tagryn | How I spent my weekend

Donna was away in California this weekend, so I tried to catch up on some chores. Here's how I did.

Friday

Screen replacement. We have two panels on our screened-in patio which have had big holes in them since last summer, and I really wanted to get them replaced before the mosquitoes started coming back; we've also been letting the cats out on the patio now that the weather is getting nice again, and one of the holes is just big enough for them to fit through if they tried. Today's work involved prying the molding off the two screens; this took the better part of two hours. This was a necessary step, since the wooden molding covered the staples which hold the screen in. The previous owners definitely weren't fooling around, and probably didn't expect anyone would be bothering to take them off again once they put them on. Even going as carefully as I could, this was old wood I was dealing with and I wasn't able to save the bottom, longest piece, which shattered into four pieces. sigh.
Home Depot - two trips; first for screening supplies, then a second time to return the supplies I got the first time (turns out we have fiberglass, not aluminum, screening) and buy the right ones. Well, eventually I get it right...
AM errands run: haircut; dropped off library books; bought groceries; gassed up car.
Dropped off digital box at Comcast (we've switched to DirecTV).
Planted rose I gave Donna for Valentine's Day in our front garden.
Replaced one trellis in the front that had collapsed over the winter, this supports a large vine that's overgrown. The previous owners had metal trellises in the shed that I used to replace the wooden one that had disintegrated.
Cleaned the bathrooms.

Saturday

Home Depot, visit 3. Having decided that actually having the right tools might be a good idea, I bought a staple gun and staples. The directions say using staples is the way to go, though I considered just nailing the wood molding back on to hold the screens in place; thought better of it.
Screen replacement, Day II. Pried off the old screens - it truly is easier to destroy than create, this took little time. RIPPPPPP! Started stapling the new screens up. Found that nailing them in wouldn't have given the amount of tension to the screen it would have needed, so the staple gun was definitely a good idea. With the screens up, used a utility knife to cut the screen to size, then nailed the molding back in place. Presto - no more mosquitoes!
Bought two bags of mulch from a local high school athletic supporters sales. Spread one of them on our back raised planting bed, hopefully that'll help kill off the weeds that had infested it.
Added another of the metal trellises to the back, where a dwarf Japanese maple (?) had started to break the trellis it was attached to. Hopefully that'll add enough support. I also cut back the two maples in the back, again to try and take some of the weight off their supports.
Vacuumed the house.
Changed the bedsheets.
Cleaned up and organized the garage.

Sunday

Palm Sunday Mass. We did the short version of the Passion, which was a little disappointing, but easier to get through.
Added a "car stop" to the garage. Its a key chain at the end of a long string of twine, set up so when I drive the car into the garage when the car hits the string and the key chain starts moving, I know that I'm far enough inside for the garage door to close.
Did three loads of laundry.
Caught up on the TV shows in the DVR, watched "Survivor" and "Lost".
Finished bills sorting. This involved sorting by date all the statements and bills that had been piling up for the past year. I ended up with one bag of recyclables, another with "sensitive" documents to be destroyed, and a nice organized pile which goes into storage, until the next time I have to do this. I have to say, getting a ScanSnap for quick scanning of these things into PDF files is looking very appealing.
Spread second bag of mulch on our front garden, near the hibiscus. Has a nice cedar-ish scent to it.
Cleaned up kitchen, ran dishwasher.