Good morning. I went to Saratoga to have my foot checked, and all was fine. The foot is healed and ready for walking. Everything looks great for now. We celebrated at a cafe in Schuylerville, N.Y. Im home and relieved and ready to work. It was a three year battle, just about over. I had a tangle with Zip, I went and got a tick color for him and he didn’t like it. I won the wrestling match. Zip stormed off in a huff but came back for a scratch.

Zip always looks like he means business, but the truth is, the business is usually getting some attention. And no, he’s not coming inside to fight the rats who have emerged in all the rain. That’s my job, and I’m not cute.

Zinnia waiting for me to finish work last night. She never makes a sound while I am working.

There was a hard frost last night; my favorite pink flower curled up and waited for the sun—a hero flower.

It was a long tussle, but I got a tick collar on Zip today. He didn’t like it and huffed off for a while. But he came back for some scratching.