Good morning GH. It is just past 4:00 AM in "The City" and the current temperature is a chilly 48 degrees. We are heading for a high of 69 under sunny skies. No precipitation is due until Sunday. That 48 low and the 69 high are very fall-like indeed. If the Weather Channel app is to be believed, we might see a high of 77 later this week. All in all, it is very pleasant here in GH.

On Monday, we got up late and ate a quick breakfast. Mary and I had toast and Sugar had squash from last fall's crop along with some yogurt. Her delicate Corgi digestive system needs that yogurt to keep her from having problems.

Then, Mary and I walked with Sugar over to the groomer so that Sugar could get a bath and de-thatching. She has been itching lately and she was also looking a bit gray instead of  her usual bright white and tan color. While she came back looking much better, she was still itching a bit. Mary pointed out that she may be clean, but the bites don't go away with a bath. I know she doesn't have fleas or ticks as she has had her monthly treatment for those. I may give her her October treatment early just in case. She likes to lay in the ivy while she chews in the "Bone Zone," so that doesn't help her itching either.

After Mary and I came back, we set out for a natural food store in GR for some veggie frankfurters. That in itself was an adventure with the road construction and other factors at play. We got what we wanted, but the drive was a long one. However on the way back, we stopped at a restaurant supply store and picked up a coupe of things for the kitchen. We also stopped off at one of our alternate watering holes for lunch. We don't go there often because it is too far, but it has a nice biker-bar feel about it.

Once home, Mary tried out a recipe that used the frankfurters, beans, and macaroni to make a variation on beans and franks. I liked it, but I think a bit more spice would help. It is a keeper, but like most of Mary's cooking, it is a work in progress like those sauerkraut and Swiss sandwiches.

Post suppertime brought us some TV news viewing, but the local news here in Western Michigan is even more "If it bleeds, it leads," than in Chicago, if that is possible. We saw shootings, car accidents and the like. We also had to hear more about that tragic situation in Kenya as we switched to national news. Later I watched some sports, while Mary did some needle point on her new dragon that she got at the Irish Music Fest in Muskegon. Finally I'd had enough and went off to bed.

Mary made sure that I'd have on her favorite radio station when she was ready for bed, and I did. They are currently discussing talking to horses with a woman who in fact claims to talk to horses. In the "real world," she is a nano-scientist. Naturally there have been references to that old 60s television series Mr. Ed. Strangely, when I was falling asleep, the old time radio show from Chicago was playing a show starring Alan Young, the human star of that "Horse Opera." I was able to change the station setting to Mary's station before I fell asleep. Symmetry, coincidence? I don't know. Weird, yes!

That was yesterday and some of today. I hope to get in some music today and perhaps some "Bone Zone" with Sugar. I may mow the lawns on the palatial estate, but I feel like that will wait for tomorrow. I still have to get to the man-cave to hang that clock. One thing I can be sure of, the day will not go as expected. Fortunately, retirement usually brings another day without a set schedule.

In sports, the boys in blue fell to the Pirates 1 - 2. Some things never change, unless you count the fact that this will be the first trip to the post-season for the Pirates in 21 years. The Tigers fell to the Twins, 3 - 4. Verlander is still struggling with his control. My beloved Red Sox had the day off as they await their post-season opponent. While they have clinched a play-off spot, the Tigers are still waiting.

By way of enlightenment, I hear a train a'coming. That is about as routine as it gets. This one seems to be driven by that horn happy engineer of whom I have written.

So that's about it. With the exception of...Tea time, nothing is really pressing. What's not to like? Ciao.