intertext

Here's what I've done today.

I cleared out the tallboy in my study, discovering in the process that the drawers had been put in the wrong slots (does that make sense?) and that was why they weren't closing properly. There are pencilled letters from A through F on the back, and each drawer has a matching letter in a secret spot, and I'd put them all in the wrong place (let's use the active voice: they hadn't "been put" I put them in the wrong slots)

I ruthlessly threw out half the contents of the drawers, too, which was wonderful. This is just the beginning.

And it is discovered that cats are not the only animals to sit obstructively on piles of things that you are trying to sort, tidy, or generally do something with other than have under an animal. Robinson insisted on coming and lying down on any pile of stuff put out for recycling. Either that, or he determinedly lay down Right In The Way whenever he could. And a full grown beardie is a hell of a lot bigger and more obstructive than a cat.

I moved several pots filled with grass and dead things off the deck, emptied their contents into my composter and piled the pots neatly in a corner.

I began the process of sorting through the "under the deck," "dog-yard" and "driveway" area of my house and garden which, if they were on a map, would be labelled "here be dragons" or at least "beware." This is my Big Summer Project - to tidy, rehabilitate and clear these areas and my basement, so I have to make a start somewhere.

I weeded the back of one flower bed, and around "Souvenir of Malmaison," thinking the while of Malmaison itself, and sniffing the rose and generally enjoying the riot of blooms in my garden, which is looking, if not entirely like Giverny, at least not too bad if you ignore the buttercups. I picked a nice bunch of assorted blooms for my living room.

I did not check my work email.