happy birthday from Smitty!!!

There he is, making my front yard look shipshape again!

It's been more than two months since it was last trimmed.

I'd mentioned to my brother, Smitty, that I needed some help with it... and he showed up about 11 AM, weed whacker in hand, to take care of it for me!

"Happy birthday, sister!"

He not only trimmed up the front, but he got the back yard looking better, too.

What a wonderful bday68 gift from him!

(smile!)

Hopefully, that will keep it straight for the next few weeks.

The Universe is trying to counter the drought we've had, to restore a bit of humidity to the air for my birthday.

I do appreciate it, but that's several days in a row to try to make up for several months.

The weather song may change, though, as it tends to do.

But I don't mind if the days are rainy.

I like the rain.

(smile!)

thank you, thomas, for the help

"I don't recall anyone named Thomas. Who is he?"

He's the young man who saw me struggling to mow my front yard who came to see if he could help me. I'd managed to get about half of the right side of the front yard done at that point. I admit, with this inguinal hernia, cutting the grass was wearing me out. He was outside doing yard work, too, three houses from mine, and walked over to ask if I would like his help.

"Wow. He sounds like a very well-mannered fellow."

Yes, he is. He wasn't trying to imply that I needed help; he simply asked if I would like some help. Very nice. What I gathered from our conversation is that he is the son of two teachers. Thomas and his wife, Hannah, moved in here by the park during the fall.

"Why did they move to Savannah?"

Actually, his folks are from here. His dad graduated from Groves in 1980, so he's about my age. Thomas said he and his wife had been living in Ardsley Park, but wanted to live over in this area. Perhaps they are looking to have children, and this area is near schools from elementary to high school, so that's good.

"Good for them for planning ahead, if that's the case. Did you ask him to mow the spiral pattern under your Japanese magnolia tree?"

Honestly, I was so relieved to have him doing the work that I didn't say anything about that. There will be plenty of time in the future for me to mow that back in place.

"I see that he's using your Ryobi. How did he like it?"

I think it's convinced him that battery-operated is the way to go. It's certainly a lot quieter! After the battery died, he just had a little bit left to mow, so he went home and brought his mower over here. I couldn't believe he did that for me! But it gets better. After he finished the front yard, he asked if I minded if he did the back yard, too.

"What??? That's incredible!"

He works as a personal trainer, he told me, and rarely gets outside. He likes working in the yard and he likes mowing grass. I'll say this: I don't think he even broke a sweat. He also seemed very laid back and calm. I tried to give him a bottle of water, but he said he has that at home. He was done with my entire yard within 90 minutes. He took his time, making sure it was cut well, and seemed quite content to be doing that. I am so grateful!

"I am happy for you, dear, that someone stepped up to help."

Thank you. I did make sure he had the address for the neighborhood's fb page, as well as my name. He said he doesn't do fb, but his wife does. I'll have to look out for her so I can say hi. He said she'll be "the red head walking the black puppy". (smile!)

thanks, boston scientific

Yesterday was the final day of the study prescribed by Dr. Cobb. 

I had expected that it would end in the afternoon, so I was prepared to ship it all off with UPS after being with Dawn.

Nope!

The heart monitor's phone gave me that message about 8 AM.

Sweet!

I went back to sleep for another hour.

Then I watched "Drew Barrymore", whose guest made 'pierogi pasta' using ground beef, onions, and diced potatoes with regular pasta.

I had onion pierogi, so breakfast was this!

Then to check the WSAV weather song.

For the Fall Equinox, temperatures would be mild, but a return to summer heat was coming up fast.

That meant I needed to break out the Ryobi at least once more.

Drats.

Oh, but here's a funny thought I had!

Some random guy came by a couple of days ago, asking if he could cut the grass.

The next time that happens, I'm going to smile real big and give him a hearty handshake as I thank him for that gracious gift of taking care of that for me!!!

I wonder if the guy might be embarrassed to ask for money after that?

LOL! 

Anyway, after the weather check, I popped the heart monitor and all its paraphernalia into the pre-addressed, postage-paid box, dropping it off at my favorite UPS.

