As is my habit in summer, I stay busy indoors during peak sun/UV hours, around 11 am to 4 pmish. But after that I went outside and got a ton of stuff done. I'm so exhausted.

Here's what I did from 4 pm on:

1. Finished mowing the front lawn.
2. Used the trimmer on front lawn.
3. Crammed as many cut branches from my tree and shrub pruning into my Civic trunk as would fit. They didn't all fit, will have to make a second trip.
4. Swept up more leaves from shrub pruning in the driveway.
5. Tidied up the garage, including more sweeping. It gets messy in there so quickly, mostly becus I don't put things away.
6. Dragged outside an antique trunk I have that has always had a musty smell. I used a scouring tool you use with wallpaper to scour the paper lining inside, which I'm fairly sure is causing the musty odor. (The fungus is actually eating the paper, just like in old books.) Then I wiped down the lining with vinegar and started scraping it off. Still not done, but will continue tomorrow.
7. Put a coat of paint in the area of the kitchen door, part of my repair work from last winter's ice dam. Also used joint compound on some trim nail holes. I do believe one more coat should do it.
8. I transplanted a small shrub that was too close to a patio walkway in the back to a more spacious spot on the south side, in an area where I pulled out a bunch of pachysandra.

My mother's in the hospital. She will stay one more night. She had extreme pain in neck, shoulder, hip, hand. She assumed it was arthritis. They did all sorts of tests on her and everything came back normal. They think what she has is polymyalgia rheumatica, an inflammatory disorder that is mostly treated with steroids. Not a good option, though, when you have osteoporosis.

Confirmed with my dad that we are on for Wed/Thurs. I'll be loading up the kayak Tues. night so I'll be all set to go come morning.

Talked to K., my dad's girlfriend, who wants to rearrange her work schedule so she can go blueberry picking with us on Thursday. She works p/t as a school nurse substitute, although she's basically retired now.

K. and my dad used to live together, I think for 5 years, but she got her own place about a year ago. They were always arguing when they lived together, mostly becus my dad is low-key guy who doesn't like a lot of drama and K. is very much in your face and "I need to talk" kind of gal. She's a good person, but spending more than a certain amount of time in her company can be very draining. It's a little hard to explain.

But anyway, she and her 2 dachshunds now live in a nearby town and my dad still has the cat. It's better this way becus i think the dogs, while he loved them, could really stress him out. There was always so much commotion and chaos in the house. Actually, those dogs clearly demonstrate the difference in temperament between my dad and K. My dad basically treats a dog like a dog, but K. felt it very important that both dogs go to obedience school and learn all the commands. She's constantly reprimanding them if they pull on the lease or that sort of thing, whereas my dad is more laid back about it and doesn't really care if they "heel." K. also put the dogs through therapy school so now both are certified to visit patients in hospitals and nursing homes.