The air grows crisp and the trees
release their leaves...
in colors of red and gold.
Barberries' sharp thorns
catch leaves like lost dreams.
~~Val
"Success is the Best Revenge"
The past few weeks have been insane...right? Or do I just get too excited over stuff???
Maybe I need to go sit in the forest for a day and just not think or do....
Sometimes things happen in succession and drive a person up the Crazy Wall.
When I got home from CrossFit Friday morning I parked the 'Ru, then walked out late in the afternoon to see this....
By the time I had the 'fake tire' on, Ariel arrived.
There it was, our annual date for our fall walk at KVR! Last year we did our fall hike at Wildcat Mtn State Park.
Last year, our hike was in mid November.
This year we were back at the Reserve. I was hoping to find brilliant and beautiful fall scenery, but depending on the type of trees, the colors were mostly gone. However that doesn't take away from the beauty of hiking with a friend and just having a nice conversation as we went.
A few shots of the trail on Big Valley.
A section of Maples....
Poplars and birch, I think.
I am so proud of us for taking all of the steps over the past few years to reduce our use of independence on LP gas and electricity.
We remodeled with new windows, insulation, and yadda, yadda. Here's a photo grab collage from the blog I kept track of when remodeling. The little house had to have plastic over the windows, and doors. We also would get frost on the inside of the north door pictured in the before shot.
We added a high tech cabin wall heater and two years ago we added a mini split to reduce our cost of heating and cooling.
Viola! We did!
Indeed we did!
I got my fall LP fill of 29 gallons yesterday and the driver left the billing. I was billed 54.00 for the fuel. The next line stunned me. $318.69 was due on the account. Which included 54.00 for the current fill.
Gobsmacked! WHAT?
I called the local office. Guess what?
I only used 184 gallons of LP last year. According to the LP company, that is not enough fuel for them to rent me the tank for the year. [They just started rent charges a year ago]
Imagine...you are on a very fixed budget and you get a $300 fill AND a rental bill for a couple of hundred dollars...OUCH! OUCH!
Sooooo, to encourage me to use MORE LP or get a smaller tank, they up the rent to nearly $300 for the year. I blew a head gasket politely on the guy that answered the phone. Normally we are sent a letter in the summer giving us an opportunity to order an earlier LP delivery at a lower cost. Plus a letter regarding the policy of tank rental.
I said that it was rude and unprofessional of the company to spring a surprise like this without prior notification. He agreed.
Then he explained that IF I wanted to switch to a smaller tank like a 250 gallon tank, he'd reverse the charges and they would replace the 500 gallon tank. See, the excuse is, they need the larger tank somewhere else. [Insert snarky thoughts here. I drive by their place and they have 100's of large tanks in their yards...hmmmm].
I said so if I ask for a smaller tank how do you handle it now? I have 400+ gallons. Do you give me money back for all that LP and deliver a new tank?
Nope.
Come spring they will come out and swap out tanks. BUT, the tank has to be at 30% or less for them to safely do that.
SO. I have to use all that propane before May.
I'll have the last laugh. I agreed to the swap. Well. Sort of. He reversed the charges on the account [we will see].
I will call around to all the other hungry LP dealers and make my own deal for the spring.
The worst part of all of this? My husband helped the original owner of this LP company years ago. He helped repair vehicles, tanks, and whatnot. Hubby would call around to get competitive costs and report back to the owner what other companies charged.
We got huge discounts on our fills for all of that.
Times change, I get that.
But. Seriously? We worked so hard to make a more efficient home to use less energy and then get penalized for it. Huh?
So now I have to use the LP heater more this winter. Otherwise how will they pick up the tank if I only use less than half of the tank for a winter????
Rant over. But at least I've paid for all that LP already so I won't get billed again this year.
Happiness is a well insulated house for winter. Fingers crossed.
Almost a full moon!
And love is in the air!!!!
How do you top a night with a once in a lifetime Aurora Borealis show?
Go on a mini trip.
So with a little bit of sleep under my belt, I drove to Kenosha to visit my eldest son, wife, and of course Aurora...Rory!
They told me that we were going to go hiking on Saturday and use the drive to the Kettle Moraine State Park as Rory's nap time.
First I had to get through a night at the hotel. I awoke very early since I dropped into bed very early. But I've always wanted to see the Harbor area along the Kenosha Lakefront early in the morning. I know I posted a quick cell shot on the last blog.
But here was my efforts with a long exposure in blustery winds.
I've never done cityscapes before but thought it would be fun to get a shot of the Kenosha water plant and part of the harbor behind the hotel.
On the way to Kettle Moraine, I got to sit in the back seat with Rory who played peek a boo with me in her car seat. She didn't do the normal peek a boo, but hid her eyes by turning her head and then popping back to look at me an laugh.
And it filled me up with so many wonderful feelings.
However, I slept well for being in a hotel and in a downtown location.
I was in bed by 8:30. No night life for me! 🤣, I did take a walk along the back side of the hotel. So many people were out either at parties on the Marina or fishing quietly along the rocky shoreline.
I was really tempted to grab my camera and take some pictures from the promenade by Harbor Park.
I decided that sleep was more tempting.
I struck gold at the BAM-- bricks and Minifigures store by scoring the purchase of a hard to find Ogre and some other minifigs.
The Ogre was the one next to the brewing coffee....
I even built a custom minifig. She is the blonde with the sword.
I got to have supper with Rory and Mom and Dad.
No pics of Rory, we don't post them. However, I can say that she is as cute as a button and full of smiles. A...dor...able as all get out!
Saturday greeted me wayyyy too early. I woke at 3:30 and tried like heck to get back to sleep. Which never happened. However, I did get brave and walk out part of the way to the Art Promenade near Harbor Park.
The winds were fierce coming off the lake but I decided to try a 'long' exposure of the morning light anyway. This is a cell phone shot which didn't do the dawn sky any justice at all. The promenade is on the right and I was still on the street with this shot.
I haven't taken anything off from my good camera yet because...well...
because I have been too busy! No time for anything but fun with Aurora...Rory, and mom and dad!
I mean, who can pass up the chance to have meals, play time, drive time, hike time, and more play time ....with this little charmer????
LOL...don't you just love faces hidden? That is okay. I don't mind. Mom and Dad have made the choice to not post her face and I totally get it. Too much media these days!
So there she is! Crawling and do all those great things little ones do!
This is just a quick synopsis of me on my mini vacation!
Hubby's supper delivered to him last night by Olive!!!
Morel mushrooms and Pepperoni Pizza.
What a great time I am having being ON my Own... on a mini vacation...
and enjoying such a great time with my wonderful son and his wife...
and even more fun enjoying Rory!
Best
Time
Ever
[yeah...and I even sort of learned a new game which I was too tired to comprehend last night]
I'll be back home tonight but don't hold your breath. I may have to recover from all of this fun!