Jimmy Lube

I slept in until just after 7am. From bed, I could see blue skies via the half moon window. That was enough to motivate me up and out of bed. I got the coffee started then started my exercise routine. After push-ups and sit-ups I leashed up Ykraps and headed out for our morning walk. I was angry to find the small pieces of sod I laid along the water’s edge out front rolled back for the third or fourth time. I’m suspecting it the handy work of raccoons. They’re notorious for doing so. It’s never gonna take root if they keep rolling it back every few days. After Ykraps’ walk, I headed out to put the sod back down. Back inside, I enjoyed some coffee and downloaded Saturday’s pictures from Tommy’s and the Jump’s. Come 8:30am I took Mindy some coffee. The house remained quiet even as I prepared to set out for my run. I wore long running pants and a long sleeved wicking shirt. It was still kind of cool – about 56 degrees. I did my usual Sunday run, running along Trabue & then down Hague. It was a nice run. I noticed that Mindy was enjoying coffee on her patio when I returned. Bella came downstairs looking for her, and didn’t believe me when I indicated that she was outside. I went to the PC. Mindy soon reentered the house asking me to join her. I said I would. I topped off my coffee and joined Mindy & the kids outback. I grabbed one of the two remaining cream filled donuts that Mindy bought for me last week. Once I took a second to savor the flavor I noticed that the cream was spoiled. Yuck! I spat the donut out right in front of the kids and Mindy. At about the same time, I spotted one of the two small rose bushes I planted only yesterday dug up. Not sure what’s doing it but suspecting it bunnies. There are oodles of them out back. I uttered a few unkind words and then got it reset and tamped down good. The kids complained of being chilly, although it was quite lovely. We all headed back inside together. I didn’t want to waste any valuable yard work time. I changed into my yard grubbies and took to the garage where I prepped to cut the lawn. It was 10am. As a change of pace, I decided to do the cut in with the push mower first. I’d do the whacking and edging after cutting all the grass. The grass was extremely thick in many places, especially the newly laid sod. It nearly choked the mower multiple times. It appears that I’m putting to much water on that side of the house too – kind of squishy. I planned to readjust the program times for that zone. I finished the lawn after about 2 hours. By then, Mindy had left for the grocery store. The kids remained home, but were off playing with the neighbors. The next task I completed was fertilizing the lawn. It didn't take too long - about 20 minutes start to finish. Then, worried that it might be blocking too much sunshine, I started pruning the mulberry bush/tree that seems to grow overnight and shades much of my newly laid sod. Not only does it grow overnight but it grows sideways instead of vertically. It provides a lovely canopy but too much shade. I whacked off all of the horizontal limbs, which was far more than I ever imagined. The limbs I cut were up to 3 inches in diameter and up to 12’ long. I worked on it for a good hour using my little hand saw and giant loppers. I carried all the prunings to the compost pile, placing them strategically along the wall of brush. The new grass will get much more afternoon sun now. Next, I moved just north trimming the over grown honeysuckles back away from the two blue spruce trees. And while in there, I hunted down the major arteries to the wild grape vines that are starting to thrive once more. They need cut back every couple of years or else they’ll take over everything. They hide themselves smartly amongst the honeysuckle. I cut some major limbs from the honey suckle bushes providing a nice 3 foot gap between them and the pines. They can get out of hand quickly too. I cut them back every year. I spent the rest of the afternoon prunning/hauling honeysuckle. Mindy made me a sandwich when she got home from the grocery. I woofed it down fast. I was hungry! Before calling it an afternoon, I blew off the driveway and walk, and moved four volunteer tomato plants to empty plant containers. I plan to give them to Dad. Mindy called me in to ready for the Thompson birthday party at 3:20pm. I had just started to water flowers out front, but we needed to leave by 3:40pm. I was ready to go by 3:45pm, just five minutes behind plan. No biggie. It’s a relatively quick drive to Todd’s. We arrived a minute or two after 4pm. By the way, the afternoon weather was absolutely gorgeous - sunny and low 70’s. In the shade, it was a tad chilly, but I wasn’t complaining. While I sat soaking in the sun, I reflected back one year ago to the same event. Mindy was just home from surgery and didn’t attend. I took the kids. The weather was similar. Hard to believe it has been a year. Time flies. In the same thought pattern, I remembered having that pesky sinus infection that I couldn’t shake until our Florida trip in mid-July. Back to the present. Speaking of presents, this was a birthday party for three of our nieces, one older (Lindy – 20) and two young ones (6 & 2). There was a table holding a mountain of presents. I got lots of photos of the kids and then took a walk around the yard taking what I felt were some really lovely shots of the landscape and weather. By the way, the food was good too: subs, meatballs, salads, etc. There’s a new trampoline in the yard this year. It didn’t take long for all the Thompson kids, Mindy included, to show off their long held trampoline skills. I got photos of most. Sadly, though, only a couple turned out. Failed to adjust my ISO setting. I managed to capture Mindy in mid air, upside down. Todd was by far the most adept. He did several flips, and got lots of air. I didn’t dare give it a try, keeping in mind my goal to remain in good health. The crowd thinned shortly after trampoline time. Mindy & I stayed a while longer playing a little volleyball with Jacob and Missy’s father. It was 7pm when we headed for home. My thoughts turned to what I might still be able to accomplish at home given the extended day light. I really want to get the oil changed in the Trooper now that I have all the stuff. The last thing I want to happen is have all that stuff setting in the garage. So, after getting home and walking Ykraps, I changed once again into my yard grubbies and started changing the oil. To do so, I had to back the BM’er out and pull the Trooper in the garage. The other side is dominated by bicycles (summer mode). It occurred to me as I crawled under the Trooper that I wasn’t sure exactly where the oil pan was. I haven’t changed oil myself since the Camaro was new (1984). Of the two choices, I opted to loosen the plug on the pan that looked like it had been violated past. Makes sense. Besides, the other was a little farther back, which wouldn’t make sense relative to the dip stick’s location. All went well, save for a drip of oil here of there. The new oil pan worked well, too. I let the old oil drain to a complete stop. I put the new oil filter on first, then, added the new synthetic oil. No fuss no muss! Lastly, I changed my air filter then poured the old oil from the storable oil pan into the jug that the new oil came in. I moved the Trooper back to the street and pulled the BM’er back into the garage. I wasn’t done with my chores, however. Nope. Next, I headed out to leisurely water all the flowers front & back. And just before going inside, I tied up the giant purple sage located next to the hose bib out back. Inside, Mindy said Bella was tirelessly awaiting a tuck in – wanted flown to bed. I obliged her request doing the helicopter maneuver. She digs it! A Black Dog Honey Raspberry Ale sounded good, and I had one in the fridge. Not wanting to deny my craving, I enjoyed one along with a bag of microwave popcorn. Meanwhile, Bella (a.k.a. the nose) smelt the corn and begged to join us. I agreed. She loves popcorn almost as much as me. While Bella and I snacked, Mindy checked out lakefront rental homes, first on Big Long lake in northern Indiana. Later, she found a lakefront house just down the road from where we stayed lat summer on Norris Lake. This house particular house sits on a one acre lot right on the lake and has a private covered dock. It has 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths too. I made note and thought that I might call on Monday to check on availability. We ended up popping a second bag of corn to satisfy everybody’s craving. We headed to bed sometime after 10pm.