It’s been a long week. I’ve been off for it all, since my company takes the week between Christmas and New Years off, worldwide. Nice.
I’ve tried getting as many projects done as I could, one small, one big per day.
I have a stack of tile in the garage – the floor for the sunroom. But there’s all kind of work to be done around here as winter sets in.
Monday, I power washed all the concrete around the spa, garage, and driveway. Really all I wanted to do was wash the ick off my car that was deposited from the pecan trees. But I kept going.
I spent Tuesday cleaning up the yard of all the leaves, doing a final mow, cleared the vegetable gardens, loaded them with mulch, turned them over and put leaves on top, prepping for spring planting, which is but 3 months away down here.
Wednesday it rained.
Conan, what is great in life?
Sitting in front of the computer, sipping tea while it’s raining and you know that the gutters are clean, the concrete is clean, the yard is clear, and the gardens are put to bed. All is squared away for the winter.
Today was the day to knock down the tree in the front yard that was in the process of dying. It was pummeled by the big freeze last winter and got some sort of boring bugs in it. I have a fairly new electric chainsaw, and an old one I fixed up. The tree is soft wood and cuts easily.
I watched the tree guys take down the huge ash, and marveled at the simplicity of it all. It’s basic physics and rigging. A well placed rope and the big parts fell exactly where I needed them to be. And my saw worked really well. I have the older version, which is more fragile. This one did the job like a boss.
FWIW, I broke the older version on the first cut. Did something stupid which knocked the chain off.
But I got it done in a little over two hours.
This is my got-it-done look as I head for beer:
Conan, what is great in life?
Drinking a cold beer, surveying an afternoons work – a missing tree, and a pile of brush ready to pick up.
Couple notes; See that old woman over my left shoulder?
She’s 95 years old. She’s out cleaning the leaves in the curb around her house. She’s usually out every day doing lawn work of some sort. She mows her own lawn, a corner house, I’d point out. Should I live to 95, I’d hope I’d be as spry. While she was out I counted at least half a dozen neighbors stopping to chat with her. One of them sent a kid to help her fill bags.
I love my neighborhood.
The other thing is; check out the do-rag.
I put my working hats through the dishwasher to clean the ick off them and needed to find something to cover the noggin and keep the sweat out of my eyes. My sister gave me her husbands stash of do-rags after he died, and this was the first one I got my paws on.
It’s one that the chefs at Foxfire Grill wear. The owner, Terri, is friends with my sister.
It’s on my old stomping grounds, not 1/2 mile from the high school where I suffered. The food is great and it’s a wonderful neighborhood place that was sorely needed around those parts. So if you’re up in the DC area, shoot by and say ‘hey’.
Now that I’ve been sitting awhile, I’m feeling the bones seize up. Time to cook dinner and put the feet up.
Inspected By Pat 