So they texted me long after they had closed that my car was fixed. I didn’t mind since I had the car I could borrow anyway so I went there this morning to pick it up. The exhaust pipe wasn’t broken thankfully but the seals where the different parts of the exhaust fume pipes were stuck together had given up so they just put in new ones. So it didn’t cost an arm and a leg, just an arm 🙂 🙂 So a new spring for the front wheel, two bulbs and the seals costed around $ 900 US ( tricky to know exactly at the moment since the US $ has lost so much value lately but somewhere around there I would guess).
So I paid without crying 🙂 🙂 and went out to my car. It was so slow, like driving in fudge. The guy who had repaired my car had mashed a rookie mistake, never use the handbrake on a French car during winter 🙂 🙂 🙂 It will freeze stuck and must be brought inside to be knocked off the brake disc 🙂 🙂 Only took a few minutes and now the handbrake will rest until this winter is over 🙂 🙂 🙂 I stopped twice on my way home, once at a big grocery store in Falköping to get some jam for pancakes I’ll make later and a second time to pick up a parcel.
I have an incinerator toilet, no water used in it with other words, and need paper bags where everything goes before I “flush” the toilet so everything drops down and gets burned in a very high temperature. The odd thing is that the chimney from it just gets lukewarm. I’ve never been able to figure out how they can cool down that hot air so good that I only need to have a plastic chimney. It works and that’s the only thing that matters 🙂
I’ve started to sow those heart nuts now and went online to check something about the sowing. I never look at the AI suggestions google put at the top of every search but something caught my eye. AI said the nuts was supposed to be placed warm?! That’s not what I’ve learned.So I went out into the wonderful world called internet and finally had to admit that I might be wrong about keeping them cold before they germinate. The places I found said keep warm, so now I’ll keep them warm for a couple of weeks to see if anything will happen. There are always easy to remember general rules when it comes to sowing. If the seeds comes in early summer they’ll need warm weather to germinate, if they come in autumn they’ll need a period of cold.
There’s always exceptions to this rule and some seeds can work both ways. So if a seeds falls to the ground but surroundings aren’t good they can lie all summer and wait for next spring and germinate when there’s enough water and warmth, but it’ll then only work if they’ve gone through a cold period and not been collected and stayed indoors all winter. Some should have it warm but just refuse to germinate anyway and then a cold period will help them to start and vice versa . So I’ll keep these nuts warm as I wrote for a few weeks and see what will happen, we still have much winter ahead of us unfortunately.
It is time for a cup of tea I think and after that I’ll make some pancakes 🙂
Have a great day!
The Cottage by the crane lake. 
When I had the Saturn inspected in December, it passed all the safety stuff, but needed some optional maintenance, which I did because they don’t make Saturns anymore, so if parts are still available, I do it. The bill came to $870 US.
The Saturn turned 26 years old this month, and when I renewed its registration with the state, they tacked on an extra $30 they never have before. I think it had something to do with the car being over 25 and not having some emissions thing newer cars have?
Anyway, one year of registration for the Saturn was $70, and two years of registration for the Hyundai (my newer car at only 18 years old) was only $58.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice tto have a working car! I had a Saturn for 12 years, but traded it in on Hyundai that is now 12 as well! Probably the last car I will buy. Here they don’t have safety inspections, but I think they should because people take better care of their cars when they get inspected. In Washington state car tags are very expensive. Last year they cost $230. Who knows what they’ll cost this year! Part of that goes to pay for public transportation, which is good. When I lived in Colorado the tags never cost more than $100.
I jjust realized I need to pay for my dog license today, or they will fine me for being late. 😕
LikeLiked by 3 people
WoW! $230 for tags is crazy. But we also have a personal property tax annually based on the car’s value. The Saturn tax I think is down to zero, and I think the Hyundai is maybe about $60. I don’t really remember. But on a new car I’m sure it’s hundreds.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Carol!
We don’t have dog license any more, people didn’t pay it anyway and since it wasn’t a prioritised crime that just got rid of it 🙂 We do however have to microchip all puppies and kittens so it looks like we have fewer feral cats nowadays. I’ve never heard of any feral dogs here and if anyone would find a dog running around it will be reported on every social media and to the police so that the owner can get it back 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi catsworking!
We don’t renew our licenses, they sort of keep going until we either sell the car or take it to the junkyard 🙂 We also stop paying the car tax when it becomes 25 years old, if I remember it right the car tax on my Renault is something around $ 250 US a year. The year the car turns 50 years old we don’t have to take it on inspections any more either. I guess that if You’ve have such an old car You will take care of it 🙂
We do pay what we need to when it comes to our cars (and pets to be honest ) 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Glad to read that your car was fixed and I will be making a trip to have mine checked out because the engine light is on now. Why this has happened is confusing as the car is garaged and we have been starting it during the bitter cold weather and also drove it recently. It is a 2007 model which I have serviced regularly and so things can go “bad” on an older car after so many years. Those bird photos at the end of this post were beautiful, Christer. What type of birds are these as they looked like goldfinches which we will not be seeing here for many months.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Beatrice!
Engine lights always shine on older cars 🙂 I once had a SAAB that shone like the sun no matter what they did 🙂 🙂 In the end they allowed it veto shine at the vehicle inspection as long as it had reached a certain age 🙂 Even the car I borrowed had the engine light shining so they had just put a sticker over it 🙂 🙂
Thos yellow birds with a black head are Great tits and the smaller yellow ones with a blue head are Blue tits. They really shine like small suns when visiting the garden 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person