Slight Detour: Odds and Ends

Bill and I settled in to a fairly normal Jan. 1 routine yesterday.

Twas an odds and ends kind of day.

Yes, a lot of football.

And, various aspects of clean-up, put away and organizing.

I chose the refrigerator as my first assault, while Bill selected the bookcase next to the couch.

The refrigerator wasn't too bad---just a pan with some crusty, worn-out spaghetti. I found one plastic bag with what appeared to be mushy cucumbers and a lot of liquid. That always means a quick run to the garbage bag to avoid scary stuff dripping all over the floor.

I also pulled out a few pickle jars from the back of the shelf to empty.

Later, after coming home an errand, I saw that the entire couch was covered with books and maps.

Bill said he chose just a portion of the book shelves to organize because he knew he'd get bored pretty fast.

Besides, there were college bowl games to watch, and it would be good to have the couch free for potatoing.

I told him that I always like to do jobs in segments, a little at a time, lest I get overwhelmed. So, not all Christmas decorations came down yesterday.

I went outside and dismantled the swags on the fence, put away their decorations and took the limbs off to a pile.

That didn't take too long, but it gave me an extra opportunity for enjoying more fresh air in between football watching.

I also made a quick run to town to pick up my clippers with newly sharpened blades from Mitch at The Shop.

And, I spent some time with the daily early January challenge of puzzling.

Now there's a task where ya do a little at a time, and even then, you walk away often.

I made the mistake of starting this puzzle on a table cloth, so it moves around a lot. Unfortunately, too many pieces have been put together to start all over.

One item I did not get to yesterday was to thumb through the seed catalog, which came just after Christmas.

That's okay because planting pots won't start until late February. Still, it's nice to speculate what will work when gardening season rolls around.

If we look outside, gardening doesn't seem too far off.

I saw a Facebook post yesterday from Harvey who lives up in Moyie Springs noting that he never expected to be out raking his yard on New Year's Day, but he was.

One of my walks yesterday took me through the woods where I actually saw another human being walking on the other side of the fence.

We chatted for a while. It was my first meeting of Mei who has lived on the other side of the fence for three years. She seems like a very nice and grown-up eighth grader.

We both agreed that to be walking in the woods on New Year's Day was an unexpected and enjoyable treat.

And, so the odds and ends of a new year have begun. BTW: both football games were great ones. The outcome shows Michigan playing the University of Washington for the National Championship.

Should be a great game.

In the meantime, Willie is taking his team to Lewiston for a game tonight. It will be a long day for the Bulldog girls, as the teams tip off at 7 p.m.

GO, BULLDOGS!

Happy Tuesday.