Week 19 - Better Each Day

For the second week in a row, Monday was not a banner day but, yet again, it got better from there.

The day was fine but when I was waiting for Nan to pick me up for knitting, she called to say she'd gotten into an accident coming off the highway into my neighborhood. Some men were working on the ditch and had taken down the stop sign. Not being familiar with the roads, Nan sailed through and was hit, completely trashing the rear passenger side of her car. I felt bad and somewhat responsible since she was coming to get me. : (

I'd also mentioned something I'd seen on Facebook with my cousin, thinking she'd have seen it already. I didn't know she was no longer going onto Facebook and she was not happy with what I shared. I felt bad for that too but we talked on her way to work and I hope that helped some.

The last thing was that I woke up in the wee hours (so technically Tuesday) by my cat playing with something. I turned the light on and saw that it was a little mouse, brought in a few days ago through the cat door, and it looked dead. I picked it up by the tail and threw it in the toilet to flush it away only to have it hit the water and start paddling. With one side of its body anyway. I had not choice but to flush the poor thing. I was ready for a new day!

After getting what I suspected was a high bid from an AC guy who was recommended, I called the local HVAC company who had installed my furnace and they came Tuesday morning. Yup. Their quote was $1.5k less than the first quote. That was the beginning of better times.

I had a perfectly lovely work week with just the right amount of busy, teaching 2 training sessions and ending with Foundation reports on Friday. I also had lunch with Helen at the Mexican restaurant on Friday. It was a good work week and now for the weekend!

Saturday was the monthly sale at the Estate Dispersal Store so Andrea and I were heading north. We had fun doing our usual Fremont run where I found some new with tags clothes while thrifting and ended at Aldi. When I got home, I pulled out some yarn and a shawl pattern I'd bought years ago and started knitting. After doing mostly socks for years, it was tough going and I ripped it out 6 times before I was satisfied with how it looked. I stayed up late until I thought I had it right but it wasn't so I ripped it out twice on Sunday morning. Sheesh! But it's going to be pretty and I love it. It's got black and a rainbow fade so the color of the wedges with change as I knit. How fun is that!

After spending Sunday morning watching TV and knitting, ripping out and reknitting, it was time to get busy. With the last of the really cold weather gone, it was time to move the many overwintered plants outside. This is always a joy because while I love having geraniums in bloom in the dead of winter, by early spring I'm ready for them to go out. I put most of them on the deck and took down the plant table in the front room. My baker's rack in front of my slider in the back room is still up and has my seedlings on it, some of which I potted up into 6 packs Sunday night. I'm late with that but that's OK.

So a nice week and pretty fun weekend redeemed the grim start to the week. Tuesday was 4 weeks from when I fell so just 2 more weeks to go with the brace. I can make it!

Week 18 - Gardening and Coronation

When the first day of the month, which is a good wor day of monthly report production (love a day with lots to show at the end), starts with a data warehouse problem that delays my reports, it only goes up from there. And it did.

The best part of the week was when Tim brought his sons over to cut down all the bushes in my back perennial bed, which is the biggest in my yard. It had been taken over with American cranberry bushes (viburnum trilobum) and dud forsythia that only bloomed yellow 1in every 5 years and had choked/shaded out most everything else so it was time for them all to go. It didn't take them long but their trailer was piled so high that they had to strap it all down to drive it to the city burn pile.

As soon as they left, I went out in my neck brace and raked more than half of the leaves and debris out, adding it all to my alley compost pile. I pitted out my brace pads so switched to the spare pads they'd given me. I need to make sure I keep this set clean. When I finished raking the next night, which tired me out, I had to start another pile at the alley but it has bigger branches and such so might end up going to the burn pile later. How's this for before and after? I'm very happy and will have fun planning what to plant in the bare space.

After enjoying my favorite grab & go lunch, delivered by Andrea on Thursday, I went out after work and planted my early veg bed. I had hopes that it would get rained in overnight and we did get a bit but it was clearing up when I stopped work at noon. Lorri was picking me up for an afternoon of plant shopping and a belated birthday lunch. We hit the Hort Club sale (picked over since it was day 2), had a delicious lunch at HF Crave then hit the new Omaha garden center that had built a Lincoln location (not a 6 pack to be found and cheapest annual was $7 - nope!) before hitting Aldi and Starbuck's before heading back home. I love taking vacation time on Friday afternoons so all my errands are done and I can stay home all weekend.

I got up at 3:55 on Saturday morning to watch the coronation. I made myself a nice breakfast of stuffed French toast with bacon and eggs and settled in for the morning. I had a low energy day of knitting and finishing Better Call Saul but did rally in the evening and gave my newly uncovered peonies some love (the dark spots in the after shot above are the peonies with compost around them) in hopes that I can resurrect them and maybe get a few blooms this year.

I had no plans for Sunday but when Andrea asked if I needed anything, I jumped at the chance for a Sunmart (the local grocery store) run to pick up a few things I couldn't get at Aldi. After lunch, Lorri called to ask if I wanted to check out the plants at Bomgaar's (our local farm store) - yes please! I happily picked up some 4 packs to add to the plants I'd overwintered. I did putter a bit more in the garden that night and did some cooking.

So yet again, I have to say that I have the best friends and am super grateful for their willingness to drive me around. It was a great week even with the brace on. The neighbor I met last week came down the alley to check on me too so it seems like everyone is looking out for me. Life is good!