Keeping alive

It's finally good porch weather again, thanks to the rain that came through on Monday. That also gave me a break from watering, which sadly ends today. The neighbours are in Michigan for the week, so I'm responsible for keeping alive their growing things as well as those of another neighbour who's out in California. This includes not just their plants but also their fish and two cats which I literally have not even caught a glimpse of in five days. They assure me they're alive, but if so they're not even touching their wet food.

As backup, I guess, they also told their gay friend who lives nearby to stop in and check on things. I found him on the porch when I got home yesterday and we hung out for a bit. As a joke, we located one of the cameras which our friends use to monitor their place remotely and pretended to make out in front of it. I wouldn't mind making out with him for reals, but he's been squirrelly about it.

The resilience of our plantings combined with favourable conditions and the enthusiasm of the new neighbours has me interested in landscaping again. So far, it's been relatively minor changes (shifting a plant or two here, adding a new one there) but I'm hoping to argue for some funds after our upcoming tuckpointing, since then we'll know both the extent of any damage and the amount of money we have left in reserves. I wouldn't go crazy, but there are some small things we could do which would make a real difference.

My interest in keeping up the apartment, though, continues to be weak. I've tried to be good about hosting regularly so I don't let it get too bad but I keep deferring any real maintenance or clearing out. Hurry, clintswan! Your arrival is the only thing I can think of that might give me the impetus to make any real improvements.