Well. We are now in the waiting period of hurricane recovery. We are waiting on the insurance adjuster to look at the damage and officially proclaim that it indeed was damage caused by a hurricane. We are waiting on the builder to replace the sheetrock we had to tear out, and tape, bed, texture and paint it. Then we will wait on the floor guys, and, after that, the furniture guys. My night tables now have cloven feet and had to be replaced. My big antique trunk that I have used as an end table for at least 30 years got wet and grew amazingly colorful mold. While I was buying a new end table I bought a coffee table to go with it, since the one I've had for at least 40 years just wasn't cutting it. And then I saw this exquisite little red Chinese chest and I gave into temptation. For various reasons, I went for years and years withour buying any furniture, and now I've fallen off the wagon and seem to be bingeing. And it feels so good!

Last weekend we went to visit the Professor's daughter & family in Mystic CT. What a charming little town! And how amazing to be able to drive just a little while and be in a different state. We were a little ahead of peak leaf color, but we saw this:


They are having a great time seeing all the places they've read about in history books, and I am hopeful that the Professor will now be willing to go east sometimes.

Chula has been getting progressively worse since we evacuated. She had a really stressful experience then where she spent about 36 hours hiding from dogs, no food or water and so much adrenaline that she went feral. She is 16, but she is a tough old broad like her owner, (excuse me, I mean staff). The vet gave her fluids and an appetite stimulant, which didn't seem to have any effect until the Professor fixed t-bone steak. I almost lost a finger when I offered a piece of steak to Chula! She has some symptoms, but the vet thinks they are all treatable. When I was searching for her during the evacuation I told myself she would probably die, anyway, but I didn't want her to die alone and terrified. Now I have raised the bar and I want her to be active and happy and content. I figure she's got another 2 - 4 years in her. Like I said, she's a tough old broad.