Communication Resumes

Bobby Mac is intent on butterflies flitting just out of reach.

Two weeks ago today I took my desktop PC to the electronics shop in town for servicing and updating. Prior to that I loaded a few photos, saving them as drafts, thinking I could use my laptop to add text and keep my blog alive.

By the third day the always recalcitrant laptop was malfunctioning, the keyboard flinging out rows of "8" or "5", then freezing completely.

Each time we had an errand in town we stopped to inquire when my PC might be ready. Vague replies of, 'Tomorrow, about closing time," proved to be unfounded.

I used Jim's laptop a few times to check email, etc, but decided that being off-line could serve as good discipline.

By the time my refurbished PC was collected late on Friday life had been moving on for nearly two weeks; garden flowers had blossomed, had their day, others were taking their place, my days had been filled.

I worked in the garden, assisted by a retinue of cats. 

Willis has a way of concealing himself beneath a sprawling rose bush or lurking in a vegetable row, suddenly popping out to take a more active role. He approves of the brick path.

Sally, who has always been an outdoor cat, has developed a testy personality.

Bullied by Willis in his youth, Sally has become the resident troll, hissing and slapping at any cat who walks past. She tends to hover when I am watering or fussing over the seedlings on the side porch; she pushes at my hands, huffs if I stroke her, stomps about getting in the way.

Willis has always displayed a mixture of charm and arrogance.

We have hoped that his adventure several months ago [riding off in the back of someone's truck] had cured him of such wander-lust tendencies. His slight limp remains a reminder of that upset.

When a friend stopped by Saturday evening with plants for me, Willis clambered onto the tailgate of her truck and had to be fished out of the back: lesson not learned!

Edward is less often outside with me.  He is amiable and lazy, more inclined to land heavily on my lap when I am at my desk.

Willis is partial to the sun-warmed timber of the lower retaining wall.  From this vantage point he can watch the lane in case any of the neighbor cats should venture beyond the boundaries he has stipulated; he can keep an eye of Jim's doings in the workshop adjacent to the garden; 

In its second year the autumn-flowering clematis has climbed the trellis and galloped along the fence.

I trust it will bloom in late summer.

A frilled poppy.

The poppies self-sow randomly, often getting in the way of other plants.

I leave them in place until the seed pods ripen.

Kale, Swiss chard and beets have grown abundantly in the rich compost which Jim hauled in last fall.

We eat greens, give them away, sometimes even feed them to the neighbor's goats! 

Fortunately we are fond of beets!  I wrap them in foil and roast them in the oven.

Rain began Sunday evening and has continued at intervals through the day.

It has been a gentle soaking rain--the best kind--but enough that weeding and planting will have to be done from the brick walk-way or what can be reached from the retaining wall.

A meandering post, to serve as a reminder of late May tipping into June.