Fantastic Friday

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous day! When I got home (after a tough day, but now buoyed by "Band the Drum") I changed shoes, turned off the furnace and opened all the windows in the house. Its 78 degrees F (25 degrees C) and its time for some springtime house airing!

I did some minor housekeeping/bill paying chores and then headed out to the garage. I turned on the stereo while I started to sweep out the last of the kitty litter I put down for the oil spillage. Next, I cleaned up the mulch around the tree garden. The big chunks I pitched back on top, the small stuff I raked and picked up.

Then I applied the new grass seed to the area just beyond the two gates going into the back yard. I got out the hose and heavily watered the area I just seeded.

Next, I dug out the water lily from the front hall closet. As always, I am amazed that a plant, inside two kitchen garbage bags all winter in the dark, had leaves (albeit red, not green) growing profusely!

Before I put it in the reflecting pool, I dug out a bunch of the pea gravel from the new mail box. I want to add some potting soil and plants to the mail box tub, you see. I added the gravel to the reflecting pool and inserted the hose, turned on "low."

When I was out in front my next door neighbor drove by and stopped to chat. He said he had a power post-hole digger if I wanted to replace the mailbox iron pot. I thanked him and said maybe someday, but right now I'll just keep the temporary one I made.

Then, he made me feel bad about myself! He said he and his wife had talked it over and they want to pay Tonya (my ex-lawn lady) to cut my lawn this year. Confused, I thanked him, but said, no thanks, I just bought that new mower. He said it would be worth it to them NOT to have to clean the piles of dust off their patio furniture, deck and pool surface every time I cut the grass! I apologized and explained I had found the problem was in the bent mower blades. He looked doubtful and said he hoped it would work, but let them know if it doesn't. Geesh! How embarrassing!

One thing he did mention I found interesting: I asked him why I now had little blue flags in front yard by the road and he said before they blacktop the road, they want to add more fire hydrants. He said we were close to the top of the list to pave next. I mentioned it would be nice, but feared what it would do to my taxes. He said it would NOT change my taxes as the paving of all the dirt roads in Redford was not a Township effort, but rather a deal cut with a local manufacturer who, instead of paying a huge fine for pollution, offered to pave all the roads over the course of several years. So, that's cool (not the pollution of course, but rather, no increase in my taxes).

I did get the hammock hung up, but the approaching darkness finally forced me back inside. I closed all the windows except for my bedroom, turned the furnace back on and fixed a plate of leftover nachos for my dinner. I read my book until the Friday Night Fights came on. I watched that until I fell asleep. I woke up at 1:00 AM, turned everything off and went to sleep for real.