This started out as a response to Mz. Em's recent post.

I live in the middle of a thick woods with thick undergrowth, and I can safely assume a thick herd of spiders. Oye.

I have my home sprayed once each year so I can avoid encounters. One time. No scent. No suggested hours of evacuation. I continue to work at my computer while Mr. Paul Crabtree ensures me another pest-free year.

Today I dry mopped then wet mopped the floors before Paul Crabtree arrived. I confess I chose Paul much like I select wines. Pretty surname. Pretty labels.

Everything went without a hitch until I spruced up the screened porch before Paul arrived and a huge spikey- legged brown spider emerged from the blanket throw I have on one of the rockers - the throw has a liking knitted into its pattern of the benevolent Saint Guadalupe. Sacrilege, I tell ya! Sacrilege!

Paul Crabtree has been a welcomed annual visitor to my woods for 6 years. He's a Prince - the kindest, upbeat person to mosey through my life despite the toxic chemicals he sprays to discourage vermin and varmints and vagrants. The first time he came to my home he quivered a bit when he announced he'd just found the largest black widow he'd ever seen. Seriously! Really! GET OUT OF TOWN!

Paul Crabtree generally finds minor pest activity in or around my home, but for the past 6 years he's always got a black widow story or two. Guess that's better than sighting a rattler or copperhead? Or not.

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I'm enrolled in a Shakerag Workshop at St. Andrew's Sewanee, a private school, which is down the street from me. I'm so looking forward to the workshop I've chosen, Making Words.

I'll post more about Shakerag as the week unfolds. It promises to be a marvelous experience. I so wish you all could be here. Really & truly.

In addition to the workshops, each evening there will be a guest speaker and one of the evenings David Haskell is speaking. Haskell has recently claimed fame for his book The Forest Unseen.

He writes about using a one-square-meter patch of old-growth Tennessee forest as a window onto the entire natural world. Visiting it almost daily for one year to trace nature's path through the seasons, he brings the forest and its inhabitants to vivid life. I confess I haven't read his book or even purchased a copy. I'm waiting for an autographed copy at Shakerag. :)

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Today I spent some time with a very, very dear friend. Our lives have taken us in different directions, but the reconnect was joyfully swift. Thanks, dear Nonie.



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I recently hosted a summer supper to include Clara and Fred, my favorite Aunt and Uncle who are pictured below with David who won't be in attendance because he'll be in Washington DC with Olivia (his girlfriend) celebrating her birthday.




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Sidebar for TS: Last night I watched a PBS documentary featuring ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. Have you? It's marvelous!

Well, that's it for today. Busy times, huh? I'm one lucky woman. I walk in gratitude. I love my life.