Labor Day Vibes :: Feeling Shady

Happy Labor Day! I have never worked in a union and I am quite sure my father never did either. So my only familiarity comes from life as a newspaper reporter sharing updates on "negotiations." 

Yes, I am guilty of just seeing this as a day off and unofficial end of summer. But it hit home during the pandemic when I realized jobs like mine did not make me an "essential worker." No one is going to live or die based on my creative marketing copy. It does nothing really to move the country forward.

The ones who do deserve more than just one holiday off, in my opinion! Salute to you all!

As for my holiday, I did do some physical labor pulling weeds and random pop-up grape vines (probably poisonous) from around the front deck. I also laid all my hanging baskets of flowers to rest! RIP.

That was sunny, sweaty work! When I hauled the wheelbarrow full of weeds to our way back yard "dumping pile" I was immediately struck by how much cooler it was back there in the shade... with a breeze!

So I set up a chair in my new shady area and enjoyed a cool breeze while I listened to more of my marathon audio book. It was nice. I was wishing for a hammock!

Beyond that, it was a pretty laidback day for both of us. Always plenty of baseball on TV. Plus I needed my steps while listening to my book. 

This week is our week "in the office" Tuesday-Thursday, so I need to remember to turn on an earlier (dang) alarm and pick out clothes for work/immediately followed by golf tomorrow. There is a lot of pressure in the workforce these days, isn't there?

Hope you had a relaxing Labor Day Weekend and took time to pat yourself on the back for your hard work! Thank you!

Embracing Mother Earth

 

Well Mother, Mother Earth is having her annual spotlight in the sun! Happy Earth Day!

Some years my friend and I pick up trash from the ditches, some years I completely let it pass by without thought, and this year there was too much going on for me to give the day the full honor and observance it deserves.

But...

I did connect with some "solar power" on the swing while working quite awhile after hours ... on my swing. That counts, right?

Then I bonded with the Earth when I trimmed down our Pampas Ass Grass. Which according to multiple sources (since I have 2 black thumbs) you should do in late April or early May when you KNOW there won't be another frost.

Well, when I got home from work and saw hubby brought up the fan to the bedroom window to replace the wintertime vaporizer/humidifier, I figured he must know something. Like maybe Mother Earth told her mentally disturbed sister Mother Nature to chill out and move onto spring already.

I hope that's the case!

But since my hubby stores the wheelbarrow in his One-Key-for-Jimmy-Only Shed, he'll have to do part 2 tomorrow as it will be dark when he gets home from golf tonight!

What habits have you picked up to help preserve the planet?

I admit Jim and I are so accustomed to recycling EVERYTHING, that I feel guilty when I'm in a situation where the vibe is "Just throw everything in the trash." 

But I did attempt to give up Aqua Net hairspray to save the Ozone in the '90s. I admit the liquid-type stuff didn't work the same. So I relapsed to aerosol spray and I hope some Earth-loving big hair fan picked up where I left off.

And don't get me started on how we deal with keeping volume in our thinning hair after we turn... ahem... 40? Sorry, Mother Earth, you are millions of years older than that. Please understand and forgive.

Enjoy Earth Day every day!

God's Work, Our Hands

Despite not wanting to get up and do physical labor, I got to an early church service and did physical work like raking and digging weeds and more. It was amazing what our team did in 3 hours this morning!

After that, I was able to run home and change out of my dirty clothes and then head to Assumption's first week of BINGO for the season.

Sad to say that I was only partially close to getting BINGO. (One away from the Goal Post BINGO above) But it was still for great cause.

By the time I got home, I realized I should pay attention to what my fantasy team should be doing. Turns out, it is doing OK on its own, despite the fact my tight end is up against the Packers.

So that's that. I'm about to just enter this next week. See you there!

I Still Love Summer, I Swear

I love summer. I do. I like warm days. This summer it seems we either have super hot or it's rainy. No much middle ground there.

