I must be on the mend, Stilly, because I just finished vacuuming the parlour carpet. I have also de-furred the hardwood in the dining room and the ceramic tile in the rest of the ground floor. The clouds of cat hair rose like mini-thunderheads. No, I haven’t expunged the coffee stains in the kitchen or scrubbed the loo, but gimme a break. It’s Dominion Day.

Well, it’s still Dominion Day for me. Dunno what was wrong with it, no need to change it just because the Constitution Act finally got passed — fer petesake we still celebrate the Queen Victoria’s birthday on 24 May and the dear old soul kicked off in 1901!

Ah, fuckit. I’m evidently in a mood.

The weather is hot and sticky with thunderstorms in the forecast. The first firecracker of the holiday has yet to go off on Glendon Road, but the windows are shut and they will stay that way — not for the cats’ sake, but for me. No, I’ve never been shot at, but I did enough range time to be acutely sensitive to certain sounds and smells that don’t belong anywhere else.

BTW — Furminator? Is that your word for the silicone broom that actually separates even the finest of cat hair from textured ceramic floor tile? I have needed that word for so long. Thanks a million!