Things at the Ford Homestead are getting back to normal, now that the holidays are over. This past Sunday we were able to get the outside Christmas decorations down and put away. I first had to remove most of the stuff (stuff is defined as anything from a lawn mower to empty totes) from the shed, remove part of a shelving unit, then I needed to carry all the Christmas decorations out to the shed. I then had to place these decorations in the shed trying to optimize the space available. I then put all the stuff back into the shed.
You should know that there is almost as much inside decorations as we have outside and these will be worked on by my wife of 43 years in the coming days/weeks. I will then need to remove all the stuff and find places for the rest of the decorations.
Needless to say, but Sunday night I was tired and hurting in most of my body parts. The night’s sleep was not restful but I did recuperate from most of the hurting.
On Monday this retired person who lives on a fixed income decided to work in the front yard. I did not get a “nut picker upper” for Christmas but I did get gift certificates that allowed me to order one.
The weather people were saying that we were going to have a “major rain event” on Tuesday and Wednesday. I decided to do what I could on Monday without making myself hurt all over. I started by raking the leaves out of a portion of the flower bed. It should be known that as I raked the leaves I also removed thousands of acorns that had been hiding there and much of the red mulch that I had placed in the flower beds.
I may not be as good at planning as I have been lead to believe. I had previously used my new nut gatherer to pick up all the acorns along and in front of this flower bed. Today I was raking more of these pesky acorns onto the grass and will need to pick them up.
I went to the shed and brought the needed tools to the front yard; leaf blower, lawn mower with grass catcher attached, big red wagon and a broom.
I used the lawn mower to vacuum up and shred the leaves. MY wife of 43 years uses straw around her nativity scene so I had to vacuum and shred that also. These leaves and straw were bagged and made ready for the trash man. I then use the nut gather to pick up the acorns. The nut gatherer works as expected but I have to be on my feet the entire time.
This retired person was beginning to get tired and I was not yet finished. My body was starting to hurt from the abuse of having to work. I decided to take a break with a cup of coffee. I put the coffee on and while it was brewing I took one aspirin. You will be happy to know that the combination of aspirin, two cups of coffee and about 20 minutes rest revived this retired person.
During the break; as I was sitting in my rocking chair near the garage door I noticed that we had some sun light but it was not bright. I looked toward the sun and noticed the high thin clouds and a “ring around the sun”.
Everyone knows about ring around the collar but not everyone has seen a ring around the sun. Does this ring have a meaning?
As I understand it, you are supposed to count the stars inside a ring around the moon to determine how many days it will be before rain, but does a ring around the sun mean anything.
When I started working again I was feeling pretty good. Now if you remember I have vacuumed the leaves and straw, and I have picked up the acorns. I now need to get the red mulch out of the grass. This is where the broom comes in. I have found that an old broom works very well at moving small items into a pile without pulling up the grass runners. Yes I was sweeping the yard and it worked very well.
I dumped the acorns and red mulch into the trash can and put the tools away. I took the 6 bags of leaves/straw and turned them upside down. I have learned that rain will somehow get into a bag of leaves even with the top tied tightly, if it is left setting up right.
Once in the house I was able to get a much needed shower and I turned on “let’s make a deal”. I have found that this TV program will put a retired man to sleep in about 3 minutes.
I usually take a short nap of 10 to 15 minutes but today my nap lasted for well over and hour and I deserved it.
From the over worked body and under worked mind of Don Ford
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