Sunday

Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday, except it was 58 degrees and overcast when I woke up at 7:00 AM. I threw on some clothes and went outside. I dragged the hose out front and set it up to water the front gardens and lawn. Then I went back inside and posted the pictures and Blog entry. It took quite a while and repeated tries because my weekly backup was running by this time.

I got my second cup of coffee and made my breakfast oatmeal. I refilled my pill box and then went out to shut off the sprinkler.

When I was down visiting Jake and Carla, Jake had looked in the Home Depot for a Windex product I had used with great results at the house in St. Clair. It was called Windex Outdoor Multi-surface concentrated cleaner. It attached to your hose and allowed me to wash the upstairs windows and siding that I couldn’t reach without a ladder.

Well, he couldn’t find that exact kind, but I thought I still had a bottle here. When I got home, I checked and I did. So, since I had the hose out front anyway, I took everything off the porch and rinsed it off, then turned on the wash, let it set for a bit (about 20 seconds, you don’t want it to dry on) and then rinsed it off again. I did it in small sections but eventually washed the entire front of the house. I used a hand squeegee on the picture window, the two side windows and the storm door glass on the front door to prevent streaking.

I completely soaked the indoor-outdoor carpeting on the front porch, but it looks nice and shiny clean in front, now.

I used the rest of the bottle (about one inch left) on the north side until it ran out. I’ll look up here in my Home Depot and see if they still carry it. It’s a hell of a lot cheaper than a power-washer!

I wound the hose up and went inside for a bathroom break (all that splashing water was having a big effect on me!) It was noon, so I reluctantly put on my brace and went back outside to finish the garden edging project. I did take a picture of this style of lawn edging for my brother Carl.

I finished up and then unwound the hose (again) and hosed off the inside dirt, the edging and the outside dirt (both to clean it up and to help the dirt pack down). Now, unlike the edging around the garden in the back of the house, I did NOT plant grass seed in the outside dirt. That’s only there to fill in the spots left by the round cedar mini-posts. If any grass or weeds do start growing there, I’ll spray it with herbicide.

And, this time, I didn’t take the wheelbarrow full of excess dirt to the compost heap. I had noticed that the dirt in the back of the raised bed vegetable garden was getting low. I usually top it off with dirt from the compost heap before planting every year, but this year I couldn’t because of my back. So, I used the excess dirt from today to help fill in behind the tomatoes. I’ll have to watch for weird weeds.

I wound up the hose (again), put away the wheelbarrow and tools and went back inside. It was 1:30 PM.

Oh, and I hate to brag (no, wait a minute, I like to brag, lol) but I finished edging all three gardens and ended up with just one half-round of cedar left over. I measured this one perfectly!

I had another cup of coffee and rested on the bed for a bit (this time I didn’t hurt). Then I shaved and showered.

I got dressed and got my Home Depot list. Then I headed out. I bought a 5-foot arbor vitiae, three bags of shredded cedar mulch, a bag of Miracle-Gro garden soil, some Duracell AA batteries (I ran out) and a jug of Ground Clear (for the driveway and the edging along the south side of the garage).

Oddly enough, even wearing my brace and using my cane, only one person who worked there (a middle-aged, sweet woman) offered to help me. She and I lifted the arbor vitiae onto my dolly. It must be that walker that brings out the sympathy in people. She also gave me a good tip for picking out the best arbor vitiae: Look inside of it. If the inside is brown or, worse yet, dead, pass on it. But if it’s green, its good. I know, it only makes sense. But nobody ever explained that to me.

Back home, I finally used my wagon for the first time to load the arbor vitiae and get it in the garage. Then I pulled the car in the garage, went inside the house and treated the cats. Then I changed back into my shorts and T-shirt and headed back outside.

First, I used some of the mulch to fill in the south-side garage gardens. Then I took the final “After” picture.

I put my brace back on for the next effort. The evergreen bush at the north end of the front of the house is overgrown and dying inside. So, my plan was to get it out and replace it with the arbor vitiae. I used the Sawzall to cut it down and then tried to dig it out, cutting through any thick roots I ran into. Unfortunately, although I struggled with it a long time, it was still in the ground when I gave up. I think there’s a large main root that I still need to cut through (although I tried, even replacing the Sawzall blade at one point).

But, it was getting late and I still had chores to do. So, I took the new arbor vitiae out to the patio (so it can get some sun) and watered it. Then I watered all the container gardens and the peonies. I shut everything up for the night and went inside. It was 6:00 PM.

I had a great idea for my Sunday supper, but just as I was starting to put it into action (I turned the oven on 350 degrees), I discovered I ran out of tinfoil! So, tonight’s dinner was put on hold.

Besides, I’m beat! I don’t hurt, but that damn bush wore me out!! So, I heated up some of yesterday’s pasta and meatballs. While they were heating up, I remembered to put the three ice cubes (this still sounds stupid to me) into the orchid pot. I also wound the mantle clock.

I ate dinner (which was still excellent, though not what I’d planned) watching TV. I watched taped shows until Breaking Bad came on. When that was over, I switched to Channel 4 news to catch the weather, but there was a football game on. So, I turned the TV off and went to bed.