Weekend recap

The weather was so beautiful on Sat that after work Spouse and Steven & Thad and I went for a drive. We ended up in Ocean City, MD and had dinner.

Sunday's weather was more of the same mild temperatures, low humidity, and lots of sunshine.  Spouse & I had coffee and talked on the back porch for about an hour, then decided to get busy.  We donned our gardening gloves and trimmed some scrub trees that had grown out from our big holly and from the lace hydrangea that cover the back fence.  Then we trimmed the 'crazy' roses and sprinkled a bunch of Preen on the beds which had just been weeded by a school kid I hired.  The yard looks really good!

We both showered and dressed, then went out for a little lunch.  Spouse's idea was to get food from Taco Bell and take it to the beach parking lot and eat it in the car, overlooking the beach.  (He's a little weird about some things like this.)  Then we went for a little drive near the beach, got air in 1 of the tires on Spouse's car, and then got his car washed.  He never gets his car cleaned so I was happy to do it for him.

We relaxed with the dogs and watched a little TV, then met Steven & Thad for dinner. The weather was still so nice out that we opted for an outdoor table at dinner.  I love to eat outdoors, as long as its not really hot or super humid or buggy.

Roses

A little while back I posted photos and wrote about how well our 'comical roses' were doing.

Now that more time has passed, our other roses are doing very well too!  While Spouse is the real rose lover, probably MY favorite of our roses are the orange ones.  The color is so amazing they almost look artificial!

I mean, aren't these incredible?!?!

Fortunately these are shrub roses so we don't have to deadhead them.  

The yellow roses are not doing very well at all.  I'm not sure if its because we've only had them a year or if the soil is too sandy, but both of the bushes have only bloomed once so far.

Weekend recap

As usual, I worked on Sat and Spouse did some spot cleaning on a couple of our area rugs.  Once home from work, we met up with Steven & Thad and Joe P for dinner, and then I went to the Blue Moon to perform in the Legends show.  The owners decided to bring back some of my past Legends this year so I was Neil Diamond on Sat night.  Neil has a new costume this year which I like a lot, and a new wig this year which looks horrible.  We did the best we could with it, but...

After the show we walk around to meet and greet the patrons, and I had a nice conversation with a nice couple.  As I usually do, I asked them where they lived.  They said "In Virginia" so I asked where about, and they responded with the name of the tiny, obscure town where I lived about 7 years!  I mean, to illustrate how small this town is, when I asked where in the town they lived, they said "You know where the stop sign is?  We're in that neighborhood on the left" and I knew exactly where they were talking about.  Small world!!!

Then Sun Spouse & I met Steven for a late breakfast.  Thad was at a yoga class.  Afterward Spouse & I took the dogs for a walk around the block, deadheaded the Comical Roses and the orange roses, dusted all the roses to prevent bugs from eating the leaves, pulled some weeds, and just did a bit of yard clean up.  We both hate it but its amazing what 2 people can accomplish in just under an hour.

Next we grabbed our sunscreen and met Steven & Thad a the beach!  It was our 1st beach visit of the season.  It was an usually hot day for mid-June (91 degrees) but it always feels cooler at the beach with the breezes coming off the water.  We had a great afternoon there and it really felt like summer.  After returning to our respective homes for showers, we met back up for dinner, then we stopped by the new house to see how the renovations were going, then settled in at home for a bit of TV watching.

It was a nice weekend.

Roses

Spouse loves roses, so when we began planting stuff in our yard about 10 years ago we bought several Queen Elizabeth rose bushes.  They're light pick and rebloom several times between April and Oct.  They're planted in front of our front porch and grow crazy tall, which Spouse finds comical. So we refer to them as Comical Roses rather than Queen Elizabeth roses.

Later we bought 2 dark red and 1 magenta shrub rose bushes, which are planted on the side of the house.  These are great because they also rebloom but you don't have to deadhead them.  Then we saw some gorgeous orange roses at a nursery and bought 3 of those.  The orange color is so vivid the roses almost look artificial.  Last July for his birthday I bought Spouse 2 yellow shrub rose bushes which are planted by the front sidewalk.  They haven't bloomed much this year yet, but they may simply bloom later.  They have a lovely buttery yellow color. 

