Waiting for Florence to pass...

MIL is getting weak. She is going to turn 95 in a few days. Not sure if she will see the next birthday. She has had a good healthy life but the feeling that she declining is sad.

A SIL has been in hospital for several months. One issue leads to another. She is type one diabetic and has always known she had a much shortened life expectancy but this is rough. Just for more fun her brother is entering the late stages of ALS. BIL looks like a wrung out towel dealing with all this.

Whitey Ford's kidney issues continue and he is so small now. He is just more loving than ever.

We are fine but it all seems so sad.

Ginger is becoming a real pet now asking me for belly rubs. Wen is getting close to asking for a scratch and Pan is still Pan but I have now actually seen her play.

I have cut off most contact with the Internet over the past few months. I find social media makes me misanthropic. So many people spreading so much BS. Not the trolls and bots but otherwise normal people just spreading shit because it is easy.

TLDR: We are OK but a bit down.

Hugs mightshould.

I am very well. I've had the best summer I can ever remember.

I've travelled to the States twice, to attend weddings, one on the east coast, one on the west. So I've spent very happy times with people I love. I got to see most of my New York friends, and managed to introduce Miko and Lipstick Thespian to various NYC Mechazans, which was awesome.

Because the weather has been so great, I've done far more outdoor stuff than usual. My friend down the street has two little dogs and I go on long walks with her (and them) in the forest. I'm so lucky to have the forest on my doorstep.

A few weeks ago I went to a music festival, where Squeeze were headliners. It's one of the best nights I've had in years, I never stopped dancing. I also saw Steve Earle and the Dukes in concert, probably the 15th time I've seen Steve Earle, either solo or with the Dukes.

I'm reasonably happy at work, as my boss is very hands-off and treats us like grown-ups. The management of the organisation at top level is shambolic, but at the moment it't not affecting my day-to-day job too much. The chaos is likely to mean that those of us who they tried to render obsolete will be considered of use for a while longer yet.

I love my home, and my garden has been a source of great joy this year. I'm learning about how to grow vegetables, and have had some successes and some failures (I'm looking at you, carrots...) The birds are eating me out of house and home, but I refill their feeders every day and get so much pleasure from watching them.

I'm sad to hear that Whitey Ford is slowing down. Out of all the cats I've never met he is, and always will be, my favourite (sorry Trilby). I still miss Lucy, after more than a year, but when I get back from Spain in November (yes, another holiday!) I'm going to the local shelter to find a new cat - or s/he will find me.

Sorry, too, arse_hat, to hear about your MIL. We are all here for such a short time, and as I edge towards my 60th birthday next year I'm ever more conscious of that.