Finally Friday (and three days to labor)

Friday was another hot and humid day, with temps in the mid-80’s. Michelle did a morning “breakfast run” to McDonalds so I had “second breakfast” of a sausage and egg McMuffin.

I had planned to go home for lunch, with a stop at GFS for charcoal and more kitchen bar towels. But, I was feeling stuffed and the idea of eating another hamburger seemed too much.

So, I went to the Newburgh Grill and had a cup of mediocre clam chowder and a mini Greek salad. Then I went to Lowe’s and got some "Cowboy" lump charcoal, their version of bar towels and some paint stripper.

Just after 4:00 p.m., my boss sent most of us home for the Holiday (nice). She and Reggie, the poor Help Desk guy, stayed to cover for us.

So, I got an early start on my long weekend labors. I started by cutting the front lawn with the push mower. Now, I’ve managed to keep the black walnuts on the front lawn to a minimum (by throwing them into the empty lot next door, so the squirrels can still find them). But the side lawn is a real hazard! There’s another black walnut tree just behind that big maple with the tree garden. Unfortunately, both are NOT on my lot.

I have to address these soon before I turn an ankle! But they are falling faster than I can get rid of them.

Then I took the push mower out back and cut all the spots the lawn tractor can’t reach. Speaking of things I can’t seem to keep up with, there were a lot more ripe cherry and Roma tomatoes. So I picked them all and put them in my old plastic colander (that’s my veggie-picking basket – lightweight, and a built-in drain when I rinse my harvest).

The green peppers were finally coming in and the yellow squash plants were dead. The peppers weren’t quite big enough to pick, but I did pull out the squash plants.

I opened the shed to find out what kind of seed was in the Pennington bag, but still can’t tell Carl. All it said was “sun and shade mix.”  So, I locked the shed back up and went inside for the evening. It was 7:40 p.m.

My daughter Melissa called just after I came in. We chatted for a while. They are s-l-o-w-l-y adjusting to living life in Michigan again. Apparently, its quite different here, in a lot of ways, from North Carolina!

After we hung up, I still didn’t feel like eating dinner, so I snacked on all the cherry tomatoes (delicious, and I couldn’t get them any fresher!)

It was just after 10:00 p.m. and I was debating on whether or not to just go to bed when the weather alert went off. A severe thunderstorm was heading my way. Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, it blew in. “Severe” was putting it mildly! It wasn’t lightning and then thunder, but continual flashes (like a strobe light) and rolling thunder. The wind thrashed through the trees and seemed to keep changing directions. I sat in the dark living room and watched it all.

The rain came in sheets and then I heard a weird sound. It was small hail hitting the windows! The storm only lasted about a half hour, but it was intense! After it was over, I went to bed.

Sidebar: I went out Saturday morning and checked the gauge. That short, but wicked storm dumped 3/4-inch of rain on my yard! Thanks, I needed that. And, I didn’t see any major tree limbs down. I didn’t need that…