The kitchen sink is now unclogged. The plumber said the clog was ten or fifteen feet down, which must be why my efforts with the plunger and Liquid Plumber were unsuccessful. Yay! I get to do dishes!
Mrs. L.A. grew tired of the mess along the side of the house, so she called Felipe (Daniel’s brother). Fifteen years or more ago, he noticed my yard needed attention and left a card in my door. That impressed me, as none of the American-owned companies ever seemed to seek out work. Felipe was out there hustling. He and his crew do a good job too, and he’s inexpensive. Anyway, he’s going to come out tomorrow to eradicate the blackberry bushes (Kudzu of the North!) and trim the rhododendron, a broad-leaf evergreen of some sort, and a holly bush. Oh, and haul away the tree trimmings I made last week, and the limbs from the storm damage that are piled up in back. Mrs. L.A. will pay him $350, and she’s glad to do it.
The side of the house where Felipe & Co will be working is uneven, tends to get boggy when it’s wet, and is a pain the the arse to mow. I guess the area is about eight feet wide and about 50 feet long. I asked him how much he’d charge to lay gravel. (He does that sort of thing too.) I was dreading to hear ‘Two thousand dollars.’ He said it would be $450, but if I have him do it while he’s doing the other stuff, he could drop it to $400. I’ll gladly pay that! I’d put some bricks along the side of the catio (they were the remains of the Mystery Chimney that Daniel & Co demolished several years ago. Felipe said he’d move them with his tractor, but I may as well get some exercise and move them and stack them by hand if I’m not in the way.
Friday evening, fridge is pretty empty, and I read this. Both sound delicious!
And the good news about Mrs Magill’s numbers as well. Super!
Started the day out wrong. Didn’t get my hand out of the way fast enough and managed to pinch my middle finger in the sliding door. Drew blood on both sides, so I have a lovely white bandage on the finger. Why is it always the middle finger that needs such great big bandages? Or is it just me?
It is again cold and dreary. Feels more like October than May. Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be nicer, but the rain returns on Monday, which is a holiday. Maybe we’ll get a closet mucked out then.
I got my first Pfizer shot on Wednesday, my husband on Thursday. We both went to a town known for it’s cookies, which can only be made in town. Of course they were giving out cookies for everybody. I got rained on, but hubby did not.
Looking forward to the weekend. Need to do more organizing, but that’s always the case.
Good lord, I’ve gone from “wearing a coat (not a jacket) at work” to “cooling off with a Popsicle in front of a fan” in the space of, like, a week!
Do not approve.
Also, I now need to bump “haul Coolio (my window unit) up from the basement and reinstall next to my sittin’ window” way up to the of the ol’ To-Do List. Like, way, way up.
Or, the easy route: unroll a sleeping bag in the basement, where it’s cool to the point of being cold.
Sleep down there until I can find someone to help me. That sucker is heavy, and the stairs are steep.
Guess what I’ll probably wind up doing?
Stopped for groceries and spent more time in the produce aisle than I usually do - avocados were on sale. I like them Brazilian style with lemon and sugar, so now there’s all this produce lying around!
Such healthiness had to be counter balanced, so I also fell for a package of mini cupcakes (a.k.a. frosting delivery vehicles) from the bakery, the pre-made kind you know are just awful for your pancreas.
Back home again. Had fun with Roxy - after the museum, we went for ice cream - yum! But as I was turning into her neighborhood, she started wailing! She didn’t want to go home! You’d think her mother beat her and kept her in a cage the way she carried on! I’m sure she thought I was taking her to my house to play. Too bad so sad…
I ran into Aldi for a few things. Once home, I saw an email from Atlantic Broadband charging me $40 for “change of service” - all I wanted was a replacement modem! As I was waiting for the chat queue to work down, I saw that I could buy my own modem - they even listed approved models! So I got the person in the chat window to cancel the replacement modem. Then she asked about the problems it had been giving us, and she applied a $35 credit to our account for the trouble. So I don’t hate ABB as much as I did earlier today.
Plus I’ve already ordered a replacement modem, and it will get here Sunday. Then I can box up the old one and send it back. They even provide a shipping label for returning their equipment since the local offices are still closed. So yay!
In summary - Roxy time, ice cream, Aldi, Modem success! Huzzah!!
I stopped into the grocery store today. Very jarring. Most customers were wearing masks, but no employees. I’m not sure if I’m ready for that, even though I’m over a month after my second dose.
Now to think about dinner…looks like this heat may break with a thunderstorm, feels and smells like it, so burger on the grill is probably out. Let’s go with air fryer RBC and tater tots, maybe a salad if’n I get adventurous
Walked down the beach. 3.64 miles round-trip in 1:12:28. Apparently I walk a little slower on gravel paths than I do on pavement, but still made just a hair over 3 miles per hour.
I think we all do. Especially if we want to stay upright, which I have a newfound appreciation for.
A walk to the beach sounds lovely. I have a handsome, well established city park nearby. When I still had ambition I used I perambulate around it. Two loops was close to 3 miles and would take me an hour door to door. Those were the days…
The beach is less than 500 feet away from the house, down a short but kinda steep hill. (The last leg up to the house is tiring!) The road and houses along the beach flood every year, but the Winter Solstice storm of 2018 was particularly bad. They’ve just finished building a berm, planting it with native grasses, and adding gravel and concrete walking paths. The C-Shop seemed like a good destination today. (No, I didn’t go in – or even look to C if they’re open.)
