replacement part tomorrow, and then we should be back in business. For now, the furnace is working as it should. Also, it's not so terribly cold as it was a few weeks ago. We can get by with space heaters if we need to.

Okay. So with him working on the furnace, it seemed best to avoid the sewing room I share with the furnace and water heater and other plumbing-related stuff. And we didn't even get off to the grocery store until well after lunch time. We decided to stop off first at the local Subway for some sandwiches. 

Here's where the smiling starts. As I got out of the truck, what to my wondering eyes should appear?

Holy sh*t! It's a new quilt shop...opening not 20 minutes from my house!!! Well. Doncha know I went online immediately to see what's up with that. They have a page on Facebook where they excitedly announced their grand opening is coming soon. Yahoo!!!!!

That photo was accompanied by this message: 👀 Have you seen it? The signs are going up, and that means our grand opening is just around the corner! 🎉 😍 It’s getting real, folks! Soon we’ll be sharing all the quilty goodness we’ve been preparing. Ready to join the fun? We can’t wait to stitch up some memories with you! 🧵✨

Okay, well the day took a turn for the better right then and there. We had some lunch, did our grocery shopping and then headed for home. And it was late afternoon by then. When we had the groceries put away, I went out to fill the birdfeeders. There, I found a few more things to smile about. For one thing, the daffodils are heading up. Yay!

And I noticed new shoots on the wisteria at our front door. (I hope it will bloom this year.)

And, of course, squirrels. Squirrels, squirrels, squirrels. They're awfully cute. Too bad they're so destructive. We'll get along better this year. I'm not planting any annuals since we'll be traveling for a good part of the summer. I have an idea these guys know they'll have the place to themselves, and they can party hard.

Okay, so no sewing. I didn't even cook. We ended up going out for our dinner. It was a nice way to finish off a relatively stressful day.

Today we're going to the zoo. Who's coming with? We haven't been to the zoo in decades, although we've been members for a long time. We're going up to see our newest baby elephant, Tula-Tu, born February 1st. Honestly, the videos and pictures of her are adorable. I think I've fallen in love. This image was posted in the Portland Tribune.

I can't get over how small she is in comparison to an adult elephant, and yet, she weighed 200 lbs. when she was born. 

Here's a video of her taken five days ago, when she took her first walk outside the elephant shelter. If you can't see the video, then click right here.

Okay, so that's what's going on today. You can bet I'll have zoo pictures tomorrow. Our goal is to see the elephant, but we'll stroll around and see what else there is to see. It's going to be a fun day. If you're coming with, dress for coolish weather. We're expecting temperatures around 60°F.  The sun is shining and there's not a cloud in the sky. It should be a huge mood-booster, and let's face it...we can all use a good mood boosting right now. Am I right? 

So, breakfast is next, and then some slow stitching, and then we'll be off.