what I did during my 9th week of covid vacation

I spent the late morning/early afternoon last Sunday clearing out the trees, grape vine, and other weedy stuff from around most of the few plantings I have done over at the shop yard squirting stump killer on the woody stumps. I cleaned up around the rangoon creeper, the desert willow trumpet flower vine (which is not really all that viney since it hasn't climbed the pole I planted it next to in the 6 years it's been there), the heritage rose bush that I have not pruned back once in the 6 years it's been there, 

the banana trees and yellow bells, and finally the morning glory bush.

Monday I cleaned up the debris from my weeding and pruning in both yards, finally repaired the two wind chimes that have been on my work table for weeks months and got them hung back out and picked the last of the easter lilies.

I trimmed the yard Tuesday cutting down the last of the clasping leaved coneflowers that were still blooming. I hated to do it but it was time. This time I got Marc to coach me on starting the trimmer instead of asking him to do it for me and I did it! I only lasted for one gas tank's worth of time. I was sweating buckets by then but I got the big backyard and the little backyard and along the side of the driveway with the trees done so I thought I'd get the front yard the next day (I didn't). It really wasn't too hot out there, not like it will be, and overcast, but apparently any activity on a humid day makes me sweat.

the higher the humidity, the more clouds

Work on the shop room buildout has come to a halt again. Thursday last week the edge of the roof got repaired where it was leaking on the inside and Rocky wanted to give it a couple of days to dry before he hoses it down to check the repair or it rains, whichever comes first, before he finishes putting up the sheet rock on the ceiling. 

He and Melissa stopped by Monday late morning on their way back from the hospital to ask for a few days grace as Melissa's mom, who has been staying with them the last several weeks, fell early Monday morning and broke her femur and needed surgery and a pin to repair it. So yes, of course, take however long you need, there's no rush to finish. How old is your mom, I asked Melissa. She's 74. Well, that's scary, I just turned 70. (I've met her mom and to tell the truth, I thought she was older.) Rocky just laughed. The way you work around here, I don't think you need to worry, he said.

So Wednesday instead of finishing trimming the yard I did a grocery store run and went to the library. It's open again and yay! because reading material has been pretty dismal around here, not that I have managed much reading what with all the physical labor that has had my eyelids drooping the minute I open a book.

Yesterday was a long day. Pam and I drove the 3 hours to the outskirts of San Antonio, looked at manufactured homes for two hours at the place where my daughter bought hers, and then drove the 3 hours home. We had masks and gloves (for the necessary bathroom stops) and brought our lunches and water and snacks so our contact with the outside world would be limited. Everyone, employees and customers alike, were wearing masks at the business. We looked at 6 houses but discounted the first two (too cheesy) and one other which was nice enough and a good price on clearance but too long at 80' (3 bedroom) and it had an unnecessarily large utility room especially for just one person. If you had a spouse and a houseful of kids it would probably be great.

And why are two sinks in the master bathroom a thing? Of the 6 houses we looked at all but two had two sinks in the master bath. Do married couples really use the bathroom at the same time? Marc and I never have but then we've always had just one sink. It seems like a waste of space and then you have two sinks to clean instead of one and besides, those bathrooms aren't all that big to have two people bumping around in them at the same time. And do they think that single people aren't buying houses?

I did learn one thing though. We will have to have a 4” - 6” thick pad so that's something I'll have to get done after Pam decides on a house and we know what the footprint is.

We have a flash flood warning for tonight and tomorrow so I shored up my levee with some bricks and a slab of sandstone where the water pours off the edge of the roof from the way the peaks and valleys are arranged even with gutters, gutter screens, and the extra downspout. 

Then I went over to the shop to check the fence line and break off all the new growth from the roots of the grapevine, virginia creeper, and ironweed (and all the tree trunks sprouting like mad) because the spraying of diesel fuel and stump killer did not kill a damn thing! Even the poison ivy is coming back. That's going to get full strength stump killer tomorrow morning.

So that's been my week. I think the rest of today will be a couch day.