... and all before coffee!

   As I've mentioned before, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are my weekdays weekends, and I try to make them as productive as possible.  Sometimes foolishly so ...

  Yesterday I was up bright and early and out the door to find more chenille chair pads at Tattered & Worn to finish off my wall.  My coffee was too hot to sip before I got there, so it stayed in the car.  I was surprised and disappointed to find that the booth with the chair pads had sold all of them and rearranged their display so that I got lost trying to find them.  Even more disappointing was the booth that had the $9.99 framed art had packed and moved completely.  I didn't walk away empty-handed, however.  After more than an hour wandering the booths and aisles, my coffee was still too hot to drink [I have a very good go-mug!].

  The weather was gorgeous yesterday, in the 70sF and at Walmart, I picked up a climbing rose bush (the honeysuckle I've been waiting on was out of stock by the time my order was ready to ship), basil, and cilantro plants, and some pots for the kitchen window.  Next year, or perhaps this fall, I want to get an AeroGarden for that window.  Another hour later, between Walmart and Dollar Tree ... my coffee had cooled enough to sip, but not quickly, and by the time I got home to start on my planned projects, I had barely had a full cup of coffee.

  My first project was hiding the ugly job I did wrapping my hot water heater.  It is too close to the walls in the back for me to have gotten the "blanket" around it, so I had to do a "cut and tape" job.  Very ugly.  But one inexpensive curtain rod later, voila!  Ugly no more.

  Resorted my recycling with three new bins now that I know when recycling is actually picked up.  Cleaned cat litter.  Regretted getting new treats for the cats.

  Next was repotting the herbs.  The rose bush was going to wait until Wednesday when I had planned on borrowing a shovel [plans changed today when I bought my own ... before coffee!]  Refilled birdfeeders.   Went to two other stores for cute garden stepping stones.  Remembered I hadn't eaten.  Ate.  Sat outside with Charlie and the cats listening to the birds.  Chased Lucy back to where I could see her.  Three times.  Caught up on my Monday tv shows on Hulu.  Picked up Lucy's toys.  Put up drawer liner peel-and-stick paper on the back wall of the pantry.   Remembered that my knees should have had surgery for torn meniscus three years ago and that they (and my back) are not 18 anymore.  Went to bed early and exhausted.

  Woke to the sound of my phone ringing as Walgreens reminded me (again!) that I had prescriptions to pick up.  It was also raining, the sound of which on the roof made me wish I could sleep all day.  Rushed out (before coffee!) to Walgreens.

  Stopped on the way to take photos of some drenched forsythia.  Funny story about forsythia ... I first saw them as a child (6 or 7 years old) when they were in bloom at our apartment building in Wiesbaden, Germany.   I thought they were called "ForCynthia" and thinking they were gorgeous and my mom would love them, I pulled a huge armful and took them upstairs to her.  She promptly starting sneezing (allergies!) and made me toss them over our 3rd-floor balcony.  I still love them and may get a bush to plant since the honeysuckle fell thru.

  Spring seems to have sprung overnight with trees blooming pink and white all over town.  I picked up a planter of violas yesterday at Walmart for my front stoop that the yellow ones remind me of the gatekeeper on Wizard of Oz.  I first saw that moving when I might have been 3 or 4 and the memory stays with me because of how those flying monkeys terrified me.  We were at my Great-grandma Ruby's house and it was Easter time.  I remember getting in trouble later that afternoon for not taking my nap and watching out the window instead for Peter Cottontail from the song Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity Easters on its way.

  Walgreens had a long line of people wanting to get the COVID vaccine (I'm still waiting on an open appointment window).  Decided to go grocery shopping while waiting for the line to go down.  It was still raining when I finally got home [still no coffee and the sugar-free watermelon Mountain Dew I got before going back to Walgreens was ew gross and no substitute], and shortly after that, I decided that I would go buy a rake and shovel, and other yard & gardening items.  [Oh, and this beautiful hand-decorated birdhouse for my kitchen countertop.]  I didn't want to wait another week to get the rose bush in the ground, and it was a good thing since shortly after I got the rose bush planted, the 200 bulbs I had ordered arrived  [I have no idea why I thought I needed 200 of them for my small front flower garden area, except that I wanted it to explode with color].  

  I did finally have some coffee and am now cooking up food for the next few lunches before signing on for some overtime tonight.  I'm already exhausted, but feel like it has been a very productive two days.