March 28, 2015

Splendid Saturday

March 28, 2015

Today was beautiful!  Splendid!  Outstanding!  Gorgeous!  There just aren't enough words to tell how amazingly lovely the day was after weeks of rain, clouds, winds, etc.  The sky stayed crystal clear all day; there was a cool breeze; everything in sight is either green or a colorful blooming flower.  I would have loved to spend all day working in the yard.  I was able to spend some time weeding and mowing, but  not as much as I would have liked. 

The first thing I saw when I opened the curtains in the sewing room was this Black-bellied Whistling Duck standing on this trunk of an old dead tree.  It spent a lot of time there.  I had taken some photos of the duck, with the sunrise reflecting on the side of the house next door.  Ron came in to borrow my camera and returned it, so proud of the photos he had taken of the same setting not knowing I had just taken some. 

Since I needed to do my allergy shots, I got up early to do them with Ron here (a rule on giving myself the shots is a competent adult must be present - as per the allergist).  About an hour later he left for the rest of the morning.  I worked in the kitchen, the yard, the sewing room, and read a little.  A little after 10:30 I left to pick up Mom and Carmen.  Mom was not ready when I got there so I pulled a few weeds in her flower bed.  We got to our house at 11:30 and Carmen started cleaning, Mom started reading, and I started mowing the backyard. 

The backyard was in desperate need of being mowed.  The weeds were tall and thick.

Ron came home as I was starting to mow and offered to take over, but I told him I would do part of it while he took care of unloading some things from his car.  The weeds are thick and soft so they just seemed to "play opossum" as I mowed.  They played dead and laid very still and then after I mowed they popped back up.  I will need to mow again in a few days to have another run at them.

The sunshine glistening off the water in one of the fountains in the backyard

After I did about half of the mowing, I turned it over to Ron and came in for a shower.  The mosquitoes were not nearly as bad as they had been the last few days.  I think the city had sprayed our area since there was a fund raising 5K run this morning in the neighborhood.  It was nice not to battle them the whole day, but I did wear the mosquito netting over my hat.

While Ron finished, after my shower, I fixed tuna salad for lunch.  The four of us had a light lunch of the tuna salad, crackers, chips, or tuna sandwiches as well as pimiento cheese for sandwiches or with crackers.  Following lunch I baked a cake and while it was in the oven I sewed for a few minutes.  Later I frosted the cake and we ate some.  Carmen got a lot done and the house is nice and clean.

Around 4:30 I took Mom and Carmen to a Dollar Store so Mom could do a little shopping.  I picked up a few things and after taking Mom and Carmen home, I got home about 5:30.  I just relaxed for a while in my clean house and then started looking for some things I am missing.

Years ago, Ron and I bought some special made street signs.  For years I have asked him to mount them on posts in the backyard.  Today he dug the holes and put up the poles.  Now, I can't find the street signs!  I have seen them recently, but can not locate them today!  After all his work, we can't enjoy the completed project yet.  I am praying that I will remember where they are real soon.

Ron spent all afternoon working in the yard or going to get things he needed for the project.  He also planted several small palm trees that our yardman had removed around our office. They were coming up in the concrete parking lot and causing problems. 

After having supper, I pinned another two pairs of rows for the current quilt project and have them ready to sew.  Then I only have a couple more rows to add and that top will be complete.  I am eager to get it done so I can move on to the next one.

This evening I was able to talk to our daughter-in-law in New Mexico for a while.  She and our son are both feeling better after battles with allergies.