Good morning, good evening, wherever you may be. It is just after 4:00 a.m. in "The City." Our current temperature is 64° as we head down to the overnight low of 61°. That's before we rebound to today's high of 71°. That forecast for T-storms seems to have vanished. Tomorrow looks to be about the same. Any significant chance for showers/T-storms seems to have been pushed back until Tuesday or Wednesday. Guess what that means? If you chose: water the gardens on the palatial estate, you get a genuine "No Prize!".

Speaking of the palatial estate, I feel like I can do anything now. The devastated porch railing has met its match. What was once a pile of spare parts, cause unknown, is now a complete and reassembled railing, only in need of paint. As I worked, I carefully pulled the old fasteners, sanded the places where the glue would be applied, and pre-drilled the screw holes to avoid splitting the old wood. I even went so far as to test fit the pieces before final assembly. Directly below are some before and after pictures. If I were into "Selfies", you'd see a big grin on my face.

What Mary and I found a few days ago. (Before)

Another angle

Once I was done. (After)

One more view

As you can see, the railing is now back in place. I like to believe that it is more solid than it was before we moved in. Thanks to some construction adhesive from Adam's house of man cave construction, some screws, wood filler, and a few sundry things from the big-box hardware store, along with some tools and experience from yours truly, the railing now awaits only painting.  Perhaps a bit of excess pride on my part, but once again , I was able to wield my tools in anger and nearly complete a project in about two hours. Best of all, my baking yak wasn't baking afterwards. That allowed me to also mow the lawns of the estate when I was done. 

In sports, the boys in blue fell to the N Y Mets, the N Y Mets!, 2 - 3. Somewhere up there, Ron Santo is not smiling. My beloved Red Sox also took it on the chin, losing 3 - 5 to the Astros. The Astros! The Tigers are still struggling after winning yesterday, as they lost to the Mariners, 2 - 7. The Caps narrowly lost to the Great Lakes Loons, 4 - 5. To say the least, not a great day in sports.

In other news, the day was uneventful after the porch repairs and the lawn mowing. I did some crosswords, read my book on the deck as Sugar plied her trade in the Bone Zone, and Mary and I had dinner at the "Best Kept Secret in GH." Finally we made it home. After an attempt by me to stay awake during a movie in the "Media Room", I was off to bed for some sleep. I lasted about six hours, which for me is along time. I guess that all that outdoor work and the walk downtown to the sidewalk sale took a lot out of me. 

That was enough for one day. So now today awaits. Mary says I am enough ahead of her with the highlighting and therefore I can spend my day reading. The book I am reading is due today, so I'll accrue a few days of fines to get it finished. For less than $1.00, I can afford it. That's a lot less than buying a book. 

After my morning walk with the intrepid Weather Dog, I'll settle in and read. I may take a break and play the girls along the way. Along with listening to the tales of woe from people with their 250,000 mile or more cars, that should be a full day. The sun will rise at 6:52 a.m. and set at 8:45 p.m. The days are getting shorter and the raking of leaves can't be far behind these cool days of summer. Ciao.