Greetings  from the Porch!

It is a beautiful night here in MN. Not a cloud in the sky and barely a breath of breeze.  Our neighbor has been alternating with cutting down brush and burning it since 5554r67y. nope. Not since then.     Katya (little cat)just walked across the keyboard.

Anyway, he’s been burning green branches for the last three hours so I do feel like I’ve been smoked like a piece of jerky. And even though the breeze has been slight, it seems to pick up when the fire is the smokiest and then it drifts over the fence towards us.

He has been careful about the size of the fire, though, which we appreciate seeing as how the fire is only ten feet from the damn shed.  Of course, the fire would have to go through the boat first before it gets to the shed. Hmmmmmm… It does give one pause to ponder.

We have a small boat, a rowboat, if you will, that the hubster and the kids would take out fishing. The hubster even named the boat after the kids; it’s called “Wicked Children.”  Yup.  The name is painted proudly on the side.  And when the kids were smaller, he made them shirts with that logo on it. We were nothing if not supportive parents.

But now, sadly, the boat hasn’t been used for years due to backpack camping on Stockton Island, the damn garage, the damn cupboard doors, the damn shed, the damn patio,  the damn trellis, and the damn job.  So, if we use it to protect the damn shed from burning, I guess that’s okay.

***^^^**no transition here***^^^** but a pretty design, don’t you think?*****^^^******

I discovered something yesterday that I just have to share. And, if everyone already knows it, just don’t tell me, okay?   Here it is:   when you call the insurance company and they give you a menu to choose from, and what you need is not on that menu, you can just say “person” and get to a real live person with which to talk!!!!!!!

I was so amazed! It made my whole day.

It also made me forget how frustrated I was with the menu options that when they called today with a survey on how things went, I gave them a glowing report.

Dang.

I hate when that happens.

But back to even more good news, a robin took a bath in my new birdbath today!!! This is the first that I’ve seen a bird actually get his feet wet in my pretty new addition to the garden.

And, speaking of the garden, I am absolutely loving my new perennial garden planted by my favorite Mother-in-law—-mine!  I don’t have to battle the rabbits, squirrels, slugs and ants for territorial control of each plant! I also don’t have to keep an eye on each cuke or tomato watching for rot or bugs. All I’m doing is watering, watering, watering.  My kind of gardening!

***********nope, not here either*****************

I am enjoying reading The Big Over Easy, by Jasper Fforde.  Where else can you get all the particulars of a murder mystery and be chuckling at the same time?  For instance, last night the detectives were questioning a rather wealthy suspect who lived in a uniquely designed house where one of the rooms was called Angkor Watt.  It had steamy tropical temperatures, the proper ruins and a parrot flying around. They had tea there.  Of course.

After they had asked their questions and were about to leave,  one of the detectives commented on the beautiful parrot.

“Norwegian Blue,” commented their host.  “Beautiful plumage.”

Which is a reference to the famous Monty Python sketch about the  buyer(John Cleese) trying to return a dead parrot to the pet store clerk(Michael Palin).

Here’s a link to the sketch.  Watch and laugh.

Just the reference to this famous sketch was enough to  make me laugh. I do love this book.  It’s a real murder  mystery with the all the parts and pieces of any other murder mystery: the seemingly bumbling detective who turns out to be sharp as a tack,  the handsome powerful  former partner with friends in high places who wants to take over his case, the wronged wife, the industrial giants grappling for control of their market, the neighbor who might have seen something, the cheating wife whose strand of hair was at the scene, death by poison, cookie dough and samurai sword, it has it all. But in this book,  the victim is Humpty Dumpty—it is the Nursery Crimes Division after all. And he wasn’t pushed off that wall, he was —

Well, now. I can’t very well tell you that, can I?    😉

Have a Free From the British Friday and enjoy our Independence Day!

Love,

Janet