And so ends my first week of summer vacation. It was actually a short week, because even though I arrived a week ago yesterday, it didn’t feel like vacation right away. My departure was marked by several stressful events and issues. I was preparing my apartment for use by my brother at the same time I was ending the school year and packing up. Some end of year things didn’t go so well, the evening before I was to leave (when I had a million things to do) I was caught in a transportation nightmare, and on the morning of my departure I failed to make contact with the person I was to leave the keys to my apartment with. I was utterly frazzled. Then when I arrived, my neighbor told me about a number of issues with my drainage and fence (which he fixed!), someone had put dog crap in my trash and thrown it over my fence (yes!), and most importantly, my A/C didn’t work. I spent the night sweating and stressed.

The next day, the A/C situation was sorted out and I dealt with a few other issues along with preparing for a visit from North and Mr. North. This was a working visit and boy did we they work. A long list of “things that I worked around,” like the shower faucet lever falling off whilst water blasted in your face, were fixed and built and cut. Most fabulous, I am now the proud owner of several plants that were cut from the Norths’ garden. In the ground are daylillies, hostas, and tomatoes, and in containers are mint, chocolate mint, and basil. I later added lemon thyme and aloe, but those did not make the pictures, so their growth will not be charted. Or at least not from Day 1. Actually, I took these shots on Day 2. No one likes their picture taken while they they’re adjusting to a new home.

Herbs, looking herby.

Tomato plants (no tomatoes yet).

Hostas, lining the walk.

Daylillies, between the rocks I use to keep people from driving over my corner. They now have a new job.

And after that whirlwind visit, I could sit back and relax. Except for three trips to Lowe’s, Target, and Ikea, trying to figure out a curtain situation. More on that another time. But really, I finally feel like summer is here, especially because I got in my second ballgame of the season, and even though it was a steambath, it was the greatest baseball game I have ever attended. The steaminess was because for the first time since I “moved” back here, we are having the kind of summer I remember: hot, humid, and sticky. But that’s OK, my air conditioning is in tip-top shape.