it was the first time since lauryn's arrival last wednesday night that i had the house all to myself. i took advantage of it by using the bathroom without worrying about making embarrassing sounds.
i tried removing a foot pedal from an old bicycle crankset using the harbor freight knockoff icon adjustable pliers wrench. these old pedals are better than the ones i currently have which make an annoying rattling sound when i ride. unfortunately that one pedal was stuck on the crank arm pretty tightly and i wasn't able to pry it off. i'll take it to belmont and put it in a vice and try again.
i left for my parents' place around 10:45am. i noticed there was a hazy amber hue to everything outside. i figured it's probably smoke from canadian forest fires. besides returning a few things at home depot, i also had to recaulk one of the rain barrels (i'd inadvertently twisted the spigot while trying to unscrew a hose, breaking the silicone seal), then mow the lawn.
i didn't bring my saddlebags and the melnor watering wand i was returning didn't exactly fit inside my messenger bag. i ended up tightly wrapping the spray end of the wand in a bag before stuffing it inside my bag, the wand sticking out awkwardly, and nearly falling out a few times. i was also returning some unused wood glue before i noticed it'd already been used, so i wouldn't be able to return it.
i left home depot by 11:20am and returned to belmont.
that one rain barrel that needs recaulking, it's a black storage barrel, and those are prone to leaking because the spigot is held in place simply by screwing in the threads and some caulk to prevent leaking. you can't crawl inside the barrel (like you can with those red olive barrels) so it's difficult to get a proper fit. if i had to do it again, i'd install a bulkhead fitting (that's screwed in from the outside), which are more common these days (both brass and plastic types).
to recaulk the rain barrel spigot, i had to first drain the barrel. i pumped the water into a rubbermaid brute 32 gallon plastic garbage can. but the barrel holds 50 gallons, so i had to drain the excess water into a pair of plastic wine barrels. at one point i was also draining from the leaking spigot itself using just gravity. the water didn't come out as fast as the pressured hose, but it came out at a greater volume.
with the rain barrel empty, i removed the old silicone caulk with an awl before applying new silicone caulk. i applied a generous amount, hoping that if i were to accidentally twist the spigot again in the future, that the silicone seal would still hold. to keep the silicone from getting wet and giving it time to properly cure, i used a plastic cup and some duct tape to create a makeshift awning over the spigot.
next i mowed the lawn. every time i use the gas mower i wonder if we should get an electric mower. the advantages would be no more gasoline (just free electricity) 
but also the ability to fold the mower and store it upright (the current mower takes up a good amount of garage space). mowing the front lawn, i even went ahead and mowed the newly reseeded patch because there were patches of tall grasses intermixed with the reseeding patches. so far none of the reseeded areas have germinated yet. it's only been 5 days since i reseeded; i remember it takes about 10 days before the grass seeds will begin to germinate (previous reseed: april 4th seeds sown, april 15th green stubbles).
i checked out our epoxy fused old watering wand handle. though the epoxy should be set, it was still a little soft. full curing won't be until later tonight. we'll need to run water through it to see if it'll hold before either applying more epoxy or sealing it up. if we get this fixed, we may fix our current watering wand, which is also leaking, but not nearly as bad as this one.
i finished with some watering. the weather this week looks to be unsettled, with the possibility of shower bursts every day. but a check of the doppler radar showed dry weather at least for today, so i decided to water using the rain barrels. before i left, i also turned on the two automated front lawn sprinklers for 10 minutes.
i got back home around 2pm. i didn't stay long, just enough to write a grocery list, before leaving for market basket. i decided to make chicken caesar salad for dinner this week. i did think about making some risotto (as italian sausages were on sale), but i didn't have any cheap white wine; i might make that next week.
i didn't have lunch until after 4pm, reheated two leftover blue cheese burger patties.
i was also waiting to see when lauryn would come home, figure out her routine. even though she'd already been here nearly a week, today was actually the second time she's gone to her office (and the first time where i'm at home). she got back around 6pm, which meant she left the office 5:40pm. she started making dinner at 6:30pm, and wasn't finished until 7:10pm. i was sniffing to see if there was any kitchen smoke, in which case i'd go and demonstrate to her how to use the window fan. yes there were cooking smells, but it wasn't too bad.
i wasn't too hungry in the evening, plus i was really lazy, and was caught watching the band of brothers marathon on the sundance channel, so didn't feel like grilling some chicken to make a salad. instead i ate an icelandic yogurt and some clementines and called it dinner. i'll make the caesar salad tomorrow or thursday night.