It Was a Great Friday!

Howdy, howdy....

Today I slept in as long as I could before breakfasting, dressing, and heading to my medical appt. Verdict is: they're going to cut out the issue...and when I checked my coverage, I was happy to find that not only will this hopefully take care of the issue but outpatient surgery (minor I tell ya, it's uber minor but for some reason I have to be in the operating room...) will only cost be $75. Woohoo!

A quick trip to the grocery store to restock the low items, up my vitamin ante (I've decided to just start taking a variety of supplements and hope those help!)...and pick up a new sink trap since we had a backed up sink this week which required the landlords to fix it. Thank God for my awesome landlords!

When I got back to the house, I rested for a bit, started on my laundry, took care of my homework that is due this next week, and then I hauled out the lawnmower and got busy mowing down the jungle that has been growing out there. Somehow even though I was tired, it turned into one of the best mow jobs I've ever done. Mowing seriously makes me happy though. I love seeing the yard go from disorderly to nice and pretty...and the sunny afternoon did wonders for me as well. Since it was already looking better, I decided to pick up some of the debris around the yard to continue with the trend.

Then a text to my brother to ask if he might be willing to help me build some new compost bins, if we also make one for his place....led into his asking if I still needed help with my other yard projects. I felt like the skies had parted and I eagerly filled him in on what I wanted to do. Since he agreed to help me, I decided to test the body out and get to work taking care of some of the preliminary stuff that needs to happen before we can get to the larger projects. The rest of the afternoon was spent:
--transferring dirt from the lower raised bed into my still empty higher raised bed that had settled over the years and needed an upgrade
--taking measurements of the current coop and arbor to visualize and compare to the new spaces
--checking out my stock of random wood to see what might be able to assist with either project
--pulling weeds from all around the backyard
--cutting back and taming the marionberry
--hauling cinderblocks across the yard & constructing a new smaller higher raised bed plus hauling dirt to fill the new one in
--filling the yard debris container plus my back up one from the winter's pile
--sweeping both back patios and setting out the summer's chairs
--hauling my still potted Asian pear across the yard to a new location
I don't know that all the projects will get done (especially since I'm not entirely sure that my brother and I can actually manage to move the coop--it might be too heavy), but I'm at least excited to have something to be looking forward to and moving toward. For the last week it's felt like I couldn't do anything and just sort of blah in general, but today even though I had moments of feeling light headed...today felt great to be using my body again and heading toward continued yard improvements. It was so nice to look across the yard and see the rewards from today alone...but also to be able to envision what these completed projects might do for the yard also! The front isn't totally done either but I love looking around and just seeing how it's all come together so far....incredibly rewarding.

Honestly throughout a lot of today I kept thinking about "green" choices--the ones I used to implement, the ones I hope to return to implementing, and other ideas for which to head in. Beyond the potential chickens and composting, I love that I just keep reusing left over boards and cinder blocks (most came from my aunt's old deck and their stock piles), I made sure to pull weeds by hand to reduce spreading and to keep Dad from eventually spraying them whenever he comes to visit, I'm hoping to expand the list of veggies (the radishes are already coming up!) and preserving that I do this year, and it just dawned on me where I can put a new outdoor clothesline.

Also got to Facetime with Dad earlier in the afternoon while pulling weeds, and then we connected again this evening so I could Facetime with Granny. A nice, quick shower and then a dinner of Mexican-inspired chicken with sides of a baked sweet potato and sauteed zuke & onion. Ending with this opportunity to sit and blog for a bit.....

....Yes, indeed, it's been a very good day. Sunshine, productivity, and daydreaming. Happy, happy!