Then to take in "The Long Walk".

Yikes... what a hard movie to sit through.

Maybe I'll have to abstain from Stephen King movies in the future.

Not that it wasn't well made... it was just incredibly brutal.

Ugh.

I decided to go to Planet Fitness to work off some of that sadness.

I'd finally returned to the Purple Planet of Victory last Saturday, kinda sorta starting a reboot of that part of my year.

I also used the hip abductor to try to stretch out my hamstrings.

My right leg has been a problem all month.

After I was done with the machine and treadmill, I still had energy - and daylight - on my side.

Time to tackle the front yard, armed with a fully-charged Ryobi!

I know this photo doesn't show my progress very well, but progress I made!

I got most of this half of the front yard mowed, as well as a good portion on the left side of the frame.

I'll try to catch the rest in the next day or two.

Now, time for an evening of relaxation!

The two Janes are on tonight, and they'll be a nice distraction from the echo of carbines in the movie earlier. 

4 movies, only 3 on a*list

All four were "free" to me, too!

That's because I had sufficient rewards built up at NCG Cinema to see "Highest 2 Lowest" for no charge on Tuesday.

That was good, as I didn't want to drive over to Pooler.

That's very good, as I didn't have to spend all that time for that overly long flick.

Spike Lee had a good movie, but just had to throw in solo concerts to hype two artists (Yung Felon and Sula, neither of which are real). 

That entire final scene in the movie could have been cut and not missed.

So, what about my AMC dance card?

Well, I'm having trouble filling it, now that it can hold four twirls about the floor.

I'm serious!

I actually had to throw myself out of the house this afternoon just to get that third one!

That's because I knew I had already seen three movies in three days...

but only two were at the southside cinema.

They were all new to me, so that's good!

Monday, I went to "The Roses", hoping for the best.

I'd hoped the physicist would tag along, as it was Labor Day and I know he was off, but he missed out on seeing Olivia Colman.

She and Benedict Cumberbatch were good, of course, and, surprisingly, so was Andy Samberg, who was actually pretty decent in this one.

However, Kate McKinnon was just... well... playing her same schtick and that got to wearing pretty thin by the movie's end.

Would I see it again?

Very doubtful.

I have yet to enjoy any of the scripts Tony McNamara has written. 

Although this remake did include some scenes which echoed "The War Of The Roses", the overall tone was much, much meaner.

That's saying something, as someone who knows and loves the 1989 black comedy!

Next!

Jump over to Wednesday to catch "The Toxic Avenger", only playing at night as it is, incredibly, unrated, even though it was made two years ago.

Touted as a black comedy, it was more of a satire, with a cast that boggled my mind.

Peter Dinklage???

Kevin Bacon???

Elijah Wood???

Was this some kind of inside joke???

I admit to laughing heartily several times, as did the other viewers, but I just don't get how this was ever funded.

If Jim Reed ever reboots his Psychotronic Film Society, this one is surely destined for his tiny silver screen!

That brings me to today's movie, a new one that officially opens tomorrow.

"Lurker" brings a hanger-on wannabe in close proximity to a rising singer.

It isn't that 'Matthew' likes the music 'Oliver' sings, as he has to bone up on the artist when he gets invited to that night's concert.

No, 'Matthew' likes being part of the band's Instagram account, he likes having their followers following him, and he likes being stopped on the street by their fan base.

Then, on a trip to London, 'Oliver' and company ditch him.

Honeymoon was most def over, but 'Matthew' didn't accept that ruling.

That made him more of a stalker, not a lurker, though neither word fits.

Pretty good music, with Archie Madekwe, as 'Oliver', actually singing!

I might actually see this again.

(smile!) 

Right now, though, I need to finish mowing the back yard.

The Ryobi and I have been at it for four nights in a row, but it's almost done!

The photo shows how it looked at the end of Tuesday's foray.

Last night, I finished all that was close to the house and cut lines through that tall stuff along the back fence.

I will be so glad to have this done!!! 

