I fell asleep on the couch last night, and when I woke up during the night didn't feel like making the effort to transition to the bedroom.

Got an early start to my morning, and worked more outside.  Though we're having a "cold snap" today (high should only hit 99) even by 8:00 it felt nice to cool off in the pool.  As long as I was in the water I seined a surprising number of dead bees and flies floating on the surface. 

Tomorrow we're back to triple digits, 

and by the end of the week it will be hot again (110 and above.)  

But remember, Bana - 

Yesterday's yard project was directed at the flagstone path from the side door to the pool.  During irrigation water covers them and subsequently leaves behind dirt which settles around the edges.  Over time the dirt has provided a happy place for mats of grass to grow, "shrinking" the flagstones.  Cutting away those mats by hand, some of which covered as much 1/3 of the stones, wasn't difficult, just time consuming.  The path is much more useable now, and the next time Tom mows it should look quite spiffy.

I thought Tom and I would be resealing the pool edge, 

which would need to be done before I leave on July 10.

But the materials (both the foam strips to set in the grove and the self-leveling polyeurethane sealant) are expensive.  So Tom thinks we should check around and get price quotes from "someone" (who might buy the materials in bulk, thus getting a better deal on them) about doing the work.  

Of course we'd have to pay for their labor, but at least I've already done the hard part of removing the existing mess from the 102 foot perimeter.

So phone calls for some quotes are on the agenda for this morning.

The yardwork continues, though in shorter "bursts" - 

and with longer resting & cooling off periods.  

Tom got the front porch lights "fixed" yesterday - he simply inserted new bulbs.  Since he had just replaced a burned-out bulb the day he left (and then neither fixture turned on that evening) I naturally assumed the bulbs were not the issue.

Just learned that Mom is dealing with an infection in her leg, causing swelling and pain.  Happily it sounds like the antibiotics have started to kick in; do NOT want germs to get another strangle-hold on her system!

Look what Pennie created with some of her row-by-row patterns from different years.  (And yes, as a matter of fact I do have most of those patterns... they just aren't made "yet"!)

 I bought kits for the bottom but made the flag with no pattern 

and quilted it myself.

Last night was the first night in a while (over a week?) 

that I needed to take a sleep med.  

This morning I've been sawing away at numerous bottle-brush limbs that had grown through the fence, pushing on it.  Not an easy task, but the fence should be happier now.  At least some of the branches will fit into the second trash can, while the leftovers will end up on the bulk trash pile and await the August collection.

Yesterday I blanched, peeled, sliced and froze another batch of peaches, letting Pokey chow down on the less-than-perfect ones which I'd pitted for her.

This morning when I went out to harvest the second wave I found the net was mostly down, and the birds had obviously been feasting big time.  

I've been snacking on fresh-off-the-tree peaches for the past couple of weeks, but "thanks" to the birds it looks like that will be coming to an end shortly.

Up early this morning despite the sleep med, 

and while it's only mid-morning I'm dragging a little...

The elephant I sent Andy (to join the rest of his singing animal collection) 

turned out to be the expected hit with Maggie and Greta:

Today I need to order next my shipment of CPAP 'pieces' 

so they'll have time to arrive before I blast off for Colorado.  

And speaking of CPAP, I got this from Barb this morning:

I've been using the CPAP for almost a year and never had this happen. 

Pulled the dang thing right off my night stand in my sleep. 

That must have been one helluva nightmare!

I've started thinking about packing for Colorado.  It's always difficult to think in terms of winter clothing when it's 110+ here - but I remind myself <g> that they DID get snow at the hot springs earlier this month!  

At least it's 'only' reaching 111 and 112 here this week, because records set for the date yesterday (118), today (120), and tomorrow (122) were considerably worse!

Last evening it took a while for Tom to find a movie to watch, 

but in the end it was worth it.  

Knives Out is a 2019 modern whodunit.  The film follows a family gathering gone awry, after the patriarch's death leads a master detective to investigate. The film features an ensemble cast, including Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer.

This morning I've already gotten in some weeding out front, and expect to continue throughout the day (in dribs and drabs) while it's still fairly easy because of irrigation.

Brownie protected me <g> from the "big dog" that came by on its morning ride with Margaret, who stopped for a chat.

When Tom got up he noticed this unwelcome visitor in the kitchen.  I sure hadn't seen it when (barefoot) I fed Brownie this morning!  FYI not as monstrous as it looks; probably should have added a coin for scale....

