Weekend Remnants

In following my previous line of thought, it's the Wilcoxen in me that led me into the trap of beginning the assembly of the glider before I had finished reading the instructions and, therefore, responsible for the washer mixup. It's also the Wilcoxen in me that decided to assemble the thing on the back deck, which meant that twice I had to crawl under the deck on my hands and knees to retrieve an errant piece of metal that had dropped between the slats. You would think I would learn and spread something underneath, but no. That would be in denial of my genetics. What can I say?

This glider thing caused me to completely rearrange and clean up the big deck. It's like a new piece of furniture that makes the rest of the room look shabby. I had stacked and piled junk on the patio table, let the pine needles collect into a crunchy carpet, and shoved so much lawn furniture and plants out there that you could not walk freely from one end to the other. It now looks much better, though of course the pine needles will be back by next weekend.

While I was preparing supper last night, I glanced out at my newly cleaned deck and observed our nervy resident squirrel in an act of ongoing vandalism. I had been blaming the birds, but it turns out the squirrel is the culprit. He's torn a big hole in the corner of one of the chair cushions and has been steadily removing the polyfill. I rapped on the window and yelled at him to stop that. He, in effect, shot me a rude gesture, grabbed another big clump of white fluff, stuffed it in his cheek and moseyed down the railing with the attitude of "you're not the boss of me, lady". I turned the dogs out and he changed his tune, but he's a crafty devil and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before my chair cushion becomes a soft winter den for him and his lady friend. I spied them in the top of the pine tree a few days ago and I have no doubt there will be a few more of the little toots in the not too distant future. I rather admire his cheekiness, and the chairs are old and way past their prime, so we will continue to enjoy watching his antics for now. When I get around to buying new cushions, we will have to have a serious chat.

A neighbor cat is also making free with our decks, sitting on the railing and calculating how fast he would have to jump to catch a bird on the feeder. The birds are laughing up their feathers.

Inspector Clouseau is making himself very welcome. It turns out he is a otoclincus, a variety of catfish, and he is gobbling algae so fast he may work himself out of a job. If I have to start cooking for the fish (blanched zucchini is recommended as a diet supplement for him), I am going to have a fit.

Rather a busy weekend. And I didn't even mention the 6 hours I put in for the office on Sunday afternoon. Wish this energy would hang around until I get the rest of the house in order.

LSW