Week in Review

Baseball is over; the last game was played last Sunday. Well, it's almost over. Noah has one more tournament to play in the middle of July. I enjoy seeing our grandsons play, but I’m glad it over because it’s so hot. Noah was in a post-season All Star Tournament; he did so well. Noah and Owen usually played two games a week, and Cole’s traveling team played every other weekend. Cole played both Saturdays and Sundays when they had a tournament.

The drought continues. Our grass is brown and crunchy. When it does rain, it only lasts for five minutes at the time. We get just enough to make these high temperatures unbearable.

Tuesday I called a tree service to get an estimate to have the dead maple taken down. I expected to wait for a few weeks to get a call back as I do when I call a plumber or the heating/AC service people. Much to my surprise, I received a return call that afternoon and an appointment was made for the next day for the estimate. The next day he arrived at the appointed hour and gave me an dollar amount that took my breath away, but Mr. Fixit wanted it done as soon as possible to prevent damage to the roof, chimney, or deck. Arrangements were made for the NEXT DAY! He came close to the arranged time and the tree was down in two hours. He was working alone. The only damage done was to my person. I am now short an arm and a leg because that’s what it cost. He did a good job with clean-up with little damage to the yard. He also trimmed the pecan tree overhanging the driveway. Mr. Fixit was upset that the sap from the tree made a mess on his truck.

There are 11 very tall pines along our property line in the back yard. When I asked for a ballpark figure for removing them, he said it would be a minimum of $3,500 because they are so tall and so close to the house. Needless to say, I think those will be there until they fall over.

I miss that maple tree. The sun shines directly on the deck and back door for most of the day now. I have to keep the door closed so that the house doesn’t get too hot. The cats can’t use the cat door. It’s been so hot though, they spend most of their time in the muscadine vines

Mr. Fixit is back working his usual erratic work schedule. For a few months he was working 4:00 am to 8:00 am on the five mornings a week so that he could attend the baseball games. He had to get up at 2:00 am. He didn’t mind getting up early, but he hated going to bed so early. I became a little spoiled. I liked having him around in the daytime and the regular hours, but he’s glad it’s over.

I have started using tote bags when I go shopping instead of the plastic bags most stores use. Some cashiers don’t seem to like them much. The best bags are sold by Walmart because they have a little loop that slips on the bagging frame. At one grocery store they give you a nickel discount for every bag you use. I think that’s better than a dirty look from the cashier when you ask them to use the bags they sold in the first place.