Homebodies - A day well spent

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Published on Saturday, June 13, 2015

By Rita Friesen

As I completed the last trek of the day with my four footed friends - three laps around the tear drop drive – the day had passed before me as a slow Power Point presentation. It was good, really quite great. In the morning I carefully spot treated a couple of white pieces of apparel and hung them outside to dry. Cleaned, well, tidied, my bedroom. It had become a catch all, and had caught a fair bit. I tried changing the placement of the furniture, but ended up, after a thorough cleaning, putting everything back where it came from. Spent a bit of time trimming the lilacs. I used to do that in one fell swoop but this year, well, there wasn’t any rush and so over a three day period I snipped and clipped away at them. Did get the debris all transported to the burning pile. Broke for a bowl of soup with friends. Friendship, rest and back to work.

 The afternoon was jagged. Sprayed some weeds. Tackled shampooing the carpets on the main floor as a prelude to hitting the basement. I have learned not to stick to one task too long, but move from repetitious movement to repetitious movement, that way there are no sore or aching muscles. So outside I pulled grass from the base of the old maple trees in the north yard, carefully tugging off all the little hopeful new shoots up as high as I could reach. Little bit of furniture moving and carpet cleaning and back outside to spray noxious weeds in the garden. (I have resorted to chemicals for the thistles and quack grass in the garden). It wasn’t my turn to create a supper, so I enjoyed a bacon and scrambled egg meal and volunteered for the clean-up. One more attack on the carpet cleaning front and that was done. So it was back outside. As the blood red sun was setting, I watered the tomatoes, watched for the foxes and listened to the evening sounds. Earlier this week, I spotted the first fireflies and I thought they were a bit early, and tonight I scanned the lowlands to no avail. 

Settling down for the evening, I checked the forms I need to complete and drop in the mail. One some bureaucratic income tax stuff and one pleasurable. The documents have been shifted from pile one to pile two just often enough and must be sent away. And so they shall. I looked at the forms in the morning, and so, in reality, all my activities were stall tactics! I accomplished much to avoid doing a little. 

The day well spent, and spent well, I invited a grandchild to join me in an ice cream run. It seemed the perfect way to end a very good, no a great, day.