The Boss turned me loose from work a little early yesterday.  I was grateful, for I'd not slept well the night before and had a headache.  My plan was to come home, pop a couple of aspirin, and do something I rarely do - take a nap - until time to go to The Granddaughter's softball game.  

I'd no sooner stretched out on the couch than I heard a lawnmower approaching the back yard.  I got up and looked out the window.  Sure enough, it was Cousin Roger, come to borrow back the sandpaper he'd brought me last week to replace the sandpaper he'd borrowed over the prior weeks.  

He said, "I won't take the new ones I got you; I'll just use the old ones," which he'd returned along with the sander. 

When I found out that he was working on something for Nanny, I told him to just take some of the new ones.  

As we were talking, I showed him the birdhouse that The Husband had built over the weekend.  This was a cheap birdhouse to begin with - one that I bought at the dollar store for the grandchildren to paint.  It's been hanging out in the weather for several years.  At one point, we duct-taped the thing together and kept using it, but last summer the bottom fell off, and we just left it hanging.  I don't quite know what got into The Husband, but he decided to refurbish it.  He re-used the roof pieces and one side, and cut new pieces to replace the rotted wood.  He glued it together and left it to dry on the patio table.  As I was showing it to Cousin Roger, I took a notion to paint it.  It's peach and Caribbean blue.  (I intend to paint some flowers on it once it's dry.)

And there went my nap time.

At 5:30, it was time to leave for the ball field.  Lou-Lou (age 10) was scheduled to pitch for the first time EVER.  The coach put her on the mound in the second inning.  On the very first pitch, the batter connected with the ball and, partly due to the out-fielding, scored a home run.  She pitched the rest of the game, threw a few strikes, but also walked a good many (as did all the pitchers).  Bless her heart, she was so down on herself by the end of the game that she was physically sick to her stomach.  

I don't even know who won.

This morning, I loaded into my car an old pitch-back that we found in the shed; it probably belonged to Lou-Lou's father.  The net may be dry-rotted, but it might boost the kid's confidence to hurl a ball  right through the net.  ;)

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The coming weekend is my target date for planting the garden.  I am hoping we can finish preparing the soil this afternoon.  There's a small chance of rain today, and a bigger chance of rain tomorrow, but if we can get the ground tilled, maybe we can at least plant the tomatoes and peppers. 

I was not able to find any pole lima bean seeds locally, so I ordered some online.  I hope they come soon, for I am determined to get lima beans in in the ground earlier than I did last year.