There’s a ‘park’ a few blocks away from the house (away from the beach). It’s just a little patch of natural forest that people have worn paths into. Completely unmaintained. Three laps around it from the house is exactly 2 miles.
We were shorthanded at work, so I played musical chairs. But at least I was working in front of fans, so that was nice. Going to watch some hockey. GO CANES!
Howdy Y’all! I took care of church janitor Junior Warden duties, stopped at the Food/Winn/Harvey’s/Dixie/Lion for ice cream (they have Mayfield’s Turtle Tracks Ice Cream on sale!), achieved nappage, and we had late N.O,L./early sup at Sonny’s, I am exhausted after such a nonstop day!
Got some more chores done (my goodness, am I behind!) and am now having another cooldown session with another popsicle.
Green lime this time.
These are the plastic tubes filled with colored sugar water that you freeze, then cut open the top.
Red is best enjoyed outside - that one always drips somehow.
It’s just sugar water and food coloring (hummingbird nectar, really) but og help me, I love 'em.
Oh, I did have a pleasant walk to a spot where I’d seen lilacs blooming. My mother loves them, and her birthday is coming up.
Snapped a few pics so she can ogle. Or be jealous.
Today was my semi-annual oncology appointment. I saw the P.A. (And coincidentally, she saw me.) On the plus side, she thought I was 40 instead of my advanced years. Also, she said my labs were “not just normal but perfect!” And my BP was 108/74, so not too shabby.
But alas, she found a lump. A small lump, to be sure, and one that didn’t feel malignant, but she ordered a mammogram and ultrasound anyway. My cancer marker bloodwork was “pristine,” so all in all, I decided not to worry. Much. The problem with having had cancer–or, I guess, just growing up–is that you no longer trust in the random universe.
Upright is good, but I prefer downright, especially as I’ve had so much fun there. [Lets self out.]
VanGo, Cinnamon looks like such a happy boy! I like him.
FCM, sounds like a golden day.
Magic, so happy re: the good news on your beloved. Does she have any inkling how many strangers are cheering her on?
Well, damn, I just found out a former student died. She was a sweet person who’d had a hard row to hoe. She had a baby (who had special needs) while still in high school, and her parents were not able to parent her, let alone help with the baby, so she was mostly on her own. She graduated, though. I wish life after high school had been kinder to her–and longer, definitely longer.
Sorry about the lump, and I’m deeply sorry about your former pupil.
Okay, ENOUGH ALREADY with the leaf blower! It’s nearly 9:30 p.m. on a Friday night, and some of us have - well, had! - plans for an enjoyable, relaxing evening.
… and some of us were contemplating going to bed, dammit.
{{Nellie}}, sad news when anyone young dies. But glad your medical checkup went well (lump excepted).
VanGo, looks like quite a nice dog; would enjoy giving him scritches. And here the employees are still in masks, but a lot of customers aren’t…go figure.
Magic, may the news on Ms. Magill continue to be positive.
Flyboy, good news on the drain. And having someone you trust around the house is worth every penny…and it sounds like he doesn’t charge that many pennies…
Ok, need to come up with lineups for tomorrow’s soccer games (which I will then have to scrap since some of the kids won’t be there and didn’t tell me…). It’s 45 minutes of driving to get there, coach at 10am and 12n and then the drive back…and it’s supposed to hit 90F–oh joy.
Glad that your toe is not permanently damaged metal mouse.
Moooooom, I used to work with a guy around my age. His folks had two boys and two girls when they found out that they were expecting him (he was the tie breaker), so they picked a name out early on that would be suitable for a girl or boy (Dana Lynn). Like swampy, I’ve had good internet service from AT&T.
VanGo, how big is Cinnamon? If he’s a little guy, he looks like he could be closely related to my pupper Nelson (chihuahua - rat terrier mix). He was named for my favorite Texas redhead whose birthday he was born on.
I hope the ickies go away soon taters!
shoe, I just bought my first box of popscicles of the season this afternoon: Kroger SF tropical assortment (I like the mango ones the best).
nellie, appendages are crossed for good news about the lump. I’m sorry about your former student. Sis said that it hit her really hard when she went to her first memorial for a former student.
Irked, picked up some groceries, took Nelson for a quick romp at the dog park and picked up some ribs for supper.
Tomorrow, there’s brunch in the park with the heathens, a baby shower at 2:00 PM and Sunday, an “everybody’s birthday” party for a bunch of friends at the one who tends to host our group’s birthday parties. I have a feeling that we’re beginning to make up for lost time.
It is hard. I’m so sorry your sis had to go through it. I’ve lost maybe two dozen in 30 years, and it never gets easier. (I’m not a jinx. Wyoming has its dangers–3rd highest teen death rate in the US, for instance.)
I had to walk errands, and that helped. I hoofed it 8 miles today. Tomorrow I have the livestreamed memorial service for Someone Very Dear to Me who died in January.
OK, I don’t want to gloom you out, so I’ll tell you one errand was to the USPS to mail a package containing an Oscar Mayer wiener whistle to my sister. I had one (the whistle, silly), and she’s always wanted one, so there ya go.
Mooooom, wishing safe passages–all of them–to your grandson.
graduations, promotions, magic chemo numbers and bare naked legs you like to look at!! Congrats!! 
Also, she said my labs were “not just normal but perfect!” And my BP was 108/74, so not too shabby.