Sunshine and Sweat

It's Day 5 of my vacation and I'm beat. And bruised. With a little bit of a sunburn and raging allergies.

But my sense of accomplishment keeps growing.

So far during this break I've gotten the most rotten part of my fence fixed (I bought the panels a year ago. Repeat that--one year ago and just now got them up.) I even ponied up for new gate hardware since the vacuum cleaner belt that was holding the old gate shut broke last week when the wind kicked up.

I also got my dad to install the new light fixture in the kitchen. It looks fantastic, but something I didn't take into account is the fact that halogen lights put off a LOT more heat than flourescent lights could ever think of doing. Oh well, I don't spend that much time in the kitchen anyway!

I've planted a rose bush, planted the lemon tree that I've been dragging in and out of the house since last fall, and transplanted a few bulbs. This morning I sprayed the insidious weeds that have taken over the back yard. Take a look. They look pretty with their little blue flowers:

And, they make a great spot for a cute little kitty to pose for pictures...

But, they grow in mounds, and sneak up under the siding on the house, and clog my mower until it dies:

So I hit them with some weed killer this morning. The instructions sounded pretty dire, no pets or people in the yard until it had dried. So we were inside until that stuff evaporated. But wouldn't you know it, for the first hour, the boys acted as if they were being wrongly incarcerated and raced around the house, begged at the doors, and generally made nuisances of themselves. Aren't these brats supposed to be sleeping 23 hours of the day?

It's safe to go outside now and not one of them have made a move for the door. The most they've done is change nap spots.

The rest of my week is scheduled with more projects: two more rose bushes to plant, some more flowers to put out, clean up of the flower beds, and cleaning and moving things about in the house. Not to mention all the shows filling up my DVR and the second season of "Alias" that has to be watched before it's due back at the library.

Before I go, here's a couple of shots of the boys enjoying springtime:

Izzy in a tree, possibly stalking birds. He was a little upset with me that I was hanging around taking pictures of him.

And Jake, making his own entertainment in the backyard. I'm really not sure what he was doing, but it was cute.

Sorry there're no shots of Sam, but he's mister cranky pants and won't let me get a good shot. The most I get are blurry pics of his rear end as he's leaving.