So my big project yesterday was starting a little landscaping before it got hot. And it was even in our yard.

There's a beautiful flat rock landing along the river that I like to take senior photos at. But when I checked its status last week, I found that bushes had grown so much it was unsafe to navigate around them without falling in. So armed with my yard shears (I don't even know what tools are called), I went down to the river.

Here's the before picture. See what I mean by precarious?

And here's after my Edward Scissorhands stint. So much safer!

The before of the other direction was even worse!

And after. I felt so accomplished when I was done and hoped the evidence would float away. Ha.

Of course, I didn't even get to reap the rewards of my hard work today because we postponed tonight's senior photo session. I didn't want the poor girl to melt! 

Naturally, the AC is cranked in the house so you know me, I'll probably go outside to warm up!

Be careful out there!

Rural Life

 

After visiting the neighborhood farm 3 times on Saturday, I am getting an appreciate for rural life. The first 2 trips were to get the veggies. And the third was taking Carter and Mamie over there to say hi to Farmer Peggy – and see the cats.

Sassy Elspeth looks a lot like their kitty Benny (and the Jets) from their college house.

This afternoon, after the kids headed back to Dubuque, I returned to the farm to return the little paper bags she uses for the produce. Might as well save her a little work since she's the hardest working woman in the tri-county area – no doubt! I stopped to take a picture of one of the many flower areas she manages to keep alive while feeding cattle and chickens and picking vegetables. Uff da. Hard work I am not cut out for.

On the way back, I'm like, but wait, look at this pompas ass grass we planted this spring! I mean it IS growing. Was it supposed to be knee-high by the forth or hip-high? Not sure. But anything green that comes from my two black thumbs is a victory!

Just the Usual Shallow Grave Scenario

 

Naturally, I think I awakened to a situation where hubby dug a shallow grave in our front yard. Of course, normal people who don't watch any weird TV shows would probably wonder what Mr. Austin is planting.

Whew! I'm safe!

So we both discussed quite some time ago planting some Pampas Grass – which I just said is brown with white feathery blooms on top.

Today, our transplant efforts from our brother-in-law looks like this.

But we hope it ends up looking like this. Either way, we'll have learned yet another lesson in Landscaping 101. Hopefully this time we get a passing grade! 

How to Get Out of a Broody Mood

Our new neighbors are a bunch of turkeys! I mean, literally. I think there are a few broods that have taken residence down the road. Because this is not the same group I saw yesterday. They had smaller young 'uns. (If you pay me during turkey hunting season, I'll show you where!)

But there are easier ways to get rid of a brood, er broody mood.

This morning after a I finished a slightly stressful work project, I thought, "What a nice day to take an afternoon off!" So I did.

Yes, the rest of my steaming pile of work will still be there Monday, but it was just such a nice, upper 70s temperature kind of day that will be fleeting before we know it. So I logged off, took a nice lunchtime walk with my friend Jenny, then did some weeding (very tall weeds) in front of the house, rested in the sun a minute, then decided to go golfing. 

Now that my golf partner is retired, I thought there was a chance she was free! That worked out great!

So I evaporated my broody mood by splitting my time between Mr. Deck Chair and Mr. Fox. Sorry, no time for Mr. Austin today! Plus he's taking stats at the Royals' first football game of the season down in Markesan. (Don't worry, I had to Google it, too.)

Of course, coming off my best round last night, I was expecting greatness on the course. Guess that's an every-other-day kind of thing. Ugh. The good news there is that I'll be "on" for our golf scramble tomorrow! 

After our round, Marigene and I grabbed dinner at the clubhouse. This week's hot honey spiced chicken sandwich is mucho yummo! Loved it so much, I brought half of it home so I could enjoy it for another meal. 😋

Now I'm relaxing at home, taking care of a bit of laundry, and might catch up on a little Emily in Paris season 4 while crocheting a raffle basket blanket. 

