Blessed cool, and tools continued

Today is another in a series of sunny cool days, lovely clear skies, moon visible, and a quilt on the bed, doesn't get better!

About tools, I've always been up for sharing, no need for everyone to buy everything. Way back, in our first house, Handsome Partner, a non gardener, seeing my gardening ambitions, invested in a tiller. I don't believe in tilling. I think it brings up weed seeds and gives them all the help they need. I'm more into mulching vegetables and flowers.

Anyway I had a tiller, and started lending it out. $5 per day, a token, to help get it returned. And I got the name and phone number of the borrowers.  Never a problem. 

I loved lending to Italian men. At that time there was a wave of immigration of families from a couple of Italian towns, all keen on growing food.

They would return promptly, and one man actually polished it and changed the oil.  He explained that I didn't know about engines, being a woman, so he took care of it. Italians also had great recipe ideas.  And they were cute, never a bad thing. 

When we sold the house, I put the tiller into a garage sale and had a minor bidding war.

I've rarely had my trust broken. One of my sisters used to say I  was ridiculous, people weren't trustworthy, but my experience didn't bear that out.

Same with musical instruments. I've had them shipped to me, no charge,  to try, when I was buying my recorders, and could either ship back or, if I was happy, send a check. Small trusting world, definitely my style.  It's possible I'm lucky, in which case my luck's held up for decades!

Today's walk yielded an early Fall scene, leaved down, fungi appearing 

And a van Goghish scene overhead 

Back home today's flower arrangement 

Simple lunch.  Wednesday is a tired day, recovering from Tuesday.  

So today was shrimp with dill, yogurt sauce, and mixed green salad with miso tofu, spritz of lemon juice.

Here's some eye candy. He makes it look easy

Happy day, everyone. We all make something look easy.

Lost and found tools and pruning

 I've been thinking about pruning the Japanese maple of a lot of tiny dead branches and some interior ones growing across each other. It's good to keep a tree open so it doesn't get top heavy, to be felled by storms. Spaces for wind to get through are good. And it's better not to have branches crisscrossing and wearing off the bark where they rub together.

So yesterday I went to get the long handled secateurs, the only garden cutting tool I can use now because my hands no longer have the strength to open and close the blades of one handed clippers. These use two hands. Also I can reach with them.

My tools are all in the outdoor storage which I leave unlocked so anyone can borrow and return anything. They usually let me know, and return promptly.

Anyway I went to get them yesterday and there they weren't. Ah. Somebody probably using them. I tried again today. Not back yet. 

So I called Gary and it all came as clear as anything does with him. He'd lent his own clippers to his daughter, then when a neighbor asked him, he lent her mine, nobody realizing I didn't know. He retrieved them from the neighbor, and I was back in business.

Here's the tree, looking much less burdened 

As you see, I left some small branches so it wouldn't look too stark. But, also as you see, it's still casting a nice uncluttered shade. 

I picked a few flowers from my flower corner 

Still some to enjoy outside though.

This afternoon's skies were fast moving and changing, rain coming later

And the little weaving is now on its own page in the fabric book. More to come.

The running stitches make a frame and there's going to be more parts to it. As soon as I think them up.

I've had to reluctantly order a new tablet. The brightness function has been fluctuating wildly for weeks, and the max volume is suddenly very low, alternating with cutting out completely. 

Considering it's been running almost continuously for three plus years, this isn't bad.

It's my chief form, with my low end phone, of internet communication, so it's important especially now,  with a lot of political meetings online that I'm taking part in. Not exactly a fun purchase, but let's hope the replacement is audible anyway. 

I've been running both devices at once in meetings, the phone to hear and speak on, the tablet to read from. I'm hoping to reduce this to one device at a time.

First world requirements. 

Happy day everyone! Whatever it takes.