Hi bearwife. Things over here are quiet, but today gaspode and her family arrive in the UK for a visit. They'll be in London for a few days so we're meeting up later for fish and chips. They're staying quite close to what is, imho, the best fish and chip shop in London, The Fryer's Delight.

I'm going up north to visit the family next week, and to see a friend I've known for 40 years. And this weekend it's more work in the garden, tidying up my kale bed and moving a few things into bigger pots.

I've had to pull out my courgette plant (zucchini). Last year I planted a yellow variety, and it was brilliant, like a courgette factory. I couldn't eat them all. This year I planted a green variety and the fruits have been bulbous and gone rotten, and rats have nibbled them.

Yes, I said rats. We have a rat problem. Foxes have moved on, and rats have moved in. Only in the gardens, not the houses, but they are a problem. I've put down bait in those lockable boxes that only rodents can get into, and have already had to replenish it. We have a brook with culverts running nearby, so they've always been around, but the foxes kept them down. Now they have free rein.

I don't know where the foxes have moved to, we have miles of forest round here so there's lots of space for them. I'd rather have them than rats, for sure.

Working a lot.
One boss is very demeaning. Not so much fun.
Paying my bills.
Avoiding news when I need to.

Getting along in life day by day.

Kinda meh. Eating too much.

Despite singing the praises of Metafilter as therapy, I signed up with an actual therapist a couple of months ago. It's better than nothing, but there are some problems it can't solve (loneliness, etc.).

Taking my mother to visit my sister in California in a couple of weeks. Bracing myself for the drama that will ensue.

Love the thunderstorms we've been having lately. July is my favorite month weatherwise, so there's that.

I'm doing a fabulous job of avoiding looking for employment. It's summer in Maine and who wants to work? I do have to mow the lawn, which I should do before it gets even hotter and more humid. Meh. My small garden is prospering. I will shortly be planting 2nd crops of leafy greens, and peas, too, if I can find seeds. I repaired my tiny Zodiac inflatable boat, have a tiny motor for it, and have finally named it, The Tiny Highland Warrior, in honor of Greenpeace's Zodiacs. I'll have it in the water by this afternoon.

Maybe it should be the Wee Highland Warrior. It needs a Greenpeace sticker. The neighbors will love that.

Summer of memorials. When I got back from nola a friend who lives upstate posted that she was publishing the last work of a classmate from ia who died a few years ago and reading from it along with 2 others she published recently at an event last Sunday.

My neighbor told me that the member of Cheeto Voldemort's cabinet who lives in the penthouse sold it to a socialite divorcee from Houston who is going to use it as a pied a terre.

I'm trying to heal my tired and bruisde soul by going to the beach every weekend. It's working.