Busy weekend

Yesterday morning we slept in (for certain values of sleeping in), then went
out and started working on the bamboo right way. It was drizzly and everything
was wet, so in no time at all we looked like the looser in a mud slinging
contest. But we got a considerable amount of bamboo cleared before 11am when
derien's aunt and dad showed up for a visit. We went out to lunch with them
and visited during the afternoon.

In the evening we went to the new Harry Potter movie with littleredhead and
grndctrl and grndctrl's brother. derien and littleredhead agreed
to go in schoolgirl mode. derien was decked out in her stripey
socks (which make her infinitely happy), a grey skirt, and white
shirt. littleredhead managed to find just the right color socks (maroon with
gold stripes!), matching shoes, a dark skirt and a grey sweater. Way cute, not that littleredhead isn't cute anyway, but sometimes it's hard to not notice.

The movie was lots of fun, moreso with the company. I felt they could have
done things differently, but that didn't lessen the enjoyment. I still
adore how Luna is portrayed in the movies and wish there were more of her. I
thought that the love story side was more heavyhanded than it had to be. I think
the actresses involved could have carried it with much less time and just a few
significant looks. I was sad to see the abbreviated treatment the last 200 pages of the book got. On the plus side, I think the reasons why some of the characters do what they do is much more clear in the movie than in the
book. The aftermovie discussion and icecream was a great way to end it. A Harry Potter movie just wouldn't be
the same without the aftermovie discussion.

Today we got up and went out to the bamboo again. We worked for a couple of
hours until it got too warm to go on. We have made significant progress on the
whole thing. There are still a few clumps left to cut, but the vast majority
has been cut and well over half has been piled in a massive pile at the back
corner of the property.

We stopped for lunch, then a friend I used to work with in Portland came for a
visit and a tour. After he left, derien went to grab groceries and I went out
and did some more work on the bamboo (cue theme from "The Bridge Over the River
Kwai"). It wasn't long until I was exhausted and sitting on the front porch
with a cool, rehydrating drink.

All in all, a good, busy, and productive weekend. My muscles will be very glad
to go back to my sedate little workaday world.