Boom!!

We got awakened by the crack of thunder this morning!  Such a nice sound that makes it so easy to get out of bed.  The rain was coming down hard.  It didn't last long though and just one hour later, the sky is clear blue.

The latest on the raccoon/squirrel war:  The squirrels are having fits out there but still, they manage to risk life and limb gingerly crawling along the narrow wire to get to the bird seed.  It's obvious, though, that it's not easy for them as we don't see them doing that much at all.

The raccoons, though, have won - for now.  We caught a raccoon in the act the other night (during a late Spurs game).  I thought I heard sounds on the deck and when I went to look, I thought I could see a dark shape at the bird feeder.  So, I called Guillermo over, he flips on the light and sure wish I had gotten a picture  but there was the raccoon standing on his tiptoes on top of the fence with both hands on the feeder looking at us.  I can still see his sheepish face which would have looked really funny in a picture.  Anyway, the raccoon decides he better leave so he races along the top of the fence and away.
The next night, the raccoon came even EARLIER - like at 10pm!!!!  Not waiting much at all anymore!  That was it for Guillermo, though.  Ever since then, he brings the feeders in every night (even the hummingbird feeder as the raccoons love to drink, too!)  But Guillermo is plotting and thinking, thinking of his next move.

Yesterday, I went to get the first pedicure of the season with my friend Mary.  We tried a new place which so far we like a lot.  But anyway, inside this nail salon, as we were paying, I noticed a plate of mangoes on the floor by the front desk.  I was like, what, a plate of mangoes on the floor??  Then I noticed the plate was by a little buddha altar of sorts.  So, I asked the clerk about the mangoes there and she said it was an offering to buddha so that he would be happy with the building and their business.  There were also about 10 garlic bunches inside the altar.  We loved it!

And today, Mom and I had a nice lunch at one of her favorite restaurants - the English pub "Lion and Rose". Here we are enjoying fish and chips and good English tea.