Shutdown

Well, we had another shutdown day at work today, which means a very long weekend for me, since Monday is Memorial Day.  I decided to spend today doing yard work, and that's exactly what I did.  

When I was in Walmart yesterday, I saw that they had gotten some more topsoil in stock, so first thing I did this morning was run in and pick up a few bags. Now that I'm no longer washing all my soil down the sewer line -- thanks to an unscrupulous plumber -- I'm finally about to get this hole filled in.  

All I've got left to do is to convince the cat it isn't a litterbox...and maybe sprinkle some grass seed over it.  

While I was doing that, I noticed that one of the legs of my planter seemed to be sinking down a bit.  I guess it was a bit soft right there, so I got some of the old stepping stones I'd pulled up from beside my car port and set it up onto them.  

Alas, in shifting the planter, one of the legs split.  Thank goodness for Gorilla Glue and C clamps.  

It's still not level, but at least I feel better that it's not going to fall into a giant sink hole. 

The rest of the day was spent mowing and just doing general cleaning up.  I won't be able to move tomorrow, but at least the yard is done.  I even mowed behind the fence.  It always looks so nice back there when it's cut.  Then I got all the branches and things I'd been trimming and hauled them out behind the fence to make a brush pile for the wild critters. 

I'm not quite sure why I took a picture of it, because it doesn't really look like much, but there it is.  That tire was already there when I moved in.  I thought about moving it, but some creatures might use it for shelter -- like snakes and such.  Besides, I don't know where I'd move it to, since I can't put it into the garbage.  

A bit of good news, though.  Remember that photo from my last blog where it looks like a whole bunch of brush and junk growing where I said I was going to clean it all up?  You can go back and look if you need to.  I'll wait....

Are you back?  OK, well the good news is, while I was in the back, I discovered that it's really only about three small privet trees that's making all that mess. It shouldn't be as hard to clean up as I'd feared.  Then I can call the surveyor, and the Fence Guys.  Yes, that is the name of their business.  The Fence Guys.  I've wanted a privacy fence ever since I've moved here, so I can go piddle in my back yard without having to feel like I'm being watched and judged.  

And I have some very judgy neighbors....

Speaking of judgy, hello my old  judgy friend.  So judgy you make me itch every time I touch you. 

It blows my mind that Brennan didn't even know how to identify poison ivy.  Cody and I showed it to her last fall when we went to the old fort out at the lake.  As sensitive as I am to it, I learned to identify it at a very early age -- but then, I grew up in the woods of Southeast Texas, not big city Memphis. 

Heh, when we went out to eat last weekend after the wedding rehearsal, Scott, Paula, Cody and I were talking about hurricanes, and tornadoes, and running up on alligators and such.  Brennan was looking slightly horrified, but this is just what we talk about.  

And finally, I keep forgetting to tell you about the new book I started reading over a week ago.  

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, by Philip K. Dick. 

It's kind of funny, because it was published in 1968, and they talk about 2019 and 2021 like they're some futuristic world with flying cars and androids and stuff.  And yet, they apparently still use typewriters and carbon paper.  Anyway, it's OK, but a bit slow.  I'm hoping it picks up soon, or it's going to be very tedious to read.