Chris and I went out for breakfast. On the way home, the sky threatened rain and I happily planned my quiet day writing. And then we got home and the sun burst out of the clouds and I decided I could NOT waste this day. There was so much to be done outside, and the sun was inviting me to come out and play.
One of the happiest things in my life is the end-of-day feeling of "I got a lot done." I've posted about that before, in fact, I semi-jokingly tell my family they should have those words engraved on my tomb stone. But as I reach my mid 50's I find that "getting a lot done" takes a lot out of me. So, when I manage to do "a LOT," I am doubly happy.
I keep a rather impressive "to do" list. Today, with some help from my power tool wielding husband, I crossed a number of those things off of it.
I:
Rearranged some furniture.
Painted the door of the chicken coop to match the pretty new blue I have painted the house doors.
Stained the goat and pony shed (to be fair, I started it yesterday, but finished it today.)
Scraped and got the first coat of paint on a wonderful bench destined to grace our deck.
Got the wrought iron table that was my mom's freshened up with a new coat of paint.
Created a "loafing bench" for the goats. It was made from our former front steps with a board screwed on top. (Re-purposing is GOOD.) The steps got a fresh coat of stain to brighten them up.
Chris hung some very funky old hay forks I had bought at an antique fair on the freshly stained shed to decorate it.
AND...
Though my wonderful new grooming studio has been up and functional for several weeks now, I have had no pathway for people to come from the driveway to the door. Every day I apologize to people as they come in, "Please pretend there is a lovely pathway here for you. It's coming soon!" This is what has been available for people to traipse across. It wasn't good.
The problem was I couldn't decide what I wanted for a path. Whatever I chose would be expensive, and I was afraid I'd make a choice that was wrong or bad or unattractive. I needed a path that was pretty. And it had to be safe for people to use, and it had to be easy to scrape snow off of during the long, cold, Maine winters. I thought I might want flag stone, but that would not be so easy to remove snow from. Someone recommended I have a boardwalk made, and that seemed like a good idea, but I was worried it would be slippery and might not last long. My painter suggested I call a buddy of his, who happened to live right up the street from me. So I did. He didn't call back right away, but showed up at my house a few days later. I liked him instantly. His name is Ryan Lanphere, and he seems honest and bold and he surely knows his business. He suggested I use a certain kind of paving stones and though his quote was not inexpensive, I believed he would do a good job and give me a path I would have for many years to come.
Today, a holiday, he arrived with heavy equipment and an irrepressible grin. I fed him a couple of cookies fresh out of the oven and he got right to work.
Tomorrow they will begin to lay paving stones to create the path. This is very exciting!
So, today I will happily claim as one in which, "I got a lot done." I labored on Labor Day. And it was good.
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