We've had more than the usual amount of rain over the last few weeks so the roses have all been loving that.  And although I don't love it when it rains, it does mean we don't have to water the roses.

I took a couple photos of the Comical Roses just after taking the dogs out in the front yard.  I didn't take photos of the others because the dark red and magenta ones had alreay peaked an the blooms were wilting, and the orange and yellow ones hadn't peaked yet.

Notice the height of the roses compared to the porch railing behind them.

Spouse's Comical Roses

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!  Make it your goal to hug a veteran today and thank them for their service to our country.

Today was a lazy day for me & Spouse.  Both our offices were closed so we both had the day off, but it has rained on and off so we've just been relaxing and watching TV with the dogs on our laps.

I don't mind having a 'lazy day' like this once in a while, especially if I've also had an especially productive day recently.  Yesterday the weather was awesome so Spouse & I pulled all of the screened porch furniture into the yard.  I cleaned the furniture with a wet rag while he power washed the inside of the porch.  Its always amazing to me how dirty the inside of the screened porch can get!  While everything was drying we went around to the front yard and pulled a few weeds and planted the 2 yellow rose bushes I gave him for our 20th anniversary as well as planted a couple of colorful annuals we picked up Sat evening to brighten up one of the beds.  Its been a good year for our roses!  The long stem soft pink Queen Elizabeth roses, the medium pink knock-out roses, the magenta knock-out roses, and the orange knock-out roses are all blooming like crazy!  In a year or 2 the new yellow roses should join the club.

Then we carried all the porch furniture back into the screened porch and arranged everything.  I even cleaned the 3 lanterns and planted a small basil plant in a pot.  

It was a nicely productive day, and it felt good to be out in the sun for a while considering all the rain we've had this month.  After taking showers and having a snack, Spouse & I hung our new canvas.

Since it looks much more like Marvin then it does Walter, Spouse was concerned that Walter may begin acting out because we hung a giant picture that looks like his brother and not one that looks like him.  I told Spouse that they may be smart, but their not THAT smart. 

Later we went out to dinner with Steven & Thad and I decided to pull my hair back into a Samurai knot.  

I think it looks kinda cool and hipster-like.  I knew Thad would ridicule me for this "age inappropriate" hairstyle, which of course he did.  But I like changin' it up now and then.  Your thoughts on the Samurai knot??

I hope your Memorial Day weekend was good!

Weekend redux

This past weekend I had a rare weekend off work, and managed to resist having to meet clients on my days off.

Spouse & I decided to do some much needed power washing.  Against my wishes we bought a power washer a few weeks ago.  (I prefer to pay someone to do it rather than have to figure out how to use and maintain the machine to do it myself.) But Spouse really wanted to buy and use it, and well, since I bought Big Ella years ago I have no room to complain about his decision on how to spend our money.

He read skimmed the directions and put the 117 pieces together.  We removed the 4 love seats, 2 chairs, 2 end tables, 2 dining tables and 8 dining chairs from the rear screened porch and started experimenting with the 3 tips which give different widths of spray and power.  After a few minutes we got the hang of it and cleaned the mildew, cobwebs, and dirt from the screened porch.

Next we cleaned all the furniture we'd taken off the porch, and then we headed around to the side entrance of the house.  Because of the sun's direction, that part often does not dry thoroughly after rain and had some algae along with the dirty, cobwebs and mildew.  (Note to self:  consider repainting white trim a color that doesn't show so much.)  We were pretty impressed with the work we did, and to my genuine surprise, we really didn't argue like we usually do when trying to complete home projects.  (Spouse prefers 'fast' while I prefer 'thorough'.)

By the time we finished the side entry, the screened porch and furniture were dry, so I loaded all the furniture back into the porch while Spouse was inside making a cake.

That evening we went to cook-out at Mike & Nathan's place.  Spouse made a Luau cake (my name for it) which was delicious and simple.  Just make an orange flavor box cake mix according to the directions, but substitute crushed pineapple with its juice for the water.  Once its cool, ice with butter cream frosting and sprinkle with coconut flakes.  It was a big hit.

