I’ve been having great, colorful dreams lately. It’s almost a shame to wake up.

I meet interesting people and go to places that have a high aesthetic.

Last night, I dreamed about a semi-estranged married couple.
I met them separately and took a liking to them individually, and they to me.

She was a New Age-type artist and intellectual, he did something with software which I don’t remember. They were both tall, thin, good-looking, charismatic people.

She asked me how old I was (64), so I wasn’t envisioning myself as a young person.

They chose to live in Rhode Island because it supported the lifestyle they wanted, which included a boat, and it was affordable. The town that was mentioned, though, Cumberland*, is about as inland as you can get in the Ocean State.

My interesting dreams take place in cities or at least in densely populated areas. According to dream interpretation, a busy city means riches. I was riding on a bus, also a good symbol; it means you are travelling to obtain your heart’s desire.

*There are other Cumberlands that are on the ocean, in PEI, Maine, Georgia.

Cleaned up the bathroom, in particular Fluffles’ litter box, which was disgusting. Brought James to Super Cuts; the stylist did a great job. Did laundry. Brought James and Tyler to Sea Mist for swimming and a cookout (2 hours). Cleaned the trash can of maggots, washed out a bunch of pots and brought a small load of trash and recyclables to the transfer station. Made lunch.
Doesn’t sound like much, but stick a fork in me, it’s after 9 PM.

We are in the midst of a heat wave, but I stupidly held off on re-installing the one working air conditioner until late yesterday.
As a result, it was 84 degrees in the house around 6:30 last night.
It’s now 74, thanks to the excellent little Whirlpool unit that’s been cranking all night.

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Mowed today. 8’d everything in the back except for the vegetables and the plants near the house. Watered the vegetables and the front gardens.

Planted more in the front garden – 3 Sedum, 2 Rudbekia and a pretty on-sale annual with light purple flowers. Am very, very pleased with the quality of the soil in that part of the yard.

The perennial Coreopsis by the outdoor shower has a second bloom, a very nice surprise.
I fed Miracle Gro to the tomatoes and other annuals today and did some light pruning and dead-heading.
I couldn’t bring myself to dead head all of the hydrangea blossoms.
I hope my fellow creatures remember me as the old lady with the pretty garden that was part of a happy summer, and not as the person they hated with such venom in offices here and in other places.

So far, it’s been a bad week for vacationers and a good week for gardeners.
It’s been windy and raining since Sunday evening, a light, steady rain that isn’t producing spectacular measurements but is soaking nicely into the soil. If it weren’t for the rain, it’d be fantastic kite-flying weather.
It may rain off and on through Thursday, which is fine with everyone. James has been working on his summer homework and playing Beyblades, ping pong and air hockey.

It’s a little after 8 PM, and I just finished the day’s tasks.

Aside from visiting Mary at JML, I didn’t do much out of the ordinary.

Drove to Walmart then to Toys R Us so James could find a Beyblade. Got back in time to do the transfer station run with Peter. Went to Highfield to volunteer, but by the time I got there, everything was locked and most of the vendors were gone.

I did some laundry, picked up a few things at Stop & Shop, made supper, changed the sheets on both beds and can’t think of anything else that would have eaten up the day.

Of course, it didn’t help that I woke up almost exactly 12 hours ago, at 8 AM.

The boys are really enjoying the ping pong table. Me, too.

I counted over 40 tomatoes!

I gave the garden a good watering. This afternoon, Peter and I brought the snow blower to Heights Small Engine Repair. The ramps worked great.
This morning, I rented a gigantic combination wrench and tightened the big outdoor shower bolt.
On the way back, I stopped at Paine’s and picked up a pillow for the hammock and a sailing ship door knocker.
Putting up the door knocker was a good trick, since the front door is metal and I don’t have any metal bits. I did it, though, and can’t believe the difference it makes.
This afternoon, I pruned and dead-headed the Summersweet and the inkberry bushes. It is killing me to dead-head the hydrangeas.

Fed the vegetables and the other annuals today.

Candy was stung by one yesterday, and I ran into a bunch this morning while mowing in the back.

Fortunately, Tom of the Turf Company was able to come out on short notice and spray.

I got the front gardens watered. Candy’s hibiscus have started to bloom.

Yesterday, I painted the bench and planted two Helena’s Blush and two Sedum as well as a couple of little begonias rescued from a nursery.

Put down hemlock mulch in the front to hide all the violence done to the ground as a result of planting. It looks pretty good and I hope everything winters over so that I can concentrate on the back side of the fence next year.