Mower

It took twenty pulls to get my one-pull-to-start mower going, so Neil mentioned he needs to rebuild the carburetor. I thought about that as I was mowing, finishing up in the backyard.

There were so many thistles by the stand-alone, yellow lily that when I finished, I emptied the last grass/leaf bag and pulled weeds in the arborvitae bed.

That done and before I headed to the garage, I checked the gas tank. I could see some of the plastic bottom, so I decided to mow a little extra under the birches, picking up even more leaves, to let the machine "run dry". It didn't stop before I got tired of doing that.

Then I remembered, we tied off the handles last year to let it use up the gas. So carefully, I kept it running and took off one glove to keep the handle in the open position. I could see that wasn't going to hold. But I didn't want to turn the mower off and go get twine, so I took off my sun hat and looped the drawstrings around to secure the handle. The wooden buttons that move up and down to tighten or loosen the hat under the chin, could be the brake if in a noose position.

Still running. So I stood waiting. Got tired of that and remowed the left side of the driveway thinking it would use more gas if in gear. Got tired of that and drove it into the brick wall so I could go up and ask Neil, if there is very little gas in the tank, how long can it run? It doesn't take much gas to run. No prediction.

I finally stopped watching and went inside. I could hear the mower. It took half an hour, maybe more. Go figure. But at least the tank is empty for winter and if Neil wants to rebuild the carburetor he can.

Too Late

I didn't mow the lawn last weekend because we had company and also it hadn't grown that much. I did notice how many perfect leaves were on the backyard basil - about two feet wide and three feet high full of aromatic leaves.

I was thinking as I mowed, I should pick those leaves and put them in the slow oven to dry. Wouldn't fresh, homemade basil smell good!

Then we had company and a couple of nights of frost.

When I mowed the lawn today, I saw that my organic food alarm did not go off and warn me the plant was suffering, and now it is dead.

So a gardening lesson: Vinca and Snapdraggons tolerate frost. Basil doesn't.

Coal-Fired Pizza

We tried the new pizza joint for Friday night date night, but we went later than usual. This is a framed picture I sat looking at and there were others, of Reno, Hollywood, etc. All black and white and of a different era.

The first thing you notice is how good it smells when you enter and how full the seats are. We didn't have to wait because there was just one two-seater left.

We split a Greek salad and had a Margarita Pizza. Very thin crust and very, very crisp. We set upon the large pizza the minute it hit the table and only looked up when it was all gone! That was when I remembered I had brought the camera to take a picture of dinner. Maybe next time.

Frederick

Today it was rainy all day, not thunderstorm raining, just steady Seattle and Portland rain. So I didn't take any phone pictures because they turn out dark. This light post picture surprised me the other day because you can tell it has been there a while. It says "Abraham Lincoln, Our Friend and Liberator" Frederick Douglass, April 14, 1876 .

This plaque is eye level and just at the top of the block from the entrance to the Ford's Theatre. We have been in our new office location for two years now and I just noticed the picture as I went to a meeting on Tuesday this week. I must have passed it 20 times over the past 2 years, but I guess the light turned red and I had to pause and look around.

Since I was in the Frederick Office this afternoon and then stayed to hear an Ambassador speak at the Frederick Community College, I figured I'd share the Frederick connection. It is even spelled the same way.

It Can't Be Helped

Tonight's blog is a two picture blog. I tried to get the label and the shoe in one picture, but it was on the shops side of the Union Station Metro escalator and the bright red did not show up. So I took two pictures.

Imagine my surprise going to an esoteric international law meeting and walking up the escalator to find a huge, red, open-toed, fashionable high heel shoe!

So many people were taking pictures. It must have just been set up. It is fully three people high as you can tell from the person reading the price tag in the shoe picture, and also that bump in the middle top arch, that is a man taking a picture of his wife in front of the shoe from the other side. I can't even see the wife she is so short, rather the shoe is so tall!

More Frost

More nights when the temperature gets down to freezing is about the only thing that is going to curb our abundant crop of brown marmorated stink bugs.

When one first got into the house, I was horrified. But apparently they don't bite but do have a bad smell if you squish them. I immediately got the RAID and sprayed bug killer directly on it. This prehistoric looking leftover lasted fifteen minutes before it finally croaked from a direct hit with insecticide that kills a hornet in seconds.

They are fairly slow moving, but they do fly. Lately, I just grab them with kleenex, taking care not to squish and release the stinky feet smell, and flush them down the toilet. Oh, and it is election night.

Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Look at this late afternoon shot of the Old Executive Office Building near the White House. The scaffolding is off and the paint is pristine white and shiney in the sun.

The gold statute was gleaming between the monument and the EEOB and the Monument was clearly seen.

In person this looked much closer. I could even see the carving above the room top window.

I turned right at this corner to go to a meeting at the United States Trade Representative Annex briefing room.

We do live in a beautiful capitol.