On Sun we had a leisurely morning at home, drinking coffee on the freshly cleaned screened porch, dead-headed the roses, and eventually got ourselves ready to go to the beach.  We picked up wraps from the deli on our way so we could eat lunch at the beach with our friends Joe P, Rick, and Tim.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and really enjoyed our time at the beach.  Later that evening we met up with Steven & Thad and Joe P for dinner.

It was a fun and productive weekend!

Sunday funday

We started our Sun by going to breakfast with Steven and Joe P at the Crystal restaurant.  The food is good, the service is fast, and everyone goes there so you always run into people you know.  Its probably my favorite thing about Sundays when I don't work.

On the way home we stopped at both Home Depot and Lowe's to check out their gardening centers.  Neither Spouse nor I really want to spend much time tending to plantings, but we do like an attractive yard, so we try to buy a few new things every year that bloom multiple times in multiple seasons.  Several years ago we bought several rose plants that bloom over and over again from late May to late October.  They only require occasional dead-heading and watering in the heat of the summer.

So yesterday we picked up 4 variegated hostas, the kind with the dark green centers and white rims, along with a few more lavender plants (Spouse loves them for some reason) and went home to plant and water them.  We notice some of the roses had bugs so we dusted the roses to get rid of the bugs.  We also bagged some yard clippings in those heavy paper bags so the City will pick them up next week.  Hopefully next week the guy will come to put down some fresh mulch in the beds for us.

As we were finishing up our yard work I got a text from my cousin Inez, saying she and her husband Steve were in town for a little while with another couple.  They had spent the weekend in Cape May NJ and had just gotten off the ferry, so we washed up and walked into town to meet up with them.  We strolled around window shopping, and eventually stopped for an ice cream cone.  It was a short and unexpected but welcomed surprise!

Later that evening we met up with Vic & Mike for dinner before they headed back to VA.  We used to live in the same neighborhood where they live now, and they also have a place here at the beach.  We tried a new restaurant and really enjoyed our meals.

It was a very nice day with a little bit of productivity and a lot of fun.

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of items too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

Our rose bushes have got thousands of buds on them and its just a matter of days before they start blooming. We planted them 3 years ago, and then had to move them when the addition was built, so they only bloomed for a while last year. But this year I predict they are going to be terrific because they weren't moved, we've had sufficient rain, and I pruned them at the right time. Stay tuned for photos once the buds begin to burst.

Today is Friday the 13th, a date that has spawned numerous horror films and worried lots and lots of superstitious people. I had a friend when I was a teenager who was born on Friday the 13th. His aunt was SOOO superstitious that she refused to see her nephew... EVER!

Thanks to my friend Jared for more funny blog fodder:

And this one made me laugh out loud!

And this one made me say "Oh my..."

Our

Weekend highlights

Fri night we had dinner with 'the usual suspects', then watched a Project Runway marathon. Since we play team trivia on Thurs nights, we always DVR Project Runway. We watched 3 episodes back-t0-back, without commercials, thanks to the DVR.

Sat Spouse went to his work out and I relaxed with my morning coffee and watched HGTV shows. Then we went to the post office to submit our passport applications. Normally you have to have passport photos taken some place else, but since it was National Passport Day at the post office, they offered passport photo services right there. We had filled out and printed our applications in advance so we just had to sign them, have our photos taken, and pay. It cost us $230. for 2 passports with photos. Then we had lunch and went to the grocery store. Our friend and used car dealer Bryan called us to take a look/test drive a car he'd gotten in recently (2008 Kia Sportage), but we didn't care for it. Spouse took a nap and I took Big Ella out for some exercise. I made Paula Deen's corn casserole (always a crowd-pleaser) which we took to a potluck. There were about a dozen guys there, of which we only knew 3 before we arrived. Once back home again we watched a little TV before going to bed.

Sun Spouse slept in while I watched home improvement shows on HGTV and TLC. Then I decided to get some things done. I started by unloading the dishwasher, then reloading it. Then I folded and put away a basket of Spouse's laundry, emptied the recycling bin, cleaned out a closet, looked for a photo album in the attic, and pruned the rose bushes. Spouse & I went for a little ride, had a bite to eat, got the car washed, and stopped at Home Depot where we bought a sturdy plastic shelving system and a sturdy cardboard box. Once back at home, I put together the shelving system in the garage and moved my tools onto one of the shelves. Then I changed a burned out light bulb in our lamp post. Then I removed the books from 3 bookshelves and packed them all in the cardboard box, then collapsed the book shelves and slid them under the bed in 1 of the guest bedrooms. Then I popped in at the stained glass studio to check the progress of our 3 windows inserts. Spouse & I had pizza for dinner, then watched "2012" on Rick & Nick's giant home theatre screen. Aside from a couple implausibilities, we liked it. The special effects were great!

