Boy was I wrong!

Yesterday was so beautiful, I figured I'd get a jumpstart on cleaning up the firepit area before Donna came over. I was outside working on it by 9am. First I cut down a few tree-type weeds that bother the crap out of me. Then I got everything needed for the firepit area. All I really needed to do was pick up the leaves that got caught there and organize the various piles of wood and kindling that constantly get jumped on, picked through, and chewed on by the dogs. Doesn't sound too bad, right? :) Riiiiight. The wrong part I mentioned? It was all about how long I *thought* it would take. :)

I will admit that I spent some of that time chatting with my neighbors, who were also outside doing yard work. That probably added up to about 45 mins if you combine all the times I stopped. Otherwise, I was raking leaves, pulling up weeds, and moving wood - the whole time. I knew I didn't have enough bags for all of the leaves, so I started a fire thinking I'd burn whatever was left over. Let me tell you how nice the scent of a fire was even though it was 75 degrees out! My neighbor, who has come over on nights he catches the scent of a fire, agreed.

There is definitely a trick to burning leaves safely, which I learned very quickly. :) I don't have any hair on my left arm anymore, but it will grow back. :) Thankfully I learned so quickly enough that I didn't even need to use the hose that was ready and waiting. The things you learn as a new homeowner... :)

When all was said and done, I got *most* of the wood piled up along the side, *most* of the leaves raked into a pile in the center of the sand pit, and just about all of the weeds pulled. By the time Donna came, I was tired. Very tired. So, there's a nice pile of wood, a nice pile of leaves and weeds, and a small section of chaos left. I told myself I'd get back out there today to finish it up, but I'm pretty sure that ain't happening. :)

It was still really warm when Donna arrived in the afternoon (a scant 6 hours after I started the firepit area), and Freddie started sitting in Millie's raised water bowl, so I figured it was time to get them a new kiddie pool. Donna's dogs also like water so we crated them all up and took a ride to Walmart. We stopped at our friend Mary's house along the way and took a tour of her grand destruction, also known as her renovation. Things are coming along very well in her house - I think the only room that isn't being touched is the kitchen, which was done last year.

We first went up to the Walmart up at the loop but they didn't have any pools in yet. I did, however, find two more plants that I have to go back this week to get - bleeding hearts and balloon flowers. :) I knew I had seen them at Super Walmart when I was there with my cousin, so we headed over there after Mary's. Unfortunately the color options were limited so I ended up with a pink pool. Macho man Freddie didn't seem to mind though as he was in it before I had a chance to bring the hose over. Someday I'm going to have to post a video of his little chicken routine in the pool - it's hilarious. Anyway, by the time we were done, it was around 6pm and we were both starved. I made a chicken stir-fry (she's vegan so I made her a tofu chicken stir-fry) and I was psyched to be able to cook. I haven't had time to cook a full meal for a couple of weeks now. Of course, I'm not as psyched to look at the kitchen sink full of dishes because of said cooking. Have I mentioned that my sink has 3 divided bowls and all 3 of them are full? Oh well. :)

After dinner we started on the web stuff she had brought to add to her site. She added 6 new galleries to showcase her work - all of dog stuff of course. She's a great photographer though and you can certainly tell by her pictures. I truly don't know of anyone else that can get the same kind of quality action shots that she can. Remember, these dogs can *move*! I still have a bunch of proofs to add, which I'll do after my homework.

Unfortunately we didn't have time to do any planting yesterday so I'll have to find sometime this week to get it all done. The bees were out in force yesterday as well and there was one huge one guarding the front of the house for some reason. I really don't think bees should be the size of your thumb in length and width. There's something seriously wrong with that. So, I'll wait until it's cooler and plant all of my stuff then. :) That will also give me time to pick up the other two that I found. :)

On a much sweeter note, my parrot tulips are *gorgeous*!!! I noticed yesterday (from afar since the damn bee wouldn't let me near my garden) that a few more red ones have fully bloomed. It's sunny but cool right now so I'll head out soon and take some pictures. They are truly a unique and beautiful flower. I can't wait until the white ones open! Eventually I'll post a few pictures here - just have to add it to the list of things to do. :)

So now I'm going to jump into homework. I'm supposed to go to my cousin's for dinner later, but that will depend on how far along I get in my homework. I definitely have to head over to my grandparents house but that's really the extent of things I need to do today! Nice and relaxing. :)

D