R.I.P David

Thursday was a gorgeous sunny day. Our morning walk was almost a good one except the trail we were on (Ricki Ave.) begins with a long uphill stretch and going up hill causes my Achillies tendons to be stretched and that is painful for my left foot. It also gets my right hip going. But once we arrived at the top of the hill where the trail flattens out, I was fine.

We came home and fussed about while Sheba rested, and then we had an early lunch, after which, I took some sun on the recliner to warm up. It stays very cool in the house, so the spa and the recliner are my way to warm up. Once warm again, I came indoors to finish reading Behind the Scenes at the Museum. I’m sad it’s over. I’m a major Kate Atkinson fan. In the evening, I began reading Virginia Evans’ book, The Correspondent.

And then came work. I watered nearly all the garden beds. I’ve just a wee bit of watering to do this morning to finish the job. I’ve also to vacuum everywhere. There’s as much forest inside as out, thanks to my lack of vacuuming for several days.

There were some plants really suffering from a lack of water. I’d left watering too long, but all is well now and I’m back on my feet, so I’ll be able to stay on top of things again. I’ve a lot of work to do in the yard, but no deadline and oodles of time to do it.

I had a long chat with Steve. He’s made his airline reservations for his visit. Although I have had some issues with his visits because he is so intense, I am exceptionally grateful for his friendshihp and loyalty. We’ve made a reservation at Mahle House for dinner already for when he is here. It’s a tradition.

Last night, I was incredibly tired and so I went to bed at 8:30. I read for a while, but not for very long at all, and then went to sleep. 

Today, I shall water, vacuum, and then I will begin the huge job of raking the entire yard and toting all the detritus to the organic dump behind the fence. On Wednesday, we had a sudden and short violent windstorm that caused billions of growth caps to descend from the trees. At one point, I looked out the window, and it looked exactly like a vicious inter blizzard, but it was caps falling, not snow.

At noon, I shall go to visit Stacy because our plans for a wee visit yesterday went south. I’ll be having a light lunch with Stace and Bryce, then Her Highness and I will walk at Drumbeg Park before coming home to work in the yard some more before dinner.

My big thrill of the day was realizing that the insect bite on my forehead was starting to heal. I don’t know what bit or stung me, but whatever it was produced a very nasty reaction. My aching foot, my infected eye and the bite/sting had me totally out of order for several days. I am very glad to be operational again.

Today began on a very sad note. I was crushed to read that David Hockney had died. What a loss for the world. He was a brilliant, curious, brave, gay artist who didn’t give a fig for the big bucks. He didn’t sell most of his work, and he didn’t despair when a painting that he sold to a gallery for $17,000 sold for forty million!