Foxes and Flowers (More of the Same)

It feels good to be back home after our short Cornwall excursion. Mostly it felt amazing to sleep in our own room last night. I did sleep on the train, but that's nothing like sleeping in a familiar -- and stationary -- bed!

I spent yesterday morning running laundry, catching up on blogs and finishing "Auntie Mame." I also mowed the lawn in the afternoon. Even though we're well into autumn, the grass continues to grow and must be kept at bay. The lawn mower also grinds up and vacuums up the fallen leaves from our walnut tree.

This toadflax plant (above) is blooming right outside our French doors, so we have a nice view when we look outside.

The dusty miller is blooming as well, as are the Michaelmas daisies (below), our purple wallflower and our verbena, among other things. So although the golden autumnal shroud has descended on the garden, it's still got some floral color.

I didn't go to yesterday's "No Kings" activities and in fact I'm not sure there was even a demonstration in London -- since obviously the "No Kings" moniker is problematic in a country with a king! (I think here it's called "No Tyrants" for that reason.) Last spring a demonstration was held near the U.S. Embassy and I imagine there was something similar this time around. Dave and I talked about attending but having just disembarked from an overnight train we weren't up for it. That seems lazy as heck now that I write it down, so thanks to those who did go to resist the Trump juggernaut.

I downloaded the garden cam to check out recent activity, including during our absence. I moved it again, to a different location on the patio, and it's interesting to see what animals come right up close to the house -- both foxes and a few of the cats. Here are some highlights:

-- We start with the brown-tailed fox, who is curious about the camera. The weather wasn't great in these first few clips so they look a bit dim.
-- At 0:24, the fox with the white-tipped tail shows up. I've taken to calling him or her Q-Tip. From this point on we get both foxes in repeated visits, mostly just making a quick circle of the patio. (And yes, I know our patio looks like heck. It needs to be weeded and swept.)
-- At 1:19, we have an obligatory squirrel video.
-- After dinner one night, I put the crispy skin from a roasted duck breast out on the patio for the foxes. At 1:42, the brown-tailed fox grabs it. (I almost never feed them and they eat street garbage anyway, so please don't take me to task for that!)
-- At 2:39, Pale Cat shows up.
-- At 2:57, we see Pale Cat in the daytime, looking much more orange and much less pale!
-- At 3:15, Bell the Bengal passes through.
-- At 3:38 we see Tabby, our least frequent cat visitor. Blackie did not make an appearance this week, though I've seen him or her on the patio on other nights.