And that's how to uplift your mood. Any day. Follow me here for more stress-relief hacks. 😆

Curse that First Round

I should immediately edit that to say "man or woman" learned to swear. If you were at TriCity from 4:15 to 6 p.m., that was me. Sorry if you had children with you!

But when the weather was this nice after our round, you know it was a great day to get that first, awful round in. 

I did a little bit of yard work after church until the next door neighbor spotted what he called a "very small" snake between our yards. That was enough for me to call it quits for the day and head to the safety of Mr. Deck Chair for a bit.

I swung over to the nearby book sale at the Kiwanis Club and found some things to inspire my sister Rachel. I also bought a few 50/50 raffle tickets and am so glad I answered that call from an unknown caller when we were about to tee off. I won!

Just enough to pay for my purchases plus the tickets. So basically a free day.

As for the golf part. Uff da. Definitely the first time in 8 months. We golfed with our friends Craig and Sara. And like me, Sara hadn't golfed much either. The guys have already started their league!

I'm thankful they put up with my pathetic performance but my impeccable use of some curse words.

Happy Winds, er Mon-Day

All of the severe weather traveling through Wisconsin this evening is featuring 60 mph winds. Not surprised since the wind chimes outside of my office windows have been going crazy all day. Think they're shooting for some classic rock or heavy metal melodies versus the usual tink-tinkling relaxation vibe.

We can also tell its windy by our new wind gauge. Also known as a "spinner" or something.

Jim got this pretty yard ornament from his sister for his birthday. 

And today it was spinning so fast, I was sure it was going to lifted from the ground!

Also, note in the background how much drier and browner our grass has become in one week. Uff da. Was a high of 91 today. I took a lunch break with Mr. Deck Chair but I didn't have the stamina. Ha. Sorry, dude.

I'm never one for wishing for rain, but yeah, my flowers need it. My grass needs it. And all those farmers around here need it 100 times more! I do believe it's coming this week.

And conveniently working around my golf schedule Thursday and Saturday. For now. 

I won't be selfish. 

Ok. I will. But I'll try not to mention it. 

Have a great week, everyone!

About Bloomin' Time

It took awhile, but I finally had a day with no concrete plans! And even though Mr. Deck Chair was beckoning me for bonding time, I knew I had other outdoor non-fun to attend to first.

By 10 a.m. I was out there clipping weeds and hauling rock and doing some raking. And much to my sweaty pleasure... NO SNAKES!! I know! Let's celebrate!

When I was done with the hard part, I commenced to the second hard part – finding hanging baskets of flowers this late in the game. I know it's only the beginning of June, but that's late for that kind of search. I just didn't want to do it a few weeks back before I was gone a lot or when the weather was still too iffy going from cold spring temps to warm pre-summer temperatures.

Luckily, I did manage to find some left at Home Depot. Got the porch pot (above) taken care of and 5 hanging baskets out front.

I think with some water and TLC and they'll be fine. And yes, of course, you're seeing purple.

But to represent the current sports season, I got our respective flags up today, too. And yes, Jim is well aware of what the Brewers have been doing to his Reds this weekend. We're both still loyal. Though I realize I should get a matching flag with my Twins' World Series championship years, too. Both will be faded by end of summer anyway. The flags – hopefully not our playoff hopes!

The day didn't leave room for much else. Watched a little golf on TV. Hubby went golfing tonight with friends. And while I called my mom, I finally spent some time with Mr. Deck Chair.

About bloomin' time!

Sunday Funday

As soon as I walked out of church this morning and felt the sun's warmth, I said, "I gotta go golfing today!"

And after hubby and I did some yard work for two hours – mainly picking up sticks upon sticks in the backyard – we both went golfing. But not together.

Since Carter was out visiting friends this afternoon, we felt a guilt-free moment to hit the sticks. The kind we enjoyed.

