July 21, 2009

The good thing about sleeping (a lot) yesterday is the opportunity to wake up early and enjoy the break of day! The sun peeks through the trees and shines on the dew kissed grass while the squirrels romp around and the birds sing their morning tunes. It is so relaxing to just sit back and enjoy the quiet and serene setting that I am very lucky to be in!

Paul stopped by for a visit and coffee. As he was leaving it started to drizzle and within the next thirty minutes it was raining pretty steadily. Deciding that the rain wasn't going to keep me from one of my only two outside chores, I headed out to pick up sticks, twigs and branches and to trim the new grass around the shrubs and to water the one that seems to be sheltered from the rain!

I was outside around 10:30 and walked every inch of the property, bending and carrying all the fallen debris. I heard that on July 11, Madison was hit with a huge hail storm and during that storm, the area surrounding the cabin experienced a huge wind storm. The amount of branches and twigs I picked up were proof of that! I carried brush to the left; I carried brush to the right; I carried brush to the fire pit - and just when I was ready to complain - I'm glad the fallen debris was the worst of the storm damage...things could have been so much worse. There's a tree past the easement that split, possibly hit by lightening or a big gush of wind. While I walked back and forth the rain ended - and if as opening a door, the mosquitoes swarmed! I even dealt with some ants and of course tripping on the roots and vole tunnels was a force to be reckoned with as well! I made it back to the cabin and was surprised...well maybe shocked - to see that it was 3:10. Not only was I outside almost 5 hours, but I missed lunch and GH! No wonder I am so thirsty and so exhausted! Hopefully all my laborious work will pay off this weekend when Carlo comes up to cut the grass.

I was able to snap some photos of some wild flowers - or flowering weeds - since they'll be gone after the grass is cut.

I was excited to be able to enjoy the flowers as they bloomed this season since my visits here are more frequent than the years past. I even discovered a lilac bush on the side of the wood crib. This is one of my favorite flowering shrubs and I was surprised to see it - not remembering ever seeing it before. Most likely we were always cutting it down!

The only thing that would have made my photo shoot more perfect would have been if the yellow flowering plant in the front would have had its flowers opened.

Just after finishing up with the pictures, I got the grill started and once again, it started pouring! I rested my tired, sore, rain drenched body while the grill cooked up some grub. I woke up to some plump hot dogs, some burnt hot dogs and some pretty tasty ribs! I decided to cook a bunch so I could take some grilled foods home.

After dinner and after cleaning the kitchen up, I disinfected the tiles and sealed them. I cannot believe what an incredible difference the sealer makes - the color of the tiles are enriched and have a great wet-look sheen to them.

It seems like all the chores I intended to do were accomplished! Yay - Except for trimming the grass around the shrubs. Next time!