Flower Friday. : : Hydrangea

We had the full complement at coffee this morning. It was really nice to see Bob who has been absent for awhile. He is a self admitted hypochondriac, but has really been suffering from some kind of heartburn at night. The ensuing battery of tests he's had showed nothing, but did nothing for his peace of mind. However numerous invasive procedures didn't prevent him from imagining that each new test would reveal a life threatening disease. That would certainly be enough to give ME heartburn! They found nothing. We all told him he needs a good psychiatrist! (He IS one....)

We had banned Spike from coffee because he wasn't very well behaved and almost pulled me bacckwards down the steps, but we had an appointment with the vet on the way home. He behaved himself under the table. (The vet was well behaved too). We still call in from the parking lot but the tech who came out to get Spike said they were allowing clients inside again. Spike was not overly pleased about this visit, and the tech and I had to bodily lift him onto the scale, but we were able to walk drag him past several dogs in the waiting room without incident. The vet went to university with Dana so it is always good to see him, and despite the fact that Spike is getting decidedly pudgy (a spaniel specialty) Steve gave him quite a few 'cookies' and pronounced him in great shape.

I decided to photograph the hydrangea because it was another plant that we intended to take out because it was so fire damaged, but never got around to doing. It has come back better than ever and is showing huge blooms in every stage of blossoming. I like the emerging stage in the main photo and the scenescent one in the extras best. I think I am developing the blippers' love of aging flowers because I also liked the artichoke flower, but I think I have used it before so I put it in extras also.

We're off to a Friday happy hour at a Pilates buddy's house. He, Bob and John are (or were) the Pilates 80 year old triumvirate. We would all love to return to our old Monday and Friday 8am mat classes in the studio, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. We have been relegated to zoom and we're not sure how long that is going to last....At any rate, Larry's partner, Jean-Marie is a character and although she has lived in Santa Rosa for many years, she is pure Berkeley and a lot of fun....