just some stuff

I decided to take today off. I am writing this as I sit in my screened in porch at the back of the house , looking at parent and baby birds jockeying for position at the bird feeder and hummingbirds flitting back and forth from my neighbors' tree to my hummingbird feeder. Just watched a squirrel race down the 2x4 at the top of my fence from one side of the back to the other.It sure was in a hurry. Didn't even pause to investigate the lizards sitting up there sunning themselves. But they didn't seem to take any notice of the squirrel either.
It is a beautiful 80 degrees with a light breeze and absolutely clear blue blue blue sky. I would think I had died and gone to heaven but I don't see 72 virgins anywhere in the vicinity , nor pearly gates or streets paved with gold.
Another reason for taking it easy today ( HEY - I cleaned up the kitchen and am doing laundry. Not a TOTAL out-of-work jerk slob ) is that I went to the bar last night to play Texas hold-em( I finished 5th out of 14 players ) and see some friends. There were a couple of folks there that I had worked with at COMPAQ and FOXCONN and we had a drink together in memory of a guy named Jim Baxter . He was my first boss at COMPAQ and we were all part of a gang that would get together after work on Friday and drink at a Mexican restaurant near the campus and then move on to someplace with music and dancing ( and more drinking ). Jim was from Beaver Falls and we hit it off immediately as Pirate / Steeler fans . His birthday was Sept. 29th. He recently passed after battling with leukemia for a number of years . We also had a drink in memory of my parents who are also gone. Their wedding anniversary was yesterday , the 2nd.
Just so the wrong idea doesn't get presented here ,I am also looking around the back and planning on what we're gonna be doing to pretty this place up. Also spent some time this morning at Amazon looking for diy and how-to books for building a shed out of pallets in the corner of the yard currently occupied by the garden which will have to be relocated. Didn't really find what I was looking for but the search will continue.I think this project , unlike the yard work , is too big and structurally complex to just jump in and attempt without some sort of working plan.
The front. Well , I finally got around to leveling it out so I would have a better idea of what I will be working with.

 It's actually going to extend further out into the yard a bit. It won't be worked on until I do the concrete work I am planning which will be a new walkway from the current front sidewalk around the corner of the house to the new gate we had put in. The picture below is the walkway I did several years ago using the same type of form and mixing the concrete in my wheelbarrow.

I cleaned up the yard debris that had accumulated on the walkway I made just inside the fence perimeter as a deterrent to our dog digging under the fences to get to the neighbor dogs. When they were in heat he was a digging fool even though he had been fixed. Guess he didn't care if he was shooting blanks , he wanted what he wanted.

I was considering making a walkway out of pallets from the gate to the site of the shed-to-be but the dimensions of the alley here at the side of the house don't quite mesh with the pallet dimensions Yet another thing to think about. Maybe just extend the new walkway and merge it to the old one.

I'm now down to a weight of 220 and feeling pretty good. I've noticed that my clothes are feeling a bit looser so I guess that's a good thing too.

Well , the dryer is buzzing at me so I guess I'll wrap this up for now , and just keep on keeping on.

I talked to my daughter and she says she tried to comment but the site wouldn't accept it. Have to see about that as I would surely appreciate some feedback from anyone actually checking up on me and this blog.

Later.