Wednesday - 208th

You know how it is: you start in on one thing, and then one thing leads to the next, and by the time the sirens wail announcing the noon hour (it's a drill: the sirens always sound off at noon on the first Wednesday of the month), you're up on the roof of the house nailing down tiles and mumbling to yourself that this was not the project for this day.

This describes Ed's morning.

Me, I walked a more predictable path. A quick clean of some garden sore spots,  breakfast prep for my two porch breakfast companions...

 

 

And then I sit down to finally pick tiles for the soon to be fixed front entrance to the farmhouse. 

[I'm sure you've noticed a slight difference in the Ocean layout. Oh yes, I miss the old one. But, Blogger, my hosting platform, instituted changes and I have to abide by them. It's my first day manipulating photos in a new way. Bare with me!]

It's a stunning day. Warm, but not too warm. Ed is about to embark on switching out the water heater, but that requires our commitment to basement work from dawn to dusk and we keep putting off the job because there are so many other, smaller tasks that can benefit from the grand weather we've been having. Too, if you ask me if I can live without heat and water for a while (how long? depends how many things go wrong...), I'll say sure, but maybe not today, maybe starting tomorrow. Or better yet, the next day.

And so Ed begins on another project which is 99% his -- bringing down the dead tree that stands right at the corner of the farmhouse. Right between the electrical wires and our home. How many things can go wrong there? Oh, let me count the ways!

First though, a trim of the smaller branches.

 

And then -- well, he finds the loose roof tiles and so he is up there hammering away while I abandon ship and go out for a walk.

In the afternoon, I have some outdoor time with Snowdrop. Talk about gifts! Most of our distanced meetups have been in really good weather. Some have been on the nippy side, but today surely is one of the best! Sunny and 70f (21c). Incredible!

 

Here's the little guy, standing behind the deck railing, but looking like he's behind bars!

 

 

On the way home, I stop at a home improvement store to do a curbside pick up of our selected tiles. From this small sample we'll choose the winners.

It's hard for me to believe that in another couple of weeks, we'll actually have stairs to the front, rather than the crumbling mess out there now. Small pleasures indeed!

Ed is biking today and I have some slight concern there, because he does the same route each week and so he is slated to pass the house with the vicious dog once again. Maybe if I worry just a little, the dog will take pity and grant us a pass. And indeed, at dusk, I watch him pull in, body intact!

I scramble some cheeper eggs, sautee mushrooms and leeks, and steam up broccoli -- a veggie we love, especially with grated parmesan dusted over the flowerettes. A sliver of smoked salmon on the side, a tossed salad with beautiful radishes and cukes, and we're set to watch the debate. The good thing about watching anything at all is that you can always turn it off.

And if you're a southern Wisconsin resident, you're surely looking forward to the next few days: more sunshine, more warm weather, as if to nudge us out of our battered state and remind us -- not everything is going wrong with the world right now. For one thing, on this day, and the next, there is this glorious fall weather!