Defeating Roy

Well, we did get some rain yesterday after all. Not a lot, but enough to dampen the ground and liberate the snails. This one was gliding across our daylilies, perhaps nibbling on fallen blackberry petals.

I had to go out this morning and unlatch the gate to the street before I sat down to write. The Russians told me they were having "plumbers" come yesterday and today and they needed access to the side of the house. I am putting "plumbers" in quotation marks because these guys are doing more than fixing a leak. Yesterday they drilled a huge hole in the exterior wall up near the eaves, which resulted in chunks of brick and dust and all kinds of stuff raining down into our side return. (And crushing the campanula and breaking the foxglove, much to my annoyance.) Then they ran a big pipe up the side of the house and into that hole.

I have no idea what the Russians are doing. Putting in another bathroom, maybe? At any rate, It was a noisy job. I hope the worst of it is over.

I've said it before but I'll say it again -- the upstairs neighbors mystify me. They are on a constant campaign of home improvement. There is literally a project going on all the time. I'm just not that kind of person. I live with whatever I've got.

Here's one of our dahlia buds, getting ready to open. This is the bright red variety and it looks like it will be our first dahlia flower of the season.

I did a bunch of work in the garden yesterday, mainly weeding. As I've said before, although I like our weedy, casual approach to gardening, I'm trying to keep it neater this year. It is much easier to see the plants when they're not buried in weeds. I suppose that shouldn't be surprising.

Also, reducing some of the ground cover will help with another little garden problem we're having -- rodents. Specifically, rats. You know how we were getting all those beautiful parakeets and chattery starlings on our bird feeders? Well, they were dropping crumbs of suet and bird seed on the ground, and in the last few days Dave and I have seen brown rats scurrying around in the grass. We can't have that, because God forbid they should get in the house. So I have reluctantly taken down all our bird feeders -- the birds should be fine, given that there's plenty to eat out there in summer -- and we're going to hope that Roy the Rat and all his family move elsewhere.

About a week ago I listed our two old lawnmowers on Freecycle, offering them up for anyone who wants them, and so far -- much to my surprise -- I've had no takers. I thought they'd go right away, perhaps to someone who wants them for parts or who's handy with repairs. But no! Maybe they're just not worth it, even to someone who fixes lawn mowers. I may have to send them to the landfill after all.

This picture may not look like much, but here's the impressive thing -- it was taken at 4 a.m.! I happened to wake up (briefly) at that time, and inspired by Keith at Hiawatha House, I thought I'd take a photo that shows how light it gets at that time of day around the summer solstice. It was a cloudy morning but you can still see plenty of detail in the gray light. I am still not used to living at such northern latitudes where we have daylight so early. (Granted, there's also a street light, but trust me -- most of that light was coming from the sky.)

I am reading "A Gentleman in Moscow." I've heard so many people rave about this book, but I have to say, so far I am not impressed. I'm about 125 pages in and I'm finding it pretty tedious. It's about an aged aristocrat wandering around a hotel where he's under house arrest in early Soviet Russia. I expected a bit more action or intrigue. I'm not quitting, but when I sit down to read I find my mind wandering.