I Lopped

I didn't exactly chop down a tree but kinda.  The forsythia (not a tree, a shrub or bush [I get them confused... hmm, the dictionary says they're synonyms; okay then]) right outside the second bedroom window was really planted too close to the house 30-some years ago (my fault) so it scrapes the siding and bangs on the downspout.  It was windy yesterday so the scraping and banging were obvious.  While Durwood napped I went out with my trusty lopping shears and cut out all the stuff scraping and banging on the house.  Then I lopped off anything that would poke me in the face if I were mowing the lawn (instead of hiring it done).  That made a big pile of branches to get rid of.  The city stick truck doesn't come by after the middle of May so that meant I had to dispose of them myself.  I piled them all up in kind of a travois and dragged them around to the front of the house while I thought of how to get the pile into the back of the van to take them to the yard waste.  I ended up laying a tarp over the top of the pile, rolling it over (downhill) onto the tarp, then grabbing a rope, tying a loop in one end, scootching the rope under the tarp, putting the free end through the loop, cinching it up, and then doubling the rope back and securing it with a couple half-hitches.  (yet another reason I'm glad to be married to an Eagle Scout--knots)  That way I had it hog-tied enough and on a tarp so it slid fairly easily into the back of the van.  Don't get me wrong, I had to contort myself into the back seats and make sure nothing caught on stuff but I got it in there and even managed to slam the back hatch shut for the drive.  When I got to the yard waste dumping place so many other people had the same idea at the same time I had to wait my turn but I did it.  I treated myself to a McDonalds mocha frappe on the way home.  I deserved it.

Between the lopping and the run to the yard waste Durwood and I went out and bought a new mattress to be delivered tomorrow.  King mattresses aren't cheap but I saw an ad for a Sealy Posturpedic in our price range and dragged him to see it and buy it.  See, he slept in motels for so many years he can sleep on anything but I've been waking up with a sore back for a few months so I was a motivated shopper.  I was excited that we could keep our old box springs so it cost us less than half of what I'd thought it would.  Yay!

I barely knit this weekend and didn't sew, nothing new is blooming so I don't have anything creative or pretty to show you today.  Sorry.

June 1--Ric Ergenbright, Patriot Barn.  Walter spent all Autumn painting his barn blue.  Not sky blue, not navy blue, a nice medium marine blue.  He painted all of the door and window frames a crisp white.  All that was left to paint was the door.  Not the big barn door, the human-size door opposite the back porch.  Amy had watched his progress as she drove by on her way to work at the library.  In the spring he had power-washed it, making the building look like it had an advanced case of leprosy.  Nothing happened all summer.  She supposed he was busy with chores.  One day in early October she saw him dangling in a bosun's chair from the roof peak with a long-handled paint roller turning the scabby old barn blue.  Her heart skipped a beat at the precarious position he was in but she knew he wouldn't like it if she stopped to tell him to be careful.  The next Sunday after Mass she told him she liked the color and that she thought he was brave and a bit foolhardy to hang up there without a safety net.  He scowled and said, "Barn won't paint itself." but she noticed he almost smiled when she said she liked the color.

Can you believe that it's June first already???  I'm gobsmacked.  Also I'm tired of it being in the 40s when I get up in the morning and barely into the 60s in the day so I still have to wear long jeans and take a sweater or hoodie so I don't freeze at work.  *snort*  And now it's time for me to shower, breakfast, and head out to keep the world safe from SCUBA diving.  Happy Monday!

--Barbara