Foxglove and Tina Turner

During all the disruption of these improvements to our flat, I am so thankful we have the garden as a retreat! Here's what it looked like yesterday morning, with our gigantic foxglove in bloom. (And no, that's not my shadow to the right -- it's something up on the Russians' terrace.)

And here's a closeup. We didn't plant this foxglove -- it just appeared, the only one we have this year. At least it's BIG and demands to be noticed. (And this time, that is my shadow!)

I checked on Olga throughout the day yesterday via dog-cam. For a change, she did seem a bit disturbed by the workers, but mostly because they weren't paying attention to her. I saw her standing by the back door looking frustrated that they wouldn't let her outside so she could sunbathe!

I'd tell them they could let her out, but then they'd have to bring her in again, which sometimes takes some persuasion. At least she was enthusiastic when the dog-walker showed up.

Here's yesterday's progress. The new bathtub is in, complete with new plumbing. This should eliminate the slow leak. At left you can see that heat fan they're using to try to dry out the walls.

The old bathtub was in front of the house when I came home, but then in the evening, while lying on the couch, I heard a terrific banging coming from the street. I thought some kids were pounding on the tub and was going to tell them to stop it. But when I looked out the window I saw...

...a man and a woman who had broken the tub in half and were loading it into a van. I don't know whether they were supposed to come and collect it, or were scrap metal dealers who took it upon themselves to haul it away. Either way it's gone now.

The kitchen is still disassembled. I hope the workers get that put together today so we can cook and do dishes and laundry. They just need to reconnect the appliances.

I'm sure you've seen the news, announced yesterday, that Tina Turner died. Like bazillions of other people I owned her "Private Dancer" album in the '80s and I saw her live in Tampa 23 years ago -- ticket stub above. (Not particularly cheap even then, at $80.) Here's what I wrote in my journal the next day:

Went to see Tina Turner last night in Tampa -- my first concert at the Ice Palace. She is great. She's my new idol! She put on a tremendous show, complete with "nouveau Ikettes" and an incredible stage -- a multilevel platform for the musicians and dancers, and a huge swinging arm (boom) that carried her out over the audience. She looks so great, and she has amazing, boundless energy. She did everything, too -- "Proud Mary" (complete with the "nice and rough" intro), "Nutbush City Limits," "Private Dancer," "What's Love Got to Do With It," and some really unusual stuff like a slow, almost gospel rendition of the Beatles' "Help." I love her. I went with Nancy P., Mark Z. and Pat M. Then we went to Ybor for barbecue afterwards... Lionel Richie was her opening act, and he did a couple of funky Commodores numbers that livened the place up, but I could do without ever hearing "Hello" again.

She lived a remarkable life, considering her relatively humble origins in small-town Tennessee and the abuse she faced from Ike during her early years in show business. I remember marveling with my friends at how energetic she was at 60. Now I'm just a few years from being 60 myself! How time flies.

I bought a concert t-shirt at that show and wore it the next day on the airplane when I flew to London for my first visit. Little did I know then that I'd wind up living here.