Borg-lite

At last the electrodes arrived from Boston Scientific!!!

The Labor Day weekend really threw a monkey wrench into the mail.

The end of my cardiac study will be September 21, even though that is short of the 30 days that Dr. Cobb had prescribed.

That simply cannot be, as the company only allows the equipment to be out of their grasp for 35 days, maximum.

Last Tuesday was the last full day of monitoring, as I was plagued by "poor connection" alerts all day on Wednesday.

I'd hoped the new Borg set would arrive Saturday, as it was coming by UPS, but, no.

It did arrive earlier than expected today, though!

I've attached it to my body as proscribed: monitor affixed to dangle from a holder on my right chest, a green electrode affixed near-central along the right lower ribs, then a red electrode paralleling the same area on the left lower ribs.

It's much more comfortable than the other configuration ever was!

All of it is very light, and even the monitor feels lighter now that it can dangle.

They've included a plethora of little sticky electrode pads for me to use.

I wonder if I'm to replace them every other day?

Maybe they expect me to be super sweaty?

Well, it is September, even though it's a bit cooler than usual.

I do intend to mow the back yard some more tonight, as I did last night.

The grass is so crazy tall that the Ryobi has been struggling mightily.

Plus, I don't want to leave mulch, so I've been using the bag attachment, which has to be emptied at least four times before the battery dies.

Slow slogging, for sure, but I'll keep at it.

I wonder what that will look like in the cardiac monitor readings?

Guess me and Dr. Cobb will have an interesting talk in October!

(smile!)

big rain come soon...

... that meant I had to make hay while the sun was shining.

Literally.

I mowed and collected grass clippings, rather than letting those lie.

They're dumped in a barren area just inside my back yard, near the fence, where the sun never shines.

I started with the back yard on Tuesday evening, about 7:40 PM, going until the battery on my Ryobi mower gave out.

I made sure to cut diagonal areas to allow moisture to escape, as it was so thick that it was sodden, even after two days of no rain. 

The bag to catch the clippings had to be emptied three times. 

Then, on Wednesday evening, about that same time, I repeated the process, mowing until the little light on the front of the Ryobi was just not enough to continue.

That time, I was in the front yard.

I had to empty the bag of clippings four times over forty minutes. 

This morning, knowing rain was forecast for evening, I was out in the front yard again, this time by my Japanese magnolia.

I had hoped the shade from that dear tree would be helpful, and it was, but it didn't help as much as it would have had I started mowing at 11 AM.

Instead, I overslept and didn't get in the yard until just about noon30.

I had to dump out the clippings bag at least four times.

Still, I managed to get the walking circle re-established.

I also cleared the path from the curb for the mailperson to reach my sidewalk.

Both of those are good things.

Plus, my front yard has a bit of a sculpted look to it now.

That wasn't on purpose, mind.

Pure serendipity that I achieved that classy touch.

Maybe, next time, I will get even more creative.

That forecast I used on Tuesday changed abruptly yesterday, with the rains starting a day earlier than expected.

Thunderstorms are to begin just about 7 PM this evening, wrecking my mowing time.

They are to rock on throughout the weekend.

That's okay.

I'm fine with stopping the mowing now.

I do have one question, though.

Wonder what all this activity has meant for my heart monitor data?

I'll find out in October, I guess!

(smile!)

yesterday, today, tomorrow

This was what I got accomplished after the movie with my brothers, as there was just enough light in the air for 45 minutes with the Ryobi.

I got all of the stage right portion of the front cut, bagging the cuttings.

Even though the clock said it was after 8:20 PM, the air temperature was still in the mid-80's, with a +8 heat index.

I had to stop every ten minutes or so to wipe the sweat from my face.

One of the neighbors was walking by and gave me a reason to stop and chat.

Then it was back to it, with the aid of the street light.

Today, I was out there again, but in the morning, about 11:30 AM.

This time, the Ryobi and I worked for almost an hour, but we succeeded in completely mowing the stage left of the front yard.

In the past, I would have left the cuttings behind, to conserve moisture.

