Early morning in the casa. One day I sleep in, the next? Up really early after a restless night. Go figure.

Boy, is it hot out there! It may be September, but in these parts the temperatures are in the nineties. I won’t complain because school starts this week and I can’t imagine how miserable the students and teachers will be. Schools don’t have air conditioning here! At least I can stay in the air conditioned cottage.

Do you ever have a day when everything goes wrong and the simplest of tasks become difficult? That was my day yesterday. I got a late start, which threw me off (see yesterday’s post about routines) and then, after taking my shower, I decided to clean the hair out of the drain, which involves removing the cover by unscrewing it, getting all the hair out (yuck) and screwing it back in. While I was finishing up, the shower curtain and rod fell on my head.

Lest you think it’s a heavy metal rod, it isn’t. Whoever flipped this house neglected to put in a permanent rod, so we have one of those adjustable vinyl/plastic rods. I spent the next 20 minutes trying to get it back up, dragging a chair into the bathroom, cursing up a storm, until I finally realized the rod was shot – the spring tension was kaput. In the meantime, I had to sit down at my desk and write up all the deductions, scan them, and send them off to our accountant. That took longer than I had planned. In the middle of it all, I called Lowe’s to make sure they had the shower curtain rods in stock, drove there, came back, put up the rod, cleaned the bathtub, went back to the computer, finished everything up and then I collapsed in my chair.

Later, I heard a noise. The rod had fallen. Back up again, tightening it even more. When Don came home from taking photos, he said, “I’ve got to take a shower!” And I said “BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THAT ROD!!” He was. So far, so good.

I’m thrown off, I tell you. I have to get back into my routine!

Early morning Stella.

We have to sit down this week and figure out where we’re staying in London and Paris (and Edinburgh) and make our reservations. It’s just a little over a month away.

Rick and Doug are traveling this month (they’re going to London and Rome) and we’re traveling next month. This makes it sound as if Don and I travel all the time, but you know that’s not true. Rick and Doug, however, travel frequently. By the way, one of Doug’s daughters just had a baby! Doug and Rick are grandfathers. The baby is a girl and she’s absolutely beautiful! His daughter lives in Hong Kong so he’ll will be traveling there later this month to see his new (and first) grandchild.

Early morning plants.

If you’re not interested in the resistance, skip this next section and have a lovely day xo.

There is a new documentary out called Active Measures. It was just released to the public on August 31st. If you are trying to make sense of everything Trump/Russia, I urge you to see it. It’s extraordinary. It’s terrifying. But we have to know all of the facts and this lays it all out in a way that makes perfect sense, tracking the Russian Mob and Putin and Trump’s mob ties and suddenly you find yourself seeing how all the puzzle pieces fit together. It’s playing in select theaters and is also available on Hulu and iTunes. I don’t get Hulu, but there’s a month long free trial available right now. I do have iTunes. You can rent it on iTunes or buy it. I bought it because I want Don to see it as well.

All I can say is that I had to take several breaks while watching it on Sunday afternoon because the evidence was so overwhelming and alarming. The filmmaker interviews John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Clint Watts, Michael McFaul, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Eric Swalwell and countless experts on Russia, as well as members of the Intelligence Community. It also touches on the same active measures being used in the Brexit campaign and in the Ukraine. No conspiracy theories here, just facts.

Just wanted to let you know about it.

Happy Tuesday.