My Peonies are Starting to Bloom

Word of the Day

Swish-swash - The tendency to leave one's windshield wipers on even after the rain has stopped.


HTP left for The Big City right after breakfast this morning. In a bid to keep my mind occupied on something other than worrying about Kylee, I decided to paint/stain the four 8-foot trellises that I purchased a while ago. I found a bucket of the stain that was used on the siding of our house down in the basement. Spreading newspapers out on my driveway, I got right to work. After completing two of the trellises, I went back inside to call the vet at around 10 AM. Since the vet was busy and couldn't talk to me, with the promise that she'd call me back I took the phone outside so I could start on the other two trellises. After completing one side of one trellis and starting on one side of the last trellis, I was getting a bit concerned. However, the phone did finally ring. I was assured that Kylee made it through the operation (spay) just fine but her tummy was upset so they don't want me to pick Kylee up until tomorrow...after 10 AM. *sigh* Though I was relieved to hear that Kylee was doing just fine, the fact that she wasn't feeling well is a bit worrisome. *sigh* I'm sure she'll be fine but I miss the little stinker. I finished up the staining well after noon. I know this because I heard the town's noon whistle sound while I was finishing up on the third trellis.

Since the stain that I was using was in a REALLY rusty paint bucket, I transferred the remainder of the stain to an old margarine container before discarding the old bucket. Then, I hauled the first two trellises that I'd stained out to my deck and prepped an area so I could stain the rockers for the two rocking chairs on my deck. I figured that as long as I had the stain out there and the paint brush was already messed up, I might as well take care of the rockers that T-Square made for me last year. I've been using them unstained but wood lasts a lot longer out here if it has a nice coat of protective stain...besides...now the rockers match the rest of the rocking chair(s).

My four new trellises are all dry and installed where I want them out on my deck. My rocking chairs are once again rockable. The rain has held off so the stain has dried. I cleaned the paint brush and paint stirrer and put them away, cleaned up all the newspapers that I spread all over the place so that I wouldn't drip stain onto the deck, took the remaining stain down to the basement, threw away my paint-stained latex gloves, and decided to call it quits for the day...after I went into town to pick up the mail. Exhaustion! When HTP comes home tonight, there will be no evidence that I did anything today. Well...except for the new trellises. Do you think he'll notice. Probably not.

I re-set my Havahart trap again in hopes to catch the raccoon that has been plaguing us. He alluded the trap again last night. I set up some card-board boxes on either side of the trap this time. Maybe this will keep him from reaching in through the side of the trap and force him to enter the trap. We'll see. If this fails, I'm not sure what I can do. It's not like I can shoot the dang thing.

Random Thought of the Day

Do you wake up or open your eyes first?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Once you can laugh at your own weaknesses, you can move forward. Comedy breaks down walls. It opens up people. If you're good, you can fill up those openings with something positive. Maybe... combat some of the ugliness in the world.

- Goldie Hawn (1945 - )