I got a lot done yesterday and the weekend ain't over yet!

1. Weeded a badly neglected perennial bed and then threw some mulch on it; it looks much better now.

2. Deposited a check at the bank.

3. Made some yummy "Sloppy Portobellos." Similar to a Sloppy Joe except this one's made of chopped up portobello mushrooom, onion and garlic instead of beef. I had it with a green salad, corn on the cob and homemade sweet potato fries. Will be having the leftovers today.

4. I planted the rest of my vegetable seedlings, only to come across afterwards a local woman on Craig's List selling heirloom tomatoes for just $3 each. So I contacted her and am set on going over there this a.m. althhough she hasn't confirmed the time yet. I don't have much room left, but would love to try a few heirloom varieties and see if they are superior to the usual mass marketed stuff.

I cam across 3 different toads recently in the veggie garden. I try to be on the lookout for them cus i don't want to step on them and i would like to encourage them to stick around, although they are surrounded by a sea of inhospitable (to a toad) lawn.

5. Did a load of laundry.

6. Changed the bed sheets.

7. Weed whacked around things in the front yard.

8. Cut down a broken branch of a crabapple tree and started cutting broken branches of an adjacent apple tree, for which I know I'll need to hire a tree guy to finish (maybe next weekend?), but this at least will make it easier to mow under there and allow more in air to dry things up.

I woke up around 6 am today and as per usual, walked into the bathroom where i raised the mini blinds at the back window. 99.9% of the time I put on my glasses before getting up, but this time I didn't for some reason, and wouldn't you know it, the noise from me raising the mini blinds (window partially open) scared away some interesting animal picking up the crumbs from the bird feeder. It was reddish, so i think it was a fox, which i don't see here that often. Darn! Without my glasses, it was all a blur. I saw it run off.

9. I went around taking photos of all the plants in my yard i figured i could sell, and came up with about a dozen. Then I wrote fairly detailed descriptions of each. Wondering what kind of response i'll get, if i get any. (I already had 2 customers.) This a.m. someone inquired about wanting a large amount of pachysandra, which i have more of than anything around here, but it's a BEAR to dig up mature and dense pachysandra. You really need to hack away at it with the shovel. I'm hoping the cheap price of $5 per perennial, or $5 per flat for the groundcovers, is cheap enough to be an inducement to people to come and dig their own. I'll help them do it, of course, but it's a lot of work just to save a few dollars. Most especially the pachysandra.

10. I also went to the library and got 5 DVDs, which will provide entertainment most of the rest of the coming week.

I think instead of doing the Chase Sapphire card next ($3,000 spend for $400 cash) I have my eye on the Amex Premier Rewards card (spend $2,000 for $250 in Gift cards). Charging $3,000 in 3 months would be a real challenge, easier if i were working and had some kind of planned major expense, so i think i will just settle for now for the Amex Premier card. Getting gift cards instead of cash "feels" like a lot more fun, and I can balance out a few "fun" purchases with things I really use/need, so i feel i can justify it. Buying grocery store gift cards is still a very handy/helpful thing to reach the spending target, as long as it's a reasonable amount and you're not having to buy $1,000 worth of grocery store gift cards.

anyway, I haven't gotten the bill yet for the Citi Thank you card and I'll have a bit of a lull until the planned application for the Amex card in July. I want to time the receipt of the new card to be just before i get my next car insurance bill.