And what is the first thing we did with our freedom? We went for our 5 km (3 mile) power walk at 6:30 am this morning. And it felt GREAT!
Ruth has been doing fine during the whole thing, and I think I did okay for the most part... up until day 11 or 12, and then I was starting to feel a little cooped up. I can't imagine having to do that 14 day quarantine in an apartment or a hotel room... or a motorhome, for that matter!
So, what have we been up to the last three days?
Well, I know we weren't supposed to have any visitors, but these three popped by one evening...
The raccoon triplets!
We think they are living underneath the back deck here at the house. We've seen them twice now, but both times in the evening, and once one of them walked across the back deck just a couple of feet from the patio doors, and when I went to see where he was, I couldn't find him. The only explanation is that he crawled through a very small opening to get under the deck itself.
The other day I saw a giant caterpillar! It was huge. Well, huge as far as caterpillars go. It turns out this thing is the larvae of the cecropia moth... the largest in North America.
It was about 4" long and thicker than my finger!
It will grow into a beautiful moth with a wingspan between 5 to 7 inches.
Wow!
(Borrowed this photo from the internet.)
Ruth's been doing some gardening and weeding. A house and garden is a lot of work, but it's actually a nice diversion for us because we don't have to do it all the time. And we have no ambition to do it all the time!
Ruth doing some gardening.
Smile!
I spent some more time working on the old wood splitter. I could get it to fire up, but only if I poured some gas down the carb. The fuel pump wasn't pulling any fuel from the gas tank at all. I knew that the old gas had to be drained anyhow, so I set about taking the fuel tank off. It was still almost half full, so it wasn't that easy to maneuver. But I got it done.
I emptied the tank and then removed the outlet and gauge assembly. It was so totally corroded and gummed up with crud. No wonder fuel couldn't get through.
Yikes!
I managed to get it all cleaned up and reinstalled. Should be fine now, I just need a few gallons of gas to put in it.
I need to buy a new air filter!
1977 Toyota Corolla engine.
The manual choke appeared to be working smoothly. Until I noticed that although the cable was working properly, the air flap in the carb that is supposed to close wasn't moving at all. It took a few squirts of WD40 and a pair of pliers to loosen things up. The neat thing about working on an old engine like this is that you can recognize everything you see. Not so with today's cars! These old engines are so simple in comparison.
Sherman was just sitting here watching me work the whole time.
I took a couple of pics on our walk this morning...
You can see the house through the other side of the railway bridge.
Horses.
A hydro electric dam is right across the road.
I'll take some pics of the falls on the other side another day.
And so today, we are back to "normal", as much as that is in today's world. Ruth's nephew is driving us over to pick up our rental car, and then we are heading over for a visit with Ruth's dad at the care home.
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Nice deal on the Greenworks Rechargeable Cordless Chainsaw. One of the guys on our Mexico trip last year had a similar one, and it got used a lot for campfires!
And in Canada...
You handled your quarantine well. What a neat place to do it! Love all your photos!!!
ReplyDeleteWe think so too but then again we didn't have a choice so we just made the best of it. :-)
DeleteI really love this old house but it sure is a lot of work.
Ruth’s dad’s property is beautiful in itself and in a beautiful location too! Thanks for the very interesting photo of the moth and caterpillar ... such a beautiful moth.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is beautiful, he and my Mum did most of the work over the years, and they put a lot of work into it. One day we will do a post of what the place used to look like when they bought it back in 1966.
DeleteI hope that we will get a glimpse of that moth once the caterpillar has made his/her transformation.
Will they actually let you visit Ruth's dad in person? They have not allowed that since mid March in our neck of the woods in California.
ReplyDeleteYes, here in Ottawa we are now allowed to visit with people in care homes and senior's residences, depending on each place. We have to wear a mask and stay our distance and I can't hug him but we at least got to see him. It even sounds like we can take him for a drive but I need to check with them further on that, as the person I was taking to didn't have all the specifics. We can even visit in his room but the senior's residences where Kevin's mom lives doesn't allow tin room visits only outside visits. At both places you have to make an appointment to see them as they only allow so many visitors. We will be seeing Kevin's mother today.
DeleteYou have been keeping busy. Welcome back to Canada, eh?
ReplyDeleteWe certainly have been and will continue to be even now that our quarantine is done. There is a lot of work to do here at my dad's house.
DeleteThank you for the welcome back! :-)
You mentioned that someone was coming over to see Sherman. Did they show up?
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record, yes, it is hard to do that 14 day quarantine in an apartment (in mid-March)!! There are only so many cupboards you can clean out!! Glad you are off and running.
That will be in today's post!
DeleteWe both though of you and Doug in your apartment. I think we would both have gone stir crazy, kudos to you both for getting through your 14 day quarantine there. Mind you we would not have had a choice but we are still much happy having to be able to do our quarantine here at my dad's house.
Wow, you guys made it! You wonder how many people don't follow the rules. You guys are an example. Enjoy the cold drinks.
ReplyDeleteYep, we did and we are still alive to talk about it. :-)
DeleteWe have also wondered how many don't follow the rules, some do get caught. We never had the police come around to check on us or give us a phone call or even an email but we weren't about to break the rules and we are happy that it is all behind us now.