A Big Fat Milestone

This is officially my 200th blog posting. How can that be? A milestone! A blog that began on a whim- to document Bob and I on our householding/homemaking adventure- and here I am creating my 200th posting!
The bridge above, which spans our little stream, seems an apt metaphor for the crossing of so many bridges in this going-on-two-year journey. It has been such a great time!
But I will admit that today erupted with less than stellar events. First, Bob and I woke even earlier than usual as we were really hungry. We'd attended an opening last night (good show!) and never really ate dinner; just picked at appetizers. So we had coffee at 5:00 am and when I took Jules out, it was 6:00 and still totally dark. I turned on the back light and crossed the yard to talk to Crisco the Stallion, who always greets Jules and I.
But then I realized the yard smelled truly awful, like a chemical dump had occurred on the nearby highway.  I saw Jules rolling and Hey Presto! he had been sprayed by an accommodating skunk. Oh hell!!
I bathed Jules as best I could in tomato juice that Bob had whirred in the blender and then hosed him off. (Jules, not Bob). But by now, the whole house and Bob and I smelled less than sweetly. I guess I'd never smelled brand spanking new skunk spray, as it has a different note than the regular octane. The good news is that after a few minutes of being surrounded by the odor, you kind of don't notice any more. But if you
go away and come back, you just can't miss it... Bob went to help a friend batten down the hatches in preparation for our annual October Weather Event and our friend Joe assured Bob he did indeed
smell ripely.
And then, what with the already frenzied frenzy that has been whipped up around the arrival of Hurricane Sandy ( united in unholy union with not one but TWO other weather patterns), I'm feeling jittery and stinky and I finish washing the dishes and go to fill a bucket to sponge mop the kitchen floor (thinking to make the house smell more wholesome) and there's suddenly no water.
Of course, I first suspect power outage as our kindly utility has sponsored robo-calls to pre-announce wide spread power failures, in advance of the storm but it dawns on me that the lights still on. So a friend confirms later in the day that the pump on our well has blown. Perfect timing!
Tomorrow, in the face of 75 mile an hour wind and torrential rain the pump is due to be hauled out of the well head and replaced by heroic heroes (me included). Anyone care to join us for fun and games?

And yet the stream looked lovely today. Peaceful and serene and awaiting true havoc and chaos in the form of Storm Sandy.

Another lovely microvision to leave you with, before all hell breaks out in the morning...