Last weekend we started another big project. We decided to insulate the attic of the little barn. This is the building that I usually use for my photography exhibit during the local Easter art show. The rest of the year it's handy for storage or for warm weather entertaining. Last Easter we had a snowstorm, and it was miserably cold out there. We had a heavy duty portable heater, but it was noisy and sadly insufficient, so insulation is definitely a good idea. Anyway, this project turned out to be more than we anticipated as soon as we gained access to the attic. We hadn’t been up there in years—not since we through down and disposed of all the old hay that was up there—or so we thought. There was still quite a bit of old hay, remnants of old furniture, pieces of bicycles, and several piles of old doors and windows. For added excitement, the windows were on top of the hay, and several of the windows were broken.
So, last weekend was spent removing the crap from the attic of the little barn. I learned that a pitchfork really is the best tool for handling hay. I discovered that the dust from old hay is so irritating to the skin that it felt like having a sunburn and the chicken pox at the same time. I’m very thankful that they don’t have Hanta virus here in
The weird thing was how traumatized the mice were that their hay homes were disappearing. At first, I'd see them scurrying away as I threw a pitchfork of hay out the door. By the end of the day, they were just kind of walking around in circles in shock. I had to pick them up and move them out of the way so I didn't step on them!
After all that, I was glad to be able to relax at my computer with my work on Monday. Both Tuesday and Thursday I attended courses related to the network for female small business owners that I’m involved with. The content of Tuesday’s class was quite dull, but the discussions that we had both during the class and the hour-long drive there and back made it well worth while. Thursday’s class was something that I actually wanted to take on communication. While I’ve long since been forced to overcome my fear of public speaking, I thought this would be worthwhile to learn how to speak like a Swede. (As I learned years ago, I could not drive like a Californian to get my Swedish driver’s license. I succeeded only after a few lessons at a local driving school to get the attitude right.) So I found it rather illuminating to find out how Swedes perceived what I said.
Yesterday I had a booth at a wedding expo. This was my third time at this show, so I wasn’t particularly nervous. In fact, I’ve come to like these shows. Attendance was about the same as last year, and I feel I had a good response from the people I talked with. There were a lot of photographers there, and I think some people stayed away thinking, “Oh no, not another photographer,” but there’s not much I can do about that. The booth next to me rented chocolate fountains, so I spent the day watching people sample marshmallows dipped in white chocolate. That was a bit rough, but I think I did well and only ate two. There were also boxes of chocolates all over the place, including at the end of my own table. That was a bit harder to resist, but I think I did okay to only eat five over an 8 hour period.
Today it was back to work on the attic of the little barn—vacuuming, laying down tar paper, and fitting together giant bricks of used insulation. This was less strenuous than last weekend, but just as tough on the skin. We used up the insulation that we salvaged from the big barn, and that was about enough to cover about 2/3 of the little barn, so there’s still a little left to do next weekend.
Today was also Father’s Day here. Our daughter had been at her grandmother’s house for the weekend, but my husband went to get her this afternoon and rushed home for dinner. While he was gone, I made an apple cake and my “Chinese burritos.” We’d invited some friends over, but there was a miscommunication, and they couldn’t make it. Oh well. Dinner was good anyhow.
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