random thoughts – Day 2,213 (Wednesday) – sticks be gone

First load underway.

The stick pile that became a larger stick pile was transported to the neighborhood yard waste drop off area by the magic of a big red pickup truck. The helpful neighbor arrived with his truck and we got busy loading the big pile sticks and limbs into the truck bed. Luckily, he also brought over a chain saw and cur the longest limbs, which were too long for the truck. 

When the bed was filled with tree trash and barrels of smaller tree trash we drove down the street and emptied the load. Then we loaded it and emptied it again. And once more. The yard pile of undefined size measured out to be three truck loads, although the third trip had lots of leaves on top of the sticks. 

The chain saw was used to cut some of the fallen big limbs further back in the yard, and it will be needed again to deal with the three or four large and rotting stumps at the edge of the yard which are too heavy to lift. Someday, but not today.

The pile was cleared, the big
stumps remain for now.

The pile was gone for approximately five minutes. The sky was blue and the weather was nice, so I stayed out and kept harvesting dead branches. The barrel was filled again and a new pile of sticks and tree trash was started. It felt good to be moving and dragging and snapping dead limbs and seeing the progress in the yard.

While I was playing the latest edition of pick up sticks, the roofer guy arrived. We went over the color roof I like (Black) and my top two choices of siding color (Meadow Fern and Sage). Roofer guy climbed on the roof and checked some things out and measured some stuff. He took the roof samples back but left the siding chips in case there is a problem with availability and I need to choose another color. The next step is the pricing estimate, likely to be followed by a fainting spell or cardiac arrest. 

random thoughts – Day 2,212 (Tuesday) – weather mood swings

April 7, 2026, 7:09 am

Imagine my dismay when I woke this morning at 7:00 to a yard lightly dusted with snow. If you live in central Massachusetts, you might have had the same feeling and don’t need to imagine it at all because you also lived it. It wasn't the volume (which was light),  so much as the principle of it. It's April. It's supposed to be raining and mud season. 

It should not have been so surprising, because the majority of spring seasons of my life have been in New England. And even for many of the 12 years I lived in Tennessee it snowed in April. 

By 8:00, the snow had magically disappeared. Poof. Gone like it never even happened. And I was happier. Lighter. Carefree. 

April 7, 2026, 8:01 am.

At 9:00 there was another plot twist. It was snowing again all over again with a vengeance, and I was sad about April snow all over again. We were back in the magical snow globe world we lived under for months already. 

Somewhere around noon I noticed it had stopped snowing. I had been reading a book to take my mind off the weather and wasn't facing the window so it could have been hours earlier. By 1:00 the snow was all gone. Again. For now. I was afraid to be too happy about it based on the last couple of hours. I could no longer afford that level of emotional investment. The resulting mood swings were killing me.

April 7, 2026,  9:06 am.

I don’t dare to ask what weather might be next because we’ll probably find out and I already tempted fate once this week. After finishing the tree trash hauling on Monday, I boldly took the snow shovel from its winter station in the narrow space between the trash and recycle bins and the concrete back door landing and set it in the shed. 

At least I didn’t plant any flowers yet. I’ve learned my lesson and now I don’t invest a single cent on plant life to go into the ground until Memorial Day. It’s less expensive that way, in both financial and psychological terms.

random thoughts – Day 2,211 (Monday) – still hauling

The popular saying may be that “today is the first day of the rest of your life,” but for me, today is also the last day of the 10-day run of penicillin for the throat crud. Within 24 hours, the penicillin was working its magic and the swelling in the throat was reduced and I felt a million times better. Feeling so much improved made me understand the warning on the label about taking all of the prescription even if feeling better. It seemed like it could be an easy trap to fall into.

Bigger pile with bigger sticks.

The weirdest thing about taking the penicillin was when the pills started getting stuck in my throat. This did not happen when my throat was inflamed and swollen nearly shut. Nope. Instead, it has been happening for the past three or four days (three times a day!) when my throat is back to normal levels and I am feeling better than new. That's when I was suddenly choking on the stupid oval tablets and no amount of water seemed to help. How? Why? So weird. 

I was tempted to crush the tablet between two spoons and mix with sugar and water, just like Mummu used to do when giving me medicine when I was a kid. But I didn’t do that. I just made the three or four or ten attempts to swallow the giant pill thing stuck in my throat and chugged more water and wondered what it was all about.

