Sexually aroused skyscraper

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: