When I got out of the shower this morning I found that Brownie had relocated one of my shoes to his blanket.  Didn't look like he'd been chewing on it...yet!  But I see a possible (and unwelcome!) pattern developing.

When I dropped off my car at the dealership this morning they said it would be four hours, so I took them up on their offer of a loaner and headed home.  Mitch arrived to give an estimate on painting the patio cover at the back house, we okayed it, and he got it all done today. 

 

While Mitch was off getting paint to match the existing siding I did major sweeping back there, needed after Tom's recent mow-a-thon, and Brownie stayed close.  While the painting was going on today I walked back there several times to assess the progress, each time accompanied by Brownie who again trotted nearby.  He's definitely figured out our property's boundaries.  

The painting should be a nice surprise for Alex when he gets home tonight, though if he arrives late he may not get a chance to notice; he and Tom blast off for their fishing trip in Rocky Point early tomorrow morning.

At some point we still need to patch the stucco on the house itself and have that painted, but finances dictate that we wait a while on that.

Got some trimming done out front today, and was again very grateful that we have that wonderful shade tree.  I'm trying to keep up with all the leggy growth before it gets too hot.  (Not sure what temp we hit today, but it did feel like the upper 90s as predicted.)  Brownie came out front with me to help, and stayed inside the "wall" like a good little boy.

Called Acura at 3:00 when I hadn't heard back that my car was ready, and then again at 4:00.  Finally got a call back at 4:30 that it was ready to be picked up, so I got to play in rush hour traffic on the Loop 101.  Slow going on the drive there (a reminder to be thankful I don't have to play in traffic on a daily basis) but of course it wasn't so bad coming home.