2020 To-Do List....May Update

*PLEASE NOTE--Posting may be a bit sporadic over the next week or so as I am sort of on vacation between getting stuff done here in Virginia and don't feel like writing blog posts worth reading.
I'll try to write something worth reading a few days a week.  Thanks for your indulgence on this.


Let's see how we did at getting stuff done in May.........

* Pay Bills  DONE
Always number one on the list and always done.

* Read 1, 2, 3 Books  PASS
I only got 2 books read in May.
First off was this lovely tome..........

"The Land Will Be Deluged in Blood: a New History of the Nat Turner Rebellion" by Patrick H. Breen

This one read like someone's Master's Thesis that they expanded a bit.  Very boring for the most part especially if you don't like reading about history.  But I say that reading a book is always ok if you learn something from it.  Specifically I learned about the dual justice/court/legal systems in the Antebellum South which I was totally unaware of before this book explained it in great detail. 

and then there was this one...........

"Shakespeare's Rebel" by C.C. Humphreys
If you enjoy historical novels and are in love with all things of the Tudor/Elizabethan era and Shakespeare's plays then run and get this one!
The protagonist is a deeply flawed character called John Lawley, a drunk, ex-soldier and sometimes actor/sword master and fighting choreographer. Lawley is a fictitious character who interacts with historical persons of the era: William Shakespeare, Richard Burbage,
Queen Elizabeth I(my 4th cousin), Sir Robert Cecil(father in-law of my 10th cousin), and Robert Devereux the 2nd Earl of Essex(my 6th cousin, etc.).
I didn't get through a 3rd book in May.
Ah well.....


* Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  The first winner never contacted me in the 48 hour window so I drew another winner and she has received her goodies and is enjoying them.

* Do a Sewing Project FAIL  Nope, didn't get anything sewn.

* Cash in a Savings Bond  DONE  We had a  Bond mature in May so it got cashed in.  Don't let US Savings Bonds sit if they have fully matured.  It's like putting cash under your mattress and letting it sit and not earn a penny.  Put it somewhere it will earn at least a little bit(or better yet, if you have debt, throw that cashed in bond toward your debt).

* Mail Cards  DONE  I needed to send two sympathy cards out to 2 friends.  The rack of cards was decimated at the store, the sympathy ones, I suppose due to Covid 19 victims lately.

* Plant Garden  DONE  

We planted our usual garden along the backyard deck. Dan planted green bean seeds along the back of this area but nothing came up so after that the buckets behind the fenced barrel in the photo below, holding the collard plants I finally found at the nursery well after everything else was planted got put where the green beans didn't germinate.

And greens were planted in the 2 half barrels on either side of the backyard deck garden.

* Make a New Garden  DONE
We have an old dog run from when we had our beagles which has just sat on the back side yard for years.
I finally had a good idea on how to use it in the flat circular area of the backyard where our pool us to be................

We moved the dog run there and I had Hubs build raised garden beds inside.  Not a lot more space but enough to grow a bit more veggies this year and expand the garden with a built in fence to keep the deer and rabbits out.
Go us! :-)


*  Start Seeds  FAIL  I just didn't find enough time to get this done.  Then we got a spat of very hot unseasonable for us weather so the seeds went right into the ground instead.

* Bathe and Groom Dogs  DONE

The perpetual motion machine Dixie and the guardian Chester after being bathed.

* Change out Clothing for Summer  PASS  I got everything dragged out and changed over.  I threw out a few worn out items and will be glad when I finally get a few more pounds off for good so I can donate a few more clothing items once our thrift stores open back up.

* List Items on eBay FAIL  No motivation at the beginning of May and then since I was going to be out of town I figured wait until I was back to list anything in late June.

* Pack my Bags to Get the Helloutta Here!  FAIL  Nope I didn't get my luggage packed even though I got the Summer clothing out since I didn't know for sure until the last minute whether this trip was going to happen.

* Plan Goals for 2020  PASS  We have very few goals for 2020 at this point in the year.  Maybe a vacation in the Fall and a few house projects with an eye toward moving.  I am working on getting the ball moving on that moving/relocating goal this week.

That's about it for the highlights from my May.
What did you(or didn't you)get done in May that was on your list of stuff to do?

Sluggy