Spring

The weather has been glorious this weekend. Lots of sun, light breezes and temps in the 70s. There were some Earth Day events going on Saturday, so we took advantage of two of them. Our local utility company hosted an event with demonstrations, giveaways and loads of printed materials. We walked away with free rain gauges and compact fluorescent light bulbs. Then, I went to our credit union with a Rubbermaid tub and a box full of papers that needed to be shredded. I stood in line for about 15 minutes and watched as two guys fed my contribution through a huge truck-mounted shredder that made mincemeat of my papers in no time. Definitely worth the wait and such a relief to be rid of all that paper clutter.

Neal has been sick with a nasty head and chest cold all week, but that didn't stop him from working on projects around the house. I sat outside with the dogs, reading my Earth Day brochures and soaking up the sun, while he finished painting the pergola over our patio. Normally, you wouldn't think anyone would paint the top of the boards, but we live in a tri-level house and the top of the pergola is clearly visible from the upstairs bedrooms. So, the only way to paint the top was to climb up there and balance on 2X4 boards. This daredevil task had me on pins and needles as I watched the arbor rock and sway with Neal perched on top.

As he moved his body and boards from one spot to another, I would move the outdoor dog beds underneath him so that they would help cushion his fall, if the boards gave way. He managed to finish without mishap and now we have a freshly painted pergola to enjoy this summer. The next project is to paint the concrete patio, but that shouldn't be as challenging.