A friend with a chainsaw is probably coming over this afternoon to take out a couple of limbs on the tree I've been pruning. My saws aren't big enough to take these off at the base (it's a multi-stem tree with two of them that were mostly dead wood.)

I'm wondering if Dorothy ended up back in Ontario (I see that note on the Sept. 5 post that is directly above the form on this screen). Is this time to start winterizing, or do you have another month until that starts?

We have a hot week (mid-90s) ahead for the next seven days, after which I see a hint of a chance of rain. Just as well I didn't dismantle the watering setup yet. The huge floodwater mosquitoes seem to have laid their eggs in the soil and subsided for the time being, now it's just the regular variety that affect the timing of yard work.

The strawberries are bagged (a gift to my future self - they get used in smoothies). Changing direction, this morning I'll make some fresh pickles with some beautiful cucumbers found yesterday. They'll be ready in a few weeks, biding their time in the small dorm-size fridge I inherited from a friend a few years ago. I also found some beautiful big carrots yesterday so after I brought those home I proceeded to peel and cook all of the older carrots already here. Those are diced to go on top of the dry dog food.

I need to finish my current audio book and be prepared for some marathon listening - the next one is an unabridged version of a 1000-page mystery. The library has me in the waiting list and I pushed it back a few days so I can finish the current one. If any of you are fans of really reliable storytellers with detective series, Lawrence Block has always been a good one. I'm finishing one of his Matthew Scudder novels before I move on to the next Galbraith tome.