Having spent the first two days of the long weekend on
clothes and playing in Omaha, alas, Monday was chore day. But I really didn’t mind. I put together my new shop vac and sucked up the last of the water in the basement then spent the day
cooking, neatizing and finishing laundry, all interspersed with bouts of
knitting. All good and I was all set for the week with a fridge full of food
and the house in decent shape.
It was the last week without water aerobics and since the
weather was cooperating with low humidity and relatively cool temps, my goal
for the week was to get outside after work each night and do something in the
garden. I started Tuesday after work weeding the parking – Nebraska speak for
the strip between the sidewalk and the street. Mine is planted with perennials
and so doesn’t get many weeds but there was some errant grass going to seed. After
pulling that, I headed to the berry patch, where I was happy to find my first
ripe strawberries. When the bugs drove me in, I made leek carbonara and poured
some wine before starting season 3 of Peaky Blinders. Yay!
On Wednesday I did the bare minimum of weeding, blaming the
bugs for not doing more, then headed in to finish my Peaky Blinders binge. I
hadn’t intended to watch all 6 hours in 2 days but got sucked right in. Chores
could wait. To make up for it, I prepped and mailed a big package of clothes to
Carolyn on Thursday morning. I got inspired and so had fun Thursday night
dyeing yarn. And when I was done with the dying, did I get productive with
chores? Not a chance. Again, chores could wait. Are you surprised? Probably not.
I was not happy when I found my lawn unmown when I drove up
Friday. I’d paid Denny 2 weeks ahead when he’d shown up last weekend begging
for money. I’d told him at that point that if he asked me for money ahead of
time one more time, I’d fire him. Well, now he hadn’t shown up. With hopes that
I’d see him Saturday, I went in to neatize a bit but didn’t go crazy. Debbie
and Kelley, cousins from California, were arriving late Friday (not staying
with me) but would be going to the circus Saturday afternoon so I wasn’t on
deck until dinner time, which gave me Saturday to catch up. And catch up I did.
My contribution to the post-circus cookout was potato salad
and I’d offered to make a pan of lasagna for Sunday so got busy cooking. I also
changed sheets and did laundry, in hopes that the sheets would be dry before
Denny showed up to mow. See that confidence? STUPID. When I was done cleaning
up from the lasagna (it does dirty every pan in the kitchen), I called Liberty
House and they said that Denny was no longer a resident there. I wasn’t so
worried about the $20 but now I’d have to find someone to mow when I’m in
Scotland. Add that to the list. Anyway, I loaded up the glass for recycling
(despite having curbside recycling, I’ll still have to take glass to Lincoln)
and headed to Brenda and Michael’s. It was great to see Deb and Kelley and we
hung out late and caught up after dinner. There was much laughter and I left
late to drive back home and grab some sleep before doing it all again on
Sunday. Not that there were any firm plans yet. Going with the flow.
Helen picked me up Sunday morning and we were in Lincoln at
the horse show arena before noon. After checking out horses and meeting Helen’s
horse friends, we went to Parker’s Smokehouse for a yummy BBQ lunch. Since
Carter, Brenda and Michael’s 2 year old, needed a nap, we headed to their
house. The afternoon was perfect! After I put a rhubarb upside down cake in the
oven, all the cousins sat around the kitchen table chatting for hours, moving
out to the front porch for round 2 once Brenda, who is 8 months pregnant, and
Carter woke up. When we got hungry, we had lasagna for dinner then the yummy
cake then, you guessed it, more chatting. We didn’t leave Lincoln until after
10:00 so I was very late getting to bed and even later falling asleep. I’d be
tired on Monday at work but it was worth every bit of fatigue. I love my
cousins and just hanging out was a joy. That’s what caffeine is for. Am I
right?
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