St. Patrick's Day/Saturday

I must have been tired, last night.  I went to sleep at 12:30 a.m. which is relatively early for me.  And, although I woke up a few times during the night, and, again, this morning, when my daughter phoned to say she's going out for the day, I went back to sleep, each time, and I slept till 12:30 p.m.!  Yes, I slept for 12 hours!  I am glad I was able to catch up on my sleep and didn't feel I had to get up at a certain hour!

However, I couldn't take it easy and relax once I did wake up, because I knew I had to call my neighbor E to ask him to come over and take a look at the water heater.  So, after I had a cup of coffee and got dressed, I called him and he came over to check it out, even though he was in the middle of helping his daughter who was moving back home.  Well, there was water leaking and it had pooled under the heater and it had wet everything and the pilot light had gone out!  And, although he tried to drain out as much water as he could, he couldn't get the pilot light to light.  He thinks the water wet the wires.  It's not something he can fix.  I thanked him with freshly picked oranges from my tree for his time.

Then, I called the number on the water heater for technical support and they will send out a technician to take a look at the thing.  But, they couldn't tell me when the technician would be able to come!  All they could tell me is that the technician would call before coming out.  Well, that's not going to do me much good if they call and I am at work!  I am hoping they will be able to send someone out, tomorrow (although, that's doubtful, it being a Sunday).  I might have to call them, again, tomorrow evening, to find out if I need to take a day off from work, on Monday, to be here!  Otherwise, they might call and say they are coming in 30 minutes time and leave because I wasn't home!

In the meantime, I have no hot water!  It's always something, isn't it?  At least, I have running water and I can always boil a kettle on the stove and use that to take a sponge bath.  It's too cold to take cold showers!  I need one of those old fashioned tin baths!  I could set it up in front of the heater and be warm while I bathe! 

Today's walk in the garden showed me these:

Mushrooms

They were growing where the old loquat tree was.  I guess it is a sign that the loquat tree's roots are decomposing.  I don't know what kind of mushrooms they are, though.

Sometime, last year, when the yucca plant was growing over the sidewall into the neighbor's garden, I had M trim it and we stuck one of the pieces we trimmed off into the planting bed.  It dried up during the summer, when it got so hot, and I wondered if it had died.  But I decided to let it stay in place, and today, I saw this - new growth!

Yucca Plant

As M said, "Mother Nature and Father Time" - they bring about wonders in the garden!

Today, I made it a point to open several windows and the front door to air out the house.  I kept them open for several hours, too, and closed them only when it started to get "cold".  As in, the inside of the house was about 60F.  Even then, I held off on turning on the heater until about 11:30 p.m.  I know 60F is quite comfortable for many of you who read my blog, but I was wearing a short sleeved blouse, a sweater over that, a cardigan on top of that, and a knitted poncho over everything, sweatpants, and fuzzy socks!  But my hands were cold! 

I cooked the beef I had bought the other day for dinner, today - I pan sauted it with onions, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.  I had it with some frozen corn and steamed cabbage.  I don't celebrate St. Patrick's day, but, I guess the cabbage was a nod to the day (I had spinach I should have cooked, instead, but I chose the cabbage.)  The picture is blurry due to the steam:   

Dinner

Don't be deceived by the fairly healthy looking dinner - I made up for it with a big piece of my cake for dessert!  But, I had forgotten to eat brunch because I woke up so late - only a banana in the afternoon, so I think the piece of cake was OK.


Today, I am grateful for:
- Neighbor E taking the time to check out my water heater for me
- I was able to thank him with fresh oranges from my tree
- I have running water, even if I don't have hot water
- I have the ability to boil some water if I need hot water
- I was able to sleep in!

Friend R called in the evening and I chatted with her.  Later, daughter and I video chatted.  She had spent the day with her visiting friends - they had done some sight-seeing in San Francisco and she said she rode the cable car for the first time. 

I didn't make a To Do list for today, other than to call neighbor E to take a look at the water heater.  But I did tidy the family room, in the afternoon and I finished knitting the front of the blue sweater.  I will clean the litter box as soon as I finish this post and then, get ready for bed.

Sunday's To Do List:
- Wash the dishes
- Chat with neighbor T
- Vacuum
- Quick clean of my bathroom

How was your Saturday?  Did you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?