I spoke too soon about Patty's dust storm - it has arrived and was apparently giving a push to the morning tornado watch we had. The air is a weird yellow/brown that isn't the same weird yellow/green that the sky gets when tornadoes are approaching. The outdoor circuit breaker to my office has popped twice today, once in the windy rain, and just now in the wind, and I am going to schedule the electrician to do the work as soon as I know the funeral date to work around.

My next door neighbors are on a 10-day cruise and she is only using email this trip (the phone company gouges on a travel plan and adds extra fees when she travels). We've exchanged remarks about branches down in her yard (not many, and they aren't very big) and the state of the creek (no flooding, but it is always a risk if we get many days of rain in a row). I hate to be the bearer of worrisome news, and so far it is just updates but nothing wrong. And if need be, she'll take her phone off of airplane mode and call, regardless of the extra fees.

Charmion, do you have groups to reconnect with when you move to Ottawa? Is that where you lived before? Good luck with the paint, and keeping the cats out of it.