This morning I was sweeping out front (yes, again) when an ambulance with flashing flights cruised by slowly, obviously looking for an address.  At our corner it made a U-turn and then stopped at Tom & Billie's, two houses east of us.  The EMTs weren't moving too quickly so time didn't seem to be of the essence, though they did bring a woman out on a stretcher. It wasn't Billie, but possibly a daughter or daughter-in-law?

Today I finally got around to trimming the the dead oleander branches on the north side of the hedge under the lemon tree.  Though the dead limbs were not visible from the yard, they were very unsightly when coming back in from the Back 40.  After making serious progress sawing the deadwood I decided I might as well trim back a bunch of the green but leggy branches before the growing season really ramps up.  Once I'd thinned out the bushes it was possible to rake under them, and that 'rakage' finished filling up one of the large trash cans.  Currently there are several piles of trimmed branches piled outside the fence.  Here's one of them:

  

About the time I was thinking of taking a break I "somehow" managed to slice my finger with the saw, drawing blood, so I'm finished for the day.

While I was working, Alex's friends came by and picked up the boat.

Tom came in the house shortly after I did, when he offered to help drag that huge pile of branches to our bulk trash pile and finish up, but my back declined.  

I'll deal with the piles of branches tomorrow.