If you are thinking of retiring and living the life of ease...read
on. You may change your mind.
I had so many things I was going to do today. When I got up, I
decided I didn't want to do anything. And, so began my day of doing nothing...
as described below.
I've been retired for, hmmmm, let me see...it's been 13 years.
From the very first day I didn't know how I ever had time to work! I'm blessed
with family and friends that keep me hopping. I'm not complaining...well, maybe
I'm whining a little...oh, no I'm not. Since the beginning of May I have been
flat out and it won't stop until week after next. Then, I have a whole week
with nothing scheduled/planned and I intend it to stay that way. The last
activities will be a 22 mile bike ride on the Nashua River bike trail on
Friday, followed on the next day by covering the store, Tell Me A Story, so
Christie can work a tag sale at her daughters' school.
My gardens (small though they may be) have been neglected. Today I
decided to finish one side of my back garden after I went to Home Depot to buy
a new pot for my peace lily in the living room. I saw on Facebook that the
Scantic church was having a tag sale. Oh, good. I'll swing by and see if I can
find a sturdy bench for my patio tomatoes on the deck. What the heck, Scantic
is only 6.5 miles in the opposite direction of Home Depot.
On the way, I stop at a tag sale on Steele Rd. Nah. Nothing here.
I'm also looking for a kid’s wagon to haul stones in. At the church I see a
bench that turns out to be an original school desk...complete with the hole for
the ink well and 'gutter' for pencils. If the lady had said $20 I would not have
been surprised. She said $2. I could hardly contain myself. "I'll take
it," I croaked, and paid her before she changed her mind.
There was a jewelry vendor there whose display, right out in the
full sun, was about to go up in smoke. They had a shallow (1") case with
some kind of cloth inside to display some jewelry and it had a glass lid. The
items inside were so hot you couldn't touch them. I told them how, when I was a
kid, I had burned holes in my brother's new jeans with the suns rays through a
magnifying glass, and that their display was about to go up in flames. They
immediately propped open the case and I was on my way.
Now I'm giddy and heading back toward Home Depot and here's
another tag sale. Would you believe I found a chair that went with the desk? In
less than two miles. Price for the chair...another $2. I can hardly breathe. The bottom of the chair is stamped "Allen Chair Corp., West Concord, MA, 4-14". I have not researched it yet, but I will try. There is nothing on the underside of the desk.
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| Desk and chair. You can see the peace lily that needs to be repotted. |
Back on Steele Rd., I stopped at the same tag sale not recognizing
it as the one I stopped at first. Well...I was coming from the other
direction...it looked different.
On Post Office Rd I see another tag sale. Would I be lucky enough
to find a wagon...haha...maybe for $2? Not to be, but I did find a sturdy (I
hope) knee-high table for the tomatoes. This table was $3. I had paid only $2
each for an antique schoolroom desk and chair and I pay $3 for this piece
of…whatever!
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| This is the $3 black table that I hope to put the potted tomatoes on. I need to lift the tomatoes up to catch more sun. |
I finally got to Home Depot and bought the clay pot for the peace
lily.
My travels took me, probably, 16 miles instead of 4 miles...but it
was oh so worth it.
Now…I'm not done. I still have a back garden to line with stone
bricks and a plant to repot.
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| My front garden...over achieving and will be so beautiful when the bee balm and phlox blossom. |
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| The back garden I've just started working on. |
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| This mass of corruption will look a lot different after I get through with it! From the downspout out to the edge and to the right is all mine. My neighbor has their own mess which I will try to conceal. |
After a much-needed shower, I finally sat down with my iPad and
promptly fell asleep.
So much for a day of doing nothing!
