random thoughts – Day 2,259 (Sunday) – wet one

A little steady rain and chilly temperatures didn’t spoil the Memorial Day weekend gathering and we still gathered a family member’s home. Despite all the rain this month, and what felt like a lot of snow this winter, I was told the water level is still six inches low and "we need the rain." Ok, cool. But could it maybe just rain overnight when people are sleeping? Please and thank you.

Instead of sitting on the deck, we sat in the living room/dining room area.  There were still burgers and hot dogs, just cooked inside. There was toss salad, potato salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, bean and veggie salad, chips and salsa. Then there were brownies, and after eating a huge one, I learned there was cake. Oy.

Final score - Twins 5, Sox 5.

The Red Sox played (after a delay) and we watched the game They lost to Minnesota again, for a three game sweep. I did not envy the die-hard fans sitting under plastic ponchos in Fenway Park in the rain, but I do admire their fortitude and willingness to do so.

My guess of the black blob in the yard being bear poop was confirmed by the relaying of a tale about a neighbor who lives one street over from me recently seeing a bear in their backyard at 5 a.m. Now I will be tempted to get up and look out the windows when I first wake up instead of rolling over and going back to sleep. I kind of would like to see a bear (from a safe and protected distance).

The overeating made me very tired. When I got home, I sat on the couch like a zoned-out blob scrolling through social media and playing Words with Friends and Duolingo Chess for a couple hours. Now, it’s time to go read some Sherlock Holmes stories written by modern crime writers (Murder in Baker Street – New Tales of Sherlock Holmes).

random thoughts – Day 2,258 (Saturday) – prepping

Cowboy caviar. Or Texas salsa.

It was a domestic day at home. After much deliberation and reviewing of recipes and the contents of the pantry, a big bowl of bean and veggie “Cowboy Caviar” (aka “Texas Salsa”) was made for a cookout on Sunday. The other main contender was a fruit salad, but the pantry contained nearly everything needed for the bean and veggie mixture – pinto beans, black beans, canned corn, diced tomatoes, plus chopped grape tomatoes, onion, and vinaigrette dressing. The only missing item was green pepper, so I mixed everything and added the green pepper later. The taste test was a success. I forgot how much I like that salad/salsa/stuff.

There was nothing on hand to make the fruit salad and it might have taken multiple stores to gather the items, depending upon what Aldi had in stock for produce. The Cowboy Caviar  felt like a good decision when I arrived at Aldi to get the green peppers. They had some of the fruit I like, but not enough variety for a decent fruit salad for a party.

In the effort to consume more calcium from food sources, I spent a disappointing amount of time at the dairy case reading labels because online articles about the type of yogurt with the most calcium are very contradictory. One claimed that Greek yogurt (my favorite) has more calcium, another said low-fat regular yogurt had the most. My label reading at Aldi revealed that of the yogurt they carry, the regular yogurt has more calcium per serving than their Greek yogurt so I bought the regular stuff. And also, some cottage cheese which I will try my best to consume, although my track record with it isn’t good. There are some recipes involving eggs and cottage cheese baked with some stuff that sound promising.

random thoughts – Day 2,257 (Friday) – matts and mowing

There were tasks scheduled for today, specifically, working on the photo matting and framing for an exhibit, and mowing the lawn. One of the photos is a nonstandard size and needed a special window matt cut. I found a framing shop close to the house.

It was a great time in the shop, and I ended up being there a couple hours. One of the owners demonstrated the matt cutting machine to show me some fancy additional cuts that could be done, but we decided against it. We had a great time chatting about downsizing homes, frames, matts, and a local arts group her husband is involved with. Later, her husband/co-owner arrived. He is an artist and he and I had a great talk about hanging art shows while he cut the matts and she had some lunch. 

Almost all mowed.

The lawn was less successful and energizing than the framing shop. It was my first mow since moving here because stepdad next door mowed my  yard last fall when he did his. My mower is electric and today I discovered my cord is too short to reach all of the front lawn. At least a dozen times it unplugged itself when it reached maximum distance, and I swore and stomped to the outlet to plug it back in. 

