Cheap Labor

 

Phew!  The weather has been hot and humid this weekend.  As I sit here on the front porch working on this post, I can hear thunder off to my right.  Severe thunderstorms are in the forecast tonight and if they cool down the temperatures, it will be a good thing.

I had several chores in mind that I wanted to work on this weekend.  Friday evening right after work, I cleaned the interior of both cars.  That meant vacuuming the carpets, scrubbing the all-weather floor mats, polishing the dashboards and especially needed in my car, cleaning the inside of the windows (my windshield was atrocious inside).  I usually take care of keeping the interiors of the cars tidy while Mr P gets out the hose and bucket to spiffy up the exteriors.  

Saturday, I wanted to split some firewood that had been cut into fireplace lengths by Mr. P before his second surgery in early January of this year.  It's been five months since his surgery but the many tasks are off limits and splitting firewood is one of them.  I've done my fair share of this type of work over the years and it can be back breaking.  I'm sure my willingness and ability to handle some of the tougher tasks here at the Puddle Pond are one of the reasons he's never sent me packing.  

I split wood for about two hours starting about 9AM so we didn't disturb the neighborhood to early with the noise.  By the time the wagon was almost full, the splitter was out of gas and had to be refueled.  I finished filling the wagon and put the 5 ft snake skin that a black snake had shed under the tarp on top of the load of wood to be brought down to the house.  (You can see it in the foreground of the picture directly above which is where it was found when the tarp was lifted.)  I'm saving it for Grandson's #1 and #2 and if they aren't interested, one of my coworkers might want it to show to his two young sons.

After a break and the determination that the sun wasn't hitting me directly, I got back at the splitter.  This time, I tossed what I split on a pile near the logs that remain to be split.  I wanted to work until the splitter ran out of gas again, but instead, I ran out of gas and stopped the splitter myself.  

It felt good to get that much done and while I was splitting wood, Mr P was working in the garden covering his potato rows with layers of newspaper topped with straw.  

Today I cut asparagus and leaf lettuce in the garden but it was too hot to do much else. 

We spent time over the weekend watching a pair of red winged blackbirds fly to and fro from their nest in the cat o' nines down at the Puddle Pond, wrens who seem to have taken over a blue bird box along the driveway and the beautiful yellow finches at the thistle feed on the deck.  

There were also early morning treks of deer at the back and side of the yard and after moving the outdoor camera to another tree, several shots of deer moving through on their way to bed down or go wherever they go during the day.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend wherever you are.  I'm still hearing thunder, but no rain is falling just yet.  Until next time.

Memorial Day

 

Memorial Day is being officially observed here in the United States today.  Ceremonies, honoring active, retired and those service people who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country, were held  during the course of the weekend in many different towns and cities.  An earlier term for today used to be Decoration Day when a lot of families made up bouquets of flowers and took them to the cemetery in remembrance of loved ones who had passed.  There were pictures on the nightly news a little while ago showing all the flags placed at Arlington National Cemetery which is a moving sight.  So many lives lost in war!

My father served in the Navy in WWII and a niece and nephew (sister and brother) are currently both actively serving our country in the military.  Mr P's brother retired from the Army a number of years ago.  I have always considered myself "rooted" here, living less than 25 miles from where I was raised and where my Mom and three of my five sibling still live.  Whenever we would visit with my brother-in-law (Mr P's brother) and his wife, my sister-in-law while he was serving in the Army, it always hit me how transient their lives were with a move every few years.  As much as I like to see new places and want to travel in retirement, I was always glad that I was "rooted" here in central Pennsylvania.  I always tried to let my sister-in-law know how much I appreciated that they were willing, as a family, to be uprooted every few years with each new assignment.  One of her favorite statements used to be "If they Army wanted you to have a family, they would have issued you one."  In other words, when duty called, my brother-in-law went no matter what was going on at home.

Where did the weekend go?  Saturday was spent doing a lot of the chores that are usually done over the weekend due to working during the week.  Preparations began on Saturday in anticipation of a small cookout on Sunday afternoon with some of the family.  My Mom, sister's J and K and their husbands, B and D came down for hot dogs and burgers on the grill.  There was some cutthroat pinochle card playing too. 

I know others around the country haven't been so fortunate with flooding and tornados occuring in some states but our weather has been absolutely gorgeous this weekend.  While it was hot today, a breeze was moving the air around making things comfortable.  Someone is coming to paint the detached garage tomorrow making it necessary for us to rake up some leaves and generally clean up around the garage. We also weeded the entire garden and I need to plant some eggplant and Swiss chard plants and some beets seeds yet.  I won't get to those tomorrow evening but maybe on Wednesday evening. 

