Mowing the Lawn

I woke right at 530am as if it were a work day, but quickly remembered that it was Saturday and made myself sleep a while longer. By 7am I was wide awake so I rolled out of bed and headed downstairs, but not before Mindy wanted a hug and then asked that I bring coffee in a little while.

I felt about as good as one could expect on a Saturday morning. I started some coffee then took to the internet where I played around for nearly and hour before Mindy tip-toed halfway down the stairs asking me to bring her some coffee. It was just 815am, way earlier than she usually is up on a Saturday. I poured her some coffee then delivered it bedside. We snuggled for about 30 minutes before getting up for good just before 9am.

Near 9am we took Eiknarf on a walk where we encountered some neighbors we hadn’t met prior. Turns out, he said they were moving to Dublin that day. They’re originally from Salem, Ohio. They’ve only lived in the subdivision for about a year renting David & Tessa’s old house. We walked for maybe 20 minutes. It was noticeably cooler than it had been for the ten days prior, but still in the mid 50’s. Wasn’t expected to leave the low 60s all day. In fact, the ten day forecast shows only 1 or 2 days hitting 70. Returning to near normal.

Back at the house I readied and left on a run. I’m guessing it was 930am by the time I headed out. I wore a winter weight wicking shirt but no jacket. That was almost perfect. I ran the usual weekend trail, just three miles. Encountered Bella out riding her bike as I finished.

After making something to eat I headed out to tend to the lawn. And while we’re giving serious thought to hiring it out this year, I knew I wanted to cut it the first time myself. Took a while to get the weed whacker started but once I got it running it ran smoothly. I spent a good 30+ minutes whacking and edging the beds, drive and walks.

I thought I might cut the entire yard with the Toro skipping the tractor. I was most impressed that the Toro started on the first pull. Took me about 2 hours to cut the entire yard, front & back. I even started to rain a little at the outset but thankfully it stopped as quick as it started. Before blowing the clipping clear, I hit all the open isolated weeds sprouting in the flower beds with Round-Up. Had to refill my 1 qt. spray bottle to get ‘em all.

Next up I installed the new hose nozzle then repaired/replaced the male union between my two 100’ lengths of hose. It needed a new male end to stop the leak. Next up I added a thick metal spring to the 60 degree bend in the feeder hose I use to get water to the deck hose bib. That’ll prevent it from kinking and ultimately leaking. While I was busy blowing away all the mowed clippings, a couple cars stopped by to chat. Julie stopped by to show me a pepper shaker she found in her purse after last Saturday’s wedding. Said she guessed I was the one who put it there. Nope, not me. Another neighbor stopped by, who also had a black 2011 Honda Accord. Said he was the engineer who designed the V6 engine in the car.

I finished in the yard near 230pm. I felt pretty well whipped, but wanted to complete two other tasks. The first, repotting the palm in our family room, and then replacing a couple damaged window screens. It took just a few minutes to repot the palm. I headed to the basement to locate my screen repair/replace kit. Right where I left it. I headed upstairs and removed the damaged window screen from Jacob’s room. It’s been that way since the last big hail storm, or for about five years, though it’s gotten much worse over the last couple weeks.

I’d forgotten how simple it is to replace screens. I did one of the bay window screens, too, before putting my tools away and heading up for shower. At roughly the same time, Mindy was heading off to Whole Foods to pick-up some fresh fish for dinner. We talked about getting Chilean sea bass, but only if the price was more reasonable than it’s been for the last year or so. Last time we were at Giant Eagle Market District it was $30lb. Jacob was having a friend spend the night. He arrived right before Mindy left.

While showering, I saw the boys leaning over the bridge while the girls (Bella and her friends) rode by on their bikes. Something told me that wasn’t going to end well. Minutes later I heard Bella running up the stairs bawling. I headed to her room to see what was the matter. Said Jacob and his friend were sticking their foot out as they rode by causing Bella to crash and fall. Keep in mind, Bella only learned to ride her bike on Thursday. Seeing a foot out in front of you tow days later would be very frightening. But even before I could respond, Bella pleaded that I not make Josh go home. I was angry. No, I was $%%^^!

I finished getting dressed somewhat regaining my composure. Had I gone down to address Jacob right then I’m afraid I might’ve popped him in the mouth. Low and behold, here came Jacob up stairs to ask if he and Josh could run off to the park. I pulled him in the room and closed the door, interrogating him about the bike incident. At first he denied it but then came clean citing only that they didn’t physically touch her. I explained that just by sticking their foot out was enough to scare her into crashing given her newly acquired skill. I went on to explain that it falls into the bullying category and that his mother and I would talk about a fitting punishment later. I let he and Josh run off to the park for an hour.

It had to be near 4pm when Mindy got home. A few minutes later Jacob and Josh returned. Just before they returned I shared what transpired in her absence. Mindy picked up some Chilean sea bass and salmon. We had talked about grilling but it was raining again. She opted instead to bake/broil the fish. While Mindy worked on the fish, I made brown rice via the microwave. She steamed broccoli too. Dinner was ready by 6pm. The Chilean sea bass was incredible. The sides were good too. Mindy baked chocolate chip cookies after dinner. By then Makayla was over to play with Bella again. The kids devoured the cookies. Once the kitchen was cleaned up, Mindy and I walked the dog. While we were out and about I noticed I’d forgotten to roll the hose back onto the cart. I took care of that in a jiffy.

The Buckeye basketball game against #1 seed Syracuse was slated to begin at 7pm. Jacob and Josh asked if we could watch it in the family room. I offered instead that they watch it from his room. For the betterment of all, I didn’t want to watch it. Mindy and I put two fold-up camp chairs out on the deck along with some soft music and enjoyed a beer and some wine. It was a tad chilly, but nice. Around 8pm Bella asked if we could build a fire and roast marshmallows down by the pond. We agreed.

Haven’t had a fire since last fall. Most of the wood was damp from the earlier rain. It took a while to get a sustainable fire going but my persistence, along with the help of a little charcoal lighter fluid and kerosene, eventually paid off. We let the fire turn to hot coals before allowing the girls to roast the marshmallows. Mindy brought out the smores kit too. We out by the fire longer than I expected. At some point Jacob & Josh came running out sliding on the hill celebrating a Buckeye victory and a trip to the final four. I knew they’d win! 

I’m thinking we were outside until 930pm or so. Bella asked if the girls could spend the night. They ran home to ask Chrissy. She said no. Bella wasn’t happy, but got over it fast. Mindy headed to bed before 10pm. I stayed up having another White Rajah watching TV with Bella. Can’t recall what we watched, but do know that it was educational. I remember waking when Bella headed up to bed. I followed a while later and somewhere close to 11pm.