Spring is here!

Today started out with a thunderstorm at 3am. We woke to hear Suki panting very audibly in our bedroom - she had made the trek up to our room for the first time in this visit, on her arthritic legs. I coaxed her back downstairs, and she jumped back on the couch. I then coaxed her back down, and down some more stairs to the comfort and security of the basement. The thunder is much less loud down in the basement, and she stopped panting and settled down for a nap on some dirty laundry (sheets, towels, and a pillow, to comfort her joints on the cold cement floor).

Today I was off work, so I did a lot of projects around the house. I chatted with my e-pal from China for a while this morning, then went downstairs and made a bagel for breakfast. This has formerly been my fool-proof meal for Suki, but this morning she turned up her little gulab-jamun nose at even a toasted Sesame bagel with butter.

The magnolia buds are coming out, and I see little pink bumps on the redbuds as well. We have bloodroots blooming outside the house (see photo). My green peppers and hot peppers and tomatoes have finally decided to sprout, so things are looking good in the garden department.

I did three loads of laundry and hung them out on the line. The day was sunny and beautiful, so I brought the veggie seedlings outside for a little sun and wind to harden them up.


Then I ran some errands. I biked to the post office with my ebay and amazon sales, and picked up a DVD at the library, since it had just arrived in the bookmobile. Then I picked up Suki and we did some more errands in the car. I stopped at the glass place and picked up the garage window, which had been re-glazed. They had quoted me $6 to replace the glass, but charged me $15. I was a bit miffed about that. Then I went to the dollar store, to get some more clothespins and also a spray bottle for the plants. They had eggs on sale for $0.39 a dozen, so I bought some of them, too.

When I got home, I made lunch (salad) and made a chocolate cake since I had two dozen eggs on hand.

Then I worked in the yard a bit, hauling away debris and old leaves and branches. That is a job that takes me weeks and weeks in the spring.

My last project of the day was to work on the homemade rotating composter. I used the drill and jigsaw to cut two circular holes in the garbage can, and inserted a PVC pipe to form an axle. The lid was bungee-corded on, and now is secure enough to rotate. Next, we need to make a stand for the composter with 2 x 4s and design some kind of hatch.

Here are the results of my efforts:



Marketplace:
I sold a videotape for $20. Whoopee!

Mail Call:
sample of Degree Deoderant
appointment reminders from UWHC
$12.62 Walgreens gift card (rebates)
new pharmacist's license
$5.06 rebate from Kwik Trip
$30 rebate from Logitech