I went golfing at 3 p.m. with my friend, neighbor, and now league partner Marigene. We just had to get the ugly first round out of the way. You know, the one where we forget how to hit or putt. It was super busy at TriCity today – as it probably was at most golf courses – but we didn't complain. We were finally golfing.

I only had one par dance in the 9 holes but my victory was really that I didn't 3-putt... until the last hole.

Jim golfed at 4 p.m. with two buddies but they'd already put in some time on the links. 

Was home in time to visit with Carter, mix up some Monster Cookie dough and make their favorite Crack Chicken meal. Busy day but so blessed it was absolutely gorgeous out. I think maybe 70+ degrees. 

Gotta love Sunday Funday when it's an actual SUN day! 

Spring Invasions

I wish all our visitors today were as nice looking as this deer that showed up at dusk tonight. But nope. They were pretty gross and unwanted.

Yesterday afternoon I just happened to be out on the front deck and noticed these flying or hopping bugs. We didn't think much of it until today.

This morning's view featured all those little flying bastards gathering en mass in the driveway. Oh, and the deck and near the garage doors. Gross!

I learned they are called Snow Fleas, which gives me a creepy crawly feeling, and they're pretty common. Maybe they are here every year and I just didn't notice. So I sought a safe means to eradicate them. I guess a mixture that includes Dawn dish soap does the trick. We'll see. It took my several bottles full of special sauce to have enough to spray them all. 

I hope it worked. But as a backup, we called our Orkin man. You know, the one we call Son #2. He stopped by and added his extra touch, too, so hopefully they're dead or gone or both come tomorrow.

Our only other invasions today were dandelions sprouting and the deer.

"Hi, I'm a harmless flower. Annoying and wide-spread, but harmless!"

We'll see. At least I was able to do some work in the back yard without seeing any snakes. So far. Just want to keep the spring invasions to a minimum! Hope you can, too!

Right now, lightning and thunder our invading our spring evening. Be careful out there!

Anger Management for a Good Cause

It's been a pretty stressful week, well, maybe month or so at work. Just lots of things to accomplish. All at once, it seems.

So when our marketing writing team decided to do a volunteer project and get out of the office, I was thrilled. Our company generously pays us for some volunteer time off each year – even during work hours – so 9 of us writers left the office at 1 p.m. yesterday and headed to the Bridge Street Mission in Wausau.

We knew it was going to a be a sketchy weather afternoon of manual labor – not usually my thing – consisting mostly of raking and picking up sticks and other random spring yard work. Just as I was approaching the guy in charge who was giving our group instructions, I heard him say, "And if anyone is particularly angry today and wants to burn off steam..."

I yell, "Me, me. I am!" 

So he gave me a sledgehammer and told me to break apart some old planter things.

Man, that felt good! Except, sigh, the hammer was really heavy and I knew after one swing that it would not be good for my back. So I reluctantly gave it up to one of the guys on the team – who did not admit today if he was sore or not. I know I was hurting today just from all the raking and picking up sticks. We don't do any of that in our own yard. My body usually knows better.

But the folks at the recovery house were super grateful, so it felt good to do it, that's for sure. 

And warm fuzzies always trump stress. 

So does taking pictures. After I got back to town, I was able to take some photos of Royals softball (they beat Edgar) and baseball (we unfortunately blew a lead and lost). Then tonight after work it was rinse and repeat. Minus the sledgehammer. 

Oh, and post-game fish fries with friends also help manage stress or anger.

Follow me for more life tips! And be careful out there!

Technically it's Still Autumn Right?

The brownish-green grass disappeared overnight and now the only color out there in our winter wonderland is white and a few brown and orange autumn leaves holding onto their season for dear life.

Sadly, they're not long for this world.

As predicted, we officially got 6 inches of snow in Wisconsin Rapids. I think only 5 on Blue Jay Drive but it all still weighed in at "heavy and wet." Schools were closed so most of our team worked from home again. 

