I ❤️ Jake

I clearly don’t have Alzheimer’s! How do I know? Well, because over the past few days I drew up a shopping list for my trip to Nester’s yesterday, but when I got there, I could not find the list. So, I did my shopping from memory, hoping I’d remember everything. And I did! When I got home, there wasn’t a think on the list that I’d forgotten. Sometimes luck is with me. 

And speaking of luck …. The appliance repairmen came to fix my fridge and the stove. Jake and Noor came, and you could not meet nicer people. I had a company called Barron’s come last time, and the fellow who came, barely out of his diapers, knew nothing and he made all my problems worse. Jake and Noor once worked for Barron’s but they quit and they started their own business. I cannot say enough about them.

When they finished working, they showed me how to fix the freezer seal myself. I will be doing that (if necessary) henceforth. They will be back to replace two broken burners in my stove if they can get the parts, and they will attend to the freezer again if I have been unsuccessful with it on my own. I am so glad I called them. What a completely opposite experience I had with them over Barrons.

When they were finished, we had a 15-minute conversation. Jake is from Serbia, and Noor is a refugee from Afghanistan. What a lovely time I had with them. I am looking forward to their return—and, I hope, a fixed stove.

When they left, I chilled for a few minutes, and then Her Highness and I went for a lovely long forest walk together in the glorious sunshine of a quiet afternoon. 

The best part was where we turn off the main trail, to go up a short slope on a trail that is only visible because of the trampled down grass. All around us, in an open meadow, was a blanket of tall golden brown dried grass, and as we walked up the trail, we startled bazillions of little grasshoppers. And while we climbed that hill, the sun warmed by back, and it felt so, so good on a 15° day.

And when we came home, it was like coming back to a new home. Having fixed all the doorknobs, and Pete having fixed my faucet, and now wonderful Jake has fixed my freezer and fixing the stove is underway. I didn’t know how much all these broken things were bothering me until they were repaired. 

The potential for problems still exists with the stove. They must locate the parts for an old model. Regardless, if it can be fixed, I sense that Jake will do it. And if he says he can’t. I’ll believe him and I’ll ask him to help me get a replacement.

The walk was hard today, but I have become accustomed to doing my walks very, very slowly, and I take several short rests. I bend over and put my hands on my knees. I seem to feel better after even 30 seconds of taking that pose. I don’t feel like I have one foot in the grave anymore.

Today I shall do some more ASL studying. I’m enjoying doing this more than I enjoyed doing the online course. And I think Melanie and I will soon start having coffee once a week to practice. That makes all the difference in the world. I can’t learn a language unless I start using it. I moved to France to learn French.

The Fall/ Apple Fair was fabulous. All the door handles work. I have enough breath to function. My appliances are working (or soon will be). Life is feeling awfully good again in Pinecone Park.

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Today is going to be another bright and sunny but cool day. We’ll be walking with our friends this morning, and then I’m coming home to plant some ornamental grasses that Pete brought to me yesterday. Plus, I’ll be going for a visit to Dave’s next door because Andrew, the handsomest man in the world, is back to help Dave for a few days. They may be installing the kitchen which will be something to celebrate!