“The RoseBouquet”

Besides still sending out Christmas snail mail (it’s those personal notes that slow me down), this week I’m trying out an assortment of used printers that have been given to me. Yesterday was not a very encouraging day in that regard. But I want to make a brave effort to see which ones can still be got to work reasonably well, so that I can either use, give them away, or take to SarCan for recycling.

It has been a bother to me that none of my printers are working at this time when I need to run off more and more of my cards and letters. If they really cannot be brought to a productive state, then I want to clean them out of my office. By spinning my chair around I can see nine of them in this room. Just like my Dad, I hate to discard something if there is still some potential, but I’d like to clear out the duds, so that I can buy a new one with a clear conscience.

The tricky part is that some of them might work if they had new cartridges. That could be the case with two, maybe three of the ones I tried yesterday. So I may have to go buy some cartridges and risk the waste if it turns out they won’t work even then.

I had one printer given to me on Friday that was dripping ink no matter how you touched it. I dashed off to wash my hands and a sleeve several times, and finally dropped it back into a bag and asked the donor to drop it off at SarCan. (Our provincial gov’t encourages us to bring them there for recycling the parts instead of filling the landfill sites).

Thursday, Joe and Penny, my neighbours and co-workers here at Western Tract Mission, are heading down to Michigan to spend the holidays with their family. That will leave only Priscilla and me working here, so I’ve offered to paint the two stairwells, and the one large meeting, work-room, and lunch area. Funds have come in for a new laminate floor for that room, and we’ve all agreed that the walls should be painted first, but no one else has time. Seeing I don’t have family begging for me to stay home, (aside from Snowflake), I thought this is something I could do. My cousin Gary Friesen has offered to come help me. That encourages me because I was a bit leary of doing that one narrow and steep and very high stairwell. He’s not afraid of heights, so he’ll be a big help.

Because of the prep work on Thursday and the amount of wall space, I am guessing it will take about four days. Maybe even more. I have things I’d like to do at home to prepare for the new year, but if need be, we can use the days after Christmas too. Priscilla will be on Christmas break then.

Therefore, I’m not sure if I should promise to publish an issue of the RoseBouquet next week,or announce a holiday break. Let’s put it this way, IF I have time I might put up a few photos on the blog. I will provide a link to my Christmas story/card and my letter, if I have not sent that out sooner. We will skip next week for a full, regular issue, because I’m sure I’ll have plenty to do - and so will you! Next Tuesday is only two days before Christmas.

I think I should be back to full-issue pace by the Tuesday after Christmas, Dec. 30th.

I may also be less available to answer emails over the next week or so. But don’t let that stop you from writing. I hope to get all caught up by January 1.