She's a Unit

I'm having some fun experimenting with the new camera in the garden, but I wish I could take it out on the streets. I can't really do that until my camera bag arrives, though! That should happen tomorrow. Meanwhile, lots of garden shots.

Even plain ol' houseflies look elegant sunning themselves on the flowers!

Thanks for all your concern about my ears. Let me just clarify -- although there's mild itchiness, there's no redness, heat, swelling or other sign of infection, and if it's an allergic reaction it's not a very severe one. It shouldn't be an allergy, because the earrings are titanium, which is hypoallergenic. (That's why it's used in medical implants.) If it persists or becomes worse I'll follow up with the piercing studio, but I really think it's just my ears' initial reaction to the mild injury of the piercing. In fact I'm less and less aware of it over time.

I spent yesterday morning reading on the garden bench, and Bailey stationed herself in the sun near the birdbath, just like Olga used to do. Bailey looks like a walrus or elephant seal, hauled up from the ocean with her gray-brown coloring and somewhat bulky (but muscular!) body.

I was walking her yesterday afternoon when a neighbor stopped me and asked about her. I told him her name and she enthusiastically welcomed his scratches. "She's a unit, though, isn't she?" he said.

Perplexed, I replied: "A what?"

He made a sort of He-Man muscle pose, and then I understood. "Yeah, she's strong," I said. I laughed about this later with Dave, who said the kids at school use the word "unit" this way. We both agreed that we should have named her Unit. It's likely to become one of her nicknames.

(From Google: "In slang, a unit (often used in the phrase 'absolute unit') describes a person or animal that is physically large, muscular, heavy, or impressively imposing.") Here's a Reddit thread about the age and origins of the term, which are apparently disputed.

I spotted this street sign on our dog walk, and laughed at the appended note. Yes, there is another way, via Fortune Green Road.

Last night we went out with our friend Gordon and his wife Donna, who we haven't seen in several months. We ate at Chez Rose near Bond Street, which was very good. (I had Dover sole meunière.) We traded stories of our summer adventures, their travels around Ireland in a camper van and our excursions through Italy and Croatia, including my tale of woe with my camera and my excavation of the garbage dumpster in Rome. Now that I've replaced the camera I can laugh about it -- sort of.