DAY 33 Homestead

Usual start except that I took a very hot shower after Summer completed hers and then waited 30-40 minutes for Summer to stop primping. We were on our way to get our passport photos and she wanted to look nice, I guess. Body clean, teeth brushed and hair combed I was, at last, on my way to the post office for my camera breaking appearance. $200 later we have a receipt and assurances that our passports will arrive in about two weeks. It’s the Federal bureaucracy so I don’t believe a damned word of it. Need the passport for December as we are returning to Florida to take care of some business and to bring back the last of our belongings.
After the passport ordeal we went to buy diesel fuel for the truck $71, Groceries $90, adapters for the Toyo oil stove $217 and one large fleece zip front jacket $15 on clearance. After that we went home before we really spent some money.
At home, I set about installing the oil stove and found that the parts I had purchased were not all of the needed parts. This led to a second trip to Homer, 10 miles each way, to get the necessary part. That part, 2 bucks worth of stainless steel, cost $43. Back at the house I successfully installed the stove after much cursing and gnashing of teeth. Now all I have to do is set up the fuel tanks and see if someone can be coaxed out here to fill them. The stove is, partially gravity fed which means the outlet of the tanks has to be above the stove valve. This should be interesting in the rain and sleet predicted for tomorrow. Whatever it takes, I’ll “gitter done”.
Oh! I failed to mention that it started snowing early this morning. The secondary roads received no sanding and our secondary road is like a ski jump across a busy primary road. Had to back a couple of hundred feet down the road as my passive-aggressive neighbor parked another the vehicle in the turn around across the road from this property. We’re the only people on the road and his family built the house we purchased. When we arrived to take possession we met him and he was more than a little peeved that he didn’t even know that it was for sale. It appears I made an enemy about 10 minutes after I arrived here. That has to be a new record, even for me. Anyway, I backed out into the street put the truck in 4 wheel drive low and creeped down the hill. After that the main road was in pretty good shape.
Tonight we’re having hamburgers all the way and some kind of bean. Actually, Summer just said “Time to eat” so I’m gone.