Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 1:00 a.m. in "The City."

Another day has come and gone, during which we had an unexpected and not in the forecast rain shower yesterday afternoon. It came in by 3:00 p.m. and was done by 4:00 p.m. leaving behind just enough water to wet my newly planted potatoes and perhaps get my grass seeds to germinate. However, in a few days, we'll be having many 50 plus degrees days and so those seeds may be be loathe to germinate.

Our current temperature is 57° under partly-cloudy skies and it feels like 57° with only a 4 mph wind blowing out of the south. The overnight low will fall to a very seasonal 53°. Today's high temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 72°, also under partly-cloudy skies with the overnight low falling to a very comfortable 58°. 

The NWS is actually forecasting a 72% chance for showers on Thursday with a high temperature of 69°. Our plans call for us to get some seeds planted, spread some fertilizer on Mary's rose bushes and go to Spring Lake to pick up my new glasses and make a stop at the Helpful Hardware Folks, Ace Hardware™ for a replacement inner tube for my wheel barrow. In short, a very suburban kind of day here in the Tri-Cities.

Yesterday, the baseball news was once again mostly good That is unless like yours truly, you are a Diehard Cubs fan. The 3 - 2 Cubs sent 0 - 1 RHP Adbert Alzolay to the mound, but he was not very sharp, giving up two home runs, as the Cubs offense managed to eke out only one measly hit in their 0 - 4 loss to the 2 - 3 Brewers. No bright spots in that game. The Cubs send 0 - 1 RHP Kyle Hendricks to the mound for a 2:20 p.m. start this afternoon before traveling to Pittsburgh for a Thursday afternoon game. 

The Cubs, in an attempt to deflect attention from their on-field performance, will be erecting a statue to honor Ferguson Jenkins outside Wrigley Field in the near future. 

On the local front, the 3 - 2 Tigers took 10 innings, but with the new rules in effect this year, they were able to score a runner from 2nd base when Akil Baddoo got another hit, his third game in a row, to drive in the winning run, in  4 - 3 win over the 2 - 3 Twins. Tigers starter, RHP Casey Mize, threw some good pitches and left with a lead, but the Tigers' bullpen blew that and forced the extra inning game. The Tigers and the Twins close out their series when they take the field today for a 1:10 p.m. game as RHP Matthew Boyd, 1 - 0, goes for the Tigers.

My beloved 2 - 3 Red Sox struggled mightily through 12 innings, but they squeaked out a win over the 2 - 3 Tampa Bay Rays 6 - 5, on a 12th inning walk-off double by J. D. Martinez to drive in the winning run. The beloved and the Rays close out their series @ 1:10 p.m. today when RHP Nathan Eovaldi tosses the first pitch for the Sox.

Mary soloed to that big-box nearly everything store without her wing gal, Ginger, for a pick up of some groceries and some new African violets for her flower room, AKA our foyer. Then she made a short visit to Duncan Woods for a walkabout. She took a couple of pix with her Smartphone camera while she was there.

Once again, a class we took several years ago came into play, as Mary captured this winding path. 

Amazing what a Smartphone camera can do in the hands of our Senior Staff Photographer. 

I finished the indoor chores, assisted in the preparation of a pair of extraordinary vegan beests, and did some reading.

When I was out with our fur-children after their dinner, I took some pix using the wide-angle lens that came with my camera. I got some nice pix of our own vast gardens here on the Palatial Estate. Nothing fancy, but some nice pix of our daffodils in bloom and Mary's Tree Man planter.

This group was late to bloom, but they doing great now.

I captured this close up of a yellow daffodil in bloom.

Same here. I think the detail of this yellow-centered daffodils is excellent.

A nicely focused bloom with a blurred background.

Same effect with a twin set of blooms.

What I believe to be Mary's Tree Man, but it could be some other name. 

Out in the back-forty, these yellow daffodils are blooming nicely .

Otherwise, not much is happening. No great plans for today that I haven't already highlighted. I'll be sure to take along my camera when we go to Spring Lake to see what pix I can capture there. Ciao.