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May 4, 2007

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

Things have been pretty routine this week and life goes on. You'd think that since we're able to stay home more, that there would be more to talk about. I guess not.

I did a little yard work and a little relaxing over the weekend. Since we had a nice warm day on Sunday, I worked out in the yard cleaning the weeds and grass out of the flowerbeds and separating and transplanting plants. It turned out to take me longer than I figured. I also was able to get the lawn mowed too. I fertilized it last month, and just like I thought, it now needs mowing every few days! Looks good, though.

Since Dave had to go into Portland on Monday to a Blazer luncheon, I handed him a long list of errands to do while he was in there. With gas prices that seem to be rising daily, we figured he might as well pick up a few things while he was out and about. I stayed home as there was SMART to attend and I figured one of us being gone from that was enough. It is not that they don't have enough volunteers; it is just that they want the "regulars" there as much as possible. The year is just about over and the school staff had an appreciation tea yesterday for all the volunteers. The students from kindergarten, first and fifth grades put on a program for us. It's nice of them to say "thank you" and it really does make you feel good when they let know you are appreciated.

I ran into Tillamook on Tuesday because it was "Senior Day" at Fred Meyer and everything was 10% off if you were over 55 years of age. Since I qualify, I decided to get some of the bedding plants that were on sale that I needed to finish my planters. It wasn't too bad, none of the dirty old men or grouchy old ladies with sharp elbows that I had anticipated. I got most of what I wanted and will now wait for our Garden Club's sale to pick up what I forgot. Since the weather has really been chilly, (we had hail on Wednesday) I just put all the plants in the greenhouse and will wait just a little bit longer before they get transplanted outside. I talked to my daughter Leslie and she was so anxious to get her newly tilled garden planted. I had to remind her to be a little patient and wait for the ground to warm up. There is no sense in planting anything if the ground is too cold for the seeds to germinate. I usually wait until the middle of May before I put in my garden and one year it was the 4th of July. Everything grew just as fast because it was warmer when I started.

Speaking of gardening, I spent a couple of hours helping out with the garden sale stuff this week. We washed the pots, pruned off some of the dead leaves and inspected for slugs to make the plants more appealing for the sale. Next week we will be working every morning getting stuff ready and then transporting everything to the site on Friday for the actual sale on Saturday. It is really a lot of work and luckily there are a lot of garden club members who turn out to help with this event. Last year we made over $4,000 in the one-day sale and we are hoping to do as well this year. I will be glad when it is all over though.

Those of us on the Park and Recreation Committee have also been having a work party each week for the Wheeler Waterfront Park renovation. That is coming along, but starting next week it will be work, work, work until it is completed by September. At this stage of the project, it's all about moving concrete block and tons of dirt, so it's not a lot of fun. There is a lot to do.

I can't believe all the Goldfinches that have come to the feeder this year. I guess the word got out pretty quickly that this is the place to get fed! I think we counted over 50 birds and they are so cute and colorful. When they land in the trees it looks like ornaments on the branches. I also have about a dozen rock doves and many redwing blackbirds and sparrows. There are also a couple of hummingbirds that keep me on my toes and let me know when their feeder is too low. It has been quite entertaining to watch all of this from the kitchen window. Dave's mom started all this by feeding the birds, and when we moved here, I kept on doing it. But it's amazing to see how many more birds there are than ever before! There are at least a dozen different varieties and easily over a hundred in any given day. I think the word is definitely out that this is the place to eat!

Our friend Ray Hakala has been here all week finishing our wallboard job in the new storage room. Dave got all the sheetrock hung last week, but wanted no part of the mudding and taping. Ray is an artist at that sort of thing and he will get the third and final coat of mud on the seams today. On Monday, we'll rent a texture sprayer so he can do that nasty little job. After that, it'll be my turn to get the room painted. I'm glad we'e beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this project. It seems like we've been working on it all winter. We're waiting for a bid from the vinyl flooring people (should be in today) and if we can afford it, we'll have them cover the concrete with new flooring in about three weeks. Then we assemble the bunkbeds and invite the grandkids in!!