Productivity

Studmuffin wanted to go to the lake. For that matter, I did too. We had a cool front come through, so it would have been wonderful. However, the cool front meant it was cool enough to get some work done around this castle.

First on the list: The lily pond. It was so icky, that I dare not show any pictures. My Aunt Christina told me it was probably green because I don't have enough lilies. Whatever the reason, then thing was green and murky. So, we scooped the sucker out, put the 2 goldfish in a bucket, the lily in a bucket and scrubbed it out. Oh, and emptied the rocks out too. I understand that the rocks look cool in the bottom, but they seem to be a harbor for algae and moss to grow, so we left them out. We refilled the lily pond, put the lily back in, and placed the fish in their bucket in the water to gradually balance out in temperature. Now, my college room mate and I had gold fish. Every blessed time we cleaned the bowl the dumb things died. Guess what? The gold fish died this time too. Woops. Big surprise there. I gotta say, I'm not that broken up. Bookworm was sad I hadn't taken pictures of them so she could remember them forever. "They're fish! Get over it!" And that was that. Isn't my compassion amazing?

Oh, and yes, I knew before we began that I wasn't supposed to clean a lily pond. But, I got an urge and it couldn't be stopped....And even though we now have two dead goldfish buried in the garden, I still feel a sense of accomplishment...

Second on the list: clean out behind the pool. The previous owners built a small fence around our back yard when they put in the pool. Like the size of an average city lot back yard. Of course, building a fence for the entire back yard is on our grand list. However, the city is supposed to fix the drainage problem for our castle in the fall, so we can't build it yet. The problem is, we can't fit the push mower behind the pool. And it's a big area to weed eat. So, Studmuffin sprayed it with Roundup a few weeks ago, so now we have dead plants that need raked out, and tons of mulch put down so it looks like something other than a wasteland. Of course, Holly will just move that mulch all over the yard....Anyway, this did not get done at all.

Number three on the list: Finish the cover for the gazebo. For anyone who hasn't kept up with every minute detail of my life, the gazebo had a cloth cover on it. Cloth covers and Oklahoma wind do not work. I planted morning glories in containers at the base in hopes they would grow up and create a shade. They are only 1/4 the way up. Next plan: Place boards on top, and create a shade that way. We discovered that not one angle is square on the darn thing. So, scratch that plan. Third plan: Buy a new canvas for it. Guess what? A canvas, with a 5 year warranty can be ours for only $750! You do realize we could build an entire pergola for about the same amount, so of course we scrapped that plan, too.

Do not fear, Gentle Reader. I did not give up. I tapped into my inner cheap and headed to Lowe's to see what I could find. Jackpot! They had solar screen fabric on clearance for $1.20 a foot! The fabric is 6 ft wide. However, I had failed to figure the area of my pyramid (the gazebo makes a triangle at the top), so I was unsure how much fabric I needed. I knew the gazebo was 10x10, but that was all I knew. So, I bought all that they had in the color I wanted, and hoped it was enough. I hope this works better than the original fabric because it is a loose weave, and I think wind will go through it better instead of just shredding it.

We started out Thursday evening, and got about half of it done. Of course, we didn't start until it was almost dark, so we didn't get too much done. We worked on the little decorative top last night, and got it covered. However, we did not manage to get to it today....

So, what did we accomplish today? Well, you see, the girls had a sleepover last night. Not one person in this house got up before 8:45. That is like sleeping until noon in this house. It put our entire day off schedule. I cooked breakfast, and didn't finish clean up until 10:30. Then, we did the lily pond.

After that, Studmuffin and I wandered around the yard discussing all of our grand plans, that we never seem to get around to....

Then we ate lunch. Which of course I had to clean up after.

Then, we all sat down in the living room to watch Phineas and Ferb with the girls. The adults promptly fell asleep and didn't wake up until 4pm. Yikes! The day was gone! It took another 30 minutes for me to get Studmuffin to wake up.

Then, we sat around thinking about what to do about dinner for a long time. My menu is not effective at the end of the 2 weeks, when I do not feel like cooking what's left on the menu. In this case it was pork chops or fish. And we're out of lunch meat, and pretty much everything else that is quick and simple since, once again it is the end of the 2 weeks before I'm allowed to go back to the store. We finally decided on hamburgers, and of course squash, because it is summer. Of course, that involved cleaning the kitchen again. Oh, and for anyone who is curious, or even cares, I go to Braum's for fresh milk, bread and produce in between official shopping days. I've discovered this really saves money on unnecessary purchases that you feel you must have when you walk into the store.

Returning to original subject matter:

Then, the kids begged, pleaded, and crawled on their knees begging us to go swimming....So after at least 5 seconds of the relentless pressure, we crumbled, put on our suits and headed out. We came in about 9pm, and everyone showered.

Finally, after a long, productive day, we got the girls into bed.

Now, after so much hard work, Studmuffin and I are just completely pooped out. So, here we sit, me blogging, and him confirming that sure enough, there is nothing on tv!

So, all in all, I would say we had a pretty productive day. Of course, it all depends on what we were supposed to be producing.....