Brian’s daughter and her students from the LPN program at McCann.
Cement stairs project is going very well. Should be finished tomorrow.
Ron deposited $300 to my account to defray some of the cost of the stairs.
HFCU approved my request for an increase in credit limit. Phew.
Boys came over with their Dad who threw a swisher from our yard!
Went to Walmart to exchange Ron’s jeans. Got a nice little Spirea for less than half price.
Ron and I watched lightning bugs after dark.
Nick was here early to start work on framing the bulkhead steps. He moved thirty or so cement blocks to the side of the yard. Would have cost $300 to dispose of them.
I vacuumed and put the living room back together. Changed the sheets.
Returned a part of the carpet cleaner that got left behind yesterday.
Ron is off to have a very irritated sore on his leg treated. Looks like it could be a spider bite.
YouTube has been refusing to show videos. Took a while to figure out that I could see them only if I wasn’t logged in. I tried everything else, with no success: different browsers, running Incognito, clearing cache, deleting extensions.
The boys came over yesterday to experiment with the door chimes. They said they’d knocked but no one answered, so we suggested ringing instead.
Yesterday we rented a Bissell at Aubuchon and by noon today had moved furniture, vacuumed and cleaned the living room carpet.
It was easier than I thought it would be and I’m annoyed that we didn’t do this six months ago.
After cleaning myself up, I attended a Project 2025 standout at Field Park.
Last night a huge branch fell on one of the sheds. Ron shoved it aside this afternoon.
I grilled burgers for lunch/supper. Stung again by a hornet, realized there was a nest on the back of one of the chairs next to the grill! Furious, I sprayed the nest and knocked it on the deck. It was full of eggs – the nasty creature did me a favor.
One of the daylilies that I repotted for the deck bloomed. We have two Brandywines and a bunch of cherry tomatoes.
Wild grape vines have no fruit, so I cut down a pile of them that were covering a little pear tree that we hadn’t noticed before in the corner garden.
According to Google, there must be at least one more tree available for pollination, so this is an especially exciting discovery.
I used the opportunity to do some weeding.
The mini split installer and his son took measurements and the deposit check, answered our questions, and signed the contract.
We rented a carpet cleaning machine from Aubuchon.
I made a salad.
We watched a lot of political videos, including Jamie Raskin’s Constitutional Class Series episode on the Emoluments Clause.
We had weather last evening, more expected today.
Good checkup yesterday with the doc. He also signed off on the MOLST and completed the Documentation of Need for the Home Modification Loan program.
Sprayed the hibiscus plants. Rewound the hose next to the driveway. Stopped by to see Linnea. Small grocery shop. Stuffed steel wool pads under the bulkhead door.
Met with a mason about pouring bulkhead stairs.
Today I cut off damaged hibiscus and Hosta leaves.
This afternoon, Ron and I were approved for a MassSave no-interest loan at Greylock. Coordinated with the mason to start work on Monday.
Made a brief appearance at the Gay Pride event at Greylock and brought home a gorgeous peony stem with a flower and several buds.
In pajamas all day. Stayed out of sight of the neighbors and didn’t leave the house.
I did manage a little more cleanup of the garden to the left of the stairs before it got too hot.
Grateful that we accomplished the big outdoor stuff yesterday. I believe it hit 100 today or close to it. Looks like this heat dome will be gone by Saturday.
Ron wants to apply for a stagehand job at Mass MOCA. Helped him with the online application and a PayPal money matter.
I made a pie with the rhubarb (2 bunches) we picked up last week from the Apple Barn and some corn and cheese muffins. Both came out well. Made a salad for lunch, corn and pie for dinner.
The government deposited Social Security payments early because of Juneteenth (tomorrow) being a federal holiday so I was able to pay bills today.
I continued to improve the exercise area in the sunroom by setting up the little fan.
Yesterday I was inspired to put the pansy basket on the pretty nautical chair in a corner of the deck. Even Ron thinks it looks nice.
Ron finally broke down and installed his air conditioner a few minutes ago.
Pruned and unintentionally weeded Forget Me Nots from the back yard gardens: corner, oval, two sections of next-to-the-deck. Shoes, socks, shorts and shirt covered in seeds. As a curious neighbor passed by, scowling, on a motorcycle, I tried dumping some in front of the house, we’ll see.
Watered the next-to-the-deck garden.
Trump and his henchperson Kellyanne Conway ran a scam in Detroit, claiming that 8,000 Black people attended his appearance in a Black church which holds maybe 500, isn’t a Black church and anyway the “congregation” was mostly White.
It was 80 degrees when I came in, think the cloud cover is helping us a little. I’m afraid of the heat to come, days in the 90’s. Seems a shame our son has a house on the Cape but it would not occur to them to invite us.
Wait a minute, what was I thinking?!
Ron mowed front and back yard. We did a shop at S&S. French toast with leftover frozen white bread for breakfast.
I used a bleach solution to clean one side of the deck and washed the floor.
Watered the oval garden. Weeded out most of the mint that was covered with black spots.
Waded through Ron’s PayPal account and found he has at least three subscriptions set up that he wants to cancel. At least got his Greylock account squared away and removed PayPal credit as the default on several subscriptions.
Started sweeping the other side of the deck and was stung by a wasp for my efforts.
In preparation for the appointment with the doc next week, talked myself into going to Williamstown Medical shortly before eight for a blood draw. There was only one person ahead of me and traffic was extremely light.
We got a very small amount of rain this morning; disappointing.
I have been fighting with myself for weeks about not wanting to do any work around the house.
Did a load of white laundry and a quick swipe of the downstairs bathroom floor. I was ambitious enough to measure the wall over the downstairs toilet for sizing a new medicine cabinet and checking some models out online. Otherwise, it’s already after noon and hard to incentivize myself to do anything.
It doesn’t help that it’s humid outside. I have the air on in the third bedroom.
Ron has no motivation today, either, even less than mine. It’s likely due in part to his withdrawing from Tramadol. I believe it’s been about a week since his last dose, which leaves possibly another week before he’s free of symptoms.
A huge invoice from Preite.
Wrote to the Home Improvement people to see if they can help us pay for the mini split. If it’s health-related they will consider it.
One of the trees that Ron got last winter seems to be alive in spite of neglect, so I planted it today.
Would like to restore the hairdo on my Madam Alexander doll and have been looking at examples. She seems to be a “Cissy” model. The ones in good condition fetch in the hundreds of dollars but I don’t intend to sell her.
The deer have been eating some of my flowers, including the Evening Primrose. They have decimated the phlox. I put more deterrent out this evening.
I loaded the truck with paper, trash and recyclables this morning and did a dump run.
Had a phone call from a person at the Blood Bank about our Shingrix shots. The moron confused Shingrix with earlier Shingles vaccines. He was rude, arrogant, bossy and stubborn. I wrote to his boss, we’ll see if I get an answer.
We decided that we didn’t need a $90 hose after all so returned it to Home Depot and took ourselves out to lunch at the Blue Benn. Fantastic. Ron got himself much-needed New Balance sneakers at one of the outlet stores. We got donuts and rhubarb at the Apple Barn.
The deer attacked my poor phlox so I put down repellent in all of the gardens.
Was able to create giant bubbles with inexpensive bubble solution from Dollar General. Picked up churros at Subway.
We went to a disappointing tasting of hard cider and cheese at the Store at Five Corners. I brought home delicious almond croissants.
Skipped the news and watched a couple of episodes of a Netflix series.
Paid the electric bill.