a day of breaks

Yes, it's beautiful and warm and lovely outside. Yes, I really love this Fall weather. You could almost call it late summer. I should have worn shorts today, except that the mornings are brisk. But, despite all that prettiness around me, things are getting dicey here at Steffi's House. Time is running out.

Breakfast? Well that's always special, always leisurely and wonderful. And rosy: two blooms from Strike it Rich.

But then, things get twisted up in knots. Impossible to unravel. I drop off Millie, all the while thinking about everything that I need to accomplish today. For sure. No off ramps left!

First on my list is the farmhouse. I stop at there to print out several travel related tickets. I know I dont have to do this, but when you're standing in a long line to get into, say, a museum and your phone refuses to bring up the relevant file, or you can't see the file because the sun is out your glasses are hidden and the screen is one big white tableau, well, it's handy to have a paper copy in your purse.  

My computer turns its nose up at the printer. Honestly, Ed and I got this printer a couple of decades ago, but there is nothing wrong with it and it works just fine with Ed's cheap computer. My Apple, on the other hand says no, not workin' with that piece of junk!. Ed drags up my mom's even older and somewhat broken printer. My computer positively recoils. (Unfortunately, Ed swears that he can do a work-around. A shame. A neat little printer, nothing fancy, but new and preferably blue-tooth, would have been my solution.)

At home, I throw in a load of laundry and go out to mow Millie's yard. She needs to have trimmed grass for the week I am away (I have a house sitter who will be here with her). And of course, I butcher the drain pipe cover with the mower. I'd done that before. Not sure why the thing got in the way again but it did. I hurry to Amazon and here I get stumped. Most drain pipe covers fit a 4 inch diameter pipe. Exceptionally you'll find 6 inchers. Mine happens to be 5 inches. I took a ruler for pete's sake! How can this be? I need to cover the thing before I leave or else a zoomie moment may result in a broken Millie paw. So I order both, quickly, thinking that it would be my luck if neither fit.

I then water. And wait. For someone to get back to me on a rose that came with a ripped main cane. It's been days since I sent them an inquiry (I first notified them of this over the weekend). In the end I decide to put in the "broken" rose. It's not a great solution. It may survive the rip, but it surely will be weakened. But, I have a hole, I have a rose. Best to put it in and argue later.

Next -- I need to bring up a suitcase and hide it in the closet and pack when Millie's not looking. But tell me please -- when exactly is Millie not looking? She does not let me out of her sight. The weather for my week away is going to be pretty much the same over there as it is over here: warm-ish, no rain. That's great but I have no idea what to pack for it. Here, I'd be in shorts and an early morning/evening sweatshirt. That wont do where I'm going. I stare at my closet and walk away. I dont have time for this nonsense.

Three more roses arrive. I have time to put in one and then I rush to pick up Snowdrop.

I'd picked up Anne Carson's Wrong Nora -- a poetic prose collection. We chose one to read out loud. Now she knows what Gitmo is... 

Time to bring Millie home.

 

 

 

And of course, we step into chaos. Piles on the island. (Normally, my kitchen island stands bare.) Laundry heaps on the dryer. Two boxes, with roses, in the kitchen, because they were on the doorstep. Food for Millie. Food for me. I have to say, Millie takes one look at all the strange items in strange places... 

 

 

 

... and retreated to her reading chair, enveloping herself in its cushions. Yes, her reading chair. She has appropriated it as her own, shared with me only at breakfast. 

 Tomorrow, I will bring order into the day. Tomorrow.

with so much love...