a week of my life part whatever

I haven’t felt much like writing this past week, haven’t done much to write about and the situation in this country just keeps getting worse. 

I got most of the work in the yard done, the garden is planted but still needs to be mulched as do the flower beds. Still have to clean up the east side of the house where nothing much grows because it’s in shade almost all the time, some variegated shell ginger that never blooms because our winters have shifted due to global warming and we get those arctic blasts now every winter sending temps into the 20s. Shell ginger blooms on last year’s growth. About the only thing I’ve done is move the sprinkler around and resort to my soapy water to kill the fire ants. The organic ant killer only makes them move so they have moved out of the flower beds and into the grass outside the borders where I can’t see them and they’re all over my feet before I know it. Can’t use the soapy water in the flower beds because it’s bad for the roots. I did finally cut back the dead banana trees over in the shop yard.

I still have to get the trimmer out and go around all the flower beds (done after breakfast) and mow the little backyard both of which I planned to do over the weekend and neither of which got done. I can’t even remember what I did Saturday instead but Sunday I made blueberry pecan pancakes for breakfast because I needed to use up the blueberries and then I swept and mopped the kitchen floor and then my grandson came over with Paisleigh and she and I watered the little backyard and got the chalk out and drew a hopscotch and I showed Paisley how to write the numbers by writing them lightly with white and she went over them with pink (she had particular trouble with the 4 for some reason). 

So we did that until she went in to get some water and managed to shut her fingers in the door, not badly, just a little scrape but you’d think she had lost a finger and wanted her daddy who was working over at the shop. So by the time I got the wagon and put Minnie in it she was mostly over it but halfway to the shop driveway she remembered her fingers and the closer we got the louder her wailing became. She got a few minutes of attention from both her parents, Audra was there with Harrison washing her car, and that was that.

I mentioned to Audra that I needed to get my car washed and she said, bring it over, I’ll wash it after I finish mine and detail the inside. Audra does that to her car every week. I’m not that great about housecleaning and that extends to my car so she had no idea what she was getting into but I said great! After I ran my one errand getting more food for the outdoor cats I parked my car over at the shop and played with Paisleigh 

or held Harrison all day so Audra could do my car and it looks fabulous inside and out. I apologized afterwards because it took her a lot longer than she expected but she said to consider it a birthday present.

Speaking of which, my birthday is the last day of the month. My daughter asked me a couple of weeks ago if, since I was turning 75, I wanted a birthday party. Yeah, sure, I guess. So Sarah is planning a party for the 27th, the last Sunday afternoon of the month to be held here at my house because it’s more accessible than her house and property. Make a guest list she told me. So this is the tricky part. the two people I’m closest to, Dick and Kathy, live in Houston and Dick’s health is poor and Gene and Brian live even farther away but I know they’ll come. After that there are my neighbors I’m friends with, two couples and three singles, and family. What about the people you volunteer with at SHARE, she suggested, or your yoga mates. So SHARE. There are three groups of volunteers; the women in the front who interview people to determine what if anything they qualify for, the women who sort the donated clothing and help people with their selections, and the guys and me in the back who fill the food orders, and then there’s a floater who helps wherever she’s needed. The only time I see these people is at SHARE. Would it be rude of me to only invite the guys and their spouses who I know and the couple of other women I’m most friendly with since this is not a SHARE social event? And what if nobody comes? That's always in the back of my mind since it happened to me one year growing up, had a birthday party and only one person came. 

Update on the dog…he trotted off mid-morning last Tuesday and there's been no sign of him since so maybe he wasn’t dumped and was just out for an adventure or maybe someone picked him up. 

Update on Minnie…after trying to chew the wrapping off the splint in two places Tuesday and Wednesday and I had to add more, she seems to have resigned herself to it and is getting around just fine. She walks on it now if she’s just moseying along but lifts her hip and swings that leg around otherwise, really amusing to watch. Sometimes it’s easier to pull her in the wagon than have her walk between the two driveways. 

She made it down the six steps of Pam’s house while I locked the door. I thought she was going to lose her balance and go head first but she negotiated it. One more week.