Hollyhock of Leave

Well, what I was GOING to say about yesterday . . . I had to use my time while the world was not ending to visit the dentist and get my teeth cleaned and checked. My hygienist is one of my favorite people. She is so nice and yet so diligent at her job. But I still find it exhausting. However, there was little plaque and no need for action by the dentist. I learned that apparently I'm supposed to brush my tongue as well as my teeth. Well I never. Once home, I carried out a long-cherished plan to try baking soda on my shower tile. You make a paste of it with a little dish detergent, then smear it on the grout, let it sit for some time (twenty minutes according to the recipe, an hour or more as it turned out) and then scrub it off. My shower grout is still not what I'd call immaculate, but it's an old house with old tile. I'm really quite delighted with the effect. It's a vast improvement, and without having to inhale chlorine gas, vinegar fumes, or any other disagreeable substance. I recommend it.

Today was Madame day again. Once again we had the drama of the garage door opener, which has vanished again. I had to close it from inside, then go back through the house and out the front door, leaving it unlocked this time, because she couldn't find her house key either. Once at the bookstore cafe, I noticed that she has a post-it in her wallet that says in big letters "DEBIT CARD STAYS IN WALLET." Because she keeps stuffing it into her purse somewhere and losing that too. A minor triumph has occurred. The cafe used to make her favorite artichoke sandwich as a wrap. Then they stopped doing that. She doesn't like it with bread, so this caused a problem every week. Now they've figured out how to plate it like a salad, so she's happy. Alas, I learned that there was an opening at a retirement community, and they were almost ready to move her in there--but then, the woman whose planned move would have created the space had a fall and needs to stay there and recuperate! How frustrating. They were so close . . . I just hope Madame survives until the space opens up. We tried to stop at the Rite-Aid pharmacy drive-through, but they had closed for lunch, so we were out of luck. Because there was no garage door opener, I had to walk her up her front steps again. There's no hand rail, so like the rest of the house, it's really an accident waiting to happen. She's shaky and needs me to supply a supportive arm.

We sat in the back yard again. The weather has taken a warming turn, and the air is so mild and sweet that fall seems to have retreated. My yard is still a wreck, but the bees are busy in the goldenrod and the Michaelmas daisies, and under the soothing hand of the sun, it doesn't seem to matter. I do have a few things I still need to do, though.