The Weight of the Responsibility
Our local library offers the best service ever! I can search their catalog from home and if I find a book I want, type in my card number and reserve it. If it’s a bestseller or fairly new, it automatically puts me in the queue for the book and I check a box indicating the branch where I will pick up the book. Then when the books is available, I get a really funny autodialed message on the phone, telling me to come get the books. Recently, I’ve taken to looking at what’s new and exciting at Amazon and on the bestseller lists and if I want to read anything, add it on my request list. I went to pick up my books a few days ago, and I had THREE absolutely, pristeen brand new books waiting for me. Not even a crack on the spine from a librarian checking out the book! I have to be so careful! If I spill taco sauce on the book, they’re going to know Dora did it!
Finished book #1 this morning. It was A Dog Among Diplomats by J. F. Englert. It’s sort of a sequel to A Dog About Town, which I loved. Not for pragmatists- you have to love a little fantasy. These are mysteries starring Randolph, the sentient Labrador. He’s an urbane NYC dog; a little chubby, loves his naps and reads Dante and Proust-on the sly when the humans put a book where he can get into it. Like Hercule Poirot at the dog park. It tickled me to no end to know there was a second book coming out; so that I could visit Randolph’s world again. Now I’ll say- when will the third one be available?
Coming up this week- I‘ve got Girls Like Us, which is brand-new and about three women musical icons: Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. Also, The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton. Brand new edition with intro by Philippa Gregory. Ms. Seton wrote historical novels in the 70’s and a fav of mine then. I’m thinking with regency and royal romance being so popular again, somebody wisely figured we’d all enjoy some reprints. Smart! I’m going to be busy.
You would laugh at the garden today: Yesterday, while Mike was mowing, I was doing bad things to my back running the tiller to make a new garden patch. The old original plot is getting too much shade due to that ginormous cherry tree I showed you a couple of weeks ago. I should have done this last Fall. My bad. But I frantically got a maybe 10×20 ft. patch ripped up. It really needs months of TLC, some compost and a lot more care than I can put into it this season. I would be ashamed to show it to Jim Crockett: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Underwood_Crockett But we needed more room! We planted 10 of the heirloom tomatoes and 8 sugar pumpkin plants. But they’re tiny and I really wanted the dogs to keep away from there. So Mike helped me surround the newbie plants with chicken wire. I don’t have any stakes or tomato cages at the moment, so I have wire tied to lawn chairs, the tractor at one end and the tiller at the other to discourage the dogs from frolicking in there. Looks like hell. Mike looked at it and said, ‘You’re right, we don’t deserve to own land” But I’m going to work on it this week.
Things are Coming Along: The potatoes are up! 
And the cabbage is going to town! Yes, the soil is that stony! How I pine for the backyard of my parents’ house in California- once at the bottom of the sea and could grow anything!
I put some marigolds out for “integrated pest management” I guess the idea is put some smelly flowers out to chase the bugs away from the tasty cabbage.
Also found another visitor to the garden. 
She was huge and scary! I think they’re called “wolf spiders” Maybe they wolf down bugs? That would be good. I just took her picture and left her alone!
I’ve noticed that most of the pictures with this camera have a greenish cast, especially those taken indoors. The more I take pictures with it, I realize that it’s kind of a “snapshot” camera, only digital. Of course, if I actually read the 227 page! user’s guide that came with it, I might learn something. Before we had our first digital camera (a Polaroid that croaked), I’d taken to using the Kodak disposable cameras. Built in flash and did a decent, but hardly arty job recording family events. About the closest thing I found to the Instamatic camera I had back in the 70’s- those were great! Cartridge film and providing you didn’t deliberately shake the camera, good, clear pictures. I read recently that Polaroid is going to stop making instant film. Another one bites the dust….but supposedly, another company might second source their patents, for the few that like instant pictures.
Yes, I am playing with the themes again. Decided I need some new colors, so don’t be surprised if it looks different again tomorrow!
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