I Did It!

I did it!  I actually slept past 3:30 this morning!  The cat actually let me!  

And I had the strangest dream.  I dreamed I was back in the Navy, in one of my schools.  We'd gone to lunch, and the place we went to took so long to bring us our food that we had to rush back to the base to be back in class on time.  As I was running into the building to go to class, I realized I didn't have my shoes and socks on.  

I ran back outside to see if they were still in my friend's truck, but he had already left, so I ran into the classroom knowing I'd get into trouble for being out of uniform, but I didn't know what else to do.  And I never even got to eat my lunch. 

Seriously, I slept until 5:00 then lay in bed another 30-ish minutes before the Incarnation of Evil came to yowl outside my bedroom door.  

I got up, fed her, then made myself a cup of coffee and sat savoring it and enjoying a quiet morning without having to rush off to work.  I didn't even turn on the TV until much later.  I just enjoyed the quiet. 

Sometime later, I went outside and did a little yard cleanup.  I don't know where that landscaper found his dirt guy -- that is, the guy he buys dirt from -- but he needs a new one.  The dirt he's put in my yard is full of all kinds of trash, from empty water bottles to broken bits of PVC sewer line, but mostly rocks.  Lots and lots of rocks. 

I've been trying to pick up the biggest ones, mostly so the lawnmower doesn't fling them into a window or something.  I've got the two little spots in the front yard mostly cleaned up, but I think I'm just going to have to live with all of these in the back.  The photo above was taken where my garden spot is going to be.  It's a good thing I'm planning on using raised beds, huh? 

A few days ago, right outside the back door, I found this bit of concrete sticking out. 

I managed to pull it up, but how do you spread a bunch of dirt and not even notice a huge chunk of concrete?  

And there were two of them, though I only took a photo of one.  I know one thing, I'm not going to be hiring this kid again.  He wasn't my first choice to begin with, but he is the only one who showed up. 

Anyway, I came back inside to cool off a bit -- we are under a heat advisory, you know -- and while doing so, I made the pesto.  I'm telling you, before I do this again, I really need to buy a food processor.  Come to think of it, I said that last time I made pesto, too.  I had to use my blender, and it just wasn't cutting it.  But we persevered and got her done, and the pesto tasted pretty good.  

This time, though, I had enough basil that I didn't have to use baby spinach to stretch it with, so that definitely made a difference.  Maybe next year, I'll plant the kind of basil you're supposed to use in pesto, instead of sweet basil.  We'll see. 

The recipe I used says pesto freezes well, so I laid some parchment paper on a cookie sheet and dolloped most of it out onto that, then froze it. Once it was good and solid, I put it into a freezer bag to save for later use.  I still have some in a container that I didn't freeze, to use right away.  

The only other major thing I did today was to mow the back yard, and again, the hardest part was getting the lawnmower to start.  I had given up and pushed the thing back into the shed-- threatening to throw the piece of garbage into the garbage -- when on a whim, I pulled the starter rope one last time.

And it caught...and started.  

I don't know what is doing that, because once it starts that first time, it starts again pretty easily.  But while I was fooling with it, I got the model number so I can buy that part I think will solve the problem.  

I only did the back yard, which desperately needed it, but it was too hot to do much more, and besides, there is still standing water in my front yard.  Still, the back yard looks so much better now.  I kid you not, in some spots the grass was nearly up to my waist.  The ruts left by the landscaper sure made things difficult, and there were some spots I couldn't get to at all with the mower.  

By the time I got done mowing, I was drenched in sweat, so I once again came inside to cool off, then tackled the weed eating -- which is so much easier with my new weed eater.   I got the spaces between the ruts as best I could, 

all along the fence line, 

and even cleaned up and weedeated around the chairs and fire pit.  

All on one battery, at that.  It looks so much better now!  I'm going to try to get to the front yard tomorrow evening if it's dry enough.  I think it might be, since the scattered showers have skipped all around us.  We'll just have to see. 

I eventually want to put a little patio under there, but that's going to have to wait until it cools off a bit.  Maybe in the fall.  Unless I hire someone to do it, but then there is that whole not showing up thing that's so prevalent in this town. 

And finally, just so this post isn't a total waste of your time, here is an early morning photo of my volunteer sunflower. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go find something to eat with pesto...