End of July Update

Can you believe Ziggy is 13 years old this month? I can hardly believe it myself. He and I are home alone this weekend, so we're getting up to all the mischief a 13-year-old and a 36-year-old can.

It's a gorgeous day in Connecticut today. High of 85, though it's not there yet -- at noon it's still right around 79 degrees. I have the air conditioners off and all the windows open. I can hear the birds from every room in the house.


Speaking of birds, here's what I've been reading this month. The Field Guide to the Birds belonged to my grandmother, and it has her notes in the back in her distinctive handwriting. I've been using it to identify the birds that come to my birdfeeder outside the back door. The other book is a new one, which I mostly picked up out of curiosity. It is really interesting! And maybe it'll come in handy someday. You never know!

I also read the new Harry Potter book, which I enjoyed very much. I actually enjoyed it a LOT more than the previous one. Also, I watched Moulin Rouge again, which is an old favorite, and two movies I hadn't seen before: Calendar Girls and Immortal Beloved. Calendar Girls was fun, and I love Helen Mirren and Julie Waters. I didn't think much of Immortal Beloved, which is about Beethoven. Compared to Amadeus or even Impromptu (about Chopin) it seemed heavy-handed and obvious. Maybe you have to be a Gary Oldman fan to appreciate it. The soundtrack, of course, was exceptional. (Duh -- it was all Beethoven.)

As often seems to happen, July has gotten away from me without many updates to Raspberry World. We've had a nice month, though we were both pretty busy with work. Marty got the chance to go to a seminar in Colorado to learn about solar energy, a topic he's very interested in. I worked on a new website for my chorus (I'm not finished with it yet -- when I am, I'll link to it). We are planning a short jaunt to our old stompin' grounds in Pennsylvania in a couple of weeks, which should be lots of fun.

And yesterday I made a yummy deep-dish quiche with broccoli and tomatoes. It turned out great! See?