Snoring

Here are some pictures of the late-summer flowers we're seeing now in the garden. Above, the bear's breeches (Acanthus) with Crocosmia Lucifer and a teasel.

Here's the Gaillardia, or blanket flower. I've never grown this before and I really like it! It's a prolific bloomer and the flowers hang around a while (though that plant needs to be deadheaded).

And here's the pink lobelia. I divided this plant at the beginning of summer so we have two of them now, blooming away.

And here's a positively gigantic burdock that's grown in one of the flower beds -- a child of the ones we planted a few years back. I wish I could convey the size of those leaves. That's a full-grown dahlia in the pot next to it, if that helps.

Yesterday was a day of rest, mostly. I ran a couple of minor errands, like taking some sheets to the laundromat and throwing our old toaster in the community bin for recycled electronics. As I was waiting at Dulles to fly back to London on Sunday I got a text from Dave saying, "The toaster exploded!" He'd tried to use it and it shot out a spark and went dark. Turns out it also tripped the circuit breaker. It's the same toaster we've had since we moved here 12 years ago, so it had done its time. We threw it out and I ordered a new Dualit toaster from Amazon, which arrived yesterday.

Amazon may be the evil empire of retail, but it sure is convenient.

Last night I met up with an old colleague from The New York Times, who's in town visiting. We had a drink in a pub down by Farringdon station. He's a character and it was great to see him and compare notes about our experiences at the "Old Grey Lady" and our lives since. (He was laid off the same year I was, not long after the 2008 banking crisis.)

Finally, just to serve as a counterpoint to my brother's crazy dog Snoop, here's what I'm living with in London. Olga, at her most relaxed!