Ten-Finger Exercises

Just in time

I'm back from a short drive in the country just in time to blog.
Bill is flying a commissioner to a meeting in Salem tomorrow. Attending the meeting himself too, that is, not just piloting people around. So we had a quick drive to the airport for him to add a quart of oil and clean the front window, two chores we should probably have done after flying home Monday, but didn't.

The good spring smells are in the air. Spring onions are being picked. That smells not just like onions, but like onion and sour cream potato chips. Yummy. The alfalfa is in bloom too, and the Russian olive trees. They are fragrant from a long distance; up close, they're just plain stinky. They smell like banana oil. Maybe my association with the smell from years ago contaminates my impression. When I worked a night shift in a small psych hospital, it was near a creek and surrounded by Russian olives. The creek was also a popular place for skunks to hang out, and the two smells are forever related in my memory.

Have you ever had a window put into a wall in a place where there was never one before? We removed our no-longer-needed AC, and the guys put a window in today. Wow, it looks so strange to see outside right there! It's now the focal point of the room, and since it's up high and a little out of the way, that isn't good. Which brings to mind the need for window coverings, my least favorite decorating item.

We have three new baby koi in our pond, and they're hiding. I know they're in there, because if I put the dip net in the water to remove leaves that blow in, or the horribly messy blossoms from the smoke tree, the fish fly past to stay out of my way. Haven't named them yet. The orange and white one is the one I see most often. Another is white with black spots and one bright red spot on its left cheek.

Gosh, I'm skipping around from topic to topic tonight. Oh well. Back to the remodel:
the guys say they'll be done in two hours tomorrow morning, 7 to 9 a.m. Then I've got to line up someone to remove the dining room carpet and put in something else. I want wood floor, but will settle for a good laminate (I think that is what they call it.) Even though it will break up the area to put that in the dining room and something else in the kitchen, I don't think I need any more wood in the kitchen. Lots of oak, a golden almost orange-y color already in the cabinets.