Where have I been?

Egad, has it really been over a month since I last wrote a blog post? What the devil have I been up?

Well, not writing, I must confess. I've been busy with home and cottage maintenance and renovations.

After the Night of the Bat - when I discovered a bat flying around inside the cottage, much to my dismay - the fixing of the chimney moved up the List of Renovation Priority. There's a picture of the scaffold. You can also see the overgrown wisteria on the trellis on the deck, above the Giant Hosta. I spent hours cutting that wisteria back this summer, and some ivy, too.



We had already arranged to have work done on the foundation. One of the supports was rotting, and it was a little shaky in another. There's a few dollars, let me tell ya, but after watching all those home renovation shows, I've learned structure is too important to ignore.

Those workmen discovered a leaking pipe, so that meant a call to the plumber, as well. Who knows how long it might have been had they not? We have now instigated a "Check the Crawl Space At Least Twice a Year" policy.

New heating and cooling vents were added upstairs. Unfortunately, one of the workmen put his foot where he shouldn't, so I had some ceiling paint touch-ups added to the list.



I had some other paint touch-ups outside as well, on the railing of the sliding Door to Nowhere (that's it beside the chimney on the second floor). That was a treat (not). As those of you with bi-focals can attest, when working at something above eye level, you have to lean your head back to see up close. This is not fun to do when one is on the highest step of a step-ladder.

I've also had to clean up the back garden at the cottage, which got left until this week because of the many mosquitoes in residence.

Back in the city for a week, I had to deal with the back garden there, which meant a lot of pruning. Oh, and they tore up our street for repaving, which meant removing and replacing our driveway paving stones. That wasn't done quite properly, necessitating a call to the city and an inspector's visit.

I've also been keeping track of Shawshank, the skunk living under our shed. Or at least something was, and we're assuming, based on the evidence of our nostrils, that it was a skunk. Last time I put a wee barrier of twigs and leaves (easily moved) over the hole, it was undisturbed. On the other hand, the folks next door - my folks, in fact - have been having incursions under their shed, so I fear Shawshank (and/or children of Shawshank) may simply have moved next door.



As you can see, despite my efforts, the skunk burrowed beneath the shed. Hence the name "Shawshank."

Has it been all work and no play here in the Land That Time Forgot? No. I've been doing lots of reading and I now have an awesome sea glass collection, thanks to many walks along the beach.



What does one do with all that? At a local arts fair, an artist had made mosaics from sea glass. I have the materials here, including frame, but haven't found the time to get to that. Just like my manuscript.

However, now that the cooler weather is here and once my garden is finally cleaned up, I'll be getting back to writing.

Or at least, that's the plan.

Or maybe I'll wind up taking a little bit of a break from gardening, etc. and have a nap.