• This gloriousness is down by our mailbox. I ran for the camera when I saw these big New England asters. They always show up in early fall, but these blossoms are particularly large. That purple and gold combination can’t be beat. Goldenrod in the background.

• Turns out, I was mixed up on the day for the mini show. It runs on Saturday and Sunday, not today. And Don isn’t going into the city today, so basically everything I told you yesterday was a lie. I’ll go to the show tomorrow morning.

• There has been a bit of improvement on the professional front. One of the situations has been slightly resolved, though it was handled badly and I remain disappointed in the overall lack of communication. But, there’s a crack where maybe some light can get in. (Paraphrasing Leonard Cohen.)

•  Second moonflower sighting this morning. More gloriousness. This one is high enough that I was able to breathe in the scent without contorting my body, as I had to do with the first flower.

• I urge you, really  urge you, to read this extensive reporting in today’s New York Times. It’s running as a special section in Friday’s edition. Title: The Plot to Subvert an Election, Unraveling the Russia Story So Far. You will be stunned. This is what Mueller will flesh out, I’m sure, along with much, much more.

• I love receiving a package in the mail! This one was from reader Kim, who wrote me to say she had two egg cups she wanted to send my way. Goodness, you are all so generous! The box contained these beauties:

Each of them is hand painted and each has Fanny and Farmer written on the base.

“Farmer” is on the other side. You might recall that I have two other Fanny Farmer egg cups. These were part of their Easter tradition. Each year, a new design would come out, filled with chocolate eggs. Kim thinks they were also included in boxes of Fanny Farmer chocolates.

My very first egg cup was a Fanny Farmer egg cup, given to me as a wee child by my godparents. I held on to it for many, many years (ahem! we won’t say how many.) When I saw an article about collecting egg cups in a 2002 Martha Stewart Living magazine, one of the cups pictured was the same as mine and then I had the lightbulb realization that I could collect them. One of the very first egg cups I added to my collection was also by Fanny Farmer, a rooster in yellow and red, coincidentally made by McCoy.

So I’m thrilled to add two more FF cups. They’re already in the cabinet, Kim. Thank you so, so much!

Off to do a bit of mowing – really, just a bit.

Happy Friday.