Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 7:00 a.m. in "The City", where the sun already rose @ 6:16 a.m. into partly cloudy skies that will lead to a high temperature of 80° and sunset @ 9:24 p.m. There is a 30% chance for isolated T-storms on Saturday and a 50% chance for scattered T-storms on Monday. Let's just say that I'll be watering here in the desert-like conditions of GH for at least several more days.

I made an executive decision yesterday and consigned our cold-frame to the dustbin of history. A valiant effort that just never lived up to its potential. Now, it is once more a flat piece of land with some veggies growing there. Mary thinks it should ultimately become more of her rose garden, but I'm holding out for more veggies after I give up on our potted veggies. They never seem to do too well on the hot driveway, as they require a lot more water and their production is limited. We'll see who comes out of this alive, me, the veggies, or the roses. The roses require a lot of water too and more maintenance than I want to contribute.

At any rate, John finished the power-washing of the manse yesterday. He was supposed to get started on some additional painting today, but we've put him on hold to take advantage of the 40% off sale @ Sherwin-Williams that begins a week from tomorrow. Yes Adam, I am cheap, but 40% off is better than the current 30% when you have time to wait, and we do.

Baseball news yesterday was once again 50/50 or .500 in baseball parlance.

The 2nd place in the NL Central, 52 - 38 Cubs, took 13 innings to lose to the 3rd place in the NL Wast Giants, 4 - 5 late last night. Kris Bryant returned to the lineup and played third-base and nailed a two-run home-run in that losing effort. He says that he will be more attentive to strengthening his left and right shoulders in the future. The Cubs return to the field in San Diego on Friday night @ 10:10 p.m. EDT to face the 40 - 55, 5th place in the NL West Padres.

My beloved, 1st place in the AL East, best record in baseball, Red Sox, defeated the 40 - 54, last place in the AL West Rangers once again, this time, 4 - 2, to stay 3.5 games ahead of the Yankees. The Sox welcome the 4th place, 42 - 49 Blue Jays to Fenway tonight @ 7:10 p.m. EDT.

Dustin Pedroia, once an integral part of the Sox on offense and defense, is going home to AZ to continue the rehab on his surgically-repaired left knee. He hopes that in four to five weeks, an MRI will reveal that the knee is fully healed and he can play again this year, or that he is done for the season after playing only three games. My hunch, is that the Sox are prepared to move on without the nearly 35-year old Pedroia, now and in the future. I think he was/is a great player, but since baseball is life and a business, well....

The 3rd place, 40 - 55 in the Major-League™ AL Central Tigers, continue to play bad Triple-A baseball, as they dropped another one to the 3rd place in the AL East, 48 - 44 Rays, 2 -4. The Tigers have the day off before they travel to Houston to face the 1st place, 62 - 33 in the AL West, 2nd best record in baseball, Astros, Friday night @ 8:10 p.m. EDT.

The MWL East, 6th place, 46 - 44 Caps, took 10 innings, but a walk-off bases-loaded walk. gave them a home win over the visiting, 38 - 50, 7th place in the MWL West, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, 3 - 2. The Caps and the Rattlers play again tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

I finished my latest novel last night after we got the index out to the publisher. We have a couple of weeks before the next 500 page book is due in. I plan to enjoy my time with no highlighting duties to perform. I'm sure that Mary has similar plans.

Yesterday, we had tacos for lunch and dinner was a down and dirty, vegan version of beest with mushroom gravy over rice. I liked it.

Speaking of left shoulders, my left-shoulder is not coming along well. It still is painful and I do not have full range of motion. The exercise doesn't seem to be helping and generally speaking, time is usually the best medicine for this type of injury. So, when next I see the orthopedist, I am going to push for an MRI to assess the state of the joint.

Otherwise, nothing on tap for today. I'm going to head out now to do that aforementioned watering and then do little else for the day, other  than walking STWD. Mary will likely continue her cross-stitching project. I think I got it right, cross-stitch, not needle-point. Ciao.