Linn, one of my dogs loves to chew up cardboard. They graze in the yard on a lot of odd raw stuff, so cardboard is a processed snack. :)

Dorothy, I hope you can do that machinery auction sooner rather than later and be done with all of that. And I'm glad they put the tent up over you. Michelle, I see on facebook that you had a great weekend with the family. No decluttering required when you have a family weekend!

The permanent crown is in place now. And the reason for pain all month was there was adhesive from the temporary crown under my gumline. Apparently being fair-skinned makes me more sensitive to the compound. This procedure today downright hurt, but when he offered to numb the gum, I declined. No more needles for a while, please. The gums should heal now.

I dragged hoses around this afternoon, and made a point of giving the front yard bald cypress a long drink. Each year it tends to turn brown earlier than it needs to, and I think it has to do with ignoring it at sprinkling time. An occasional heavy watering should drive the roots deep, that might help it be happier. In other neighborhood news, it's too hot to pick grapes so I'll get up early and do that before I go to work.

So much to do around here, I'll find something this evening and work on it, I won't predict it now. And maybe I'll end the day with a book and a dog in the bedroom, though when the weather is hot and it's a work night she has to sleep on the floor. When it's hot she has a sleeping panting noise that is distracting. When she's on the floor (on her dog bed, of course) she's cooler. Not happier, but cooler. Saturday night she was on the bed and when I woke that pit bull was sprawled up the middle of the bed and I was hugging the edge.

SRS