Water heater woes

 This last part of June has has shown us some extreme weather. A few days of heavy rain causing flooding in our area and also in other areas in Kentucky...then ending up the month with days of temperatures in the upper 90's and high humidity...causing a dangerously high heat index.

It's been a good time to stay inside and catch up on household chores and also do some sewing.

I started piecing a hexagon quilt...mostly because I wanted some hand work to take to our sewing group meeting, instead of having to lug my machine in every time.

I am using a bundle of floral fabric strips. I may have to mix some solid colors in later. We'll see.

I must have hexagons on the brain because I also tried out some crochet hexagons at my Sunday needlework meeting. 

I made the white one to try out the pattern, but then when I made one with the purple yarn it started turning wavy at the edges. I need to try a different size needle or maybe try keeping the tension tighter.

I made a batch of soup. Strangely enough, it's Spam soup. 

I had some fried Spam in the freezer that I diced and mixed with onions, carrots, peppers, beans, and broccoli. It turned out pretty good.

When we had those rainy days I thought my air conditioner was on the fritz. I noticed it was getting warm in the house. I checked everything and found the outdoor fan unit wasn't working. 

I turned the system off, then back on after a few minutes and that seemed to fix the problem. Everything was up and running and cooling the house.

I noticed water in the basement but thought it was leaking in from so much rain.

Well, the next day I went down to do some laundry and I felt a draft of warm air.

The water heater was leaking from around the top pressure valve. That's where much of the water was coming from!

The Sasquatch turned off the water and the power. I called plumbers the next morning and they came out first thing.

The old water heater was from 2003 and had some parts replaced on 2019...so gave a lot of years of service.

Goodbye old relic!

The new one was a bit higher priced than I expected. The plumbers were polite and did a good job and cleaned up before they left.

While they were here, I pin basted this little quilt top. It's now next in line for quilting.

The Sasquatch is harvesting lots of those Husk Cherries!  They fall off the plant when they are ripe.

He has been trying different ways to use them.

He made this yummy upside-down cake with some of them, and brought it over to share.

It was good! He brought some sweetened whipped cream to go on top. 

He said if he made it again, he would increase the amount of husk cherries.

I hope he will remember to let me sample that one too!

Fresh vegetables, quilting

 I finished sewing together this small quilt top. I like the red and gold sashing with the little 9 patch corner stones.   

I have plenty of this fabric for a backing. It's about time to use it for something...the date on the selvedge is 2012!

I harvested a couple of things from the garden...beets and some very tiny carrots.

The Sasquatch unearthed a nice big batch of potatoes that he grew in grow bags. He just started them with small potatoes he had bought, and left on top of his refrigerator until they had sprouted.

He gave me a few, so I just roasted everything in the oven. It's true...vegetables from the garden are so much better than store bought.

The beets were especially sweet and tasty. I'll plant a larger amount of them next spring.

Here is something else the Sasquatch tried this year...Husk Cherries. A plant with berry-like fruits that have a dry husk around them.

The taste is sweet and a melon/citrus sort of flavor. Hard to describe. They are good to eat plain but the Sasquatch has also preserved some in a jar with a sweet syrup, and he's going to try running a batch in the dehydrator.

Another amazingly beautiful sunrise! 

Changing every minute as the sun comes up.  

A few turkeys have been coming up in the yard.  One is a big male and a couple of times I've seen him doing his big majestic tail feather display. Always too far away to get a good photo though.

 

I'd like to know what you think about this. The house across the street from me is facing the neighborhood over there and so my house faces into his back yard.

I've noticed he likes planting and growing things and this year he's added this makeshift green house.  It's basically a little pre-built shed with a clear plastic roof and plastic sheeting  on the back side.

This is how it looks from my driveway (and from my front window).

It's sort of weird and unfinished looking...not a thing of beauty. Sort of annoying.

Next door...more burning....

I could sneak over there and roast a hotdog on a stick...or maybe some s'mores!