Endings

Monday! Good things about this one: it's not supposed to rain, and the tile contractor is supposed to come by today with the tiles to do our new shower. I hope the jinx has been lifted. First we got blue tiles, and then we got beige ones. Jamais deux sans trois, they say, but I'm hoping the green tiles we want will show up today. Maybe "the third time's the charm" will be the operative expression.

Above you see the last of summer's flowers growing in a window box on the front of our house. It's time to pull them out. A lot of plants — tomatoes, squash — also need to be pulled out of the garden. If it doesn't rain today and tomorrow, maybe we'll get that done. Who knows, we might even rake up some autumn leaves — but probably not.

This second photo is of a barn or storage shed just a few steps down the street from us. The people with the house next to it come to spend a few days in the hamlet every summer, but very few. Last year and this year, they managed to cut back a lot of ivy and other vegetation that was growing over the old structure, nearly hiding it from view. I don't know if we should consider it rescued or condemned.