Saturday -- sunny and cool.
I have finally found the Sekrit to making an enjoyable (as opposed to merely an OK) cup of Harney's Chocolate Chai Supreme, which is! (1) Realize that there is more than one cup, but less than two cups of leaves left, and just brew it all, leaving the cup 1/3(ish) empty. (2) After tea is brewed, fill the rest of the cup with milk, and dump in the last spoonful of Ghirardelli's Cocoa Powder. The result is something like spicy hot chocolate, and really quite tasty. That said, I will not be re-upping my supply of chocolate chai.
Today, as previously reported, I'll be finishing my packing, making sure the laptop is functional, and flipping a coin to see if I'll be taking one of my crazy keyboards. Speaking of over-packing. I'm really bad on a flat keyboard anymore, but! I don't intend this to be a Writing Retreat. On the Gripping Hand, if I'm suddenly Struck by Inspiration (which is almost guaranteed to happen exactly when one is intending Not To Write), I want to be able to type, not flail. I think I have Steve's Special Flipping Coin around here somewhere...
Also today, I need to swap out the cat fountains (not the cat boxes; I did that earlier in the week), and decide how to adjust station air for the cats. It's going to be in the mid-50s a couple days, but what worries me more is the warmer days in the middle of the week. I believe I'll be setting station air at 72 COOL, which should keep things comfortable for them. They really don't get the Go Downstairs strategy when the upper house gets too warm, and they have plenty of blankets, not to mention each other, to snuggle with if it's cool.
I think it fair to say that from this point on, Radio Rolanni in all of its iterations will be transmitting intermittently, and possibly not at all. The conference areas will be open, and the kitchens stocked with snacks. Feel free to meet and talk among yourselves, or bring games and crafts. We'll be back on the air next weekend.
I append a picture of The Long Back Yard, with lilacs and those low-growing purple weeds that the bees like so much. I'm pleased to see such a lush patch of those.
