Shhh! Don’t tell anyone, but Spouse and I have taken a couple of days off from work.
A day off is a wonderful thing; if you’re anything like me, you have it in mind to accomplish so many things, but you also want to just revel in your chance to drive in the slow lane for a change. For us, on these days, priority one is very definitely just kind of recharging our batteries vis-a-vis the workplace.
A very close second, though, was “getting those chairs painted”, you know, the ones my father-in-law started painting two weekends ago. The lawn furniture in question is a set of two chairs with matching table and bird bath that my Dad made several years ago, and which he and my Mom kindly donated to the People of Juniorvania. The acquired assets were in need of a paint job and – when he and Gillian were here in late May – Harold was, as Pierre McGuire is wont to say, “a monster” with the paintbrush. He layed down a number of difficult early coats on all of the pieces over the course of a couple of days back-breaking work, but wisely fled the jurisdiction prior to completion of the task.
Here’s a picture of Harold getting the painting party started:
Harold Takes the Task in Hand
Spouse and I spent a couple of hours in the driveway ourselves this afternoon, gaining new appreciation for the difficult work Harold had already accomplished. With any luck, tomorrow morning will see the application of one final coat on each piece and I will happily spend the afternoon literally watching paint dry.
After the painting was done (well, actually, in between coats) we headed in to the backyard and were mesmerized by the movements of this little fellow:
May Be a Juvenile Ruby Throated Hummingbird
I had a great time following this little guy with the camera and trying to get some good in-flight shots. It was such a beautiful sunny day that I could really ramp up the shutter speed and go full telephoto. Here’s a shot of our new friend heading in for a snack at the new feeder:
JHB01 Looking for Clearance Runway Two Seven...
I am really pleased with some of the shots I got of this little visitor today.
We finished off the night with a bowl of fire out back (first one of the season) and a couple of beers before settling in to watch Malkin and the Penguins dismantle the Red Wings in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final (turning point of the game: for sure, Malkin’s first breakaway shorthanded in the second period. He didn’t score, but it gave life to the Pens, especially Jordan Staal, who followed that rush up with a breakaway of his own and rang up a shorty in the process. The Pens didn’t look back in the game and – with a few breaks and some discipline early in Game 5 in Detroit, they might not look back in the series.) I’d like to write some more about the Final tomorrow. For now, it’s time to pack it in for the night and get some shuteye so I can get up early and enjoy doing whatever the hell I damn well please again tomorrow.