There is an L-shaped section in the front yard along the driveway and at the edge of the road that is still tall and shaggy because I couldn’t reach it with the mower. The opposite corner of the back yard has a corresponding shaggy patch that I couldn’t reach. Now, I need to determine the length of the cord so I can buy a longer one.

Mystery matter.

Near the shaggy back yard spot lies a surprise. There is mysterious matter in the form of a large black blob of glossy something that is dark like tar or licorice. There were small flies on it. It didn’t smell. 

Based on the size, I know it is not cat, dog, bunny, or deer poop. A lot of local people have been mentioning bear sightings on the Nextdoor app, so that was my best guess. I carefully mowed around it and decided to deal with it further tomorrow. An internet search for bear poop seems to have confirmed the guess. 

random thoughts – Day 2,256 (Thursday) – driveways

Yesterday’s guess about the driveway work next door was correct and part of it is being widened. As part of the process, the old driveway was dug out today. The clanking sound of roller being driven up the street kicked things off at 7:09 this morning. Before long, it was followed by the rumble of a dump truck and a collection of other vehicles.

Next door driveway work underway.

I had already been up for an hour and was drinking coffee, so it gave me some live entertainment. The existing pavement was cut with a circular saw thingy and the digger tore up pieces of asphalt and set them into the dump truck. My favorite part of the process was the workers yelling long conversations over the noise of the equipment.

By early afternoon, most of the equipment had disappeared and a beautifully flat, slightly wider, compacted dirt driveway remained. It will be interesting to see the next phase. 

My driveway is a little rough with some previously patched cracks and general unevenness and now it will look even worse by comparison. It will probably be next year when I’ve got my own driveway job going on and I should probably pop next door the next time the crew is there and get a business contact.

random thoughts – Day 2,255 (Wednesday) – hope springs

Ever since the dumpster arrived, the roofing materials delivered, and I learned one skylight was still on order, I’ve been on high alert when I hear trucks outside, hoping it is the skylight so the roof can be scheduled. So far there have been oil trucks, package delivery trucks, tree trimming trucks, and firetrucks.

Some sort of work next door.

Today, the sound of a truck drew me to the window (again) with a nugget of hope (again). It was a big truck alright, but not a lumber company delivery truck and not for my house. There was a dump truck full of dirt and some small machinery digging away at the strip of land between my house and the neighbor’s. It wasn’t very long before the dump truck left. The smaller equipment stayed. 

When I took a walk, I had a chance to check out the work. A swath of bare dirt runs along the neighbor's driveway and my best guess is that they are widening it. I guess I’ll know when it is all done.

During the walk, I also noticed the sudden absence of an asphalt driveway at a house two streets over. The entire stretch of pavement along the house from the street to the back yard shed was missing and the occupant’s cars were parked on the far side of the house. Spring has sprung and some neighborhood home projects with it. I’m getting antsy for my roof to be done so the siding can be done and then I can work on some plantings along the house. I want new exterior lights and house numbers to go with the new siding.

The inside work list, which was initially intended to be for the winter before it was procrastinated into now, is getting longer by the day. A new, still not purchased medicine cabinet will make my life easier on a daily basis. The recent days of heat made the need for ceiling fans for the bedrooms and dining room feel more urgent than in September when I first thought of it. Now I wish I had spent the winter more wisely and gone shopping for ceiling fans. 

random thoughts – Day 2,254 (Tuesday) – weather mood swing

It was sunny and hot (92 degrees). Until it wasn’t. Around noon, I ventured out to scope out the yard work situation. A small amount of raking occurred under the azalea and the dead leaves were set into the trash can from the free curbside stuff yesterday. I lasted about 10 minutes in the sun and heat before I went back indoors to sit on the couch under the ceiling fan. The window A/C units are in the shed, put there by a handyman last fall. 

Clouds collecting.

Later in the afternoon, it was cloudy. Then rainy and windy. It kind of snuck up on me. I was in the house with the shades lowered against the sun and heat, and eventually I realized it was less daylight-ish than it had been. When I looked outside, the clouds were gathering. With the sun in hiding it was safe to raise the shades and check out the changing conditions.

