Mono Monday : : Wacky Froggy

I have photographed our froggy planter before, but it looks particularly wacky with a blooming flower in it's aloe 'hair', and a 'beard' of mildew!

We were prepared for various sorts of wackiness all day, most of which, fortunately never came to pass. Our housecleaner came today and for reasons we have been unable to explain, Spike doesn't like her. I think actually that it is her vacuum cleaner he doesn't like or more likely is  afraid of. We have gotten used to mellow labradors are are adjusting to a more 'sensitive' spaniel. Part of his lack of socialization during these Covid times is the fact that he was raised in kennels and sees very few people in our house. My own vacuum cleaner isn't working well and I have not been able  tried very hard to get it repaired. We went to some lengths to make sure we greeted Caroline when she arrived, John watched Spike while I took a Zoom Pilates class and then we took him with us to Trail House.

They have put in a new cannabis dispensary behind the Trail House which has created parking chaos and frayed nerves. It makes parking tricky at best and impossible if a truck is introduced into the equation. As far as we can tell it hasn't opened for business yet, but will undoubtedly be an even bigger mess challenge when it does. A lot of people signed a petition against allowing a business to open there, not so much because of the product being sold, but because of the parking complications created by it. And that was before they had to put up tables and a tent in half the parking lot. The city marches to an unheard drummer, however, and approved the permit. People have waited longer to get permission to rebuild their houses which burned to the ground....

The rest of my day was spent cutting the suckers off the bottom of a few trees and fixing the screen door which was getting stuck until I remembered a can of some kind of silicone spray the screen installer gave us. John questioned whether it is actually permanently fixed, a suggestion I didn't dignify with an answer, since taking a nap seemed to be his solution. 

I think after more than a year of being stuck with each other in enforced isolation and constant uncertainty, small frustrations take on much larger significance. I'm pleased to say that Spike's behavior with Caroline was exemplary, and he doesn't mind being rewarded by doing the same thing (chasing his Kong) over and over. When someone isn't throwing it, he's doing his best to move it on his own by staring at it (see extra). John and I are both getting to be like bears with sore heads but we're hoping good news from the doctor tomorrow will give us reason to celebrate....