billowing ash

 There was just a hint of breeze this morning, just enough to send billows of smoke from the brush piles across the road directly onto our property again. The farm across the road cleared a few acres of brush and trees and now all that plant matter is in smouldering piles that belch smoke and ash.

Monday morning I deeked into the city to help Mom move some of her plants to make way for the new fence… on my way home I had visions of lounging outside with a book… however, that was not to be. Ash and smoke rained down hard, covering every surface with black smears… luckily I caught on quickly and re-covered the sofa - after only 15 minutes there were already black smudges. Am I irritated? Yes. Why the F do they burn and pollute?

Summer is too short to have precious days trapped inside because of air quality.

As it turns out, I should have stayed in the city and gone with Mom to her appointment Monday afternoon - I thought it was just a form signing visit, but the doctor came in for a discussion about the surgery - I kick myself for not being there.

 Carm has a cold (he tested neg for covid), so I wore a mask in the car when I took Dorothy to her appointment at the local hospital for her surgery… Before Covid we never would have thought to wear a mask around vulnerable people but now it’s a no-brainer!

The wind shifted a bit this afternoon so we deployed the sunshade - with music playing and cicada song harmonising, I chilled with a book between rushing around harvesting herbs & cherry tomatoes, and doing some dreaded housework - it turned into a lovely day.

Awesome!

“a bit of time outside”

“packets of herbs chopped and frozen for soups next winter”