Those weren't butterflies in my last post, but "police car moths".

 On my way up to soak this morning I noticed lots of butterflies busily enjoying their breakfast.

There were (at least) six on this first bush, 

and the next several bushes I passed had even more customers.

Don't tell Brownie -

but I got lots of dog kisses from a chocolate lab named Honey Mama.

She's named after the Honey Mama brand of chocolate bar, 

reportedly beyond delicious.

I "may" have to check it out...

Yesterday's squished snake (with its innerds oozing out in a couple of places) was still where I'd placed it.  Obviously whatever animals might be inclined to eat dead snakes (like that stray ginger cat we've seen around?) don't seem interested in the ones I've set aside.

When I got back to the house Karen had returned from dropping off Mark in Salida.   While in town she'd picked up a birthday gift for me to share with Brownie, a "toy that makes scents for dogs".  This one is beef flavored, and has "slobber wicking".

What really cracked me up was the guarantee on the back 

(and which Karen hadn't noticed until I pointed it out to her!)

 Despite all that chocolate before bedtime I slept just fine.  In fact I went right to sleep last night without even listening to my audio book!

I opened my eyes at 6 this morning, which was on plenty of time to say goodbye to Mark before he lhad to leave at 6:45 to catch the bus to Denver for his flight home today.

His choice of tees for today is one I seen in previous years, and there's a great story behind it.

The first pediatric radiology department was at Boston Children's

Hospital, which was gas lit at the time. The X-ray machine needed

electric power but there was not yet an electric-power company in

Boston. However the nearby opera house put in a generator for its lights, so

the hospital ran a line to the opera house to get electricity. Unfortunately the

opera house only ran its generator when it was doing an opera. So, in

the words of pioneering radiologist Percy Brown, "No opera, no X-rays!"

 Love starting my day with a soak in the Apple Pool!  

After breakfast I dug a trench in hopes of preventing the road from becoming an aroyo when it pours, 

and hoped that Doug would approve of my efforts.

Turns out he did - and then pointed me toward yet another spot!

But with only one more day left, I'm not sure I'll get that done.

Mark's tee-shirt translates to "It's All Greek to Me" -

and is Karen's tee "caws" for alarm?

Suzanne came over this afternoon, and along with Karen we went up to the Party Pool for an afternoon soak. It was my first time up there this visit - 

and I did struggle some on the trail, so it was definitely a good thing I had my cane with me!

Yesterday's snake was still "resting" on the rock this morning.  (I thought the previous afternoon/evening downpour might have dislodged it, and Terry thought a critter might have eaten it.) 

Once it dries out some Suzanne will probably take it for Gavin.  She stayed for dinner, so there were 8 of us tonight.  Dinner was good, but my birthday cake for dessert was especially appreciated!

Terry put raspberry preserves in between the layers (because I'd mentioned how I'm looking forward to the new raspberry girl scout cookies coming out in '23), and smothered it in her made-from-scratch icing.

Is ANYBODY surprised that I 'managed' to eat two slicess?

After all that chocolate, will I sleep tonight?

 Richard has been doing the cooking since Elinor got sick, and he's gotten quite good at it.  Even though it was his first attempt at dumplings, they came out great (with a little supervision from Terry.)  

His soup, with a cream base, had lots of goodies besides just chicken, and was definitely a hit with everyone.  

I was surprised, but definitely pleased, with how much Hilda ate - and in a most timely fashion.  Most meals take an hour (or more) for her. 

Dan had sent an assortment of veggies from his garden.  He definitely has a green thumb; just look at the size of that mega onion!

Her sisters had also brought Terry a glass octopus from Santa Fe 

since she hadn't been able to join them on this trip ~

As expected we did eat late, finishing up dessert (another big hit, naturally) at 10:00.  There had been some discussion about the effects of heavy rain, and the fact that it had possibly washed away some of my trail work. Since Mark goes up for his daily morning swim quite early, when it's still dark (and eshews a flashlight), I decided to check before heading to bed.  But I have no issues with using a flashlight!

My berm had held, so the trail had remained "pristine".

Before Richard & Elinor left, Terry let them know that they "had" to come for dinner the next three nights since Monday will be Mark's last evening, Tuesday mine (when she will be making an early birthday celebration for me, with chocolate cake on the dessert menu), and Wednesday Karen's.

It's (almost) always a dinner party here!

Later this morning I'll venture over to see how my second project, still under construction, fared.

I didn't sleep as well last night as I have been since I got here, 

so we'll see what my energy level is later.

 After dinner last night, when dessert was an absolutely decadent (from-scratch, of course) butterscotch custard, we started watching Everything Everywhere All At Once.  It's an "insane adventure where one woman alone can save the world by exploring other universes connected with the lives she could have led."  

Mark had been able to watch most of it on his flight from NY to Denver, and had been looking forward to viewing the ending.  Unfortunately we got a late start (after 8:30) so by the time we were only halfway through the film it was nearing 10:00 and (no surprise) I was fighting to stay awake.  I went upstairs to crash, and plan to watch it at home at a time when I'm more alert.

I must have been tired - I slept in until 6:45 this morning!

Today's tee:

On my way up to soak this morning I found another small snake in the road.  Sadly this one hadn't made it across before a vehicle came by and ran over it.

Especially enjoyed chatting with Jenny, a hospice nurse,  while soaking this morning - and loved her experience about "being with" her dad when he died.

There was more rock/dirt work on today's agenda.  When I went out Doug was also there shoveling dirt, which is when I learned that one of the berms I'd left undisturbed (didn't want to cause problems) actually needed to be removed.  Had to laugh when he left, saying, "Don't work too long in the hot sun."  Hot?

The rain started around 4:00, and came down fairly hard at times.  Tomorrow morning I'll check and see how's today's engineering fared.

I've also puttered around the house today, doing some cleaning here and there. 

Karen & Elinor will be back from their week of operas in Santa Fe in time for dinner, and Richard is bringing chicken soup with dumplings.  For dessert Terry whipped up another peach pie (at Karen's request, because she was disappointed she missed out on the one we had earlier this week.)

Before:

During:

Back into the oven with the topping -

And the finished product: