My Hero, Mrs. Buck W.R. Weezer

This week I have a new hero / I should say heroine. As far as I'm concerned Mrs. Buck W.R. Weezer is a lifesaver. I never even knew her before early this morning.

As most of you know no story of mine is ever short and this one is no exception and the cause of a sleepless night. 

What happened?  Well, I'll tell you as it had to do with our relatively new high efficiency washing machine.  In fact, this top loading Kenmore washer was a replacement due to a recall of its predecessor, a Samsung that we had for less than 6 months. The recall had to do with its part of its high energy rating due to the powerful spin cycle that left clothes virtually dry. The intensity of the spinning drum tended to blow off its top in the Samsung equivalent. Oops, an excellent reason for a recall, right?

Suffice it to say this homeowner didn't want to go machine shopping again but certainly wouldn't risk the possibility of a blowing up washer. We didn't feel comfortable replacing it with a different model by the same company and paying more/ getting a lesser model. (You remember the stink about their one model of cell phones catching on fire and our 2 year old 49" Samsung flat screen tv had just died 2 weeks past its warranty.  Suffice it to say, we decided on a similar model but in the Kenmore series made by Whirlpool.

 I hate to admit it but it was this spinning cycle that caused my sleepless night. Upon removing the done wash last night, there  sitting in the inner ring of the floor of the drum was something shiny protruding. 

Since I am vertically challenged and these new larger drums are  deep, I pulled over my little step stool, doubling over to reach the visible edge of the quarter. It wouldn't budge. First I tried tweezers, alas no grip and I didn't want to ruin my favorite tweezers anyway. After a trip to the garage for the needle nose pliers, little progress was accomplished as I tried once again yanking at the stubborn coin. If anything I was making things worse as slipping off the edge of the coin was sharpening its edge and would now snag clothing for sure. 

As I looked more closely, I discovered a smaller coin piggybacked with the quarter. No wonder it wouldn't move. I was exhausted from my efforts and headed to bed. Maybe Natureman could try to remove it in the morning.  

I'm the early riser in the End of the Rainbow Valley and I was determined to fix the washer problem so I could run a couple of loads of wash before Sleeping Beauty arose.  I decided to google the Kenmore series and see if anybody else had issues of stuck coins. Of course, the first articles were about which service man to call. Forget that, we live in the boonies and service calls are a pain and costly. So idea number two, go on youtube and type in removing coins from a washer.    

There Mrs. Buck W.R. Weezer had a different model machine but the same problem coins in that inner ring. Her suggestion was to press down on the inner ring and just flip the coins out. Well wouldn't you know the inner circle did lower when pressed but I had these two coins snugger than a bug in a rug.

nickel piggy backing with the quarter

I covered the quarter's edge with a rag and used the needle nose pliers to pull it as I pushed the inner circle down and out it came, the second push down I could pull what turned out to be a nickel.

Gee, I sure wish I had thought to look on youtube late last night before I lost sleep over the issue.

Whether Mrs. Buck W.R. Weezer is her real name or not doesn't matter as she is my hero. If she sends me her address, the thirty cents is hers. Just be careful the quarter is a tad rough on the bottom edge.

You've got to watch this youtube video as I think you'll agree this woman needs to have her own show : Coin removal

M.O.M. NEEDS YOU

MOM, Mission of Mercy, the state's 9th free dental clinic will be held  June 22-23 in West Allis serving about 1600 patients who can not afford dental care. Many who come to the clinic are in pain/ have never had dental care. No questions asked.

Patients are triaged and receive services in the order of necessity in a Mash like setting this year being held on the Wisconsin State fairgrounds. A thousand volunteers are needed with /without dental training for Friday and Saturday am/pm shifts. 

Non dental volunteer positions include set up Thursday/break down Sunday, meal service of donated food for volunteers during 2 day clinic with greeters, registration, patient ambassadors, crowd control, dental education, interpreting, patient survey, data entry & filing, exit info, child services, handyman/woman, etc...

