This past weekend was wonderful – a perfect balance of relaxing, getting stuff done and finding surprises. It was so wonderful I actually feel rejuvenated and ready to go to back to work!
Saturday morning I checked food shopping and gassing up the CRV off my to-do list by 6:45AM. Next up was my weekly chat with my Dad, who was in rare form – so rare that I actually wondered if he was tipsy. He was filled with things to talk about and was bouncing from topic to topic, all the while commenting on how much he had to talk about…and laughing about it. I know he wasn’t tipsy, but his rare form kept me smiling while I worked out back for the next couple hours.
I finally finished the last path in the backyard…sort of. Here’s the completed path…
and here’s the sort of…
I still have to break the scored corner off this block and put it in place. Ummm…the block not the corner 
Once that’s done I’ll sweep play sand between the blocks in that area and be really done. I’m going to check the tools at work for a chisel and try using that. If that doesn’t work, or the office doesn’t have such a tool, I’m going to stop at Lowe’s and see if they can break it for me.
I had to stop my outdoor fun by 11AM and take a shower so I could sit and wait for the automatic garage door repair guy. For a year or so, when I hit the button to open my door, it go up 5″ then stop. This didn’t happen all the time, just when it felt like it. In the past couple months, when it had this hissy fit and I hit the button to close the door, it would go down then immediately go back up…and stop…again. Since it didn’t happen all the time and I could manually lift the door when it did occur, I kept putting off getting it fixed because no one I knew could recommend a service company.
Then Friday morning happened.
After the hissy fit, I pulled the release and was lifting the door manually when the header bolts that hold the center track against the house popped out and the track dislodged. I was still able to lift the door, and it worked when I came home Friday night and left Saturday morning for food shopping, but I knew the time had come to get the door fixed.
I did on-line research and found a couple of small local companies. When I searched the contractor’s license number for the first one, the license had expired, ditto for their bonding and insurance. Fortunately the second one was in good standing so I called them and made an appointment. Mike was here by 1:15PM and fixed the problems (the up/down was due to the two springs not having the same tension) and did a complete service on the door. I did my usual and asked lots of questions, but he didn’t mind. I even treated Mike to the info of how I found his company – he literally stopped in his tracks when I related my search information. Not because I found him on-line but because I actually followed up and checked the licenses. He said no one has ever told him that they actually check that stuff – to which I replied, “My Daddy didn’t raise no fool.” Mike was also surprised at how easily I found the info.
I spent the rest of the day doing pretty much nothing. I did make mac & cheese in the crock pot, trimmed about 1/8″ off the bottom of 10 vertical blinds in my dining room window that kept getting hooked on the window sill (yeah, window sill isn’t perfectly level), watched some TV and watched then deleted several programs on my DVR.
When the TV watching was over I had phone chats with friends Lois and Laurie, then went out back, slippers on my feet and blanket in my hand, and laid down on the swing. I covered myself with the blanket, swung for a bit before practice-sleeping for an hour. I went inside, fed the kitties then went straight to bed for the non-practice sleeping.
After an hour-long chat with my sister Sunday morning, I went out front to do my weekly maintenance. Not only was this relaxing but it was full of surprises!!!
Remember Carlton, Jr? That’s the pad I cut off backyard cactus Carlton, Sr in October, rooted then planted in the front yard in April. By mid-May this guy thrilled me with 9 new pads. Guess what? He’s sprouted 7 more new pads!!!!!! Carlton, Sr only adds pads once a year, why his son is adding some twice this year is beyond me – all I can say is he must be ecstatic with his new home! Here are a couple of the new additions…
I also noticed that the white flowers on my buckwheat plant are starting to die. This isn’t a bad thing – in fact this is part of the awesomeness of this plant!
Why?
Because they turn a stunning rust color when they die. This plant will look so awesome when it’s covered with the rust flowers!
My next two surprises were of the bug variety. First up…a white-ish cricket (or grasshopper)…
and a baby praying mantis! This guy was only about 1-1/4″ long and buried inside a gazania plant.
After the yard work was done, I spent a couple of hours cleaning off my cameras while watching shows on my DVR and then programs on TV. I caught up on some e-mails, did some work-work, washed dishes, cleaned the bathroom and played with the kitties. By the time I was done with all of this, the sun was sleeping so I followed suit and headed off to bed.
It may not have been an exciting weekend by most standards, but it was a wonderful one by mine.
And now for your viewing pleasure, here are a few pictures that I found when I cleaned off my cameras.
January 7, 2011 sunrise…
September 24, 2010 full moon…
My felines…
Snow covered San Bernardino Mountains, January 7, 2011
Posted by ordinarybutinteresting 
