Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #29 – Yard Work, and A Happy Easter!

Friday, Apr 10^th, 2020……  Today was mowing day. But first I had to walk and feed Rylee. Then I had to go shopping. Lydia has a list of at least a page and a half of things she wants from the store. So, off I went. Our Walmart has now come up with one entrance. I heard they wipe down a cart and hand it to you as you enter - but that was not happening today. I brought my own wipe and took care of that. Half the folks and half the employees are masked and maybe 20% are gloved. I needed batteries and surprisingly found them under house arrest (in a locked case). They actually are required to take them for you to a checkstand where a checker is stationed. I like using the self-checkout aisles at Walmart but NO, couldn’t do that now! Plus, the checker is no longer allowed to bag my groceries. I almost wanted to put the batteries back and head for the self-checkout! But I do understand the precautions and calmed down after a bit.

Later, I got out the mowers and filled them up with gas. Then I took off to take Lydia in for her dialysis and then came back and started mowing. Sis came over and together we got everything done in about an hour and a half. By then it was close to time to head back to Albany. Once we got home, I heated up the leftover spaghetti and, after dinner, we settled in for the night.    

  

Saturday, Apr 11^th, 2020……  I forgot to mention that on Thursday, I went in and got my annual infusion for my osteoporosis. They had put it off due to COVID-19 but I had already done all of my lab work plus had the required bone scan. So, even though this was an “elective event”, they took me in. It was only a 20-minute infusion and I was on my way. I mention this now because one of the side effects is joint pain for a few days. Ironic, because that is what this shot prevents!  Maybe it was because I spent time pruning grapevines and mowing since Thursday, but I ache right now. Not too bad and I will still be going out later today to finish the grapevines and then pick up the grass. Sis will be coming over to help with the grass.

I got Rylee out and walked and checked the weather. It is dry but overcast this morning so I will tackle the grapevines first and let the grass dry out and do that task later this afternoon. We ate breakfast and then I headed out and got the pruning done and everything cleaned up. I have been behind on my monthly bill spreadsheet so I came back in and worked on that this morning. Later, the sun broke through and the grass clippings dried out enough for me to pick them up. This leaf catcher has been one of the best investments I have made!  It really works well on the cut grass. I just drive around and fill up the hopper and then dump it in piles to put into trash bags. I could stockpile it and turn it into mulch but from what I’ve seen from my neighbors, that usually turns into a big old pile that ends up as a burnpile. I’ve already cleaned up Walt’s old burnpile and I don’t want to start a new one. Sis came by and bagged up about 90% of it while I put everything away. I sure appreciate that!  We have 13 bags this time. This week I have the trash filled up with grapevine clippings so I will only be able to dump 2-3 of them. Sis took 4 of them home to dump into her bin.     

       

Sunday, Apr 12^th, 2020…… HAPPY EASTER!!!  We have a nice meal planned for today. We have half of a bone-in ham that we have defrosted. I got that in the oven to warm up while Lydia got up and moved to the kitchen table and made up all of the stuff for potato salad. She also made deviled eggs. We had baked beans and macaroni salad. Sis brought over a lot of that stuff plus dessert. It was a nice meal. We ate early and munched later so I think we did pretty well. We got caught up on The Great Food Truck Race and The Blacklist before heading off to bed. Good day!  Hope everyone had a nice Easter as well.

Monday, Apr 13^th, 2020……  This morning I was up early and out with Rylee and then gave her her breakfast. I think she’s now getting to the stage where she might only want to eat once a day because she doesn’t really jump at the chance to eat breakfast. Some days it sits there for an hour or more before she eats. I am thinking about changing up on the dog food but will wait and see if it gets better.

Lydia had dialysis today but before we left, I went out and worked a bit on my boat trailer. I still had two fenders to sand down. I did them both today. Oh yeah, the joint pain has gone away. Yaay!  That leaves just the main trailer frame and axle. I think tomorrow I will move the boat out of the garage and put it under its new carport (now that the weather is nicer) and that will allow me to move the rest of the trailer frame into the garage for sanding.

Around noon, I loaded up Lydia’s go-bag (which has, among other things, a blanket, two pillows, headphones, her book, and her phone) onto the back of the wheelchair and I took her down the ramp and loaded her in the car and off we went. Problem was, when we got to the clinic, I discovered I had left the bag on the wheelchair in the garage! So, she had to get by today without all of her stuff!  I told them when I dropped her off that her idiot husband had left the bag at home. I guess they already knew I was that idiot because they cracked up!   

I came back and finished my sanding and cleaned up and headed back to pick her up.  We had leftover ham and made sandwiches and also had all the rest of the stuff, including more dessert!  

I found out that The Amazing Race was going to air (after Survivor ends) so I had to go online and download pics of the participants for my book. I have these books for all of the Survivor, Amazing Race, and Dancing With the Stars shows since they started.  When someone gets eliminated, I can make note on the files.

We finished up the night watching our taped tv programs before calling it a night.