Taking a break.  

Just finished mowing the backyard - finally! - and the mower definitely is not happy: hard to start, backfiring, stopping as if it ran out of gas (it hadn't), sometimes making a noise like a belt was rubbing, etc.  

And this 'mower' (me!) is also not happy.  Alex says the mower worked fine when he did the main ditch the other day, and Tom keeps saying the same thing.  

So maybe I should just convince them to be The Mowers?

While I was mowing I missed a call from Tom; his message said that he and Carlo are getting ready to head out today on their horse trek into the back country (of Idaho) to collect that special agate.  I've been keeping an eye on the weather up there, and it does look quite nippy (Tom mentioned that in his call) but I guess all the snow that got dumped in Wyoming and the Dakotas missed them.

This morning I also started getting the cottage ready for Mom's arrival on Monday: swept the house and porch, and washed the bed linens.  After I clean myself up I'll go back over and make the bed and mop the floor.

Think I'll take my shower now, then have some breakfast and read the paper before I get back to work.