Intrepeters

 RE: volunteer ages

What’s New

Individuals ages 16 – 17 are now able to volunteer for the Mission of Mercy in the following volunteer positions:

Setup

Tear down

Patient registration

Data entry

Volunteer registration

Hospitality

For all other volunteer positions you must be 18 years of age or older, no exceptions.

All services, equipment and food are donated.
Volunteers must arrange their own lodging and transportation.

M.O.M. is still short volunteers and if you could volunteer your service will be greatly appreciated.

Here's the link : Mission of Mercy

A healthy smile means a lot. Your state may even have its own MOM.  Volunteers are always appreciated.

DECLUTTERING

In the next two weeks there'll be some major 'decluttering' taking place both inside and outside in the End of the Rainbow Valley. With the arrival of warmer temps the spring sounds of Natureman rototilling the big garden area has begun... the green in the far back is the beginning of the rhubarb.

Due to all our rain it's been difficult for Natureman to get into the soil but yesterday provided optimal conditions to rototill and get the peas in. It's time for cool weather crops and the onions and potatoes will go in today.  

That rototilling sound is also a head's up for me to start removing the flower beds 'winter interest', translated dead brush and there's a lot of it. The spirea in the bed needs to be trimmed too.

Hostas are found underneath 

The flower beds also need room for that new growth and the plants that have wintered inside the house will soon join them.

We survived the winter!

Our general rule here in the Midwest is to wait until after Mother's Day but it is so very tempting to go buy all those gorgeous plants in the greenhouses and put them outside right now. If one succumbs then one has to be really to watch the weather to spare them frostbite by throwing sheets over them.

Rigged up a little protection for the last survivor

One fourth of the main flower bed has been cleared. It's always amazing how grass loves to grow there too! The deer/bunny rabbits have decapitated all the tulips save one. Obviously our senior guarddog Romeo has missed the arrival of spring... Hopefully we'll get to see the only tulip bloom to survive.

It's a busy time and I hope you are enjoying the joy of spring. We really appreciate all the browns being replaced by the green.

Happy Springtime from the End of the Rainbow Valley.

\\

  These three are glad the green is replacing the brown too!

FOTO FRIDAY: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

FOTO FRIDAY: We just couldn't wait for spring and with its arrival came 2 snow storms within a week, unusually warm weather interspersed with severe thunderstorms. Last night's rainfall will probably bring the creek over its banks. 

 TRANSLATED: Our one mile road from the mailbox was flanked by 2 mudslides and washed with big ruts in addition to the fact we are also losing our road in two spots due to the all the downpours. 


Some ruts were midcalf as seen below.

Imagine looking down into a 3 ft ditch and seeing your road in its bed. Below is evidence of the road collapsing.

 

Natureman worked diligently some 3+ hours regrading the road to try to save it on Wednesday.  We have our fingers crossed that the backhoe and 7 truckloads of gravel can be delivered soon.

Oh Mother Nature you love to keep us on our toes/ make sure we use our boots.
    
I wasn't at a computer due to some special granddaughter time last week for FOTO FRIDAY so I will add one this week to make up for it. Here's its link:HOPPING IT"S NOT TOO LATE

FOTO FRIDAY: HOPPING IT'S OK A WEEK LATE

FOTO FRIDAY: A tiny uninvited guest decided to visit our screened in porch. 

 A welcomed surprise to find this cute tree frog attached to the house door and he was just begging to have his photo taken.

I particularly liked his reflection. I guess tree frogs like peepers wanted to be appreciated this spring.

Did you catch FOTO FRIDAY the week before:'SNO JOKE

TBT: A BETTER MOUSETRAP

I bet most of you remember Milton Bradley's 1963 board game Mouse Trap. It was one of the first 3 dimensional games and one of my favorites. 

In case you never had the opportunity to play/ have forgotten how here's a quick summary. After a roll of the dice 2-4 players would move their plastic mouse to the designated rolled space  following the instructions where they landed.

