I celebrated Mother's Day by cleaning the Airbnb apartment... all weekend! Well, I did have a couple of breaks. I talked to Ann a couple of times, and also to Kate!

Kate's on Day 5 of her 10-day mandatory isolation. She can leave only to drop her Covid tests in a mailbox.

She discovered this on the other side of the building where her Airbnb is... it is not her view, so she had no idea! It'll be so great to discover what's along that trail in just a few more days. She's going a little stir crazy, but brought her beading supplies with her (she's been making earrings for months, selling them at the coffee shop but likely soon finding a UK venue), and she's in a cute apartment -- I can't imagine enduring 10 days in a crappy hotel room (doesn't matter how many stars... that's way too long to be cooped up in one room with shitty seating & lighting).

As mentioned, the bulk of my weekend -- and Rusty's -- was spent cleaning the Airbnb. It was a reminder for me of why I like doing short-term rather than long-term rentals. They were terrific guests in that we barely knew they were there and they left me with a couple of new small appliances and kitchen gadgets, but they didn't do a lot of cleaning and did a lot of cooking with oil... things were grimy. So much, after only four months!

Annie said, "Oh, that must be like spring cleaning. I love spring cleaning!" And I laughed, because I'm not that excited about cleaning in the spring or any other time, but I channeled her enthusiasm, along with my mother... striving for "Marj Perfect!" I thought of her a lot yesterday because Mother's Day, but also because she would have loved this endeavor -- I actually think of her very often when I'm up there.

Anyway, I'm so thankful for Rusty -- he did some repairs & maintenance in the bathroom, including painting the ceiling, and did almost all of the floors! I have some finishing up to do on Wednesday for weekend guests arriving on Friday, but not bad.

We found a spot above the sink for this cool painting that one of Kate's art friends did of the kitchen.

I will be going on a quest to replace the phonograph needle (I think that's what needs done). I have this one in my Amazon cart, but first I'm stopping at a local record/stereo shop on my way home tonight.

The info I needed was on the bottom, of course, and I couldn't lift the arm high enough to see it -- or even get my phone under it, so I employed a mirror!

There's a neat back room in the apartment that is off limits to guests mainly because it provides access to the attic and to the rooftop (I've watched mile-away fireworks from up there) and it would just be too irresistible! It has a ton of storage -- cool drawers built in under the steep attic steps, along with another cupboard -- and a window! It's three stories up from the back garden and, unfortunately, the only place where the garden is visible from up there. So I guess it's my Secret Garden Window.

In other news, the stump grinders could finally do the job this morning!

I asked him to send me pictures! (That's Not Lazy's truck in the first photo... they moved out a week ago but he's still switching out/parking vehicles on the street. I'm not going to tolerate that for much longer.) (I'm becoming my mother in many ways!! I love you, Mom!)