We got a new power pole installed near our back yard. The old one was crooked and would spectacularly short wires in wind storms:
I took a 1/2 day vacation while the power was out and we walked up one of the trails that starts a few blocks from our house:
Helen enjoyed her month off. She developed a habit of buying a few cactus whenever she ventured out, so we now have a fun collection:
The theory is we will have a hard time killing these cactus. That theory doesn’t apply to this 20 year old Bonsai tree …
Helen bravely and lovingly cares for it. I’m too scared to touch it.
We have a variety of animals visit our back yard. There is a small family of deer that live between our house and an unfenced stretch of house next to us:
And this guy shows up every few days, but is very elusive. Helen thinks he is feral, I think he is a neighbor’s cat who likes to watch birds around our bird feeders. Helen is attempting to befriend it with goodies so she can ask him.
We went on a few bike rides, in search of a bike route to work without killer hills (no luck there):
Boris and Irena arrived last week to close on their house. Their car and moving van came a few days later, along with their personal master plumber and carpenter from NH! They are renovating the kitchen and bathrooms:
Boris and Helen try to keep them fed, a challenge after a long day of work:
This is Boris disapproving of Helen’s ‘flatten the meat’ instrument. Unlike Boris, who has a kitchen implement for every conceivable occasion, like a meat hammer, we are minimalists who like to improvise:
Nick, Scott, and George are having a good time running Skitter from Costa Rica. Nick has some photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/livelily
And Scott has a fun blog of activities here:
http://scott-travel.blogspot.com
I close this month with the standard ‘Helicopter landing on heads’ and ’sexually aroused skyscraper next to a fire’ photos:
Bruce