Sunday

I woke up to the alarm on Sunday, and to the night time house temperature! That’s when I remembered I forgot to reset the time on the thermostat. I threw on my robe and socks and remedied that situation.

I went back to bed to keep warm until the furnace caught up. Then I went out and made a cup of coffee.

I filled out the rest of the Blog entry and then posted it with the photos from yesterday.

I watched the Sunday morning news shows while I refilled my pill box and did a myriad of other little chores. I watered the bay leaf tree and the orchid and then wound and reset the mantle clock.

Finally, I shaved and showered and then headed out to Costco. I was there five minutes early and, as usual for Sunday morning, there were plenty of parking spaces. At 10:00 AM, I got out of the car and started to go inside. I dug through my wallet to get my card (you can’t get in without it) and couldn’t find it! WTF? Disgusted, I drove back home and got it out of my drawer. Why the hell did I take it out of my wallet? I dunno…

But, there were still plenty of parking spaces when I got back at 10:15. I bought some coffee and three bags of peanuts for the squirrels.

From there I went to Meijer’s, but they still didn’t have the shaver head I needed. Home Depot was next, where I bought a 9-volt battery for the newly discovered smoke detector in the garage and two plant hooks for the bird houses. Finally, I hit Michael’s for some clock parts and, as an impulse buy, an Easter plaque for the front porch.

On the way home, I stopped and hosed the car off at the quarter car wash. After I unloaded it in the garage, I pulled it back outside and dried it with my car drying towel.

I hung the plaque on the porch and, in an Easter mode, I got out my rabbit and the four crocheted Easter eggs. Note: these will only stay in place until one of the cats discovers them. Then I will have my own Easter egg hunt in the house to find them each day.

Next, I used the step ladder and replaced the battery in the garage smoke detector. I hung the first birdhouse in front on the tree where I normally put a hanging planter. This was not my first choice, you understand. I was going to put it in the black walnut tree. But, then I remembered that I had stood on the top rung of the extension ladder and used my tree trimmer pole, extended all the way out, to trim the branches. No way can I get up there without some kind of a lift. So, the oak tree it is!

In the back, I used the step ladder again. I  spread the hanging planter hooks enough to get them over the pine tree branches and then closed them up. I hung the bird houses and closed the smaller loop that held them. We’ll see if I can get birds to nest again…

Back in the house, it was 1:00 PM and I still hadn’t eaten (I skipped breakfast, still feeling full from last night’s dinner). So, I warmed up a brat and ate it on a hotdog bun  with deli (horseradish) mustard. In answer to my own question: yes, they were worth the price! Excellent!

I dozed off watching another DIY show but woke back up after 20 minutes or so. Then I went out in the garage. I set up a 1/2-inch birch plywood sheet left over from something or another and screwed it to the saw horses. Then I clamped the clock face to it.

I used a fine tooth wood blade in the saber saw (to hopefully minimize sanding) and slowly cut out each section. I tried wearing a mask, but my glasses kept fogging up. So, I went commando, and had to keep taking breaks to blow my nose.

I came in the house to blow my nose about 4:00 PM, just after completing the fifth insert. My cell phone rang and it was my brother Carl. We chatted for a bit and he said he had seen my emerging crocus and hyacinth photos, but had not been out in his yard to see if any of his were coming up. He said he would go out today (its like 60 degrees out there, with no rain yet) and check. If he does, he said he would send me photos to prove it (not that I don’t trust my brothers… no, not me!)

Then I went back into the garage. I changed the layout of the birch plywood and screwed it to the saw horses again. I changed the saber saw blade (just in case), clamped the clock down  and began to cut out the outer circle. Several moves and re-clampings later and I was finally done. I used the palm sander to get all the pencil marks off. I checked and it was almost 5:00 PM.

So, I quit for the night. I took the clock in the house, unscrewed the birch plywood and blew all the sawdust outside. I moved the sawhorses over and then I pulled the car back inside and shut the door.

It was still incredibly warm outside, so I went out and picked up sticks in both the front and back yards. There was, of course, a ton of trash as well, but I’ll save that for another day. It took almost an hour, but it was nice to be outside in warm air again.

I heated up the last piece of chicken saltimbocca and the rest of the mushrooms for dinner. It still tasted great. I watched some TV but went to sleep before the next episode of the Vikings came on. That’s okay because it taped.

It was a good day.