Extra super busy tiring weekend!

   I had a lot of stuff to do this weekend, and then did about 10x what I had actually planned... on Saturday I ran errands (clothes shopping, kayak-accessory-shopping, grocery shopping, and sushi lunch) and was out for several hours. Then I came home and mowed the lawn (enjoying the gorgeous weather!) while I did a load of laundry, then attached my kayak rack to the Rav4, and loaded the kayak just to make sure it worked. I invited Kelly over for a homemade pizza dinner, baked up a storm, and then we watched Anthony Bourdain's new Kansas City episode that aired earlier this week. (He visited Oklahoma Joe's, Stroud's, The Savoy Grill, Cigar Box, Town Topic, Rosedale BBQ, BB's Lawnside, Woodyard BBQ, Dirt Green Farms, tailgated at the Chiefs Game, and saw the Hair Museum in Independence.)
   Today I started working in the yard at 8 am (before I'd even had my coffee!), made a quick trip to the hardware store, planted coleus, weed-whacked the back yard, ate lunch on the front steps and talked to Loren & Champ, and then kept working right up until 1:15, when I had to quickly change and head to Swanson's for Aki's agility class. We spent a couple hours there running like crazy.

   On the way home, we stopped at the hardware store for another load of dirt, and then I worked in the yard for 3 more hours. The dogs sat out on the deck and observed, while chewing a couple of the big "dinosaur" bones (aka beef femur) I had bought for them. I went inside & out, checking on Gypsy and doing 3 more loads of laundry.
   By the end of the evening, I had watered, fertilized, and applied weed killer to the whole lawn, put down 19 bags of top soil to level out the grade (19 x 40 lbs. = 760 lbs.... a LOT to buy, load, lift, carry to the backyard, and dump. But apropos for Earth Day, I moved a lot of earth!). I cut and laid chicken wire over the new dirt, pounding large staples to hold it down—which I HOPE will finally keep Aki from digging, so that grass can grow again. She has been focused on one 4' x 4' spot for a few years, ever since she dug down and discovered an old credit yard. She seems convinced that there's more to find there...

   I weeded the flower beds. Moved some rock. Bought a bunch of perennials and planted them in my flower beds and containers. Mulched. Watered. Thanks to the head start Mom gave me, my yard might actually shape up okay this season!

Happy to be outside:

   After all that, I picked up, put the tools away, and came inside to give Gyp her treatment, give her another new food, feed the dogs, shower, run to McDonald's to get a Filet-o-Fish sandwich for Gyp (she only took 2 tiny bites, so I ate it), finish laundry, read the paper, have a glass of wine, blog, and crash!

Sulky Shiba

   The dogs often hang out outside all weekend, when the weather's nice. They really enjoy it (partly because they can run off all the birds, squirrels, rabbits, and the like).

   So while I was outside grilling barbequed pork chops, I glanced up to see that Mr. Taylor had gone up to the top level of the deck--the closest vantage point to the grill surface--to see if he could nap a chop. He was standing there sticking his head through the railing and leaning forward expectantly. At some point he admitted defeat and laid down, sulking like a child. So funny!

   And while I was eating dinner (with the dogs stashed safely outside), Gypsy was all over me, trying to get the pork. It reminded me of a comedian I heard years ago, who joked about beef-flavored cat food in a bag that promised that it "satisfied a cat's natural craving for beef." And then went on to paint the picture of cats stalking cattle in the fields. Apparently Gypsy would prefer to stalk hogs.

Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo!

   Apparently it wasn't enough that I had a giant f***ing spider in my basement last week. This morning I went out to the deck with my coffee and the newspaper so I could enjoy the nice weather and the birds, and... nearly walked into a situation that would have incapacitated me with fear and grossed-outedness. Overnight a spider build a GIANT web right over the stairs to the upper level of the deck. The top of the web was over my head, and it was at least 4' wide:

   The sneaky culprit saw me coming & darted across the web & into the safety of the siding on the house. And let me just say, I would rather not have known how fast it could run. Nike should hire this guy for its next ad campaign. Because this spider could seriously be Carl Lewis. Think about it: have you ever seen them in the same room? Didn't think so.   ...Look. Do you see him? He's taunting me!

   Meanwhile, I am never going in my backyard again. Because when a spider builds a web that big, you have to question what they are hoping to catch.

   Thinking about this reminded me of all the awesomely bad horror movies that I loved to watch as a kid. (Yes, if I'm screwed up today, I have to blame my negligent babysitters. Do young children really need to see The Omen & The Exorcist? Well, I loved them.) I distinctly remember seeing Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo on late night network TV. It's a gem from 1977. Tarantulas from South America hitch a ride to America in some bags of coffee beans, and destruction ensues. Entertaining, but not as campy & charming as 1955's Tarantula. Check out the trailer for proof. Soon to be in my town:

Possum Watch 2010 heightens

   Our possum resident has been very active this week, and it is DRIVING AKI CRAZY. She is trying to dig through the deck from every possible angle, to no avail (fortunately).

And frankly, she's ruining the deck!

   Taylor seems to think she's going to get in trouble, and prefers to watch from the safety of the great indoors: