Journée des loisirs

“Hear no evil; speak no evil, and you’ll never be invited to a party.”

~ Oscar Wilde

I’ve had a nice Sunday morning so far. Sheba and I have had two walks and now she’s assumed her “default” position: She sits just inside the gate and protects us, barking at every activity on the street. But the morning, walking with her and playing with the cats, was divine.

It was nice not to feel the pressure I put on myself to “keep going;” to “move forward.” But after the incredible accomplishments of yesterday, today is a joy. I’m happily adrift today.

This stack is in the porch.

This stack is just outside the porch door.
Most of the cord is in the woodshed.

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Saturday I woke to stack wood and move soil — manly work, right up my ally! Not. I ooze rugged masculinity; I make women swoon (don’t you love that word?) when I go into the village in my manly red Fiat convertible — or so I imagine as I fill the wheelbarrow yet again with wood or soil. (There are few men here who swoon.)

I’m full of myself because not only did I stack a cord of wood, I also moved three tons of topsoil. I’ll say that again in case you didn’t take that in: I moved three tons of topsoil — and without pie, Goddamn it.

Three tons! Are you impressed? No? Well consider this: I shoveled those three tons into a wheelbarrow and then shoveled them out again and into the planters or onto the garden. That’s six bloody tons of dirt I shoveled! Now are you impressed? I am.

I took a “zen” approach: It had to be done and I had to do it. I put my speaker outside and listened to Chor Leoni while I worked. I committed myself to doing the wood stacking; it had to be done. But I thought I’d leave the dirt moving until today. But when I came in after my (first) hot tub I realized the garden “had” to be done.

The garden is what you see out the largest window in my living room. It’s unfenced so it has to be a deer-proof garden. It’ll take years to look good but it’s underway and I’m really happy to have a feature in the front yard. This place is all about the back.

At seven, this zombie took Sheba for a walk. A very gentle rain was falling and it felt good. But I had one more thing to do: I needed to adapt, upholster and secure an ironing board that will work for some repairs I want to do on a dress. I’d been putting it off forever, but last night I got it all done.

After writing a nineteen-page document for the Arts Council on Friday and then stacking the wood and shoveling the soil all day yesterday, I’m ready for a very gentle Sabbath today.

That dark scar is my new garden. To make a garden here, you dump soil on
the sandstone rock that makes up the whole island. 

I finally saw a humming bird. It was feeding on my Azalea. It had a bright red head and green body and it inspired me to clean and relocate my hummingbird feeder. I just love watching them.

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When the “big things” (like stacking the wood and moving the soil) are done I really enjoy attending to the “little” issues needing doing; replacing a missing screw, tightening a door handle, culling old food from the fridge, replacing burned out lights… things like that. That’s what I’m doing today — that and getting “radio play” tickets for Beth and me. She’s here during the workshop festival.

On the way home, I’ll pick up some deer-proof shrubs for the new front garden.