Okay, not exactly afar. This ain't exactly travel writing. The vacation’s been pretty good so far. Not ideal weather-wise, but I have managed to get some stuff crossed off of the “objectives” list, and when I take the time to reflect on it, I am quite relaxed. For the most part.
The main plot points of the vacation can be summed up thusly:
Golf tournament, reading, spaying, sleeping, painting, construction, windows, beer, money, hammock, mosquitoes, satellite dish collar, turkey cookies, and bad hair.
To elaborate, I have finished my book, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, and finished knitting the sleeve of my sweater. I got new windows installed in the living room. Rosie got spayed on Thursday and now is miserable in her satellite dish collar, but is otherwise fine. After a couple of weeks of diarrhea and a morning of vomiting, whatever was in her system seems to have left the building and she’s fit as a fiddle. We’ve learned to feed her more slowly by adding water to her kibble, and have cut down on the green peppers which are apparently hard to digest. However, I did buy some beef rib bones at the butcher and smoked them myself, and she enjoyed those quite a bit. I’m sure the bones are still kicking around here somewhere. The whole house has a sort of mesquite scent to it now.
The renovations are coming along. I’m not too stressed about it, for some strange reason. I’m just picking away at it and somehow it’s getting done, sort of. I guess we’re going to have to start going gangbusters this week – we’ve put up one piece of siding, have stained a few more, and are now well on our way. I spray-painted the patio door red, which was pretty successful.
The flower gardens are popping like mad these days. The yellow iris just faded and the peonies are on their way out, but the delphiniums are opening up and the tiger lilies are on their way. I let the pale yellow cinquefoil take over the garden this year – I usually pull it out since it’s considered a weed – and it’s highlighting everything very nicely. It may stay.
In the veggie garden, the tomatoes and peppers are still small, and the beans are also struggling a bit. We need more hot weather. It has rained every single day since I’ve been off work, which is good for the garden in some respects but not so good in others. I seem to have a slug farm on my hands. I hate slugs so much you have no idea, so this doesn’t make me so cheerful. Last night I got one stuck in my Croc and it squished between my toes every time I took a step – I was not a happy camper.
Yesterday was rainy, so we cleaned out the freezer a bit and made dog cookies out of leftover thanksgiving turkey. We enjoyed a 19-lb grain-fed free-range turkey from hubby’s co-worker, to feed three people, so there was a little bit of turkey left over. We have enough to make cookies for pretty much the whole year. She loves them, so phew, but it was quite a process to make them, and it turned my stomach thoroughly; I may never eat turkey again.
Oh, I also got a dog gate for the car. This was an adventure because when I brought it home and started to set it up, I discovered that it was missing some essential parts, but also contained half of a chlorine testing kit. So we promptly returned it to Canadian Tire and replaced it. I installed it yesterday – it looks very dog-person-y.
I have not been dieting or cleansing. I have been eating beer, chips, hot dogs, cookies, grilled cheese sandwiches, wine, French fries, and a lot of steak. So scratch that one of the list. Construction workers need to eat hearty fare.
I’ve started to finish the inside of the window in the living room. Oh hell, I’m almost done. I am staining the shelf I built, which is taking forever. Reminds me I have to go down and put on a second coat when I’m finished this.
I have seen movies: I’ve seen 2 Days in Paris, which was quite funny, and The Other Boleyn Girl, which I thought was a rushed version of the book and didn’t love so much. Natalie Portman was excellent, Scarlett Johansson looked hangdog the whole time – she literally only had one expression, and in my humble opinion she shouldn’t do any more period films where they remove her eyebrows. It’s not a good look for her. And they should have used the guy who played Henry Percy to be the one Mary ends up with (Stafford?), not the weenie-looking kid they did cast. Disappointing all in all, though it could have been so much more. I think the story's way too long to be a movie.
I’ll post vacation photos when I’m back at work. I’m on dial-up at home, so can’t upload a damn thing unless I’ve got 4 hours to spare. I’m off to stain a shelf.
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