I'm feeling a whole lot less cranky. On Friday night I eschewed any after work socializing and went straight home expecting to have to walk the mile and a bit to my house from the train station. But because it was raining and I am nothing if not lazy I finally got up the nerve to ask the driver of the shuttle bus that's always waiting there where he went. He goes to within five blocks of my house! A free ride past all the construction and the tedious bit of the walk home is most welcome. I wish I'd asked earlier in the year, but somehow I thought it wouldn't be going my direction. How I arrived at this conclusion is a mystery.
Another reason I'm feeling mellower is I wrote to Gladstone Jones Prints about the origin of my artwork and Mr. Gladstone replied. He is nipping back to Wales for a few days in the middle of his tour and will send me the information about my 18th century Friedrich Martini shell print when he's home. I am so happy the fiasco had a quick resolution instead of the months-long saga I envisioned. I hung the print where I can see it from my sofa and not coincidentally it is protected from direct sunlight. I love it. Up close the workmanship is exquisite. I'm putting in a photo of it even though it doesn't do it justice. The colored border is hand marbled.
On Saturday I couldn't stand it one more minute and I went back to the doctor to see why my ear was continuing to have problems. For two weeks I've been hearing a constant, occasionally throbbing sound in my right ear and it's damned annoying. You know the sound a stereo makes when the volume is turned all the up but no music is on? That's what I've been hearing. Maddening, I tell you. So back to the doc, and he says the ear is clear, it's almost certainly a viral infection of the eustachian tubes, and there is not one blessed thing that can be done except wait for it to clear up.
To console myself I went shopping. I turned in half of my clothes from my shopping frenzy at Nordstrom and promptly bought more to replace them. I found the perfect navy blue sweater which was a relief as I've been wearing a very ratty looking faded one for two years now. It cost the earth but I'll have it for years. I wear black or navy on a daily basis during the winter so the basics of my wardrobe get some serious wear. I can't justify the rest of my spending so neatly, though. I was enchanted by a lime green and fuchsia hibiscus print on a black background in a skirt by Ralph "I make fat women's clothes but I don't personally know any fat women so I have odd ideas about their body shapes" Lauren. I don't care for most of his clothing line but every once in a while he comes up with a winner so I suck it up and pay his prices.
I came home in time to turn the car over to John who was off to a volleyball game. I did chores, read Biology, transplanted the last of the container plants for the season (until I buy more, but the last of what I owned), and lay down on the sofa to read about Roman gardens. Keiko and I had a nice little nap together. It was sunny but too windy to work outside so I refused to feel guilty about being indoors on a rainless Saturday.
Today, however, there is no wind to speak of and it's clearing up after a heavy morning fog so I'll have to go out and tend my roses. I've got to do something about my rhododendron, too. The wind is causing the leaves to go brown. Wind, wind, wind! I'm sick of the wind devastating my garden. The tomato plant I bought two weeks ago is growing but unhappy - tomato plants like protection, too. I can't wait for it to be summer when the wind dies down.
My dog passed away one month ago today. I still cry for her almost every day. I miss her dreadfully.
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