Another phone call, this one from Terry at the hot springs - with bad news.  

"It turns out you'll be needed after all." 

Her sister Elinor, who lives just 5 miles away from there, has just been diagnosed with Stage 4 uterine cancer.  Karen (their other sister) and Mark will be flying in from NY and staying until July 12.  I can leave here on July 10 (need to chauffeur Tom to/from colonoscopy on July 9) and be there to help Terry take care of Neil, 97-year-old Hilda, and Elinor (while Richard is at work), through the end of August.

I've been very popular today.  

I wasn't off the phone from Marcela's call (which lasted well over an hour) very long when Rachelle called.  While she and I were on the phone (for just under an hour) bemoaning the political mess and ongoing crises of the current administration, Linda called. 

Of course <g> I didn't risk trying to switch over 

to tell Linda I was on another call.

It was safer <g> to just call her back when Rachelle and I took a break from rolling our eyes until our next phone conversation.

Good thing Verizon has temporarily changed our plan during the pandemic 

to allow unlimited weekday minutes.

And thus the morning easily passed into afternoon.  

The afternoon agenda includes irrigation.  Alex had mentioned that (after seeing the fun Vera and Brownie had in the Back 40 two weeks ago) one of his friends is planning to come over so his dog can run around and enjoy the mini-lake.

Tom rolled in just before 9:00 last evening.  He was pretty road-weary, so after putting the fish in the freezer and taking a shower he was pretty much done.

This morning Marcela called, primarily to tell me that Marge (Steve's mom) had finally passed away from Alzheimer's.  In other news, she also has a young couple, Hailey and Ethan, set to rent the new upstairs apartment next month.  

When Marcela had visited here on Memorial Day she mentioned visiting Phoenix again "soon", which is when I had (half jokingly) invited her to tag along on my drive East for my October visit with Mom.  As it turns out Marcela has a family wedding (in Florida) to attend, but since that's not until November the timing didn't seem quite right so I didn't give it another thought.  However the idea percolated with her, and now she's seriously considering doing it!  

Of course given the crises of the past several months (and with new ones erupting virtually daily) anything could happen in the 3 months between now and then - but here's hoping that it actually happens.  Would be wonderful to have a companion (and additional driver) for that long schlep. 

Another one of the MIA posts 

My blog was being "pesky" again and not letting me in.  Obviously I'm in now <g> but of course it is very frustrating - so I hope the FEEDBACK I sent to Blogspot will get a (useful!) response because HELP was not any help at all.



Saturday was yet more yardwork, resulting in two very full trash cans AND a pile of hedge trimmings piled up and lying in wait for our next bulk trash day, in August.  As requested Alex finished off the two two bushes outside the back door up high where I couldn't reach, using the ladder (not a good place for me to be with the electric trimmer...) and also getting up on the roof at times (again, not a good place for me!)




The bushes look good for the time being, but as quickly as they grow (especially the smelly purple one) will no doubt soon be impinging on the roof again.




I surprisingly had absolutely no appetite until dinner, but possibly because I drank lots of water throughout the day to stay hydrated?  I had a little chicken for dinner - and then Alex ruined my diet when he grabbed me a burger on a later evening run to In-n-Out.



Movies for the day were The Hate U Give (a good "explanation"  of Black Lives Matter for those who need one) and Patch Adams, a Robin Williams movie I had somehow missed.




Sunday we skipped any Fathers Day celebration here. Tom had stayed in Idaho longer after Alex had called him last week to say he was being tested, and until he got the results back (possibly today?) he was staying far removed from us.





In the morning I accomplished more yardwork, working in fits and starts until noon and plumping up the bulk trash pile.  Vera was here (while Alex and Gabby were moving her stuff to her new apartment) so Brownie had "help" supervising out back.  Then they both helped me relax inside. 




Vera is still in heat and wearing a diaper, but I obviously didn't have it on her correctly because she kept losing it.  Luckily she stayed off the carpet and the few errant drips on the tile were easy to clean.


I watched another Robin Williams movie I had never seen before, Father's Day - and found it "interesting" that in both movies he played suicidal men. 




Tom called last evening to say he'd be starting for home early today, and ('depending') would be home late tonight, or sometime early tomorrow.  Think I'd better make a run to the grocery store this morning!





It's supposed to be 111 today, 112 tomorrow, 113 Wednesday (notice a trend?) so he'll be arriving home "just in time" for the start of true summer! 





I did warn him!