Puttering and Finding Things

Another lazy day. We got some things accomplished -- laundry and a bit more puttering in the garden. Dave came home with a plant from Waitrose and said, "Look! A daylily!" And I looked and it wasn't a daylily at all -- it was a Peruvian lily. Which is fine, except that slugs reportedly like Peruvian lilies. So part of yesterday's puttering was putting it into a pot on the patio. (Lots of alliteration in that sentence. Plosives, to be precise.)

I also took Olga for a long walk in the morning, which was terrific because it negated the need for me to take her to the Heath in the afternoon. She was all walked out by 10:30 a.m. and lay on the lawn for the rest of the day, moving back and forth between shade and sun.

On our walk we looped around West Hampstead and up to Cricklewood, and then over towards Childs Hill. We visited the Cricklewood Millennium Green, where some dodgy-looking guys were drinking cans of something alcoholic at approximately 8:30 a.m. They kept to themselves, though, and the dog and I explored the hills and long grass and then moved on to the Clitterhouse Playing Fields.

Along the way, we found some shoes (top) which were pretty fabulous but looked like they'd suffered a bit in the weather. We also found:

...a (possibly) useful toaster oven, and...

...a Scooby Doo doll, keeping company with a gleeful emoji pillow. (We did not bring any of this stuff home.)

Olga meanwhile, made a find of her own...

...a hard rubber ball that kept her occupied all morning and afternoon. The picture above shows her celebrating its return after it sank to the bottom of (fortunately shallow) Dollis Brook, next to the playing fields. When Olga couldn't get it herself, I managed to retrieve it using a long stick, but only after teetering across a makeshift weir and almost losing my balance on the narrow path on the creek bank. It's a miracle I didn't wind up in the water myself.

After all that trouble, you can bet we kept that ball.

Dave and I have been watching "The Americans" in the evenings. I like it, but it's one of those shows that makes me feel stupid. I keep thinking, "What's happening now? Who is that person? Do these two characters know each other? Have we heard any of this before?" Sometimes they start in on a story line and you really don't know what's happening because they haven't jumped to the backstory yet -- but I expect to know because I am (I guess) a linear thinker. Anyway, it keeps me on my toes.