Update

Fred had a visit from his friend Bill last night and after saying hello to Bill, I retired to the bedroom and left them to it. They have been friends for many many years and seem to enjoy each other’s company a lot.

The original tomato in the pot is doing very well; the new tomato in the topsy-turvy planter is not doing as well. The day before yesterday, I thought it had died and got up yesterday all prepared to take down the pot, but to my amazement, it had come back to life again! Well, there were some dead leaves on it but there were also a couple of branches that seemed to be putting out new leaves! So, I just don’t know… I haven’t looked at it today…

I think that today or tomorrow I will go to town and get a bigger pot and transplant the kalenchoe. When I was at the Expensive Garden Shop {which is where I bought the topsy turvey hanger} I saw a lovely brown ceramic pot but it was $45! I think I can find something I like for a better price. I also need another hanger to clamp to the deck. I got my last ones at Petsmart to hang the birdfeeders..

Tomorrow is the rescheduled book club meeting. We will talk about Travels with a Donkey in the Cevannes by Robert Louis Stevenson. All I can say is that I liked bits if it! During the meeting, we also have to suggest a new book for us all to read. I was going to suggest "Your favorite poet and poem," but I may instead go with The Know-it-All by A.J. Jacobs. This is the one where the author read through the whole Encyclopedia Brittanica. I enjoyed it enormously.

What I am reading: I have several books on the go at the moment.

• Kiln  People by David Brin. I am not thrilled or fascinated by this but it is an OK read.
• Dancing with Rose by Lauren Kessler. This is an account of a reporter working in a facility for people with dementia. She starts off as a reporter preparing an article,  but during this book she is having to come to terms with the earlier death of her mother from Altzheimers.
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Very highly recommended

Books I have finished and enjoyed a lot:

• Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades by John Scallzi. Science fiction
• Ammonite, The Blue Place, Slow River, Stay and Always by Niola Griffith. The first one is science fiction. The others are mysteries. She is an amazing writer whose books are character driven rather than plot. This isn’t to say that she is a poor plotter. The opposite is true in fact but I like her characters.

QUOTATIONS:

"Step by step. I can’t think of any other way of accomplishing anything."

Michael Jordan

None will improve your lot If you yourself do not.

Bertolt Brecht, 1933