Not any more will I do that.

The cuttings were bagged, requiring three loads to be dumped again.

When I finished up, I had a hill of grass shreds that resembled the back of a Bactrian camel.

That right hump, with the bright green, is from this morning.

The other hump, as well as the base of both, are from previous efforts to tame the yards.

All of the rain so generously bestowed by Mother Nature has truly kept the Polish millet flourishing.

This afternoon, I ventured into the heat for "Good Trouble Lives On".

Billed as a "Savannah Community Day Of Action" in memory of John Lewis, it turned out to be a rally for future politicians.

Barbara Gooby is one of those announcing her run for a local seat.

I made sure to write my "Good Trouble" for the board there, about holding politicians to their campaign promises.

On the way home, I purchased yard debris bags at Home Depot.

Tomorrow morning, my "good trouble" will be transferring that hill of grass clippings into a bag, along with more vines and brambles and poison ivy.

I also have poison for the fire ants that have been calling my yard home.

Truly, a house is a hole in the ground into which money is poured, as I told Jason Arons earlier this week on fb. 

He recently bought his first house and has been learning that the temperatures on oven dials may not be accurate. 

(smile!) 

six weeks to the day

"What's been six weeks? Oh, I bet I know! Today is Wednesday, isn't it? So you're gonna jibber jabber about laundry, aren't you?"

Yeppers! I've been meaning to go for two weeks, but something always came up.

"I know what it was last week: movies with someone else's grandkids!"

Correction: that's 'movie', singular, with Ivan and Peyton. They both went to the Bacon Park pool afterward. I went to another movie that night, but with Carolyn. 

"La di dah. I stand corrected. No movie with them today?"

Yesterday, Laura took him to Tampa to be with his two uncles. That was kinda sorta a last minute decision. While Peyton and I went to "Sonic 3" for the NCG Summer Camp Film Festival, those two left and we didn't know a thing about it until we were back at the house. Wild!

"Wow! That's just crazy!"

Here's what makes it even crazier: tomorrow is the seventh anniversary of Tony and Laura's wedding! I do hope she is planning to be back this afternoon. Maybe me and the girl child will return from our movie and find that has happened.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You and Peyton are going to see "Sonic 3" again?"

Nope. That would be silliness. We're going to "M3GAN 2.0" at AMC. I'm having to rush right now because the washer I used stopped early in the cycle and had to be restarted. When Bridget, the attendant at SUDS, did that, she gave me a longer cycle, with warm water, and that tripped me up on my timing. I had started the wash at 11:45, which meant I should be done and back home by 1 PM, easily. The longer wash cycle that Bridget gifted me, coupled with the delay before I realized the washer had stopped that first time, has added another thirty minutes to my time there.

"Yikes! What time is the movie?"

On paper, it starts at 1:45. That means it really begins at 2:10, so that gives me a little breathing space. Still, I need to pick her up and I just got home.

"Well, don't let me hold you up. Move along!"

I'm moving, I am, but I want to show how my front yard. Doesn't it look so nice and neat? I've been working my Ryobi almost every day, either late in the evening or around 10 AM. Plus, the heat finally dried out the spiderwort, so I've pulled it up for the year. I have some new clumps out by the curb, not including Mama's liriope. The new clumps are wild lantana. That's from Asia, by the way, and isn't native to this area at all. I found that out a couple of weeks ago.

"Yes, dear. Now, tick tock, tick tock!"

Oops! Gotta go!!! 

i'm just here to water his succulents

Sounds like dirty talk, but it isn't.

That's yet another instance of 'Charlie Cale' (this generation's 'Columbo') speaking a level above what is needed for the scene.

The building supervisor - bringing David Alan Grier to another episode - has asked her what she is doing there at this ritzy apartment.

That's because she always dresses like she's working on a farm, right, and it's near the end of the day so she's even scruffier.

Anyway, he asks why she's there and she utters that line.

Priceless!

That's not really why I'm here right now.

I'm wanting to brag about my grocery shopping experience last night.

I saved almost FIFTY PERCENT on my bill!!!

