Tuesday

Other than a couple bathroom breaks, I did sleep all night, woke up to the alarm and felt much better.

I went home at lunch and was making a sandwich when the doorbell rang. By the time I washed my hands and got there, I saw the UPS driver pulling away. I took the box inside and went back to my sandwich making. Then the doorbell rang again! I repeated the hand washing and went out to see a Fed Ex truck moving off. I took the package inside and finally got to eat my lunch.

Back at home after 5:00 p.m., I resisted the impulse to tear into the boxes and went out back to water the grass seed. Note: I was very, very depressed to see the new grass in back of the shed (next to the fence) had almost completely died! I’m guessing that two inches of rain last week drowned it as the ground back there was still saturated. Maybe it will come back over the winter…

Back inside, I opened my treasures. I had seen the one online and thought, “Perfect for an English garden!” It’s a gargoyle that you put on the end of your downspout, so the water comes out of its mouth (think Notre Dame cathedral in Paris).

I took a couple of photos and then went out and installed him in the garden. Luckily, he’s not visible from the road, so (hopefully) he won’t disappear.

The other box suggested itself to me after purchasing the gargoyle. It is small (about 7 inches by 7 inches) and came with a screw-together stake. Quite frankly, its made to be a Halloween lawn decoration. But, I am planning on mounting it to the stone wall by the front door.

Hey, its better than posting a phoney burglar alarm sign, I think!

I drilled a hole in the mortar, filled the hole back up with more mortar patch and put in a drywall screw expander (not sure that’s what they are really called). My smallest cement screw would not fit into the hole in the back of the plaque you see. I’ll let it dry overnight and see if this idea works.

Next, I glued on the eyes, eyebrows and mouth of that old, used board I’m turning into a pumpkin. Then I turned on the air compressor, got out the brad nailer and nailed them all on to stay. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make it stand up!

Finally, I took the barometer holder I had stained and sprayed it with the first coat of polyurethane. I went in the house and set the timer for one hour and 45 minutes (you have to re-coat the polyurethane within two hours, or you have to wait 72 hours!)

So, I made my dinner. I warmed up enough pulled pork to generously fill an onion roll. I added a little more BBQ sauce on the bun, put on the pulled pork and then topped that with coleslaw. I ate that with a McClure’s pickle and a handful of Better Made barbeque chips (the best).

Dinner was freakin’ awesome!

I went back into the garage and opened the door long enough to spray the second coat on the barometer holder. Then I shut everything up for the night and went back inside.

I filled in the Blog entry , watched a little TV and then I went to bed.