Nesting

It was with a huge sigh of relief that I tugged and pulled the big warehouse tin door shut at noon after pack up and cleanup on Sunday and put the shelter’s 2017 rummage sale to bed. We set a record for earnings, so that was fantastic, but it came at a cost of nearly exhausting me. It’s hard for us to remember what it was like to do a ten-hour day of hard, physical work once we’re retired; add day after day of that and it was indeed, all I could do to keep functioning. Even my kitties got to the point of seeming to say “Not again--you’re leaving us ALL day!”

We opened to a long line of probably 75 people and for the first two hours it was such a feeding frenzy I couldn’t even really get any good photos. I was too busy. So, these three are it! 

We had a warehouse full of contributions, some good things, some novel things, and some outright junk. I myself scored a lovely handmade log birdhouse and an old bird feeder with a darling shingle top. I plan to repurpose this into a pallet bird house as Marc bought me my own skill saw last time he was home. It’s battery operated so light enough for me to use.

Monday morning was wonderful not having to roll out of my yard and I was able to catch up on desperately neglected things around home. The weeds took over of course, cheering my absence; and unfortunately, due to neglect and increasing heat, the garden mostly bolted to seed. 

I’m ready to settle in and just nest for awhile. I look forward to doing some of my crafting things like more glass flowers; I have quite a bit of painting to do and I desperately need to get back to my treadmill. I was also able to score some great looking novels cheaply at the sale and they too, are calling my name. May be time to settle in and read on my new porch bed in case a nap is due as well.

Naps on the Porch

Marc's just left after a crazy, busy visit that seemed way too short. As the honey-do list expands, he seems to slow down--he loses two days to travel coming and going and takes at least a day here to recover from the trip since the flight arrives at midnight, so that's essentially another mostly wasted day. This lifestyle of always working with only short breaks, and not seeing each other is not for sissies.

I'm moving into my time tomorrow running the Humane Society rummage, which will keep me hopping for the next ten days solid. I'll be pulling some long hours, wondering how I will get time to keep up with the yard work, watering, and giving the cats supervised time outside.

I did get my arbor done while he was here and I absolutely am head over heels with it. I did the design and painting and Marc did the engineering. Given the footings he secured it with, this thing won't be going anywhere in our high wind storms. We had one that tore through here not long ago which did lots of damage to trees and buildings as it was straight line winds clocked at 70 mph. We're topping the arbor with bird houses and I've planted two climbing roses at its base. It makes a great focal entryway over our stepping stone pathway to the house.

While he was here the weather mostly cooperated which allowed him to get up and fly the drone for some neighborhood shots. I'm always amazed how green this area is and how beautiful in its bucolic way. He sure wishes he no longer had to be in the desert! Speaking of which, I'll include a couple drone shots of his humble abode (our Grand Villa) parked next to his trailer job office. Since I left he lives on site as that gives him additional income operating as a theft deterrent. The project is coming along nicely as you can note from the photos. Back after the rummage!