The grand total was $95.74, actually.

However, by shopping the sales, the total that was due was only $64.68.

My savings were $31.06, making the savings almost 50% of what I had to pay.

Not buying that newfangled math, eh?

Fine.

I still saved more than 32% on the grand total and, considering that I treated myself to sushi, that's still a huge bargain.

Plus, as I was putting the cart away afterward, a copper gleam fell into my path!

It was a 2002 penny.

Right place, right time.

(smile!)

Speaking of, it's time for me to get outside before it hits 80 F for real.

I'm hitting the -mostly- shady part of the front yard.

"For real" did I say?

Yes.

That's because the thermometer reads 77 F now, but there's a 6-degree heat index that has to be added in.

I'm planning to use the shade to my advantage while it lasts... or until the Ryobi battery calls a halt.

Later!

do you have a reservation, part three

Thorpe: We need rooms tonight.

Resort clerk: I'm sorry, you need a reservation.

Thorpe: Excuse me?

Resort clerk: A reservation?

Thorpe: Really.

Resort clerk: A reser... oh, I didn't mean it like that. I mean you need to reser- book before you get here because we're all full. That's what I meant.

Thorpe: You know what I heard? You told me and my friends that we need to go back to the reservation.

Resort clerk: Oh, no...

Thorpe: Do you have any idea what I can do to you on Yelp? You might want to get your boss out here. Or, you could take another look.

Resort clerk: I will take another look!

--------------------------------------------

Hahahaha!!!

That scene is one of the reasons I so love "Cold Pursuit"!

The entire exchange between 'Thorpe' (Raoul Trujillo) and the 'Resort clerk' (Loretta Walsh) lasts less than sixty seconds, but it cracks me us every time!

I do so love a good pun, and that one really works!

I'm so glad I used my Comcast $1 Movie Night Reward to see this movie again today - and it must be a premium for Lionsgate, as they only allow a 24-hour rental of it.

Most sites allow at least 48 hours, with Disney giving 72 hours per rental.

That's all right, though - I watched "Cold Pursuit" twice today!

I love the music in it - I love the way they count up the dead for you - I love the placid worker Liam Neeson plays - and I even love that all those snow scenes have a cool and refreshing effect on me!

Aaaahhhh... just what I needed after an hour of mowing the back yard and bagging all the cuttings so they don't mulch the Digitaria sanguinalis.

That's the worldwide weed better known as crabgrass around here, though it's called Polish millet over in Europe.

Those Y-shaped shoots waving in the air are called inflorescences and they are edible, black seeds and all, and are a source of protein. 

So, there's a little science about that hardy source of aggravation. 

Maybe I'll try harvesting them sometime.

The ones I cut today are almost waist-high on me. 

I'm so glad to have a battery-operated lawn mower.

By the time the Ryobi conks out, I'm more than ready to stop.

top-notch scifi for tina tuesday!

I even saw that science fiction film in the morning, wonder of wonders.

Plus, it was -not- at the AMC, but at NCG.

That means I paid for it.

Totally worth it!

The movie was "The Life Of Chuck", made last year but catching a lot of buzz on TV for the past week or so.

Fair warning: for those planning to see it, kindly don't read farther.

*

*

*

Seriously!

*

*

*

It wasn't until the second part that I caught on that this was scifi.

From the previews, it comes off as a romance - nope, not at all. 

The narrator spoke of the main character being at the point where he has nine months left to live due to the brain tumor that has begun giving him headaches.

Nine months.

That got my attention.

I had just watched as The Universe had begun its downward spiral toward oblivion, with the timeline being just over eight months before total annihilation. 

In the first part - titled Act 3 - the movie begins on an apocalyptic note, with a side of Walt Whitman, of all things.

It's an English literature class and a student is reciting the following line from his poem, "Song Of Myself".

"I am large, I contain multitudes." 

That line is from the penultimate section of the 52-part piece.

Did I say 52, like the number of weeks in a year?

I did.

