June 2025 Island Trip – Day 4

Another very satisfying day:

• Got the rest of the ‘big mowing’ done. So far it’s been 5.5ish hours. Again, this is the thick of the mowing season… Tomorrow I’ll start finessing with the push mower.
• I worked on my class quilt for a while. The Seminole piecing I’m using to create the bottom of this fun fantasy piece is coming together better than I thought it would. Pic below.
• I posted some of my MIL’s shelves on an Island ‘free’ board. They were adopted by a nice guy who cared for a neighbor across the main road. This is the neighbor who bought mom and dad’s tractor from mom after dad passed. We swapped some sweet stories. He also adopted an aluminum folding table of dad’s that we thought we’d use because… Airstreams! But we haven’t, and so were happy that he was jazzed about it.
• The cat was excited to take a walk! He was not happy to have his harness put on, but after the leash was attached and the trailer door opened, he jumped outside! It was a slow walk with lots of micro-exploration 🐈‍⬛❤️. We ended up at my DH office trailer where the cat chose to hang out. I then…
• Went to Stella’s slope and did some hand weeding. I am being very disciplined about how much ‘heavy’ work I do each day. Two hours on the mower is enough. Sitting on the ground pulling weeds in addition is just fine.
• Also ultimately good (because it opened up the conversation), while mowing down the west drive I discovered a huge ‘hole’ in the natural shrubbery on the drive’s west side. On the east side was the pile of what had been cut out. I wrote to the tenants and asked, in more appropriate language, “WTF?” She responded that the salal had grown to the point where it was rubbing against the car, so her husband cut it. I wrote back to say that trimming the offending branch was just fine, but leaving a crater in the shrubs was unacceptable. Further, I said they needed to stop driving on the berm and side of the drive as it’s killing the grass, and creating deep impressions in the soil that I do not have the equipment to repair. She replied immediately to my first email, and has not to my second, almost 9-hours ago. I can think of a dozen reasons for the lack of reply, but I will spare you, Dear Reader. I am glad to have opened up this conversation for a number of reason. It harkens back to appliance repair BS, confabulation on her part regarding many communications, and opens the door to not renewing the lease, without surprise.