Mexican Sunflowers

The small storm that nonetheless brought some very welcome rain and some stiff winds also knocked down large parts of the plant which had grown much taller that we dreamed and was taking over the tiny space it shared with other plants. Many of the branches were broken off and, though the flowers still seemed to be thriving, I decided to pick some before they were pruned back. Pedro is due any minute to advise on whether he thinks the lemon tree in front can be transplanted. We've decided to put it, or a new one against the fire garden fence to shield us from the dirt piles on the other side. We spoke to the contractor this morning and he said the plan is for them to be in their house for Christmas. They are ahead of schedule, but he said one never knows what will happen between now and then.

Speaking of dirt piles, the people who are building the 'house on the rocks' on the other side of us are due for drinks in a few minutes. I'm going to see if there is a plan for the three mounds of carefully separated dirt, largish rocks and small rocks above their house. They are still quite a long way from being finished and getting heartily sick of living in an RV. They're hoping to be able to move in in March and dreading another winter in the dark and the rain. They were gone for a month not because they had gone on a lovely holiday but because the RV needed some crucial repairs which took longer than expected. As I suspected, they are staying there in order to keep an eye on things and to be on the spot when decisions ('Where do you want this light switch?') need to be made.

We had our usual nice meeting with our coffee group this morning. The service has improved massively, but I still don't like the coffee so I had a chai latte which went down quite nicely. Spike behaved beautifully and was rewarded with a nice walk on the way home.