That number also ties in with the Carl Sagan's concept of the cosmic calendar, which portrays the life of The Universe in terms of a 52-week, 12-month calendar.

The literature teacher discusses that topic in some detail with his ex-wife in a phone conversation when she calls in distress about all the mayhem in the world.

He was trying to put into perspective the time that humans have existed. 

What mayhem would that be?

The total loss of the internet eight months earlier; the sliding of California in the Pacific Ocean while Florida is covered by the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico; the loss of TV service in the following months; the loss of cell phone service soon after; the loss of electricity as the world goes dark; then, in the last moments, the winking out of the stars and planets as Earth fails to exist.

That truly was stunning to watch.

 

Flash forward to the final part of the movie, titled "Act 1".

The title character's early life is detailed there.

He learns about the love of dancing, and of musicals, from his paternal grandmother. 

He learns about the cosmic calendar while watching Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" with his paternal grandfather, who also teaches him about the value of numbers and math, in both accounting and dancing.

(He lived with both of them after his father and pregnant mother died in a car wreck.) 

He learns about that Walt Whitman's long-winded poem, even having a discussion about "I contain multitudes" with his teacher.

That's when I truly identified with the theme of this story.

The teacher told him the phrase meant that everyone he ever knew, everyone in his periphery, everyone beyond their periphery, everyone everywhere beyond their degrees of separation from him, were all contained within the bounds of his mind.

Wow.

I've mused about that a time or two in the past.

Everyone lives in their own world anyway, right? 

What if... everything in the world is just part of my imagination?

What if... the world I live in is part of someone else's imagination?  

What if... my being a volunteer at the Lucas Theatre for the "Frost On Leaves Of Grass" concert was not for my benefit, but for that of the conductor?

What if... my being a volunteer at the Green Room for the Savannah Music Festival practice was not for my benefit, but for that of the pianist?

What if... all of that only existed in my mind???

Indeed.

 

Those two acts tied together nicely, but what was the middle one, as Otto would ask?

That was pure joy, driven by the absolute wonder of being alive on a blue sky day!

"Act 2" was stand-alone, but tied together the entire movie.

It was also the only part of the film that justified the "R" rating.

That's because variations of my favorite word were liberally strewn about.

What word is that? 

The F-bomb, f*ck, f&ck, f-ck... yeah, that one.

The word only was used there, but used repeatedly by the narrator.

Trust me, it was warranted to set the mood of the female dancer.

Yes, I said 'dancer', as that was her profession.

It was not his, though.

'Charles Krantz' was an accountant, in town just for a conference, and out for a stroll in the brilliant afternoon sunshine after a full morning of lectures inside a building.

Then he hears the drummer busking on the street, just outside the building he was approaching, and something bid him pause.

Had he recognized the face reflected in the glass as that of the vision he had seen when he was just 17, when he'd entered the room his grandpa had marked off limits?

Of course, I wouldn't have been privy to that vision until "Act 1" came later.

Was it, then, the combination of the promise of the spring day and the insistence of the beat that prompted him to drop his briefcase and move his body?

I know very well that feeling!

In fact, ask Tony Clark sometime about me dancing to his drumming at an Eat Mo' Music concert at Jazz'd Tapas over two decades ago, when his beats had inspired my dancing which had inspired his continued artistry with the drum kit as everyone else became spectators watching me and him until he finished the music - such a crystallized memory!!!

 

And so I rejoiced when the dancing accountant and the street performer had continued their musical conversation, changing up to new steps and a new beat that encouraged the half-moon of those gathered around to sway to the sound under the glowing sun!

And I rejoiced when the young woman having a bad day consented to join him as he danced, allowing her mood to brighten and all there to release their troubles and cares and simply live vicariously in the two dancers!

They only had the one dance, that brief sparkling moment in time, but it linked the trio - him, her, the drummer - after the crowd had dispersed back into their own lives.

And why had he chosen to dance that day?

We learn that in the final part of the movie.

"That is why God made the world."

Wow.

That ties in exactly with the message from another movie:

"We have to dance to let God know we are grateful to be alive."

