Weather report: overnight temperatures dropping into the upper 20’s, daytime highs in the lower 50’s this week. Friday afternoon rain predicted, which is overdue. It has been snowing in the western part of Nebraska, 450 miles west of here, but will turn to rain by the time the front reaches us.
There are no birthdays to report this week; however, we did note that on April 15, we remembered the second anniversary of our trip to Europe together with the Needelmans in 2019. We note it, as this is the date when fire erupted in the roof area of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. We had just passed by the cathedral and returned to our hotel room when our phones erupted and the CNN news flashed pictures of the burning cathedral. The next day, we walked back to witness the scene, with fire hoses spread all around and the usual onslaught of gawkers, chattering away in their native language, we could barely catch a phrase. For more details, see our post of April 2019 by searching on “France.”
Friday, Abigail took the afternoon off from work so she and Deb could plant the early seeds in the garden beds - potatoes, carrots, onion sets, radishes, lettuce, spinach and peas. Mark spent the time installing some solar lights along the two stairways leading from the lawn up to the deck.That evening we had another Zoom meeting with friends Tom and Kevin in Tucson. They were out on their patio, under the sunlight with the mountain view reflected in their windows. If we get to Arizona this year, it will be in the heat of summer, but that’s what why air conditioning was invented!
Saturday we watched another instalment of vegetable growing, presented by the Nebraska Extension Service, this time on container gardening. Mark finished putting together the shelving units in the basement, and we moved the area rug down in preparation for work on the new queen sized futon, and glass-fronted shelving units that had been stored in the garage during construction.
Sunday we finished up detail work in the basement rooms and Deb broke out her Instant Pot and dropped in a couple of chicken carcasses she had been saving in the freezer, resulting in a couple of quarts of chicken broth to be used in all sorts of tasty dishes in the next few weeks. A quiet Sunday.
Monday morning, Mark completed most of the futon set-up and Deb began the task of shelving books from boxes and stacks spread throughout the basement. In the afternoon, Mark stepped out to plug his batteries into the lawn mower and clean up the lawn. Deb got out her trusty rake and clippers to do some clean up and we managed to fill two leaf bags! The new 2021 trash pick up program in Omaha is quite restrictive. The plan doesn’t allow yard bags except from May17 through June 25. Excess yard waste at any other time should go in the 96 gallon containers to be added to the landfill. Of course if there is too much in the big bin, then we have to put the yard bags out with each bag bearing a sticker we purchase from the City at the rate of $1.98 per bag, plus City sales tax. All rather irritating.
Tuesday, Darcy arrived in the afternoon to help us finish the futon and to assist in placement of the unit and mattress. Mark hung the television set over the antique book shelf units and Darcy helped to connect the Apple TV unit for use with the TV. we then settled in for an initial glass of wine in front of the TV in our newly christened Lower Level Library!
Wednesday, Mark headed out early for his weekly stint as a Master Gardener. He is a crew leader at the demonstration gardens set up at the Josie Harper Hospice House facility. They actually tend to over 11 separate gardens on the ground and Wednesday was the first day for the crew. The morning broke brisk with a low of 32ºF which slowed the crew down some, but by 11:00 AM all was looking good, so they broke for a coffee. klatsch to end the day. In the afternoon, Deb finished loading almost all of the books into the new library area and started sorting and shelving. The books were all shelved by Thursday afternoon and Deb headed for her first haircut appointment in over a year. Mark broke down all the remaining cardboard in the garage, swept it out, and delivered the cardboard to the recycling center.
We are planning our first road trip for this coming weekend - stay tuned for our trip to Minnesota and the little things we encounter along the way. Back to our true Covert Journeys. Stay safe, mask up, wash your hands often, don’t kiss strangers and schedule your vaccination.
