Another Mural

Our usual gathering at Cafe Frida today was missing Dan and Tobi, but we had the delightful addition of Gail's brother Terry and his wife Sue. We discussed various enjoyable television offerings, Trump's health (a closely guarded secret, but from gleaned information he is technically obese, has extremely high cholesterol barely contained by 4x the normal dose of statins and is unable to form coherent responses to relatively simple questions), British boilers, American irrigation leaks and leaking fishponds in both places. All surprisingly entertaining with this group.

After coffee we had time for a walk around Juilliard Park where we met a man with three dachshunds, all barking furiously, causing Spike to do the same. Efforts to introduce them were not working and he apologetically explained that although they were harmless, one of his older dogs was fiercely protective of the puppy in the group. We agreed, via a conversation shouted  over the raucous barking of all four dogs, that they were all better off the lead, and we'd try again later. 

We marveled again at how pleasant this park has become, struggled a bit to restrain Spike from jumping into the pond that wanders through much of the park, watched a little boy playing in a sand pit in the children's playground and a few people playing on the bocce courts. 

I took a picture of this mural on the far side of the park, painted on the side of some civic building facing the main street. It's hard not to smile when looking at it and the girl has flowers in her hair so I hope it qualifies for Biker Bear's long running Flower Friday challenge. the murals are a bit controversial but I think they add quite a lot to an otherwise somewhat lackluster downtown. Santa Rosa's best assets are definitely its parks, and outdoor spaces, and a wide variety of trees many aof which are changing color right now. 

The extreme heat warning was extended for another day today but didn't really materialize. A cloudy sky cooled things quite a bit this morning and once they cleared, it stayed under 90 degrees in the afternoon. 

Having fixed the irrigation leak and taken down the eucalyptus trees, Pedro came by today to measure for a new hogwire fence to replace the 'white wall' that faces the driveway. I think he is questioning our sanity, as he rebuilt said wall after the fire, but we realized almost as soon as he did it that it was probably a mistake since it attaches to the corner of the house. The hogwire is metal and though it is not solid like the white wall, we can always plant a vine on it for privacy purpose.

I got yet another insurance document to sign today...a copy of our homeowner's policy which is supposed to cover everything except fire and an interesting list of 'Perils not covered', including 'windstorm or hail, riot or civil commotion, aircraft, including self-propelled missiles or spacecraft, volcanic eruption or vandalism or malicious mischief.'

I guess we're screwed if a spacecraft hits the house....