South of 11

Was up at my standard time of 6am and then downstairs a few minutes later engaged in calisthenics. It was a sunny, warm start to the Memorial Day weekend with the promise of more sun and warmer temps through Monday. In Columbus we often hold our collective breath when the Memorial Day weekend forecast is revealed. We’ve had many gloomy, cool and gray Memorial Day’s over the years.

Woke Mindy near 620am. Jacob was downstairs and out the door within the next 20 minutes. I played around online until 705am but then logged into work. Like most Friday’s, I planned to work from home and as a consequence, I didn’t plan to run until after Bella was safely off to school.

The next hour or so flew by. Soon it was time for Bella to head out. I was off walking the dog about the time the bus pulled up. Briefly chatted with all the kids and other bus stop parents. Headed back home for a meditation and stretch ahead of a run. Didn’t get out the door until almost 835am. Like most Friday’s I ran just three miles. And it was a good, easy run. No problems whatsoever.

Back home, I headed out to water the two small areas of sod before getting back to work. Took no more than five minutes. I’ve been hitting them with water twice a day for the past week. And it’s been so sunny and dry that’s it sucking it all up really fast. I hoped to get to the irrigation system fired up over the weekend. Will likely need to water the sod separately for at least another week. In fact, the one small piece I used out front has already all but died after missing just one day of watering.

Stayed busy with work for the next hour or two. Mid-morning I took a break and stepped out on the front stoop to see how easily the dead ivy would come away from the stucco wall. I spent about 10-15 minutes pulling it away. I’d still need to go over the area with a small putty knife to pry loose the smallish dead branches and then most likely power wash those sticky little fingers away. I also remained mindful of the lovely hosta located in the bed just below. I didn’t want to damage it by foot or with falling debris. For the time being, I left the mess in the driveway while I headed back inside to work.

Worked for a couple more hours knocking out all sorts of to-dos, making some really progress on a couple fronts. Instead of getting back on the ivy, I decided to dedicate my lunch hour to taking care of the lawn. Just felt better getting it done and out of the way first. Headed out around 1230pm and spent the full hour mowing, trimming and edging.

Back to work for a few more hours. Took care of a few more to-do’s as well as a couple administrative tasks, and pretty much wrapped up my day around 430pm, though I would stay connected and periodically check in through the evening hours. At 430pm I headed out to fire up the power washer for the first time all season and see how well it would do at removing the English ivy fingers. Started fairly easily and did a real nice job on the stucco but not so much on the wood trim, but that was OK. I have plenty of trim paint which will hide whatever remains, and once can hardly notice it afterwards since the trim’s finish is rough sawn. Didn’t take but maybe 30 minutes to power wash the wall, but I also did the concrete stoop and walk from the driveway. Because it gets next to no sun from October through April, it tends to turn mossy green.

Was finishing up when Mindy arrived home. Having stared at the bare, dead ivy branches for the past month, she was most impressed with how nice it looked. The kids were spending the weekend with Jimaken. It’s the first time he’s taken the kids for a full weekend since before our Oregon ski trip. Jimaken showed up around 530pm or just as I was shutting down the power washer and cleaning up. Mindy made sure that Bella took Eiknarf on a walk before they left. As she and the pug walked by I sprayed her ever so lightly with the not running power washer, which spits out a stream no more than a little squirt gun. For some reason, Bella was in one of those ugly moods. In kind, she curtly advised that she’d be breaking my phone if I sprayed her again. On her way back to the house I couldn’t resist and shot a little water her way. It couldn’t have been even a half ounce. She gave an evil stare as she walked by and into the house. She, Jacob, and Jimaken left within the next 5 minutes. I was still outside. She offered no hug or goodbye, only another evil stare. I could muster only a chuckle at her angry stare.

We planned on going to CBC but not before a shower. And speaking of a shower, Mindy needed one too, since she spent the afternoon in a sweaty class room. By the time we were both ready it was about 7pm. Showed up near the end of their busy time and as a result there were two stools available. Already there were John & Carolyn Rich just a couple stools over. Mindy shared that we’d be meeting them there.

They didn’t have Bodhi on tap but they did have a good selection of guest drafts. Mindy and I both started with a PsycHOPathy. Vince was working the bar, and so was Kevin. Like he does most visits, he brought bread and risotto balls without us needing to place the order. They were delicious.

I had three beers in total over a 3+ hour span. My 2nd and 3rd were Hoof Hearted’s, South of Eleven DIPA. It’s really good, and really powerful – higher than 10% abv. Comes served in smaller glass. Spent the evening chatting with John and Carolyn. Had a nice time. We ordered dinner probably closer to 9pm. Mindy ordered their salmon while I went with tried and true wings well done and extra wet. Yum! I all but one. Before leaving for home we had a growler filled with South of 11th DIPA.

Pretty sure that it was close to 1115pm when we arrived for home. We weren’t up for too long at all.