The garden by the side door is finished and now several cucumber plants are in place, mulched and with wire fencing to climb on. As an experiment this year there is a Smart Pot (unwoven felt-style fabric) with two other plants (two seeds started in one small pot) next to some stuff they can climb on. I'm testing out the Smart Pots in a couple of areas this year.

A funny garden story - I was talking to the next door neighbor who asked about the crops. I told her I was interested in how the red lasota potatoes are producing; I've been able to poke around in the soil and pull out potatoes without disturbing the plants above, so they can keep producing. I've picked at least three dozen potatoes so far. As we spoke I reached under one plant and pulled out a potato the size of a hardball, and poked around some more and another the same size came out. I held them out to her - she demurred that she already had some potatoes in the house and was trying to lose weight - but the proffer of organic potatoes literally dug before her eyes and 30 seconds out of the ground was irresistible. She reached out and accepted them with "I'll cook them first." And trotted off with those two beautiful po-ta-toes (I love that bit in the Lord of the Rings film (probably also in the book), when Samwise talks about how wonderful potatoes are).

eBay was interesting today. I researched my 1980s Canon film camera, that the New York City camera store declined to buy because it needed some work. I listed it with the specific information from the camera store about the camera body and lens - and offered them for parts or repair at the high price I'd found for similar cameras. An hour later I had an email that the camera had sold. So either I listed it too low, or it was such a good offer and someone had an alert set for this model. If the buyer plans to do the repairs it will take some time. Too often people list items as if the repairs have already been made and then they don't sell. I listed it so the guy who buys it can make some money on it after he does the repair. I also listed some of the other camera bits, and in the process realized I could keep a couple of specialized lenses and filters and buy an adapter (step-up ring) for extreme closeups as well as a polarizer. The stuff I can do with that closeup lens will be amazing (it was when I used it on the film camera).

Tomorrow is a birthday lunch for the ex with our daughter (I fully realize how lucky I am that he is still in my life even if we aren't married any more. The parenting partnership doesn't go away even if the legal standing changes.)