Cleaning Up the Great Outdoors

Today was the perfect day to rake the yard. It was cold, crisp, and clear, with a little wind, but nothing like the last few days. Not to mention I had no other plans today and was off work, so I was actually able to get the entire job done in one day. I usually have to fit raking in between work shifts and errands. I raked the entire front yard, save the one patch by the short driveway, late this morning and early this afternoon.

I took about an hour and a half between raking to have a grilled turkey and cheese with spinach sandwich for lunch, watch The Backyardigans, and start a new loaf of Whole Wheat Bread. The Backyardigans DVD I took out yesterday was one of the older titles with first season episodes. I'd seen most of "Race Around the World" and "Castaways," but never saw how they ended. Of the two I hadn't seen before, "Cave Party" was the better one. Cave critters Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone "invent" everyday objects to help them get up the mountain for Tasha and Austin's new form of entertainment - the party! "Eureka" was a cross between a Gold Rush tale and a dinosaur-hunting sci-fi story. Tyrone and Pablo are old-time prospectors searching for a big gold strike with picks and shovels. Tasha and Uniqua are paleontologists searching for unusual dinosaur bones with a metal detector. You can see where this is leading, but there's some cute moments on the way, including how the kids cross the river.

It took another hour after lunch to finish the patch of land by the driveway and do the side path. The side path once again had as many leaves as the front yard and maybe more. They were just raked into the tree-and-leaf covered backyard. There was a lot to do on the area near the driveway, too, since I wasn't able to finish that last time due to rain. Miss Ellie pulled in just as I finished the side yard and put the rake and broom back on the porch. I earned $30 for my efforts today. Sweet.

I spent the rest of the evening working on editing the Monkees Role Play (look for the whole thing by the end of this weekend), eating shrimp and sauteed green beans, and watching part one of Centennial, the TV mini-series adaptation of the sprawling James A. Michener novel about the title Colorado town and the taming of the west. The first episode covered the Indians who lived in Colorado prior to the arrival of whites and the first trappers and immigrants who made their living and their lives among them.