Mushrooms, Repairs, Food, And Fish!

 A rather busy weekend with many things happening all at once.   So much for relaxation....

First...  Subie's BACK!   Cost?  Nothing!  But I will require new tires and an alignment.   Also... My power steering rack is leaking.   So there is a high probability that I will be needing that to get worked on as well.   But after two weeks of being separated from my Subie, I am just thankful to finally have him back by my side.   That is Subaru Love!

Second:  While doing my Laundry,  Dave's Dryer decided to break.   I was forced to take my wet laundry to one of the coin operated places close by.   Luckily,it was only $1 buck andit only took 20 minutes to get all of my clothes dry and fluffy.   Nice!  I even folded some origami and watched a part of a movie while I waited.  

In the mean time, I took Dave's dryer completely apart!   Looks like the belt broke and a coulel of the roller pulleys in the back were siezed up with lint.   So we took this opportunity to swab out the dryer tubes  and order a new belt, tension pulley, and new rollers for the drum.   Now I just have to hope I can remember how I took the thing apart!  

We dragged out almost two "St Bernard's" worth of lint from the vent tubes.  No wonder the dryer was not drying properly!  I am hoping with the tubes cleaned out and the new belts and pulleys,  we will be able to get the dryer up and running before my next laundry need.   Then again,  the washer still works.  And going to the laundry mat was not terribly inconvenient.  Incidentally,  The REAL money pit is the wash part.   $7.50 for a single wash!  Drying is a fraction of that cost,  so it is not a big deal. 

After drying and folding my laundry,  I went out mushroom hunting/ nature walking.   Let's be honest,  I'm really only there for the mushrooms.  But I do find walking through nature rather peaceful.   Anyway,  after all the rain last week,  the Chanterelles FINALLY have made their appearance.  I managed to get a full basket of them!  It was quite exciting.  

The only bad thing about hunting mushrooms is the greed factor and the lost time.   I spent 3.5 hours out there and it only seemed like 45 minutes!   Every time my basket would overflow, I would see another one to add to it.   It kind of became a problem.   Good thing I did not have a large sack,, or I might still be out there! 

I took many pics,  But I have shown off lots of Chanterelle pics before.  Looks like Dave and I will be eating good this next week. 

And finally, Dave and I went out for a taste of Wisconsin.  A celebration of food and music by the lake shore.   It was fun, even though we did not eat any of the food ( we just ate our own dinner.) We did stop by a couple of the music tents and listened to some of the bands.  I personally liked the Jazz band the best because I recognized the songs and they played at a reasonable volume.  Otherwise,  the event was capped off with some colorfully lit sailboats sailing by the break wall.   Dave saw a few of his friends and had a chat while I took pics of the offerings.  It was a nice distraction for the weekend. 

Today, I ran 9 miles before Church.   The weather has finally cooled off some and I had not been able to run at all of the last several days.  9 miles seemed like a decent distance without hurting myself.  And I managed to complete it in a satisfactory time.  Nothing worth bragging about, but I was slightly ahead of where I thought I would be when I was done.   Hurray!

And finally,  The Fish!   I managed to get it completely coated with Modge Podge and now I am working on the paint job.  I think I will leave it slightly wrinkled as a witness to it being made out of cardboard and paper rather than a fiberglass or a real fish!  If Dave does not want to add it to his wall, I can always add it to mine down here in the basement.   I think it is looking pretty good for a guy who does not know what he is doing most of the time.... And has never done anything line this before.  

So that is it!  A full weekend.  Next weekend I will be helping Ellie move to her new apartment and possibly have other things to do that may come up.   ( Like fix the dryer!)   My tires should be arriving  on Friday and I may even have the opportunity to get those on the Subie by the weekend.   Wouldn't that be a hoot!  IN the mean time,  Staying busy helps me forget my former life and allows me to focus on where I am going and who I want to become.   Hopefully, I will hatch a plan one of these days and find my purpose.  

In the mean time,  If I can help people and repair things with my spare time and unused skill sets,  all the better.