 

Kudos to Tom Hiddleston as the dancer!

I don't recall seeing him dance in "Midnight In Paris", but I knew his face was familiar. 

That movie from 2011 had revolved around Owen Wilson's character and the many people from the literary past that he met.

Very enjoyable, both that one and this one.

What a lovely way to start my Tina Tuesday!

i thank You, God!

this little light of mine, i'm gonna let it shine...

I made sure to be at church today.

This was VBS Sunday and I wanted to see the children perform their songs and dances from "Discovery On Adventure Island".

I also wanted to be there to stand up when all the volunteers were asked to make themselves known for recognition. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, that part didn't happen.

Instead, after the children's presentation, and after they left for Sunday school, we got a sermon about Pentecost. and the beginning of the split of the followers of Jesus from Judaism.

It was a good sermon, it truly was, but it didn't seem to fit with the songs about being a "Night Light" and encouraging others.

On my way home, I took a different route and saw Sonny Maness in his yard.

He and I had a brief romance my senior year of high school and still speak any time we see each other.

He's 71 now, and recently had a bad fall from his electric bike, so it was good to see him out and about.

He was doing what I did when I got home: mowing the yard before the rain.

I managed to get all of the front done before the Ryobi ran out of energy.

Good for me!

I finished up as the first drops of rain splattered around me!

After a bit, I decided to go to a movie.

Not just any movie, either.

I wanted one about light versus dark, good versus evil, and the thin line between.

"Sinners" was perfect.

As always, I stayed through all the credits for those few frames at the very end, those scenes with Miles Caton singing a bluesy version of "This Little Light Of Mine".

That song has always been dear to me, made even more so when my beloved Uncle Jimmy told me the song always reminded him of me and my bright outlook on life. 

Such a perfect finish for this rainy, bluesy, day.  

yes, yard work on a rainy monday

At least the weather pattern has shifted the rain away from Sunday, right?

 

That allowed me to get the back yard partly mowed yesterday after the VOICE concert.

I meant to finish today before the rain started, but it came in the morning.

 

That's fine, there were plenty of little trees to trim!

That corner of the deck had a full growth again, as did the bird bath.

Then there is that far corner, between my house and the Sullivan's.

Smitty had put some "growth be gone" on the stumps of that removed oak, as well as the mimosa tree.

That had worked for maybe six months, that's all.

Seriously.

By the time I was feeling whupped, that corner was clean, as was the area by the bath for wandering, and local, birds.

Little oak, mimosa trunks trying to leaf, dead lanata... all gone.

All were tossed over the fence to the front yard, then dragged to the curb for Wednesday.

 

The deck flora will have to wait for another time.

My arms look like they've been scratched by a cat, but that's not true.

It was the thorny threads, the blackberry brambles, and sticker vines that damaged me.

No, I was not wearing gloves or long sleeves.

My bad.

Now, time to repeat the vegetable-laden meal from last night!

That's the last of the asparagus and the broccoli.

 

I used another yellow carrot and a lot of squash for an omelet at breakfast.

Topped with a slice of cheddar, that was a nice treat!

Yes, I am so fortunate to have that largesse of prepped veggies bestowed upon me!

The next time I shop for groceries, I should get frozen, chopped, veggies.

Yes, that's a good idea!

Now, I'm going to watch "Hancock", as Peacock has it free for me.

It's been a while since I've seen this 2008 flick with Will Smith as a superhero with an attitude problem, and with Jason Bateman as the ad man trying to change his image.

(smile!)

ryobi's first time in 2025!

This is how the front yard looked before the lawn mower had a whack at it.

As is evident, the grass wasn't especially long, but it was rather shaggy, what with the loopy wild stuff that springs up.

Not quite an hour later, the yard looks decidedly more tidy.

Well, maybe that part in the foreground is still a little shaggy, but down by the street the curb appeal is much better!

Plus, I've renewed the spiral around my lovely Japanese magnolia tree.

Now to get some little girls over to run around it!

Not right now, though.

I have a birthday party in Pooler to attend!

(smile!)