Saturday Chores

Summertime in Ohio is often heralded by the sounds of chirping birds and lawn mowers in the calm morning air. Today was no exception, and Jeff and I woke early to get some laundry done and tackle our front yard.


I should warn you now: I am the Weedwacking Queen. There is nothing I enjoy more than the feel of a power tool in my hands, and for some reason, I get immense satisfaction from powering a motor that whips a deadly plastic string around at a bazillion mph, just to see small green weeds mutilated according to my whim. Weeds and grass beware, for I have become quite adept at guiding that tool along a path, neatly snipping unwanted junk from between by dianthus and petunias. Today was a record - not a single petal was harmed. Of course, I had to stop once I ran out of string!

Jeff tackled the lawn proper, making little patterns as he walked to and fro. Perhaps it is a male issue, but I've noticed that baseball fields always have a pattern to the grass. Our little lawn is one of the lucky ones. From the air, who is to say it doesn't look like crop circles?!

We retreated to the front porch as the afternoon sun smiled down on us, and I whipped up a batch of iced tea for us both. Jeff made home-made potato salad, and we put the rib eyes in a marinade. This is how you spend a Saturday! Iced tea, cozy chairs and a good book in hand. The wind chimes played their tune in the breeze, and the dogs settled down to observe the birds and snap lazily at flies that came too close. Now, we are waiting for the fire to die down on the BBQ (no propane junk here), and I took some pictures of things that caught my eye.


We did get an estimate for a service to come in and mow our back yard (the hill is much too steep for either Jeff or I to handle), and it will only run us $25. Not bad, considering our old "mower/gardener" charged $20 for the back.

My parents called - they drove as far as Salinas, KS, and have stopped for the night. My Mum did very well, considering her usual panic attacks while driving (it can't be helped) and my Dad reported that he still had skin on his arm (she tends to clutch at things almost violently when she gets spooked by traffic.) They were going to skip trying to find a church for mass tonight, which really is best, as they don't know the area. We should see them pulling into our driveway Monday evening.

I think we will need to sand and repaint the back deck next summer. This will be a major project for us (do I get to purchase more power tools??!), and I'm sure it will take us a month or more, at our slow and steady pace. I guess we shall just have to enjoy the flaky deck until then. Really, it isn't so bad. The paint is coming off on only the side that receives full sun. Plus, it doesn't detract from how handsome my hubby is! ~grin~