Small chores for the weekend

We’ve reached another weekend in Maine, and what a beautiful but cold start we had Saturday morning. The week, like just about all of them, seemed to zoom by and now it’s family time once again. Of course being retired just about any time can be family time, except the daughter part of it has to work. She’ll be here this weekend because the sun is shining and our dogs can take great advantage for some socializing and play time. We don’t get to see Gator Son very often as he lives on the opposite end of the country.

We only have one major activity planned and that’s to wash the deck. I remember last year when we did it for the first time how beautiful it looked. One might have thought it was new. I’m wondering if we can repeat that performance this year.

As I mentioned, Daughter Gator and her dog will be over and she’ll give us a hand. Like daughters everywhere, she gets well rewarded for her weekend efforts. WG usually cooks a good meal or we have a cookout or something. Guess who ends up with several meals for the coming week. You know WG prepares just a little more than she needs for the weekend eating.

I’m not going to mention the various sports teams this weekend. The Red Sox. The Patriots, the Gators. They’ll all be playing at some time during the weekend, but since we won’t meet again until Monday, scores, etc., would be rather late. So, no sports this weekend, well, except the Sox won Friday night and now need just one more Sunday to win the series against the Angels. How’s that for not mentioning the sports teams?

Our lawn was getting very tall. Once the wet got into it, it just seemed like it would never dry. So Friday the baggerless tractor and I headed out onto a still wet lawn. WG grabbed her walk-behind to help me out. She did, but the wet grass eventually put her out of commission so we’ll have to spend some time this weekend power washing and cleaning it. The deck on the tractor didn’t clog, but it, too, needs to be power cleaned.

Once the mowed grass dries, I’ll put the bagger back on and take another ride to vacuum it up. There are places where it looks terrible right now. I should have mentioned that towards the end of the mowing job, a shower slipped into our area. I had the tractor running at full speed. The bumpy, uneven lawn caused it to bounce considerably, not comfortable, so the lawn ended up uneven. But at least the grass can lie in the sun and dry.

And then there are the acorns. I won’t get started on those things. I think this has been one of the worst years for acorn drops I’ve seen since we moved into this house some 15 or so years ago. I’ve never had oak trees before, and I’ll never have them again. My Fearless Friend tells me oak trees are why God provided the chain saw. We both had similar experiences with those things Friday.

GW and I cleaned our driveway and part of the yard. Several hundred or more acorns were collected. FF thought the number at his house was at least 500. He went out to a regularly scheduled Friday bowl of ‘chowdah’ and WG and I tackled the lawn. When he returned home, he said he had about 500 new acorns in his yard. After we finished the lawn, we had a yard full, too. FF would be unhappy with me if I didn’t tell you Mrs. FF did her ”fair share” of the cleanup at their home. Reading between the lines in his communication to me, I think there’s a good chance “fair share” translates into “all.”

This weekend is a stay-at-home one for us, and we do have plans for at least one chore. But it still is a whole lot nicer than having to head into Portland to snoop on the world. For those of you who want to take a ride, after our ride Thursday I can tell you that the foliage is absolutely gorgeous.

GiM