I did get to a little yard work, hosted a small party, and the kids finished the school year.

I cleaned my grill better than it's been cleaned since we got it. I give it a bit of a wipe-down each year, and scrape the big bits from the grill plane. This year I took to it with some de-greaser on the hood and the grill planes. It's shiny, almost like new, except for the hardest glazed-on bits. I didn't pull the heat shields out, although I might when I get another cleaning wind, nor did I get to cleaning the burners, so I have a bit of a yellow glow coming out of them. Not ideal, but the thing still heats to almost 700°F, which is more than I need for just about everything.

I got around to digging in the dirt and filling my built planting box. The box was a little askew, so I straightened it and made sure it's pretty level. It was close, but the tool confirmed, so I feel a little better for checking. I cut some of the old frames and put a base on the bottom to deter critters from digging up. It isn't completely solid, so it will drain as necessary, so a determined critter or bugs could make it in, but there's a lot of blockage, so a less determined critter might not find a way. I put a load of sticks and fallen branches on top of that to provide some compost in the future. The boxes are 20-inches deep, and I don't plan on emptying them very often to refresh the soil all the way down. Then I emptied a bunch of plant pots, which were all growing something, and broke up their root balls to fill in around the branches. Then I dug into the mound of soil I'd moved to make room for the box; I pulled any weeds that were growing and tried to put in only the dirt and any little sticks. A few worms might have made their way in, too. I got the box about half full before the heat and the pile of other sticks and ground covers atop the other pile got the better of me. I want to toss one of the bags of old planting soil we have as a next layer, and then top it with more soil.

I made a run to visit my mom, making it home just before some heavy rains hit. I swing by every week or two (or sometimes three) to help her with her laundry and some housework, and just to visit and catch up. She's doing well. Finally started doing some PT to rebuild some strength and balance that her mostly TV retirement has lost. It also reminds and encourages me to do stay on my feet.

I cleaned up after the rains and we hosted a party of middle school kids. They're moving to the high school next year, and they wanted to celebrate. Dogs and burgers on the newly cleaned grill, a bunch of chips and sodas, and so much young energy tearing around the house.

We also visited friends we don't see enough, to celebrate their graduating senior! She's off to college in New York in the fall, but we got a chance to hang out.

I've poked at some computer things. I keep starting but don't finish some writing I want to do, both software and prose things. Even this blog takes a back seat.