Sunday, and finally taking a break

I woke up for good at 7:00 AM and jumped out of bed. I threw on my shorts and t-shirt while warming a cup of coffee. I've got work to do before the morning stillness changes to a breeze. Why?

Because, today I am applying herbicide to the driveway and I've had one bad experience in the past applying herbicide in a breeze. The grass in the gravel is the worst I've ever seen! So, I set the oscillating sprinkler in the backyard to catch another area I reseeded this year and mix up the Roundup. If you remember, I had to buy a new sprayer last year and this bad boy holds two gallons.

So, I pump it up, and go to spray, but there's a problem (isn't there always?) The foaming tip which worked so well last Fall is not shooting out foam (BTW, I liked the foam tip as you were not "spraying" and thus risking it drifting onto the "good" grass). I take it apart and clean it, but it's still not working. So, running out of time, I got out the "spray" tip and went back out to the driveway.

I had to stop once to change sprinkler heads. I put the square sprinkler in close to the house (by the reflecting pool and the young Shaolin monk) to water that spot. I still had about 1/2 gallon of herbicide left, so, I sprayed the vegetation in my sidewalk, Jake's patio and my patio.

I moved the square sprinkler to the raised bed garden, after I raked all the damn maple seed helicopters out. This has to be the worst year for these, EVER! Yesterday, I saw my neighbor up on his roof with a blower, blowing huge clouds of them down. I, on the other hand, still have to address the mounds of them on my roof. But, there are still TONS of them hanging up in the trees.

Speaking of the veggie garden, I noticed the radishes and leaf lettuce are starting to come up, as well as either the sunflowers or the pole beans (or both). No sign of the spinach or scallions yet, though.

I took the sprayer out to the rear garden and sprayed the occasional vegetation popping through the now thinning mulch (I need another truckload of wood chips back here!) I sprayed a whole corner (by the rose garden) that I can't mow with the riding mower. I plan on moving the tree trunk that marks the garden edge after the grass dies.

Walking back, I sprayed the foul lines on the horseshoe game area. I moved the sprinkler to cover the wild garden and went in to put away the sprayer just before 9:00 AM. I posted the Blog and thought about some breakfast, but then remembered the Moonflower Vine seeds I'd nicked and soaked last night. So, I went out and planted them in front of the porch railing.

Now, breakfast. I fried up three pork sausage patties, then two eggs over easy and made two pieces of toast. Breakfast was wonderful, until Caley jumped up on the table, spilling an entire glass of water everywhere! Damn cat!! I cleaned up the water mess, finished eating and washed the dishes (all the while muttering strange curses and odd threats at Caley). I noticed that some of yesterday's soup had dripped down behind the burner knob, so I got a short pry bar and took all four off (first time, BTW). I set them in a bowl of hot water and dish detergent to soak and scrubbed the front of the stove.

Now, it's almost 11:00 AM and time to trim the lawn. I got the front just about done when the string ran out. I reloaded it, finished the front, and switched to the back yard, This, BTW, is not helping the sore back I earned yesterday with all the bending and planting. But, it must be done! I finished up (back about 20 feet past the raised bed garden) just after noon.

The outside of the house is looking pretty damn good, BTW. But, the poor inside... Good God! I haven't had time to vacuum or even sweep since last weekend, and two days of outdoor work has had me tracking in dirt and various vegetation in the downstairs and even the kitchen. Well, there's a possibility of rain tomorrow, so hopefully I can right this wrong!

Time for a shave and shower. I have to be at Jake and Carla by 2:00 PM. Jake's been smoking a pork shoulder all morning and we're supposed to have pulled pork sandwiches. I wonder what the sides will be? I guess I'll soon find out!

Oddly enough, even though I made an impulse stop at the hardware store (I noticed the morning glory seeds I was planning to soak and plant tomorrow were dated 2004. Not having that much luck with morning glories in the past, I thought fresher seeds might be a plus, so I picked up a new pack), I got there EXACTLY at 2:00 PM. The last time it was EXACTLY at 3:00 PM. Jake came out and said, "Hey, I told you 2-ish! Its not 2-ish, its 2:00! I offered to wait on the deck until it got "ishy" but he said it was okay.

Carla had made a special cocktail for us. I forget the name (Continental?) but it was a variation of a Margarita that used Grand Marnier instead of Triple Sec. Very good! Drinks in hand, we toured their yard.

Honestly, they have done an amazing amount of work in the short time since I was last there. They spread over 20 bags of mulch around the pool area (under the large pool deck, it was the all Carla show as Jake was too tall to fit), got the pool opened partway (filled and shocked, but still need to vacuum and skim it) and the veggie garden fertilized and weeded (their radishes are already coming up!) And, best of all, Carla has about 5 big strawberries, just starting to ripen!

We ended the tour at the smoker where a 7-pound pork shoulder has been being smoked since 7:00 AM. The aroma alone was fantastic! But, it's still not done yet, so we went inside and played a new game they just got. I don't remember the name, but it involves a board, special dice, some card questions and a DVD with more visual questions on the TV. Interesting, but since its all about movies, the only advantage I had was when the movie was really old, lol!

We stopped when the internal temp of the pork was right. Jake took it off to rest a bit and then proceeded to pull it apart using two forks. I have done this myself many times (but with pork loins) and it is a laborious process, but it's really the only way to get "pulled pork."

Meanwhile, Carla split some Kaiser rolls and toasted them under the broiler. Then she warmed up her homemade barbecue sauce and got out the sides for dinner: a macaroni salad and homemade coleslaw (she sliced up a red cabbage very thin for the base. I think showing off your knife skills like that is a bit vain and personally would have just used my mandoline).

Now we are both begging Jake to stop pulling his pork and let's eat! But, he soldiers on! Finally, he decides he has enough and they mix in some of the BBQ sauce. We eat it southern-style, with the coleslaw on the bun, then the pulled pork, and add more sauce to your liking. Carla and I thought it was great, but Jake, ever the Smoke-Master, felt his smoke taste was a bit overpowered, either by the coleslaw of the BBQ sauce. Nay, nay, my friend! That was damn good stuff!

The macaroni salad was excellent, too, in spite of our personal differences. Carla likes to go easy on the mayonnaise while I tend to go heavier. But, her's was light and tasty (and probably better for you, lol!)

So, dinner finished, leftovers put away (plus a generous take-home bagful for me!) and dishes cleaned up, we got back to the game.

As I said, I was doomed from the start (I never heard of half these movies, lol!), but Jake won, with Carla second and me a very distant third. It being almost 6:00 PM, I decided to take my leave at that point. Thanks guys! I got home before 6:30. I gave the cats some treats (they thought it was a weekday, I suppose) and changed into my t-shirt and shorts. Even though it was still quite warm, I closed all the windows (I haven't had my furnace on in the last three days; I'm just regulating the temperature by opening and closing windows).

I watched my usual two Sunday night shows, and then a Food Network special at 10:00. I dozed off around 10:30 PM, but was awakened by a quick phone call just before 11:00. After that, I lay awake for a while, thinking about things, and then went to sleep for real.