For the past 7 work days, I have been sweltering. For the past 7 work days, the skies have been quite overcast. While I am struggling with the former, I am grateful for the latter...no hot sunshine pouring in the great big picture window in my new office!

After much scrambling around to schedule some interviews and hastily write several articles for the newsletter, I am just one piece and two photos shy of finishing it. I did have to come up with a graphic to accompany a chart I created to show the difference in funding in housing between the proposed 2009 federal budget and the 2008 budget. My solution: I found some clip art of a house that was a simple line drawing. I put dollar signs representing the changes, colored green for increases, red for cuts, and black for flat funding. The red dollar signs are spilling out the bottom of the drawing. My boss was not impressed...but I never, EVER claimed to be a graphic artist.

I thought I would show you the fountain I mentioned yesterday. If you remember the photo from umpteen posts ago, you will see that the basin has changed (this is the $3 concrete base I found). The wide angle view shows the turtle that rests in the basin. Sometimes Kashi will put his nose right up against the turtle's to check him out. He will sniff a bit and then continue on his way.

In many of my pots, I have tiny ceramic or stone frogs or turtles. I also have some mud Asian mud figurines. For example, I have a small cottage and tiny bridge that sit in one of my favorite moss gardens.

The second photo shows the hairy things growing up out of the moss. I think they are strange, but then again...I just love the fact that there is moss growing on my fountain!

Once it is warm enough, I will plant some flowers in the holes scattered over the rock. They will make up for the fact that once my local flock of birds start frolicking the water to escape from the summer heat the moss will be torn off by their claws. The past few years, I have planted impatiens because they grow lush surrounded by water.

Since it has been raining for days and days and days, the water is running particularly clear and I have not had to remove any debris from the sides of the pump (something that involves a bit of a contortionist move on my part and a conquering of fear since I cannot see where I am putting my hand). When the water is running this strongly, I can hear the melody of the fountain through the kitchen door.

SIGH