This afternoon, there was more fresh air and yard work clean up. I moved a little deeper into the yard and dragged more stuff out. A lot of it was hidden under lots of leaves and what seemed like a reasonable branch would reveal itself to be as tall as I am as I dragged it out. The fallen wood is all very dry so it is easy to break things down to shorter lengths. The pile of sticks is larger and the sticks in the pile are larger. 

Big rock cleanup has begun.

What looked like a big rock in the back yard woods is actually a much larger rock that was half-buried in about three feet of drifted leaves. More cleanup is needed to fully reveal the splendor of the really big rock. I had envied some of the big front yard rocks I saw on walks and now that I have my own really big back yard rock and several lesser rocks I feel better. There are clusters of green shoots coming up through the leaves further back in the mess and I can't wait to see what flowers they are. My current best guess is daffodils.

The neighbor friend is going to help me transport the tree trash to the designated area on Wednesday. That means I still have time to keep hauling, and also to look up in the neighborhood guide what exactly can be brought there. 

It was a little chilly today and I didn't stay out long, but I will do more tomorrow. It's the spring yard clean up free workout in conjunction with the getting to know my yard tour. 

random thoughts – Day 2,210 (Sunday) – combo party and siding

Unlike the Easter Sundays of my youth, there was no fancy Easter outfit. No new patent leather shoes and tights. No new dress. No hat, gloves, and woven straw purse. There were also no hidden hard boiled, dyed eggs and candies and no solid chocolate bunny or cross. Adulting is boring.

Easter dinner.

I did have some new-ish blue, cream, and navy pants bought from a consignment shop at some point in the past eight months and they fit today. The pants coordinate with a sweater I’ve had forever and that is what won the day’s wardrobe lottery.

We gathered at my sister’s house for a combination Easter and middle niece’s birthday celebration, tucked into a pocket of time before the youngest niece had to slip out for work. The youngest niece works in hospitality and always seems to be scheduled with an oddball holiday shift that is piled upon with day-of requests to come in early or stay late to cover the duties of people who called out.

It was a nice visit with delicious food and good conversation. There was an early ham dinner followed by birthday cupcakes and strawberry shortcake and gorgeous lobster claw pastries which were a new treat for me.

On the way home I took a longer route to drive up one of the other streets in my neighborhood to look at the siding colors and if any houses have interesting combinations of siding. The contractor is coming Monday to collect the samples dropped off on Friday. There are four shades of green that are possibilities, with varying availability in clapboard, board and batten, and shingle styles. Of course, the color I like best is special order. Or maybe I like it best because it isn’t an in-stock item, thereby assigning it a higher status in my mind, which, despite years in marketing, is still susceptible to marketing tricks. I can’t tell at this point.

To help visualize the various siding styles I dove into AI with a photo of the front of the house. The request prompts were to remove the shutters (hate them, they are useless!), change the color to sage green, and then to apply the different siding styles. Some of the iterations changed the detail around the bay window and made it harder to evaluate.

New color contender, existing door color.

Heading into the exercise, I thought I liked board and batten best but the AI mockup shifted my thinking on it. In that regard, the exercise feels like a success and a good investment of 40 minutes. The combination of shingles at the peak and clapboard elsewhere may be the winning combination of textures and interest. 

I like the style of my front door, but it will likely need a new color because I’m not sure I want a red door (current color) with a green house. AI helped with door suggestions in wood stain, charcoal, and navy, but that is a decision for another day and after I see the siding in place.

The real priority is the roof, which zoomed to the top of the house repairs list with the leak in the kitchen cabinet a month or two ago. It's possible the roof is the original one from 1988/89. There are two roofing colors under consideration and no strong feelings for one over the other, at least until I see a cost estimate.

random thoughts – Day 2,209 (Saturday) – pickup sticks

My backyard is about 20% grass and 80% messy woods. Amongst years of fallen leaves are several broken trees and limbs and cut trees and large branches that were left where they fell after meeting the blade. Three or four rotting tree stumps edge the yard, along with chunks of the trees they once held. Last summer’s greenery blocked the view into the trees but winter revealed the broken trees and various piles of leaves and branches.

There is a designated area in the neighborhood where yard waste can be left. Last fall I wasn’t ready for yard work, but now I’m reasonably motivated to get it started. The weather was pleasant enough today (in the 50s) that the initial gathering of sticks, twigs, and branches began.

Dead and fallen limbs in the woods.

Gloves were put on. The big barrel and a study cardboard box were fetched from the shed. The edge of the yard was full of dried sticks and dried stems that had been mowed down in the fall and these were gathered, snapped smaller, and set in the box. The larger sticks, branches, and previously cut limbs started a few feet into the woods and the most manageable ones were carried or dragged to the edge of the lawn and set in a pile. The larger ones were put in the barrel. Dead branches were snipped from trees with the loppers and the massively overgrown rhododendron and set on the pile. 

