#251 - More Plants and People

We took it easy this morning. Well, at least I did.

Robyn was up and out of bed to do some overtime work painting backgrounds for the show. I stayed in bed and watched and watched YouTube videos for a while before heading downstairs and firing up the stovetop.

I put some bacon on to fry and then chopped up a baked potato to make a small portion of home fries. Next, I toasted some sourdough, put on a tea for Robyn and a hazelnut coffee for myself. I followed that up with two fried eggs each.

With such an enticing plate of food, I was able to tempt Robyn away from her computer to eat at the kitchen table. There is nothing better than eggs and bacon for breakfast on the weekend.

Fueled up by good food, Robyn returned to painting and I headed out to Rona to buy some more plants and soil for the back garden. I purchased some more hostas, and a few plants with small blue-purple leaves that I can’t recall what they are called. But they are low growers and act like ground cover. I found some of the brick and wood raised beds sets there as well. I had purchased the same things last year to make a raised bed, but when I went back for more, they were all gone.

So, I grabbed a few with the intention of raising the back of the garden bed height later in the year. I managed to get half the plants into the ground before I tuckered myself out. I stopped and sat on the back deck admiring the new additions from yesterday and today. The garden bed is starting to fill up nicely now.

After taking a short break to rehydrate, I played a miserable game of chess, then decided I should cut the back lawn to make it look nice for our guests this evening.

With that done I returned to the deck and had a short nap under the shade of the canopy and enjoyed the warmth of the day and the refreshing breeze.

Fully restored, I decided to investigate the cause of the short in our string lights that go around the top of the deck. It didn’t take long to find a squirrel had chewed through the extension cord that ran up to the rafters. The little buggers like to sit up there whenever it rains.

I had a few choice words for the tree rats of the world before seeing that it was better to have to replace a cord than it would be to fix the string lights themselves. I hooked up a temporary extension cord so we could have lights outside tonight for our guests. I jumped on Amazon and ordered a replacement cord of the right length and one that had three outlets at the end.

That done, it was time to get cleaned up from the gardening, lawn mowing and light repair.

I took a bubble spa, thinking my muscles would likely appreciate the heat and bubble action after all the bending over and digging I did.

Robyn finished her overtime work for the day, so put on Bill Maher and then watched an episode of Waiting for Wrexham. The Wrexham episode was a Christmas episode, and it managed to deliver a nice gift to us viewers at the end. Well done editors.

I ran into an older couple originally from Wales at Rona today. Their cars license plate was MRCHIPPS. I asked them if it was in reference to an old UK book and tv series called Mr. Chipps about a school headmaster.

They said no, it was their last name. We had a nice little chat and then went our separate ways into the garden center. It was a very Welsh day.

Robyn left to go do her hour of support work while I did more video watching. She returned a little after eight, just as our friends Paul and Laura texted to say they were on their way.

We sat in the back and had some tea and coffee, chatting about this and that. Laura made us her famous lemon cake, which we had with our tea and coffee. Robyn and kiddo #2 left around midnight to pick up kiddo #1 from the airport, while I stayed behind with our friends and continued to chat for another hour

Shortly after they left, Robyn returned with both kiddo in tow. Kiddo #1 was safely returned and seemed in good spirits. She showed us the stickers she had designed, and Robyn adorned her water mug thing with the ones she liked, before kiddo #1 started rooting around for something to eat. Luckily, Paul and Laura had left her some food they had brought over, knowing how much she loves leftovers for midnight snack.

We made plans for the four of us to go for a late breakfast at Denny’s the next morning as long as it was not before noon. That was Robyn’s stipulation not mine!

This will be the first time the four of us have shared a meal in a while, so it will be nice to start our Sunday that way.

I feel good about all the things I accomplished this week, particularly the gardening things. I have been working at filling this large space for years on a shoestring budget and it is finally starting to look intentional and full. I can’t say it’s finished. Can any gardener claim that the work is ever done?

There is another section of the backyard that has not even been started. I use it right now to dump all the clay from the holes I dig for new plants. So, I’ll need to remove all that clay before I can plant anything there. But that’s a job for another day.

It’s two AM and I am zoinked.

Night all.