Keeping Busy & Counting Down

I would say that this visit to Las Vegas has probably been our best. We’ve enjoyed spending time at the house with Mary and Paul and participating in ‘land’ and Blue chores and projects versus Cups’ chores and projects. That said, as I recently mentioned, we’re getting antsy for a change and some travel. 

The Lynn brothers have been spending nearly every daylight hour working on Blue.

David is spending most daylight hours working on Blue and has enlisted Paul to help. In the evenings, he’s been researching and ordering parts for Blue. I help where I can, but my knowledge of carpentry, electrical layouts and wiring is minimal … read that, I know how to plug in my laptop. But it hasn’t been all ladybug launches and eating bonbons, there’s plenty to keep me busy.

The prickly pear is looking healthier and the blooms are prolific and gorgeous.

I’ve done yard work, weed control, pruning and clean-up . The darned mealy bugs on the prickly pear have been a pain in the neck and required considerable time and effort. Desert gardening is a whole new bailiwick for me, about which I’ve been trying to learn more. My knowledge of succulents and cacti has increased significantly and I still don’t know much. My meager efforts are paying off though … lots of blooms on the prickly pear and the front yard is looking pretty good.

The raised planter in the backyard has been re-stained.

I’ve re-stained the big raised planter in the backyard. We’ve planted tomatoes and peppers and Mary is growing several herbs … parsley, cilantro, chives, mint and lemon thyme. The tomatoes and peppers are flowering already and it’s lovely to just walk out in the backyard and clip some herbs for dinner. I even planted some pumpkin seeds which have already sprouted. I planted three seeds and it always breaks my heart to have to decide which one survives. One weakling culled out was easy, but now it's a choice of two. Haven't made the decision yet.

Tomatoes are flowering and my pumpkin seeds have already sprouted. One's gotta go, but I haven't decided which one yet.

We’re still up at 0530 and walk 3-1/2 miles around the golf course each morning in preparation for our Thames Path walk in September. And now, when it’s warm enough, we enjoy our morning coffee on the new deck … when the wind's not blowing. By 0800, we part ways. David and Paul head to the garage/workshop to spend time working on Blue and I begin daily house chores … the usual pick-up, laundry, meal-planning, grocery shopping kind of stuff. There’s bill paying, expense updates (we still keep a daily expense log for budgeting purposes), blog writing, thrift shop forays, travel planning and list-making. The days fly by and I wonder what I've accomplished, if anything.

I’ve been collecting gear and equipment for our upcoming trip and storing it in Mary’s apartment-size closet, so it’s out of way, but accessible. I’ve also been brushing up on my photography techniques and recently loaded all of our music CDs onto our iPhone (I know, I know … very long overdue!). We’ve been making lists of what’s left to do and what we need to get. We discuss our tomorrow’s agenda every evening before collapsing in bed.

As of today, the countdown stands at TEN days till we hit the road and head south with Blue to Arizona on May 1st. Then, it's on to California and points north. Counting the days, minutes and seconds …