Plymouth Area News for the week of May 7th, 2018 by Joyce Steiner

I have quite a few birds in my yard all winter because I feed them.  This week I saw several rose breasted grosbeaks and I think a Baltimore oriel.  They may have just been passing through as I have not seen them since.  Lovely birds.
Got a call from a gentleman wanting money for a religious radio station.  Asked for the station name and he rattled off call letters  then asked him where it was located.  That stumped him.  I suspected it was a scam as he did not know where the station was and could have rattled off any letters.  I hung up.  I get a number of these calls every week.
Had a surprise B&B guest this week.  He called to see if I had a room and I asked the usual question “what is bringing you to Plymouth, IL” as often people think that I am located in Massachusetts.  He answered that he was here because of a wedding so I knew that he was in the right state and that he was driving some Amish to a wedding.  He stayed a couple of nights and mowed most of my yard because he had nothing else to do.  Good deal for me!  Thought he would be back in a couple of weeks.  Glad to have guests.
Finished caning another chair this week.  Only problem is that it is one of a set of four.  Not sure I will get the other two done as I am   starting shows this month. 
If you have driven by my stores, you will have noticed that I am having them repainted.  They needed it pretty badly.  It is just so expensive to get work done that we all tend to put it off as long as possible.  Hopefully it will look nice.
Thursday was the Lowderman monthly auction.  Got several things for the store, some ducks, two pieces of furniture, some books, a roaster and more.  The best thing I got was a rare book that is difficult to find.  It is called “Pioneers of the Prairie”. 
 After the auction had dinner with Dennis and Judy Gordy at the Buss Stop.  Love their chicken livers on Thursday evening.  See the same people there often and we are even getting to have “our normal seats” just like church.  Good to visit with friends.
Wednesday a light circuit just quit working.  Checked and checked to see if there was anything important on that circuit like the freezer or the frig.  My wiring is quite complex as it has been added to and and has gone from 100 to 200 amp service.  Could find nothing important on the circuit so called the electrician but we decided to wait until Friday morning to try to find the problem.  I had an idea what had caused the problem and I was correct.  An outdoor light had not been properly rewired.  We got that fixed and then had a lot of bulbs replaced.  Did some light fixtures in the kitchen as 7 out of 8 bulbs were burned out.  Last time I changed the bulbs by myself, I dropped a light cover and had to replace the whole light as it was cheaper than replacing the cover.  Was less expensive just to get help and do it right the first time!
The antique store has been very slow this week.  Think everyone is mowing and working on their yards and gardens.  I know that I have mowed a couple of times.  Have my garden tilled.  Today I got some really nice tomato plants from Taylor Phelps.  He has a greenhouse at 890 E 600th ST east of Plymouth.  His card says that he has organically grown produce and vegetable plants.  Need to go out and see what else he has.
After church today decided to devote the day to the lawn and flowers.  Moved all the flowers out of the garage.  Tried to water them with my well water but the well ran dry before I got that done.  I knew it was dry and my well agreed with my feelings.  Hate that!
Got roses cut back and some leaves moved so that the purple cone flowers could break through.  Also found that today was a good day to pull creeping Charlie and the whole plants came out not just one piece.  That won’t last long.  A lot of the green in my lawn is just creeping Charlie.  Have found no good way to get rid of it. 
Hope we get some gentle rain soon.  Really hate storms but we do need rain.
Have a great week.  Scatter Kindness.
Posted in Plymouth News