It didn't rain over the weekend as predicted so that was very nice, but its raining today. I don't care - I'd rather have clear skies on the weekend.

Crush du Jour: Robson Green

Memorial Day

Its been a great Memorial Day weekend: the official start of the summer season here at the beach. As I mentioned on Fri, this is the 1st Memorial Day weekend in years that we have not had company, but it has been a great long weekend none-the-less.

Sat morning after having our coffee and walking the dog, Spouse & I pulled all of the porch furniture (4 rockers, 2 love seats, 2 side tables, and a bistro table and chairs) into the yard and scrubbed them all down. Then we used the leaf blower to blow all the dust, dirt, leaves, cobwebs, and other assorted bug stuff off the porch. We discovered an easy way to clean dusty cushions: with a scrub brush.
Ours came from the Dollar store. It worked great and brought those cushions back to life. The weather was absolutely spectacular (warm but not hot, clear skies, no humidity, nice breeze) so it was a good day for doing this. When the furniture was dry, we put it all back on the porch and sat and rested for a few minutes.

Then it was on to the back/screened porch. We removed the furniture, used the leaf blower to blow the debris out, scrubbed the cushions, and wiped down the posts. Its a much smaller porch with less furniture so it went much quicker. It felt really good to get our porches and porch furniture cleaned up and ready for the summer season.

Then we put together our new convertible bench/picnic table. We saw it on one of those home shopping channels and couldn't resist it. Its a bench that converts into a picnic table in seconds! Here's an unflattering photo of me sitting on the bench:
Then, in mere seconds, with a simple lift, I convert it...

...into a picnic table for 4 adults or 6 children.

Pretty nifty, eh?

Later that evening we took the convertible car to an indoor/outdoor dinner party at our new friends' Kathy & Jill's. It was a gorgeous evening so we enjoyed assorted olives, cheese and crackers, and cocktails (Cosmos for me) outside on their deck and screened porch. Kathy & Jill are terrific hostesses and served a fabulous dinner of flank steak, salmon, grilled veggies, bow tie pasta with gorgonzola, and green salad with goat cheese. Everything was so tasty! We met lots of great/fun people too.

Sun morning after breakfast and walking the dog, I made 2 pans of Paula Deen's corn casserole to take to George & Steve's cook-out.

The weather was warm again but more humid, but we still drove to the cook-out with the top down. We had a lot of fun visiting with everyone, and the corn casserole was a real crowd pleaser as usual. Despite the fact that the invitation read "come at 2:00 and we'll eat at 3:00", they didn't get the burgers, hot dogs and chicken off the grill until 4:30, which meant we had to forfeit the cocktail party we were supposed to attend later that evening. But we had a lot of fun.

Today the weather was quite changeable. We had sunshine, humidity, sprinkles, clouds, rain, thunder and lightening, all within the last 8 hours. Spouse & I decided to do some much needed housecleaning before showering and heading out the door. We made a stop at Home Depot to look at some tile samples, then tried out a new place for lunch we heard about yesterday at the cook-out. Over lunch we discussed some of the details of our upcoming trip to NYC. It seems as if just overnight our roses started blooming, so before it started raining today I took these photos. (Click to enlarge.)

Here are some other cute things (the names of which I can't remember) we have blooming right now.

I hope all of these will survive when they are transplanted, in preparation for the addition. Spouse & I aren't 'good gays' in the sense that we don't love gardening and don't know much about caring for plants. But fortunately we have the internet and friends who know.

I find it curious that my 3-day Memorial Day weekend had nothing to do with remembering fallen soldiers.

I really do appreciate the sacrifice made by those brave men and women, but for some reason it seems to have nothing to do with my thoughts and behaviors during Memorial Day weekend.

Here's hoping that all of you had terrific Memorial Day long weekends!

Crush du Jour: Michael Churchill