And while I was working, the neighborhood snow angels swooped in to clear our driveway. I love that even though hubby is the one laid up, they treat me like a helpless female who can't remove snow. I don't mean that sarcastically. I love that. And am so grateful that for today I didn't have to try and remember how to operate the snowblower. Thank you, Mike and Mike! Jim thanks you and my back thanks you, too!

To illustrate how heavy that snow is... remember these straight trees (at right) from our front yard yesterday?

Mother Nature likes to bend them apart so they look look like fuzzy rabbit ears. Or, as a friend pointed out, wings. Maybe snow angel wings? I tried to get a selfie in front of them to look like an angel, but as Santa pointed out the other day, my name does not appear in that column either!

Over lunch, I did break out the lens ball and got this somewhat creative shot. I need more practice but I still think it's cool! Since winter hasn't technically started, I'm guessing I'll get a few more chances.

We could still get another inch or two tonight. At least I know I don't have to travel in the morning since Friday's already a work-from-home day. We were also lucky we didn't have to deal with power outages here either. It's been a very long couple of days for many of you.

Take care, enjoy the last days of fall, and be careful out there! 

Yabba Dobber Do

Celebrating a couple of things today. Hubby got leaves picked up and I got my hanging baskets and hooks and junk (ha) put away. It was chillier than yesterday but we wanted to cross it off our lists. I guess we had some post-church motivation! Yay.

We relaxed a bit this afternoon while checking football scores. And...

SKOL! It wasn't televised here so we'll have to have long-distance excitement over that one.

My winning ways continued though. I picked up my friend Jenny and we went to Assumption to play BINGO. OK it's been decades since I played so I didn't it was so fancy will all kinds of different rules and patterns and stuff. Lot to keep track of. Luckily we had BINGO mentors in the table next to us. (Thanks, Sean and Michelle!)

I figured out 4 Corners. BINGO! So that was cool. 

I had to split the pot with another winner, though, so I just got $10. But a win is a win!! And my orange dobber was fun and cool, too. I know. I am officially an old lady BINGO dork!

I was THIS close to winning the Martini Glass round. I'm telling you, they have everything!

Jenny was hoping for a Blackout win (or orange-out) but we both fell short. Still, we both agreed we're going to have to do this again. I mean we have to use those dobbers up! 

Plus, it's for a good cause. No, not to give our hubbies peace and quiet – but support a fundraiser. Today was for the junior class. Not sure what future ones are for, but pay attention to the school newsletters and social posts so you don't miss the next game day.

We might even let you sit with us at the cool kids table!

Bee Serious!

I think I led you to believe that the Friendly snakes were my nemesis in the yard. But maybe not anymore.

Last Sunday while digging out some landscape rocks by the end of the driveway. Something got under my shirt – no, not hubby – and managed to sting me twice on my right side before I could get it out from under the fabric. It was a painful sting. I yelled "Oww, ouch, oww!" all the way to the house.

I'm not allergic like my epipen-carrying husband, but I always feel a bit woozy afterwards. This time it was not the woozy I was worried about. It was the pain. Not your standard bumble-bee but maybe a hornet rolling up its sleeves like above or wicked ground bee. Either way. So hurtful. And that lasted on and off for two days while the site of the sting grew a nice reddish itchy-owie area as big as my hand. Finally tempered that with some hydro-cortisone and lots of lotion.

Exactly one week later and I'm push-mowing the areas that our rider can't reach. I feel that stab of pain again. This time right on top of my right foot where it bends. Ouch. Mother mother! I iced it and then put some of that hydro-cortisone on it. That did nothing for the pain.

I tool a Benedryl and went to Wal-Mart to grab some "medical" pain relieve like the Sting Kill ointment (did do diddly) and Dermaplast something spray (that also didn't remove the pain). So I tried some baking soda trick. Not doing it either. I just need something to numb the area like they do at the dentist or doctor's office. 

Any suggestions? I'd like to get some sleep tonight. Thanks. 

Bee careful out there!