Some spaces had the world 'build' and the assembly of the colored plastic mouse trap would ensue in order piece by piece. Some spaces allowed one to collect cheese cards to move another player's mouse towards the cheese wheel once the trap was completed.  Once completed and a player's mouse ended on the cheese wheel space and you landed on a turn crank space, you could crank to set lowering the cage, Then a small marble like ball would be set at the beginning of the maze and roll though the maze until it triggered the cage to drop The game would end when all but one mouse survived.

Maybe somehow Milton Bradley  knew that all of us would be faced with the inevitable task of having to catch a mouse someday. No matter where I have lived whether city or country living, there have been mice to catch and let's face it there isn't really a humane way to catch them. 

Natureman has probably let as many go as he has caught. Most of the time they don't survive to return to continue feasting/escaping the cold. In fact, mouse activity was just discovered at my car's 20K check again. Hey, we have even lost a truck due to a mouse chewing on wires. I have placed Bounce dryer sheets in the wintering Miata to dissuade guest rodents. I am going to try peppermint oil on the other car's filter now. Wish me luck. 

Meanwhile the past couple of mornings there have been some kitchen noises of chewing and the birds at the kitchen window feeder were eliminated as culprits when I caught sight out the corner of my eye of a quick shadow scurrying across the great room towards the kitchen yesterday. 

Natureman got the trusty peanut butter and set the trap placing it by the refrigerator.  I moved it under the kitchen cabinet by the base board and at 5 this morning, his regular kitchen time the critter set off the trap. 



I could say I'm sorry he didn't make it but seriously it was a quick death unlike the Mouse trap game where it took a really long time to catch that plastic mouse.  It's survival of the fittest here in the End of the Rainbow Valley and you and I both know this guy has friends...

THE SEASON OF FESTIVALS BEGINS

'Tis the season of neighborhood festivals... What a treat it was Sunday with another drop dead gorgeous spring day in Atlanta to fill our afternoon with one of the largest festivals in Georgia.  It was the last day of a 3 day neighborhood festival in none other than Inman Park, an east Atlanta neighborhood. Inman Park holds the distinction as the first planned streetcar garden suburb named for Samuel M. Inman an associate of its real estate developer Joel Hurt in the early1880's. 

"High up above the city, where the purest breezes and the brightest sunshine drove away the germs of disease, and where nature had lavished her best gifts, the gentlemen who conceived the thought of Inman Park found the locality above all others which they desired. It was to be a place of homes, of pretty homes, green lawns, and desirable inhabitants. And all save those who would make desirable residents have been excluded. . . . It's the prettiest, highest, healthiest and most desirable locality I ever saw. Everybody is friendly and neighborly. . . . And as far as accessibility it ranks second to no residence portion of the city. We have three car lines and frequent schedules.^"

Yep, the previous passage definitely describes what I witnessed during the search for the quintessential parking place Sunday. Yet the original intention to segregate is not what one finds today in 2018. Gentrification has followed suit but unifying factors like the fight vs the freeway brought the neighborhood together. There's a strong sense of community and pride among homeowners and renters. 



The Festival boasts the largest volunteer festival force in Georgia for all the activities with tens of 1000's of visitors coming to see the parade with unusual costumed participants and marching bands,  a Tour of Homes show- casing Inman Park's variety of residential abodes along with many types of festival activities and vendor booths. 

Folks enjoying the green space in the park

These booths flank both sides of most narrow side streets bordering the lovely park green spaces where folks can also picnic, rest/visit away from the the chaos of food and libations, artisans and musicians but still enjoy some  music.

I enjoyed a refreshing raspberry and lime popsicle. 

G is for Georgia, not Green Bay Packers

Festival food odors wafted in the air between the various food vendors and artisans of everything from upcycled goods, wooden furniture, grooming products, leather items, pottery, clothing, jewelry, to every kind of art medium.




Folks of all ages are there for a good time celebrating community pride. Each dressed in their own style for the day...

  

One thing's for sure we slept well that night!