After an hour, the wind had picked up and clouds were looking ambitious so I stopped. I had a pile of sticks in front of the cluster of rotting tree stumps, a cardboard box of sticks in the shed, and barrel full of larger sticks against the shed. There was also the satisfaction of having done something productive in the fresh air.

The start of pickup sticks season.

The helpful neighbor with the snow blower offered to help me transport the yard stuff in his pickup truck down to the yard waste drop off area. This will happen sometime next week, and in the meantime, I will keep dragging tree trash out of the woods. 

The plan for spring is to rake some of the leaves back several feet from the edge of the grass and from around the trees and rocks closest to the house. The objective is to expand the usable area of the yard, which currently feels claustrophobic and is barely wide enough for a couple lounge chairs. It’s fun to have goals.

random thoughts – Day 2,208 (Friday) – crown and chips

The delivery and installation of the crown was scheduled for 9:00 this morning, which meant getting up, showering, caffeinating, and being out the door around the time I’m usually barely out of bed still in pajamas and on the couch drinking coffee. The traffic was reasonable, and the dentist office was quiet.

This appointment was the rescheduling from the first crown that was supposed to be delivered (official dental term) a couple weeks ago. That visit involved two full hours of torture in the dental chair and in the end it didn’t fit correctly and had to be remade. Fortunately, today’s appointment went like it was supposed to and I was in the chair for about 15 minutes of minimal fuss. We were all relieved to be spared another dental horror show consuming a chunk of the day. 

The afternoon included a chat with a contractor that involved pointing at parts of the house for ideas on mixing siding textures and highlighting areas with vinyl cedar shake or board and batten and using regular horizontal siding on the sides and back. Of course, the dollars that appear in the estimate will dictate the final direction taken. 

We looked at the issues with the current siding (circa 1988/89). The saying may be that "vinyl is final," but "final" in this case seems to be only about 35 years. The current siding has areas of of buckling and has come away from the house in spots. There are places where reattachment was attempted with packing tape (now peeling off) and what looks like glue.

It took me about three seconds to spot two colors of siding I liked in the samples, but I've been thinking about it for months already and have a solid idea of what I like. The boards with little sample chips will be here hogging the kitchen counter until Monday, providing me ample time to change my mind 100 times

More pita chips.

After the meeting with the contractor I got busy in the kitchen making more pita chips to take to a couple events this weekend. Baking sheets of chips coated with olive oil and garlic salt and one of sea salt, and others with butter and cinnamon sugar were placed in the oven. The oven temp was set lower than the other day and the chips came out less dark. 

Now the challenge is to not eat all the pita chips before the events. The batch made on Wednesday was eaten by me within 24 hours. To pace my consumption, I filled up on a supper of lobster cake and roasted asparagus. 

random thoughts – Day 2,207 (Thursday) – game day

It was cold, cloudy, and raw with sporadic showers and even snow flurries. This made it the perfect day for a one-hour webinar on estate planning I had signed up for a week ago. It certainly didn’t feel like I was missing out on any nice weather activities while at the desk. The webinar featured three talking heads from a bank wealth management group.

Scrawling notes.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best presentation I’ve ever witnessed, but to its credit it also wasn't the worst. There was a decent amount of helpful information and not a single slide featuring a graphic or bullet list. Just three heads against a corporate logo Zoom background, talking in rotation in a manner that suggested they either forgot to practice their sections or it was their first time presenting. Then there was me, cramping my hand scribbling notes like there would be an exam because I don't retain info just hearing it while sitting passively. If this was an actual exam situation, there would be a follow up with much color coded highlighting, so at least I’m spared that. 

Presentations I’ve seen on all manner of topics had a few slides displaying key points which were shared after the event and greatly minimized the need for note taking. And to think I declined a lunch invitation from Mom and Sis because I was registered for the webinar and encouraged them to go off to lunch without me. I could have been in a restaurant instead of scrawling notes. 

Playing Yahtzee.

After they returned from lunch, Sis called to tell me they were about to play Yahtzee next door at Mom's and I was out the door and walking across the damp lawn to join. 

We played three games of Yahtzee with Mom’s vintage Yahtzee cup and dice. The dice led each of us to a win and Mom and I each had a game with two Yahtzees. I made a dumb mistake that led to a really crappy score in my worst game. Before we knew it, a couple hours had passed on a cold, damp day. It was perfect.