The warm-up act was Monday night's bunco party. Around 20 women and children (yes, we start 'em young) gathered for baked potatoes, salad, laughter and yes...putting out money and rolling dice. Don't call the vice squad - the proceeds will buy a bicycle for a preacher in India to be able to get from town to town faster and easier.)
It was fun, but I just want to let those who toured my home know that my vacuum does NOT hang out in the middle of my bathroom all the time. Thank you for politely overlooking it, but really - you're my friends. One of you could have said SOMETHING! I had to laugh when I walked in there later that night and there it sat. It was one of those things. I started to vacuum and then I saw some laundry that needed to be started, and when I got to the laundry room I realized I had a basket of assorted odds-and-ends that needed to be put away... And before long, I forgot all about vacuuming.
After Monday the countdown clock began ticking toward Friday. Last night at 6:30, a steady stream of friends began showing up, and the last family pulled away a little after 10. Swimmer girl and middle son took advantage of the still-flaming bonfire to make a few more S'mores while I tidied up and Mr. Official helped Little Dog and Big Dog do their business for the night. (We have a weekend guest in the form of 35 pounds of energy and fur, also known as Sadie-the-grandpuppy.)
Where was I? Oh yes,loose ends.
Although much of the week was spent on other things, I did tie up a few loose ends.
For starters, I moved a gob of plants from old house to new house last weekend - all my Louisiana irises, variegated Irises, Japanese purple irises, and several hostas. To even things out, I shovel-pruned two clematis in the new house's beds. I like clematis as much as anybody, but you gotta know your varieties, and "sweet autumn" clematis is NOT a dainty little vine to plant in your formal garden beds. It's a thug. A sweet smelling thug, but a thug. They were smothering the roses on either side of them, so in the final analysis, it was the clematis that had to go. Their departure left room for one of my birdbaths.The deck rails and spindles are now all stained. They could use a second coat, but even if they don't get it for a few months, they are sealed and ready to withstand the summer sun beating down on them. So we went from this:
to this:
I also hung curtains in the two upstairs bedrooms. Fortunately, hanging them did NOT involve a rodent-sighting.
And I hung some pictures in our master bathroom and painted over my drywall repair job. The entire bathroom needs a painting - but at least it doesn't have white spots here and there until I can completely tie up that loose end. So that one is only half-tied.
I made a list of all known loose ends and wound up with two dozen projects, big and small. All I can say is it's going to be a very busy summer.
Happy tying!
