Seasonal Frenzy

   From time to time I get a little bit of guff, usually from family members, who feel like I don't post here often enough. The fact that I actually have to do something that will bring in a little moola doesn't seem to appease them any; apparently they feel like my primary job is to entertain them. Now, in all fairness, I have to admit, I didn't receive an e-mail or phone call reprimanding me, but had I gone another day or so without posting, I no doubt would have gotten some form of complaint, so, being the saint that I am, I'm going to sacrifice some of MY time to put out this post. Hopefully they'll feel entertained.
   As you can plainly see, I've posted  a couple of pictures of this year's garden. I would dearly love to take full credit for it's beauty, but I have to admit, outside of pulling a few dandelions and picking up some rocks which were tossed, willy nilly into the yard, I haven't done too much gardening. Largely because I've been exceptionally busy with the boat. What you see on the steps is the last remnants of that work. Well, not the Miracle Grow and bucket- that's Jan's work. I'm speaking of the Shop Vac and sander that is hiding behind it. Well, you might say, that doesn't look too impressive. Well, had I known that I was going to do a blog post on this, I would have gotten a shot of the back of the pickup yesterday, or the boat with tarps laying everywhere and empty coffee and cottage cheese containers with the remains of cement for the underwater seams or bondo for the all too many soft spots up on the hull. There were paint cans and multiple brushes, acetone and fiberglass and used sanding pads, environmentally friendly paint thinner and a respirator and golden goggles to keep the dust from my eyes and lungs, caulking tubes and new and old zincs, a drill and hammer and irons for setting the seams, cotton and oakum and Sikaflex. It was a blasted mess! Once the boat was launched, I had to take all of the tools of the trade inside. That took five or six trips. Of course everything had to be put somewhere, which was another chore all in itself. I had so much stuff that I couldn't just dump it in a pile and hope for the best, although I kind of wanted to. Thunderation! Owning a boat, especially an old wooden boat, is a lot of work, but that's just the beginning of sorrows. This summer the house needs painted, the porches need a coat of Thompson's Water Seal, the lawns, ours and the one next door, will need mowed multiple times, and no doubt there will be untold other projects that my brain refuses to bring to light right now for fear that I'll go into severe anxiety related depression and all the work that I did on the boat will be for naught. Somehow, these things will need done, while at the same time I need to make money fishing, which is always a struggle. The pressure is mounting, but I'm actually ahead of most other years. I've gotten my dog salmon hoochies tied up, the boat is painted and patched with new zincs, there aren't any major projects that I can see that need done right away. That's not to say I don't have anything to do, but at this point it's manageable. Thus, I'm taking the time to write this. I suspect that I'll have a busy fishing season this year, so if I don't post for several weeks, please don't lose interest. I have 280 other posts in the archives that you can read and hopefully be entertained by.