“Remoted” – Day 48 (Sunday)

Today featured sunshine and the temperature was around 80. It was a beautiful day. After a shower, breakfast, and coffee, it was a Zoom meetup with my belly dance sisters. Most of us haven’t seen each other since early March and it was great to see them all.

Luckily, the lawnmower was dusted off and used yesterday when it was less warm. The lush and sporadic clumps of greenery were cut and the clippings raked for yard waste pickup on Monday.

This left today open for less physically demanding activities. The outdoor woven plastic rug was taken from the enclosed front porch to the side deck, and then it was the awkward dance of lifting the table with the umbrella stand still installed and edging it this way and that until the table was centered(ish) on the rug.

After the first summer with the table, I was never able to get the umbrella pole out of the stand. Attempting to lift the pole up and out just takes the stand up from the floor with it. The table is a smidge too deep to step on the stand with my foot and have the leverage to lift the pole out. So, for two winters now, the umbrella has remained outside. The pole will probably never come out of the stand. The umbrella is faded where it’s been exposed to light and weather, and a rich green in the folds that were not exposed. I often imagine painting some sort of design on it with fabric paint, but we all know I will probably not do that. 

The deck is ready for ... whatever.

The chairs were taken to the deck, and lovingly scrubbed with dish soap and water, a task that was skipped before stacking them in the shed last fall. They cleaned up easily, which was a relief.  While I was cleaning the chairs, the next door neighbor arrived home from grocery shopping. The news from the outside world is that Market Basket is limiting shoppers to two packages of meat. 

After that, it was time to chill (or more accurately, freckle and fry) on the deck with a book (The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom). It was nice and relaxing then suddenly my leg felt like it was cooking through my lightweight capris. That meant it was time to seek shelter inside where the regular and glamorous chores of laundry and floor sweeping awaited.

Leftover ... whatever.

Dinner was assembled from an assortment of remnants from the fridge that were chopped and tossed into a fry pan. There was purple cabbage, celery, and onion mixed with leftover rice and Korean marinated vegan meat substitute, and frozen broccoli and mixed vegetables, with Sriracha Sauce. It was surprisingly good, which led to more eating and less remaining for lunch on Monday. Oops. Then it was kitchen cleanup and settling in for a night of Prime Video (Upload – check it out). 

Overall, it was a great weekend with nice weather, two Zoom meetups, good food, and yard and deck accomplishments. I wish it could extend for a few more days, but the workweek approaches and there is work to be done. The next best thing would be a carbon copy next weekend. And maybe it's time to schedule a staycation.