It's Done

Saturday is my Walking Group day.  I diligently set my alarm for 6:30am.  I only hit the snooze once.  Every alarm clock I've owned has a nine minute snooze - why nine minutes?  I was vertical and heading for the coffee pot by 6:45.  Although it was still dark outside, sunrise was soon, it was getting lighter outside already.  I pulled back the curtains, to my my shock, it's drizzling outside!  Rain wasn't in the forecast as of last night's weather report.  It was suppose to be overcast, no rain, drizzle, whatever.  The rain was suppose to be off the Virginia Beach coast, we're 3.5 hours Northwest of Virginia Beach!  Needless to say, I didn't go walking with the group this morning.


John's agenda for the day was the trimming the hedges.  He was up about an hour later and saw the rain.  "Now what?" he says.  I checked the forecast previously, "there's a chance of showers for most of the day continuing through Noon tomorrow" I told him.  He was not happy.  His plan for Sunday was the couch and football like every other football fan in America, right?  He changed the channel to The Weather Channel to see if the radar gave any clues.  He saw a break coming on The Weather Channel radar.  John figures it will be about another hour or so until it stops drizzling.  He wanted to mow the grass too.  "It will be too wet to mow" I said.  "We'll see" was his response.  It was a light drizzle kind of rain, not exactly raining by the definition of the word, and it was on and off, nothing soaking wet, certainly no downpours.


Okay, John is the weekend Project Director.  Inside project - clean the ceiling fans.  He wanted them all vacuumed/cleaned.  He grabbed the vacuum cleaner and off he went.  I was going to offer to do them one day this coming week when he is at work.  When I saw him hauling the vacuum cleaner past me, I kept quiet, thinking "if he wants to clean the ceiling fans, have at it buddy".  We have six ceiling fans.  By the time he made it to the kitchen where I was, it the last ceiling fan.  John checked the radar again, the drizzle stopped it is lighting up, little by little.


"It was really cold last night" John says and I agreed.  We got down to the upper 40s, for us in Northern Virginia in mid-September, that's cold.  "I think we're going to want to use the fireplace soon" he says.  We have a gas fireplace with remote in the living room.  I rarely sit in the living room.  John is planted on our Lazy-boy reclining sofa in front of the 72 inch TV at least every Sunday during football season.  If NASCAR is scheduled on Saturdays, then he's there both days.  When both football and NASCAR are on Sundays, he has the picture-in-picture feature he uses to watch both at the same time - ain't life grand?  I know who is going to benefit from the fireplace being on, who is he kidding?  "It needs to be cleaned and the pilot light needs to be lit" John informs me.  Off he goes again with his flashlight and the vacuum cleaner.  Where is this energy coming from?  "Do you need some help?" I offered, since I'm usually handing tools for the projects.  "Nope, I'll let you know if I need you" he said.  I went back to my computer game and watching the news.  About a half hour later, he goes past me dragging the vacuum cleaner to it's resting place.  "Are you finished?" I asked.  "Yep, and I think the rain has stopped" he responded.  That was my cue to get my rear in gear, I could tell by his gaze at me.

It was about 11:15am, the drizzle had stopped and it was beginning to lighten up - I wouldn't call it sunny, but it was brighter than overcast gray.  I knew that it meant we were on for the hedge trimming.  I changed into some lightweight sweatpants, cotton type, not fleece, and I put on a sweatshirt.  It was cold by our average temperature, almost Noon and not even 60 degrees yet.

John says "I have to remember to keep the cord out of the way" he grinned at me.  Last year, he swung the electric trimmer around and cut the extension cord.  I think anyone with an electric trimmer has done that at least once, right?  It's a standing joke between us each time the electric trimmer appears.


His job, trim the hedges.  My job, rake and bag.  I have to move very slowly, I have a bad back.  A herniated disc just above the tailbone, below the lower back.  I've been under chiropractic care for about 20 years.  I HAVE TO be very careful.  If you've ever thrown your back out, you know what I'm talking about.  If you've never thrown your back out, imagine what it is like not to walk vertical but bent at the waist (you look "up" to see where you are going, it is the sitting position - walking).  That's how it is for me, until I get to the Chiropractor and get on the three visits a week with heat and electrodes until I can eventually walk upright again in about two weeks. I HAVE TO be careful and go slow.  I immediately remember when the pain starts in my back - slow down I say to myself.  I was starting to sweat.  Inside I go to change from the sweatshirt into a t-shirt, much better.


Like a madman, John is off with the trimmer...what is it with men and their tools?  He started with the hedges by the front door.  Nice, even, full, don't they look great now?

I let him move over toward the front of the house with the trimmer and I raked and bagged the front entryway s-l-o-w-l-y.  Again, a huge improvement.  They should have been done in the spring, but that's another story for another time.

The hostas will be cut back when the leaves fall, about mid-November usually, another back breaking Saturday chore.  I continue on to rake the front as John heads to the other side of the house with the trimmer.  He's moving at twice the speed I am.  Fine with me, just means I'll get his help when he's finished trimming.  I have to admit, there certainly is a difference when it is done, don't you think?  (note, no clippings anywhere on the lawn :)

I continue raking and bagging.  Imagine doing 25 squats walking about ten steps and doing another 25 squats.  That's what I did this afternoon with the raking and bagging FOR 4.5 HOURS!  Here's the bagging result, ten bags of hedge trimmings, IT'S DONE, at least until Spring.  John headed for the shed and pulled out the lawnmower.  It took him another 45 minutes to do the front and back yards, he used the bagger on the back of the mower because the grass was wet.  "IT'S DONE" he said exhausted and relieved, his final project completed.  He added another bag of lawn clippings to this after I took this picture.  These go to the curb for pickup on Tuesday.  I started dinner, a pork loin roast with brown rice and green beans (I forgot to take a picture, honestly, almost too sore to cook).

Late Friday afternoon, a Doe and her Fawn were cutting through the woods in our backyard.  I guess they needed a place to get out of the sun and feed for awhile.  Look closely, can you see them?

After feeding on the trees, the Doe decided it was naptime.  She and her Fawn went down for a nap, they stayed for about an hour.  It's difficult to spot them in this picture because of the trees.  They're lying down behind the closest tree, I hope you can see them.

I'm so sore, I can barely move.  My back hurts, my legs hurt, everything hurts.  If I had gone walking this morning with the group (if they went), I probably wouldn't be this sore.  It would have been my warm up for today's hedge raking and bagging.  I've got the Advil ready to take just before bed tonight.  Hopefully, I will be mobile and upright tomorrow.