Our good friends and former neighbors from Florida, Jesse and Jennifer, are arriving today for a short visit, which means that yesterday was a whirlwind day of last minute preparations.
While Terry was doing some vacuuming and getting things ready inside the house, I used a leaf blower to clear some of the accumulated leaves and twigs off the front porch. We have a couple of crepe myrtle trees in the front yard, at either end of the porch, and they are messy, dropping leaves everywhere. It would be a full time job trying to keep up with them.
When I was done with that, we hung three flowering plant arrangements on the porch. I think it gives the place a nice warm feeling.
Terry had more to do inside, so I emptied and cleaned the little swimming pool in Alli’s outdoor kennel, then refilled it with fresh water. She loves getting in it to cool off or just to splash a little bit when we’re outside.
We decided the deck doesn’t need a second coat of stain right now because we messed up and put it on so heavily the first time, but there are a few spots we need to touch up with a brush. But that will have to wait until after our company leaves. In the meantime, we moved the lawn chairs and the stainless steel table that holds Terry’s Ooni multi-fuel pizza oven back on the deck.
I haven’t been sleeping well the last few nights, and with all of that done I took a nap while Terry never slowed down. She went into baking mode, making a batch of sourdough discard rolls and a loaf of bread. We had a couple of the rolls with our dinner and they were delicious.
She also made an apple crumb cake, which is kind of a cross between an apple pie and cake. I can’t wait to dig into it! We’re looking forward to a good visit with our friends and plenty of good munchies to share with them!
It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of I, The Tribunal: Poached Parody, the first book in the Kaiser Wrench series. Follow along as Private Detective Kaiser Wrench is determined to catch and kill the person who shot his close friend dead. A beautiful, seductive tigress is one of the suspects, and as he follows the clues, the body count rises.
To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 90 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.
And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.
Thought For The Day – A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!