August 27th. It’s a busy day. Up at the crack of dawn, which is a hair past seven these mornings. Gotta sip a cuppa with the newspaper out on the lanai under the fan whirling overhead at full speed. Every day it’s the same at daylight….80 degrees and 80% humidity. Another 80-80 morning.
Naturally, there’s my 40 minute workout followed by another 40 minute recuperation period, usually playing Sudoku or Mahjongg solitaire online. I am addicted and I abhor it. I am having arguments with myself while BH is reading The Wall Street Journal and other sources of intelligence.
But, I move into gear when I hear a beep. Got a message. It’s the Pamaro Furniture Shop. The sideboard will be arriving at 3. This is not as exciting as the birth of my new granddaughter a week ago, but…..I can’t wait!!! It’s part of the Great Makeover. Costco, I love you, and you were there when I needed you six years ago but, now, I want to do it my way.
So that countertop dining set that seats eight left last week and the new coastal set for six arrived. Think white distressed round table and woven seagrass chairs. Of course, there’s a new rug to replace the stained one we could never clean. Never thought to look on its underside where it explicitly stated it had to be dry cleaned. What was I thinking? I have never sent a rug to the cleaners and I’m not in my eighth decade starting now!
Ahhhh….the sideboard. I love how it looks, but I love the storage even more. I am a clean lines kind of girl. I like when everything has its place and I don’t have to look at those cluttered counters and tables. But, first I have to clean.
I hate cleaning but when I’m on a tear, I get ridiculously anal. I’m in a race to get it all done before the furniture guys get here. That means cleaning the baseboards, the window sills, the plantation shutters, changing the rug, vacuuming, washing the floor, measuring the wall where it will be placed. I morph into a cleaning lunatic.
And, then, I am in agony regretting my age and take a few ibuprofen, hoping I’ll be able to move again before the day is over. It is then that I remember another reason today is so special. Louise Penny’s latest in her Detective Gamache series is finally out!! As far as detective series, she is my all time favorite! This is #15. Later, I’ll be hanging out at the village of Three Pines in southern Canada with my old friends, Clara, Merna, Ruth and her duck, Rosa.
Before that can happen, there’s the yard. It’s relentless. It’s a jungle out there and after four weeks on the road, it took me days to gather my courage to attack it. Now, I’ve got a plan. Every evening around 7, I get out there armed with my clippers, trowel and rake. I set a goal like lop the dead fronds off the pygmy palms or dig up the weeds in the beds on one side of the house or trim the bougainvillea which is now higher than the pool cage or power wash the mold off the lanai.
Forty minutes later, I just want to jump in the pool in my clothes. I’m covered with sweat and have no energy to change into a swimsuit. More ibuprofen, please.
You may ask, where’s BH? Well, he is out there cleaning up all the stuff I’ve trimmed which is enough to fill at least three garbage barrels. He’s the one mopping the floors. He’s the one who keeps all the container gardens in perfect order.
And, he’s the one who loves to go to Home Depot or Lowe’s and fill shopping carts full of penta plants, ixoras, scheffleras and a myriad of other plants to add to the jungle we’ve got growing out there. That was his goal today. Get more plants in the ground. Oh, and, of course, get a dozen fresh donuts from our local bakery. We love our plants, and, yes, we’re nuts!
It is exactly six o’clock. I have one hour to return to the village of Three Pines before I put on my gardening gloves. Another beautiful day comes to an end.
No comments:
Post a Comment