Where's the Dog?!

This is a foam flower, one of two that seem to be just barely hanging on in our garden. Both of them got planted in a shady spot where they compete with a lot of other plants for light, and I think that's held them back a bit, but they're still with us and I like them.

I was awakened this morning at 4:30 a.m. by a couple of magpies having a vicious (and LOUD) squabble in a tree outside our bedroom window. I went out to see what the heck was going on but couldn't really figure it out. Was there a cat or fox threatening their nest? Or were they being the aggressors toward another bird? Who knows. Wild Kingdom.

It's already daylight by that time of the morning so there was no going back to bed for me. I hand-washed our dishes from last night (because our dishwasher is still disconnected) and tried to tidy up the house. I've found that even amid all this chaos it makes me feel so much better to keep whatever I can neat. I guess it gives me a sense of control.

I had a panic attack at work yesterday morning because when I left the house, the builder was already standing on the front porch waiting for his co-worker, so I left the front door open with him standing next to it. On my walk to work I began to get nervous that he'd walk away to his van or go somewhere else without closing the door, thus leaving Olga to roam the neighborhood unattended. So I figured I'd check the dog-cam when I got to work and make sure she was on the couch as usual.

Except...she wasn't! I kept checking for about 40 minutes and no dog. Finally I called the builder and he said she was there, and sure enough this happened within a few minutes:

She'd probably been in the dining room, lying in a sunny patch on the carpet.

I know. I'm a nut.

The renovations continue, but it's becoming apparent they're not going to be finished by the end of the week (since that's basically tonight). And we have a three-day weekend because Monday is a holiday. So Dave and I cooked up a last-minute plan to go away this weekend to a place where we can at least take a shower and I won't have to think about hand-washing dishes. A massage may be involved!

Last night, as we relaxed on our garden bench, Dave pointed at Mrs. Kravitz's garden and said, "Look at that beautiful yellow tree."

"That's a laburnum," I said.

A beat, and he replied: "Is the tree next to it named Shirley?"