Well, I can honestly say that I’ve not had as productive a Saturday as this in a long time. I certainly can’t remember the last time I was this productive (in that I actually accomplished the tasks I set out on Friday’s list) on a Saturday. It usually seems as though I end up taking a nap or something and that shoots a good portion of the day away.

Not so, today.

For starters, I slept in until 9. Then I made my pilgrimage to the transfer station with the garbage. I was back by 10:30, at which time I washed out the cans, let them to dry, and then proceeded to prep the upstairs window trim for paint (re-caulk in some spots, etc.). I then watched Beth give both dogs a bath. I took some video footage of that procedure (hoping that I’d catch the dogs yowling in such a way that it appears they’re being beaten), but they were both really good with the bath. Anyway, once that was done, I sat down and read the paper, grabbed a light lunch, and broke out the pickup to do some painting (I use the pickup box as a stable platform on which to set the ladder when I’m painting or scraping, when I have to move around a lot more than something like caulking).

The painting process goes pretty fast; I think I was done with that in about an hour and a half. The upstairs windows once again look good (at least the trim does). I cleaned that stuff up, put everything away, and then decided to tackle the next project. I grabbed the shovel and hoe and went to town widening out the septic tank cover holes. That only took a few minutes (because the ground is soft and I only had to widen an existing hole by about 3″ all around). Got them cleaned out (to the tops of the covers, anyway), and went in for a midday snack.

Then I went back outside again, this time with sawzall in hand, and cut the section of riser pipe I had to the correct lengths for the two covers. Put all of that stuff away, and it was time to feed the dogs. After I completed that, I put the (now quite dry) garbage cans back in their correct places and brought out the lawnmower. I quick put the mowing deck on, tried it out quick, and put that away (so we can mow the lawn anytime now).

Then it was time to come back inside for a bit, so I did. It was then time to clean up the basement again…just to freshen things up. The water infiltration is once again slowing down, so that’s a Good Thing. I dug out the mop, cleaned up a bit, then went to town with the shop vac. Got that all done, then decided to set up another mechanism to hopefully help more with the moisture level in the basement. I dug out the old dehumidifier and set it in a different, more remote part of the basement. Then I set up the box fan to help circulate some air. It didn’t take long for my mopping job and whatnot to dry up, and I’ll let two dehumidifiers run for a while (until the water quits coming in altogether). I don’t really have to worry about them, because I’ve got hoses set up for both so they drain automatically.

Anyway, once I got done with that I started in on some other stuff upstairs (just cleaning and picking up) and noticed that the neighbors (not the ones right next door) were over next door, so I went to chat for a while. Well, a while turned into over an hour and Beth brought Kirstin over as well. When it was all said and done, it was 7pm and Beth got her garden tilled up out of the deal. Good Times.

So we got back into the house, I made some supper (spaghetti), and then took a shower. I’m now listening to Kirstin grunt and be small over in the Mobile Prison while Beth’s taking a bath. After she’s done with that, we’re going to watch some TV and eventually go to bed after the news.

Anyway, that’s basically today in a nutshell. Good thing, too, because I probably will take a nap tomorrow and not have as much opportunity to get things done. Although tomorrow’s project list is somewhat simpler. I would like to move the dogs, fill in a few of their holes (on the East side of the house, which is where they currently are), then set the riser pipe in place and backfill those holes (I won’t do that until the dogs have been moved, though, because Koshka could fall into one of the holes. Seeing as how she’d fall about ten feet (and then into sewage), that would be a Bad Thing and therefore avoided at all costs. Another random project I’d like to accomplish is getting the upstairs windows (specifically the storm windows) cleaned up a bit. I’d like to replace the storm windows this summer, but in the meantime they really do need some attention.

All of that said, it was a gorgeous day today. It was somewhere in the low 80’s today (my memory thermometer said it reached 92, but it gets some late afternoon direct sun, so that’s not always accurate). I definitely got some sun myself, as my arms in particular are a little red. Not sunburn red, but will tan quickly red. Of course, that’s what I get for being outside pretty much all day.

So until next time…

–MZ