Yard work, birds, new table

So yesterday.... I got some hedge trimmers.

I already had some small pruners, but not the big clippers. So I went a little nuts. Now you can walk to our front door without pushing your way through the jungle of the hedges and getting smacked in the head by the giant lantana. The garage door is in no danger of being blocked by encroaching hedges. You can look out the front window and not just see tangled rose bush and lantana.

I even washed the bloomin' window! I got viciously stabbed in the pinkie finger when a rose bush branch snapped back as I was trying to work behind it. Well, it's a bit streaky and the glass on the outside seems to be permanently cloudy toward the bottom. As far as we can tell, these are the original windows from the 70's. They rattle around in their aluminum panes and let the wind blow right on in.

Oh, and then I watered the young trees (we haven't had enough rain yet) and pounded in food spikes and then dumped bark around the bases (note to self: need more bark for old Xmas tree) and trimmed off some of the tiny branches close to the ground on the maple. (Anyone know about shaping maple trees? This one still flops over on top and has random spots with long branches and the rest are tiny. Anyway.)

DH had cleaned up the leaves last weekend and so all I want done is for the lawn to be mowed one more time. Probably should put on fertilizer and seed, actually, and I've always wanted those lawn aerator shoes...

So I worked for over 2 hours and after I came in, I sat down for a few minutes then could barely get up, I was so sore. DH made crepes for supper and I hobbled out to eat, then went back to bed. I didn't sleep really well. I'm not too sore today, but am glad I don't have to go to work.

Oh, and the birds seem to have rediscovered the bird feeder and thistle sock, so I have little crowds of arguing finches fluttering around. And I was careful and left some of the flowers on the lantana, along with some new buds - I was still getting butterflies a few days ago, but haven't seen any hummingbirds in a while.

I should refill my hummingbird feeder and hang it out front. I've had it outside the kitchen window, but hardly ever see the birds. Ants found it the last time I had it full and they drained it.

Oh, and we got a new dining room table, which I should have mentioned much earlier. We like our old one, but it is a squeeze to fit more than four people and a friend was selling her big one that can seat eight without fuss and six chairs. So we had the whole thing put together and end-to-end with our old one and all the chairs the kids could find in the house. We can seat 14 that way, or if we pull the tables apart so people can sit at the ends, 16. Or 18 or more if we start to squish people. Last night, DH took the small, mostly dead sofa out of the front room and took the leaf out of the old table and put the now-square table by the front window. Ready for a Christmas tree :) I just need to tidy up my sewing area. EEK!

Oh, I finished all the applique and sewed the blocks together and I just need to put a border on my Xmas quilt and then can slap on backing and batting and stitch in the ditch and it will be ready for use. Should be soon...

Right. Where's that to-do list?