MUDSLIDE!

Got your attention didn't I? We'll get to that in a minute, but first I wanted to share this timely review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/health/28zuger.html. Sadly, medicine is not what it used to be. In fact, just last week while at the symposium (their fancy word not mine!), I kept thinking to myself--self, do you really ever want to be a part of the medical machine again? And the answer is, probably not. I'm pretty cynical when it comes to medicine these days. It's long been the case that 90% of all radiology procedures are normal. Now, however, that figure is probably even higher as more and more unnecessary procedures are performed to CYA. As well, patients share some of the blame because they want more and more tests done after "researching" their conditions online. I abhor drug advertisements and all that goes with that. Why in the world prescription drugs were ever allowed to be advertised I will never know. WHO, but the drug companies, does it profit? Don't get me started on all the drugs given preventatively--what a scam in my book. Having worked for so long in medicine I've seen fads come and go. For a time they are dead certain that one thing causes something, only to find later, that it isn't so. Meanwhile millions of patients are put on drugs which carry horrible side effects. I'll take my chances thank you very much!

As I type the cable guy is here trying to find the problem with our phone, which is dead. Saturday afternoon Dave called my mobile checking on Ginger. Because I've only got a 300 minute plan the first choice is always our home. He explained he'd called multiple times only to hear it ring and ring. Picking up the phone, I discovered no dial tone whatsoever. Maybe the line was cut outside during all the hullabaloo? We'll see.

The museum was dead as always today with only four people, all of whom did not want to pay the modest fee of $5. For many years the gardens were free during museum hours, however, this year the admission charge applies to the gardens as well. Frankly, they need the money. Two women came in, one complaining that whenever she has out of town visitors she always like to bring them to the gardens. If you can imagine, one of the women was visiting from France--and she can't afford $5.00? They left. Reminds me of a woman at my booth last Sunday. Her adult daughter was interested in buying, as was the woman until she realized the 8x10 print was $9.00! "Too steep!" she said. Indeed. Leaving she said, "Here's something for you." The Watchtower. Yikes!

Have I kept you in suspense long enough? Well, enough already. Let's get on with the show!
This morning, while still dark and rainy, Daryl arrived. I took this through the window, so not great, but you get the idea:

Not only did he chip the tile off, but he removed the deep end steps, and cleaned up the edges a bit.

Serious rain began while I was driving home from my dreaded grocery shopping. Not a great time to have a sea of dirt out your back door! You may remember I mentioned the need for better drainage in the back yard and now you see I wasn't kidding. Imagine if the deck were still there!

Please note the gusher on the left side of your picture. Once again, some structural changes, that will never be noticed by anyone, should correct this problem. The roof of the sunroom has a bit of a dip in the middle causing the gutters to function poorly. As such, Bruce cut a large hole in the gutter and installed the rain chain. Problem is that the hole gets filled with tree debris, leaving water to pond in the gutter. I had to venture out there with the broom, pushing the stick end into the hole to release this torrent. At least the brick paver path still looks good! I believe tomorrow, if the weather holds, they will be working on lifting the roof a bit and installing a larger gutter.

Another view of our own personal gusher! Something super unexpected occurred in the last few weeks. Our next door neighbor painted his house. Oh yeah, I told you that already didn't I? Whatever. Anyway, it blends perfectly with the fence which makes me very happy.

The photo below is to give you a comparison. See how little water remained after he ran the pump yesterday afternoon? Do you see all the spottiness and discoloration? One of the reasons for all this!

 Here's around 3:30 this afternoon as the mud began to fill the pool.

You may have trouble seeing this, but then again, you may not. A second gusher in our yard! Look at the water pouring into the pool in the photo below! I stepped outside during the rain, thus all those little drops!

At first I think it was coming in where the skimmer used to be which is the mud stain in the foreground. Because there is still such a downpour going on I can't yet tell what's going on. I'll let you know.

Enough of the ugliness! I'll leave you with a few shots of the holding pen:

The gorgeous yellow Alamonda peeking out through the bench back (second holding pen):

And finally, my first butterfly encounter with the new Jatropha tree. Apparently they are serious attractors of both butterflies and hummingbirds. Now, wouldn't that be something to see a hummingbird? Actually I have a better photo than this one, or at least crisper, but I kinda liked catching this one on the run!

Once again, there will be beauty in our lives. I don't need to remind you that patience is a virtue.