Hope you have had a nice weekend wherever you are.  Have a good week and in less than a week we will be in June. 

The Visit

We departed from our home last Tuesday headed for OnlyDaughter and OnlySonInLaw's home to, as they say, keep the home fires burning.  OnlyDaughter and OnlySonInLaw were headed to Atlanta, GA for the annual World Horror writers convention.  We were briefed on things we needed to know for the upcoming week and given a sheaf of papers that speaks well of OnlyDaughter's organizational skills.  There was information on when and what to feed the dogs, Kirby and Betty; care instructions for Chester (Grandson #2's guinea pig), directions to the middle and senior school, the boat house, etc.  When the documents permitting us to have the boys and pets medically treated in their absence are turned over along with medical insurance cards, my response is always "I don't anticipate needing these.".  OnlyDaughter's response is always, "If I didn't give them to you, you would probably need them."  (Fortunately, we have never needed to seek medical care for either the boys or the pets while in charge although there was one unsettling time several years ago with Grandson #1 and his new bike.)
The boys left for school the next morning and their parents departed for the airport.  Our most stressful time was that evening.  Grandson#1 went to crew practice on the Monongahela river after school.  Grandson #2 arrived home around 5PM and between 5PM and 6PM, dinner was served, a meal packed for a "carpicnic" for Grandson #1, the dogs feed and taken out, clothes put in a bag to be taken to the senior school for a musical concert Grandson #2 was participating in that evening.  Here's hoping that Grandson #2 has already spilled the beans but if not, now OnlyDaughter knows the details of our crazy ride.  Once Grandson #2 pointed out the start button to push to get us going and remind the driver that the brake needed pushed at the same time, we were on our way.  Then just as we were headed onto the parkway, Grandson #2 stated that "the trunk is open".  Not sure how that happened, but we pulled over to the side of the highway, got the "trunk" (aka hatch) closed and were on our way again.  With the exception of the young gal who fainted as one group of musicians was leaving the stage, the concert went off without a hitch.  What a talented group of young folks.  OnlyDaughter learned to play the flute beginning in fourth grade and continued playing through her last year of high school.  I can't read music but love most kinds (no twangy country stuff) and am so pleased that the Grandsons both play an instrument and read music.  They both love music.
We got to see the crew teams putting away their boats when we picked Grandson #1 up on Thursday evening at the rowing club where he practices.  Friday evening everyone was able to sigh with relief - no school the next day and the weekend before us.
The boys gave me lovely gifts for Mothers Day on Sunday.  We never got to christen the ice cream bowls while I was there and I can't wait to try the different teas I was given.  My knitting yarn for the socks I'm working on is now housed in the beautiful pottery knitting bowl.  The boys each planted a pot for on the patio for their Mom and made her a card.  Later in the day, Grandson #2 made cupcakes from scratch and iced them.  OnlyDaughter and OnlySonInLaw arrived home on Monday afternoon and assumed their parental roles.  There was a CocaCola baseball cap for Mr P who only drinks Pepsi, a cookbook of Georgia specialities and some peach cobbler topping mix for us.
What a surprise when we got home!  The weather at OnlyDaughter's was hot, humid with a brief shower early Saturday morning.  The weather here while we were gone was the same but boy did the grass grow, the weeds sprout and get taller and everything get greener and fill out.
Yesterday was hot but with the day off work yet, we managed to work together to get the mowing done, some of the weeding done and some of the garden planted.  Today the weather turned cooler and it was 64 degrees F when I left work at 3:30PM today.  A brisk breeze was blowing and a sweater or hoodie was needed to be comfortable outside.

Hoping you had a good weekend and a good start to your week wherever you are.  I can't believe that we are almost at mid-month in May already!  Time is flying and preparations for retirement need to be firmed up.  See you next time.

Early May

 

It feels as if we've gone from winter to summer and missed spring.  As late as the end of April it was often cold during the day and colder yet overnight.  Early May saw temperatures do more than moderate, they went over and above.  Last week into this week was unseasonably warm and humid.  The colds that Mr P and I had in mid-April lingered for a few weeks and then were gone.  There was a lot of time spent outdoors mowing grass, weeding and getting the garden ready for planting.   Then   preparations began for a week-long visit with Grandson's #1 and #2, Granddogs #1 and #2. and Chester, the guinea pig.  OnlyDaughter and OnlySonInLaw flew to Atlanta for the 2015 World Horror Writers Convention.  I'll be back with another post to fill you in about our week with the boys and their pets.