Before long, it got noisy with the wind whipping the trees across the street in a wild dance. Rain began pinging off the kitchen skylight and the metal stove vent pipe. Water poured off the roof and pummeled the back of the hydrangea. The sun reappeared while it was still raining, and there was some back and forth of clouds and sun for a couple hours and the temperature dropped to the 70s which was much more comfortable. The weather mood swing was in full effect. Whee!

Rhododendron is nearly ready.

Just as it was beginning to rain with a purpose, I noticed the rhododendrons are ready to start popping at each side of  the front door. After they bloom, I need to do a major pruning because they are wildly overgrown. There is another one in the back yard that is taller than I am and kind of scraggly.

I wondered how hot it would be in the lower-level church space where we dance on Tuesday evenings. It was warm, but not unbearable, but it got stuffier the longer we were there. It’s been better, and it’s been worse, and it surely will be both of those again. Hopefully, it will not be oppressive the night of our show.

We ran the dances for the show which was mostly okay until we got to the one where two of us are wrapped in silk veils. Silk is lovely and warm in the winter. In the heat it is hot and clingy and yucky. Just like last week, I kept stepping on the edge of the veil which made it hard to maneuver the thing. I have about three weeks to get that situation straightened out.

random thoughts – Day 2,253 (Monday) – treasure hunt

It was another beautiful weather day and I could get used to this, but I won’t because I know better. My heart has been broken by the weather too many times already in this lifetime. It’s supposed to be around 91 degrees tomorrow, and 87 Wednesday, but back in the 60s by the end of the week and for the next five days.

Sorting ribbons and trim and such.

The day didn’t have a plan, but a theme emerged along the lines of a treasure hunt. An excessive amount of time was spent early in the day looking for black Velcro which I was prepared to swear on my life existed in my sewing supplies. Four sewing drawers were rummaged through, plus two decorative tins with odd trims and notions, and the recently established and already messy ribbons and trims storage box. I found white and tan Velcro but no black.

In the process, ribbons and trims were carefully rolled, sorted by color and level of fanciness, and set in small snack size storage bags. Ribbon from two boxes were consolidated into one. 

After it all, I ended up using the tan fastener stuff on the purple velvet vest and it was officially declared done. The vest anyway. The top that goes under it still needs a tweak to tighten the bottom edge and while sorting through the ribbon stuff I got an idea for a potential change to the neck ties on the coin bra. And this, my friends, is how “work expands to fill the time allotted.” I anticipate more random change-ups in the next few weeks, mostly because there is still time.

Mid-afternoon, there was a curb alert post in one of the “buy nothing” groups with three chests with plastic drawers (perfect for sewing and crafts stuff!) and a big barrel (perfect for yard cleanup!). The post was 19 minutes old when I saw it. 

Finished. For now.

I mapped the route in Waze, then, as I was at the door, decided I should visit the loo. Along the drive, I imagined where I would fit the drawer thingies in the car, remembering halfway there that the cargo area still had two sets of snow shoes and some poles in it. As I drove up the destination street, a car passed me from the opposite direction on the cul-de-sac and I just knew it was the three storage unit things en route to their new home.

When I arrived at the house with the freebies, a woman was loading a wheelbarrow into the back of her SUV. She said she had come for the same barrel and storage things I had my eye on, but when she arrived, a lady was already loading all of those into her car. If only I hadn’t stopped for the toilet, I might have gotten at least one of the coveted items. Oh well.

It wasn’t a total loss. I got three flower pots, a bucket, and an indoor plastic trash can which will work for yard work, it’s just smaller the usual yard size. In other words, I’ll probably be able to load it into the back of my car myself and drop stuff at the yard waste area without assistance. This is still hypothetical. I took the items from the car and set the flower pots in the shed and the bucket and trash bin alongside the shed. Then I went into the house. I did not dive into yard work when I got home. Maybe at the end of the week when it’s cooler. We’ll see.