For decades now I’ve received telephone calls, the caller says nothing, then, after a few minutes, the caller hangs up. Sometimes there is breathing at the other end of the line, sometimes not. This caller has followed me around through all of the places I’ve lived, calling all of the different telephone numbers I’ve had. Although it upset me at first, when I was first a single Mom I worried a lot about my kid’s safety, it is now part of the landscape of life, the mysterious caller letting me know he/she/they are there. Who is it? I couldn’t say, it began just after my divorce, the persistence is striking, and the caller’s number is always masked. Someone looking for attention, here you go.
We ordered our seeds online this year, and the first shipment is scheduled to arrive this week! It won’t be long now before we are out in the garden again! I am looking forward to working in my modest raised beds. If they are a success, I’ll be setting up more permanent structures for them in the future, but best to test the concept without much expense, before contemplating any significant investment. Who knows, the modest plastic tub beds might be a great success, to be continued indefinitely.
Today is bread baking day. I have enough flour milled for today’s loaves, then more flour will need to be milled. The 25 kg bag of hard wheat berries arrived this week, and are stored in the freezer. Eventually they will be moved from the paper sack in which they came, to food grade 5 gallon buckets, and returned to the freezer. The 25 kg bag is estimated to last us for 6 months. It cost $98.00, minus a 10% discount, plus tax, so the cost for our homemade bread is about the same as store bought bread, the lowest quality store bought bread available. If the cost is compared to high quality bread, the homemade will be much cheaper.
The bills are piling up, and we are not quite in a position to pay them all. Juggling is required, and thankfully juggling will suffice. Hopefully we will be back on track by the summer, after the huge repair bills for Tank over the last months. 2018 was quite a year if ever there was one, in so many ways, and the bills are just one aspect of that challenging year. Most of the expense was related to home improvement, new windows, new attic insulation, new garage roof, and some kitchen equipment to make life a whole lot easier (e.g. an Instant Pot). There are no major home improvements coming up this summer, some exterior painting, installing waterproofing to the north side of the garage foundation wall, organizing the garage, there are no big price tags on any of these projects. Perhaps we will catch up financially. I have no regrets about the 2018 expenditures.
Every day I kill several wasps, more on the exterior of the house, around the front door, and at least one every day inside the house. They are coming in around the front door, so we surmise there must be a nest somewhere near there. I do not feel bad about killing wasps, I hate them. When I was a kid I was stung on the tip of my nose by an angry wasp, and I’ve not forgotten it! I also remember my sister’s distress when one had crawled under the covers of the bed and stung her. They don’t belong on my doorstep, or in my house! We have had two very large nests here over the years, in the trees, both destroyed, but obviously they haven’t given up on this prime location.
The sun comes out occasionally, but right now the sky is completely overcast. The wind is roaring again, perhaps heralding the April showers we are expecting. There is a tinge of green in the yard, a wonderful sight.
Worldly
Weather
6°C
Date: 11:00 AM EDT Wednesday 3 April 2019
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.2 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 6.4°C
Dew point: 1.7°C
Humidity: 72%
Wind: WSW 29 gust 41 km/h
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“Seeing ourselves as others see us would probably confirm our worst suspicions about them.”
Franklin P. Adams
1881 – 1960
We get calls like that, it’s probably scammers….
Joan, I would like to think that it is only scammers! Unfortunately the calls began in tandem with some other events that would make it very unlikely that it is only scammers. Certainly though, some of the calls would be scammers!
We also get those quiet calls – every single day, usually several a day. We just either hang up right away or, like I do, I put the phone down upside down, and just let him/her sit there for an hour or more. Sometimes that makes it hard for them to disconnect from our line,so I’m hoping it inconveniences them somewhat!
We have that green “tinge” outside too.
Bex, one of our cell phones gets the constant calls, several a day, we just ignore them too. Once they have your number they are relentless. What I am describing is very different than that though, but I guess that doesn’t really come across in my description.
Green there too! Isn’t it grand!
Maggie when I worked out of the home, I got calls like that for about 12 years. The number was always masked. The calls were always at night. The person would just listen and never said a word. I couldn’t hear any background noise. I assumed it was a person who had exited my life. I had a few people in mind. It struck me as mildly threatening. But I also wondered if it was someone who wanted to know if I was alive and well. Then they stopped and I felt a mixture of relief and worry. What had happened to the caller? I hated not knowing the complete story. So crazy 🙂
Sandy, not knowing the complete story is so frustrating. I hoped the calls would end at some point, but after reading about your experience, and I would be relieved if they stopped, but I’m not sure that it would bring any satisfaction.
That would be one incredibly persistent stalker, chasing you through moves and marriage. Do you have unregistered phone numbers? Because if the numbers are u registered they would have to have a connection to a telephone company to keep getting your number.
My own stalker wasn’t nearly so persistent, though more active than yours. I only had mine for about a year. He never called but he broke into my house regularly and would gaslight me, moving and removing things. He even went so far as to discover a way to disarm my security alarm when I got one. The terror didn’t end until I disconnected the dial in feature of the alarm.
I’m sorry you have to go through that.
Having had an electrical problem and having to replace a furnace and now a commode in the last few months, we’ve been experiencing some shuffling of bills, too. We were lucky to have enough for the furnace but it’s put our efforts to pay off my credit card before retirememt a year behind. Since you don’t have any expensive changes to make currently, hopefully your bills will catch up quickly.
Teri, sometimes the phone numbers were unlisted, but family had them, as did places where I had to fill in forms, like the dentist and doctor’s office, the nursury school, public schools, daycare, which also meant my ex had them, no love lost there. Where there is a will there is a way I reckon.
Your stalker sounds truly scary! The known stalker in my life, who was very straightforward, threatened to kill my children, and he had friends in high places, so that was quite a miserable chapter in our lives, part of the way the kids had to grow up. That is over now, I hope, no signs for many, many years. The phone calls started long before that sick individual showed up in our lives.
Replacing a furnace is so expensive! We will have to do it eventually, but not for a long time I hope. Our oil furnace was almost new when we bought the house, the only thing in the house that was in relatively good condition, so I hope we get another few decades out of it, lol. Not likely. Our bills are edging their way towards being paid in full, on time, without undue juggling… almost!