Eurovision and Rental Bureaucracy

We had a lively day yesterday. Olga's leg seems better, for one thing, and we took a walk in the morning that didn't seem to bother her. We admired the blooming trees like the hawthorn above and the California lilac below. (Well, OK, I admired the trees while Olga tried unsuccessfully to get to a soccer ball behind that gate on the left...) On Monday we're going to resume her daily dog-walker outings and we'll see how it goes.

Then Dave and I had to go to Camden Town to visit our property manager's office and show our passports and documentation. Apparently this is required every time we renew our lease. (We made the same trip last year.) We can't send scans and we both have to go so they can see our faces and be certain the documents are ours. Brother!

So that took a chunk out of the morning, but at least it's done. We had lunch while we were in Camden and then we came home and went shopping to prepare for....

...EUROVISION!

Yes, it's that time of year again, when the countries of Europe (and a few others) gather to compete against each other by singing bouncy pop music. We had some friends over and Dave made chili, and we watched the show from Lisbon. It was a bizarre year. Not only did a man storm the stage and grab the UK singer's microphone -- which happened so smoothly that I didn't even notice, but then, I'd had a martini -- but the contest was all over the place in terms of favorites. There were lots of decent performances and no obvious stinkers. I voted for Norway and Sweden, but with little conviction, and Israel was the eventual winner. Cyprus was expected to do well and indeed, they came second, but I felt like the performance was too much about their hair. (I couldn't have voted for the UK even if I wanted to -- Eurovision rules prevent viewers from voting for their own country.)

I got a wonderful present in the mail yesterday from blogger Linda Sue -- a piece of '50s barkcloth that will make a terrific tablecloth. (Linda Sue and I went to a midcentury furnishings show last fall, so she knows that's my style!) She also included a bag of Tom of Finland coffee, which gave me a good laugh. Who knew there was such a thing?! (Basically a bag of coffee with some of Tom's tamer artwork on the outside.)

I lost another pot of flower seedlings to the squirrels. They rooted through a hanging basket of cosmos and there isn't a single survivor. Sigh.