Monday morning stuff

The temperature rose above freezing yesterday for the first time since Christmas.

As a consequence, the snow is melting and the frozen water line to our dishwasher thawed. We can wash dishes automatically once again and can put away the plastic plates and knives, forks and spoons.

It is my fervent hope that we can get some proper insulation in the east wall of the kitchen before next winter and make frozen pipes a thing of the past.

In the meantime, I finished the course of eyedrops for my left eye this morning and have only a couple of weeks of daily drops to go for my right eye.

When we moved to Arkansas 10 years ago, we lost the homestead tax credit deduction on our Thorntown house, as it was no longer our principal place of residence. We moved back last August and I applied for the deduction two months later with the county auditor's office, with the understanding that it would take effect Jan. 1. I supposed that the auditor's office would communicate with our mortgage holder and we would receive a new coupon book reflecting a lower (by about $200 a month, I think) mortgage payment.

That doesn't seem to have happened, so I called the mortgage holder this morning and have subsequently sent them a PDF file of the homestead tax credit application.