Spring!

I will shred your carpet!

The Prisoner almost looks kittenish in the photo above, but the image was snapped on March 31st, this year.  He's ten going on 11 years old.  Yes, both kitties do shred my carpet on the stairs and in the hallway, especially at thresholds to rooms from which they are supposed to be banned.

Saturday, April 9th - a Spring football game was being played downtown, which affects traffic.  In my own little neighborhood there was an egg hunt for the kids Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.  Yes, Palm Sunday weekend, not Easter, but that's when the event was posted on the yard signs near the park.🥚

I was cleaning and changing the slip covers on the parlor furniture.  Normally, the wing-back in the corner is the cat chair.  It has a fresh slip cover and I hoped the allergens were at least reduced for my guests.

I added an attempt to Carl-proof it: the pet throw on the chair is supposed to be non-slip.  We shall see.  It's new this week.  I washed the slip cover for the couch, and upgraded it's pet-protector.  The room looks so deserted with no people and no pets... which is about the only time it's "clean".

My co-con-piscators (not a real word) showed up a bit after 5, and we proceeded to put together the lemon pepper salmon, broccoli, and mashed potatoes that made up our "Fish Festival #2" meal.  It was awesome, as the first had been.

At the close of the meal, I shooed the two fellow fish eaters out the door to their own family night, keeping "Grandma Dottie's rules" related to dishes.  I can re-live the memories while cleaning up.  Let's face it, when equipped with a dishwasher?  Simple.

I'm left with a cleaned up and peaceful house.  Ahhhh!

On Sunday, April 10th, I was completely wiped out.  I paid one bill, took a nap, and discovered the joy of what one can do with leftover mashed potatoes and a frying pan.  Add a couple of eggs and you have celebratory breakfast.  I filled out my mail-in ballot for the upcoming primary election, and at that point, I was out of gas and vegged out watching TV.  Billions had its season finale airing for the first time Sunday.  Boo, hiss, I think all the "new episode a week" series are pretty much done.  Except for Picard... it's not done yet.

Monday, April 11th:  I slept until I naturally woke, had a leisurely breakfast, then I went and got my hair cut.   

Back in about January or February, don't remember exactly when, but locally we were still in the Omicron surge, I had whacked it off myself.  We've been in green for three weeks on the risk dial, and it will probably rise again, judging from what's going on in other parts of the country.  I figured, better sooner than later to take this particular act.  The cut took almost no time, seriously.  I have short, fine hair.  The salon was not busy at all.  I was the only customer in at the time I went.  I tipped well, as the pandemic has given me an appreciation for those who have service jobs.

Selfie, back at home, with no make-up, all wrinkles visible, and my basic short cut.

After documenting the haircut, I put the vacuum cleaner filters back in.  I had taken them out Saturday evening in my clean up phase after the fish festival and washed them.  They have to dry in the open air for 24 hours before reassembling the machine.  Funny, the older I get, the more "little" things feel like major accomplishments.

Tuesday, April 12th:  At the trainer we had two topics of conversation, myself, the gal before me, and the trainer.  First of course the universal topic - the weather!  It sure didn't look like what the weatherman was telling us.  We have a predicted high of 89 or 90 degrees, Fahrenheit... yikes!  But it was 53 and overcast when we were all at the gym!  "It's going to have to clear off those clouds"... and sure enough, as I typed this, three hours later, the sun is shining, and the angle promises some heat, for sure.

Later, around 7:45 p.m., the promised thunder boomers came through, with the tornado sirens blaring in the outdoor air.  I got some hail on my deck, pea-sized.  By morning the temperature went from 90℉ to 35℉!

Those are not apple blossom petals.  They are hail stones.

The other topic from the trainer talks:  the so-called "second Covid-19 booster" and whether we had got or would get it, and when.  The gal before me has hers scheduled for Wednesday.  I shared my dithering about delaying for some months to try to "time" it closer to "the next surge".

When I got home and changed, that topic came right back up, as sitting in my e-mail was notification from the health department that I could schedule shot #4 now.  As they had been the avenue for all 3 of my prior shots, I went ahead and scheduled for Friday morning.  It won't be a big clinic like the first three were.  I have decided to go for "the other brand" to try to mix it up a bit.  My own little experiment.

After the fact, I realized that Friday is Good Friday.  OK, then.  I have made arrangements with my older sister to do Easter Morning church and brunch with her and a friend of hers.  We shall see if shot #4 kicks like shots 2 and 3 did for me.

Wednesday, April 13th, the big accomplishments for the day were getting Dexter's gas tank filled up (not quite six gallons) for just under twenty bucks, and laying in fresh bananas and blueberries at the grocery store.

Thursday, April 14th... off to the trainer session, of course.  Then I came home and decided I really should check on that fence.  You may remember the section of fence that came down in the big stormy December day?  The one my son and I gave a lick and a promise to?  Well, with the wind on Tuesday night, it was worthy of checking.  Sure enough, it came down.  I dragged the downed section around and into the garage.

Now my yard is not Carl proof, and the neighbors will be able to see my weeds.  But I'm going to leave it down until I can query the neighbor across the street about who did his wrought iron backyard fence, because I'm thinking I want to "upgrade" to that.  Yes, it will cost an arm and a leg, but it won't blow over as easily as the old wooden one.

Looks like my list of Spring projects is getting re-prioritized.

Here's hoping my fellow Spark refugees are surviving their Spring storms, too.  Remember to value yourself, pace yourself, and respect yourself... as well as others.  Life is good.  Spark on!💖🔥