A tale (of woe) on Independence Day

When life gives you lemons!

I worked really hard to get my lawn mowed, edged, and trimmed over a period of two days.  I was actually ashamed of the yard.  It had been nearly two years since I edged and trimmed.  Visiting friends over the upcoming holiday forced me to work hard on the lawn, which also forced me to leave my lofty perch in my cool office.  I was cleaning the back patio, which I am not at all fond of (the back patio that is, because I actually don't mind cleaning), when I decided to move the containers I keep kindling and small wood in, while also sweeping the patio of the excess grass left by the edger and trimmer.  As I started to move one of the plastic (have I mentioned how much I love to hate plastic?) containers cat litter used to come in,

it fell and broke into smithereens.  Actually, I have no one to blame but myself, because I should know that sunlight is deadly to plastic, which breaks down under the sun's hot rays.

The main problem was, although I had already picked up most of the wet kindling when I took this photo, there was evidence of some that still needed to be dealt with.

In addition to the wet wood that had to be picked up, I also had to contend with the water that spilled and mixed in with the bits of of grass I had not yet removed to the compost container.

The fact that the rest of the yard looked decent, did nothing to help the fact I would not be able to cook fix the meal in my chiminea for my friends if my wood was wet.

So I did the next best thing.  I raised the sun umbrella, cleaned up the area as best I could, put my cleaning supplies away, and headed for the shower.

While waiting for my company, I decided to take a few photos of the neighborhood.  First to the south of my house,

then to the north.  Everyone seemed to be taking advantage of the extended weekend.

And of course, I had to take a couple of photos of my bricks,

which you can finally see again.

Once the sun came out, I decided to update those of you who visit all the time, with a few photos of my herb garden.

It may be easier to see everything from this location.  It's rather obvious, some of the seeds took off right away, while a few didn't bother to germinate.  However, after taking my friend Sally to the airport on Wednesday morning, I stopped by Lowes (a big box home improvement store in the US) and picked up two plants for half price.  Can you tell which ones they are?

Yep. you guessed it.  This is my third attempt at raising this lovely herb that smells so incredibly wonderful.

And here's another view.  I'm hoping third time is a charm!

So as to not leave you hanging, I took my friends to dinner at a local restaurant.  It was the least I could do, since the wood was still not dry when they arrived.  And true to form, I forgot the camera.  I hope you are enjoying your weekend.  Is it a long one for you, or did you have to return to work today?