Thanks, guys.

Rick had to take a last-minute business trip to Houston yesterday, and won't be back until late tonight. And I've been working late every night this week, and am seriously re-thinking this whole no-overtime deal. And my desk is just buried with several projects that must be done today, as well as one which may not fly despite my putting my heart and soul into it. And the house is well and truly thrashed (although a friend is coming over to help me clean tonight). And I'm still a little bummed about the folks who aren't going to be able to attend Luc's party on Saturday. And the mosquito eggs which were laid shortly after the heavy rains a couple of weeks back have now hatched, and the little buggers are vicious. And the radio says to expect heavy rains tonight, tomorrow night and again on Sunday. (Goodbye, outdoor party.) And I didn't get to walk yet this morning, because I had an errand which absolutely positively had to be done before 8:00. Maybe on my lunch break, assuming I get one.

And then I walked down to tend the birds and rabbit, and saw this:
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These are the first ever blooms on my first ever hollyhocks. They're a souvenir of my time as a Kohler charwoman last summer and the summer before. I gathered the discarded seedheads from their dramatic display near the parking lot and just sprinkled them in between the vent pipes in my septic garden. Aren't they fabulous? And Flax is one of my all time favorite flowers, just because of the wispy look and a color that always reminds me of misty Berkshire mornings. And I thought that Ozark Sundrop wasn't going to come back after the way it reacted to being divided last year.
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Thanks, guys. I needed that.