At 8:45 AM, Dad and I were in our respective corners of the living room, enjoying a quiet morning with our books of choice, when suddenly there was a LOUD boom and the power went out. I went outside to see if I could see anything smoking or if any of the neighbors had power...negative on both accounts. Not sure what happened but I'm guessing based on previous experience that possibly a somewhat less sure-footed squirrel made a fatal misstep on a power line. Good church friend came over at 9:30(ish) so we could depart for a craft supply swap at a local(ish) library...Dad was teasing me that I wouldn't be able to get the garage door open without the garage door opener but he knows I know to tug on the rope to...release the thingamajigy that enables me to open the door manually. Gcf, my aunt and I had a lovely time at the craft supply swap* and each brought home a bag of goodies, then we hit up a couple local markets before enjoying lunch at Mary Yoder, *the* Amish destination restaurant in a town known for its large Amish population. But all the fun I had paled in comparison to coming home and finding the power had come back on around 11:00 AM. A toilet that flushes will always win out over finding free pour paint!
* You know you're rural(ish) when most of the craft supplies at the swap are yard, ribbon, fabric and patterns for making your own clothes. Gcf knits, so she happily picked up some new (to her) yarn, while Auntie found some pretty fake flowers and a few crafts to paint, while I came home with pour paint, some beads (I was hoping for more beads, but the bead selection was pretty sparse and mostly seed beads, which are smaller than what I wanted), some paper, some glue and ribbon and a pot for bff who likes to make her own ribbons for Christmas packages and who once told me she NEVER turns down a pot. She uses pots both to grow some herbs and veggies and also to make these cool lighthouses for outdoor decoration.