Our own personal gateway to Faerie

Our neighbors are very Steppford Wives when it comes to the ornamental horticulture in the subdivision. They get upset if people don’t edge their lawns and water them during dry spells; everything’s very homogeneously landscaped and tamed within an inch of its photosynthesized life. I prefer a more wilderness approach to flora. I suspect if our neighbors ever looked into our backyard, they’d be scandalized. fosteronfilm keeps the front and sides scrupulously mowed, and the walking bits of the back likewise sheered, but we have a section of our backyard that we let grow as it will. It’s hidden by a six foot privacy fence, so it shouldn’t bother any of our neighbors unless they’re being nosy (which I suspect happens). We love the secluded view it gives from our kitchen windows. The sylvan glade-esque ambiance makes it feel like we’re nestled in the middle of a deep forest. It’s a soothing vista that has inspired a number of my stories.

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blackberries, skunk noses, Italian Job, and writing

Yes, it’s the fourth of July, cheers and clapping and all that. But was it really necessary to set off fireworks last night, so close to our house that it sounded like someone was thumping on our front door? Humph.

In better news, we went blackberry picking yesterday. Our first crop of the season:

We had berries and ice cream for dessert, Hobkin had several with his dinner, and we’ve got enough left over for several more desserts and snacking! Amazing quantity, considering we didn’t plant them and aren’t doing anything to encourage them. We just go out and pick. I did get poked something fierce by a set of brambles. The price one pays to the blackberry gods.

Watched The Italian Job–the 1969 version with Michael Caine, not the 2003 remake. I was disappointed. The middle dragged, and the characterization was flimsy. I found it incredibly tedious by the time it ended. I actually liked the remake better than the original, go fig. The remake took very little from the original, actually, which is probably just as well.

Plan to see Fahrenheit 9/11 today. Looking forward to it.

Also snapped a couple pictures of Hobkin under his hutch: Continue reading