A day at home and biking to work

This is the mixte frame bike I sold on Wednesday. This is also the bike that H was convinced was trying to kill me, so perhaps it's better that someone else is caring for it now?!

Yesterday I awoke with a nasty migraine. I opted to stay home from work and 'nurse' it. My nursing ended up being work around the house!

After the morning chores, I decided that living out of bags of food on the floor of the laundry room was getting old. I pulled out the shelf liners I'd bought and I got the upstairs pantry cleaned and organized. Our laundry room feels bigger without all that stuff on the floor. We still have not painted that room, but I'm purposely holding off until winter. In the mean time, I need to get a few hooks hung in there. I also need to move the pieces of the big desk/work table that we were going to put in there. I've decided that the table belongs in the basement and that I'd rather have a chest freezer in there instead.

When the pantry was done, I grabbed a paintbrush and finished painting the built in bookshelf in our living room. Once that's try, I'll be able to unpack the final box of books and DVD's. I need to find the right picture/artwork boxes for that room, too. Once I get those hung, we will have our first room that is completely done!! That'll feel nice.

Then I put on my big brimmed hat and headed out to the garden. I wanted to mix a little blood/bone meal into the soil and do a good watering. Then I gave the baby trees a nice drink. The hay we put down for mulch seems to really be helping to keep the moisture in. I realized when I was working that I've never grown anything in an environment like this. This dry weather in the summer is so very, very different from all the places I've ever lived. I have to keep reminding myself that this is NORMAL and that we have to find ways to make it work. We are not in a drought. There is just no humidity (to speak of) here and it's weird. The soil dries out much faster than I always expect.

After the gardening, I needed to be in a cool area (my head started pounding worse out in the sun). I decided I'd get something accomplished in the basement. I tried gluing the new vinyl baseboards up in the 'office', but they weren't sticking. I need to devise a plan to hold the baseboard flat against the wall while the glue dries. I put that project aside for another day.

Lastly, I had to meet a girl back at the apartment so that she could test ride the bike I'm selling. I decided that I no longer need my mixte frame upright, around-town bike anymore. I loved having it while I was living in an urban area, but it will only collect dust in the garage at the new place. She ended up liking it and paid me my asking price. The best part is that I got more for it than I bought it for, so the difference covered the cost of the new tires, fenders and basket that I'd added. I basically got to ride that bike for 5 months - totally free! Plus, that $$ will now go towards the purchase of a companion goat for Sassy.

We have contacted a local breeder of Pygora goats. She's got some wethers for sale that I think would suit us. A Pygora goat is a cross-breed goat (originally from Oregon) that is now a registered breed and that gives fiber. Some goats have fiber like Angora, and some more like Cashmere. It depends on the goat, but we'd be happy with either. We figure that if we are going to increase our animals, they need to be ones that will do something for us! So not only will Sassafras have a friend (and be MUCH happier), but we'll have fiber to harvest! How cool is that?

Lastly, I biked to work today. 18.5 miles each way. H rode in as well and it was nice to have company for the first 85% of my ride. Then we go our separate ways... It was a good ride but I'm actually REALLY looking forward to the ride home. I wonder why that is? I'd like to get to the point where we are doing this at least 3 or 4 days a week. I want to be in condition to do it every day even if I don't need to.