Labor Day, laboring...

It may have been the swimming, but I slept quite soundly for a change. I got out of bed about 7:30 AM and went and sat in the living room. I noticed my shoulders were really aching and that WAS from the swimming! I don't think I have actually swan in a good 5 - 10 years. So, I might hurt this morning, but damn, it was fun!

Jake and Carla got up about 20 minutes later and we chatted a bit, then Jake moved his car so I could get out (he went and got the stock pot, remember?)

So, now I am home. The plan is to begin to replace the back door, but there are four things preventing me from doing that:
1. I have some yard work to do
2. The house upstairs is messy from neglect
3. The downstairs is messy from the move
4. I am afraid of taking out the old door and not being able to get the new door in before I have to go to work. I fear the door replacement!

So, I started by moving my five wheelbarrows of wood chips. But this time they came up near the St. Francis garden. Remember the day lily I planted where the arborvitae died? Well, without trimming by my lawn service, it's become an overgrown mess. I trimmed all around it yesterday, now today I am adding about 6 inches of wood chips to keep the weeds down (see photos).

I noticed the laundry tub was draining slow, so I used needle-nosed pliers to pull out all the cat hair and lint I could, then treated it with Liquid Draino (ah, the glamorous life of a home-owner, lol!) I had wanted to make something outstanding for dinner tonight (Holiday weekend and all) but decided to stay away from seafood for a while. I couldn't top yesterday's meal no matter how hard I tried. So, I put 8 inches of cold water in the laundry tub and threw in a frozen rack of baby back ribs.

Now, it's off to the back garden for watering/fertilizing. I gave everybody a good drink of water and Miracle-grow. I took pictures of the wood chip pile and the new wood chips around the day lily (those are darker than they will be as I just finished watering the day lily).

Now, back inside. I put the ribs in the oven to cook (I'll finish them on the grille) and was just about to start housecleaning when Melissa called. We ended up talking for a l-o-n-g time and solved most of the world's problems (I don't know why Governor Granholm or President Bush doesn't call us as, between us, we seem to know the answers for everything).

Shortly after we hung up, it was time to finish the ribs on the grille. I lit the charcoal and when it was ready, put on the ribs. I slathered them with a mixture of BBQ sauce and � cup of bourbon (I was out of Sweet Baby Rays, so used some Open Pit I had) and pulled them off when it was carmelized. While they rested, I fried up an eggplant for the side and then ate. Hmmm... the meat was nice and tender, but I'm not a pleased with taste of the sauce. I cut the rack in two and froze half. I ate maybe four ribs and the rest went into the fridge.

I did get the living room vacuumed and cleaned, but I stopped there so I could watch my Sunday night shows (I taped them) and go to sleep early.