Here's a first - 2 posts in one week!

The tree is down - they came yesterday morning and it only took an hour to reduce a very tall tree to a bunch of logs. I feel pretty sad about it but it had to be done - the first really strong wind would've blown it down and it would probably have landed in the side or back neighbours' garden or worse than that gone straight through the roof of our garage, possibly flattening the car and the bike. I'm been on the net doing some research about replacements and so far the Forrest Pansy Red Bud looks like a winner - good in alkaline soil and even produces its own nitrogen another thing sadly lacking in Utah soil.

My and my big mouth, the heat has returned we are at 98-99 and the moment and it's not mid-afternoon yet.

Had coffee with a friend yesterday and she's possibly found me another job - more on that later. Plus the RBG connection has resurfaced and I'm going on a field trip on Monday. For now I'm staying down here - in the oh-so-cool basement.

Tree surgeons is this weeks subject - our "slightly diseased" tree is in fact dead. It is an ex-tree. 3 different companies one conclusion - it has to come out. Try convincing C who thinks we can keep the trunk as a feature Mind you the poor guy has enough weighing on his mind at the moment. Don't ask - if I told you I'd have to shoot you!

The heatwave finally broke (yay!) we are now down in the upper nineties.

I'm getting a trip back to UK but not until October - told Mum this morning and she's thrilled to put it mildly. Another rollercoaster of visiting relatives, must make some time to see the Witch and Kate if possible.

I'm keeping it short today 'cos this crappy windoze software is making life hell at the moment. First it can't find the site then the damn thing went and wiped all my password cookies (I have them backed up so sod you Gates!!) Then when I tried to reboot it nearly had a cow and the only way to kill it was to hold down the power switch.

All together now MICROSOFT IS CRAP, MICROSOFT IS CRAP E - I DIDLY DI MICROSOFT IS CRAP!

God it's hot!! and I'm all for tons of sunshine, but when the temperature keeps going over 100 it's enough to make a Brit long for rain. It's over a month since we've had a proper downpour - but I do have a secret weapon.

Ever heard of a cobber, you lot stuck in Greece and Majorca oh and Colorado go and get one now!!

It's a damn clever device that I first saw in LV 2 weeks ago but silly me I looked at it and thought "well that's not going to work" and didn't buy one. I ended up ordering one off the internet after I'd done a little research. These things come from the Aussies - who are pretty cool at keeping cool in the heat. Think scarf with gel inserts - you soak the gel so it swells up and then you wear the thing around your neck - the cobber cools the major arteries either side of your neck and so lowers core temperature - not dangerously so - but enough to keep you cool in a heatwave. Since Friday when mine arrived I've hardly taken it off when outdoors (word of warning DON'T wear it indoors if you have air-conditioning)

Over the weekend I've been fighting the battle of the bind weed. They call it Morning Glory over here (!!) - english term for penis standing to attention when men wake up - bind weed sounds far more insidious. This stuff is horrible it not only sucks the water away from the roses or other plants that need it - it strangles them. I've got scratches all over my forearms from having to pull this stuff out of the middle of rose bushes - painful but worth it. It doesn't help that E the renter next door lets his Dandelions and Bind Weed run riot in his grass.

On a much lighter note - we went to see Johnny English on Friday night - hysterically funny. They've basically extended the Barclaycard ads from the 80's and made them into a film (including Boff). Loads of in-jokes - we even heard Chris Tarrant doing the breakfast show and Trevor MacDonald reading the news. But the bit that made me nearly fall off my seat was the car chase - ever since they bought speed cameras to UK (they don't make the roads safer they just make the local authorities richer) I've wanted to blow one up with a missile - priceless! Oh and I've finally broken into Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - the tree guy was supposed to come yesterday so I had to stay by the phone - JK Rowling is a genius - don't want to finish it but on the other hand can't wait to.

Vacation over!

C's parents arrived 2 weeks ago today. Unfortunately their luggage didn't - Chicago is turning into a godawful airport.

Said luggage arrived Monday afternoon and for the rest of the week we bummed around, doing not a whole hell of a lot but drinking lots of cups of tea.

Friday July 4 we had a whole bunch of people invited to come meet C's folks and watch the fireworks from our house. Most of those who we'd invited showed up - with one notable exception, but the ones that did show up had a good time. H dropped in briefly on her way to pick her hubbie up from the Airport. The fireworks didn't start until 10 but we had our own lot going in the street. Love the snaps - wish I'd had those in England. When they did start it was fantastic - the whole thing played out over our garage roof - full moon too which was pretty surreal.

Saturday C's B'day - his mum and dad had bought him a hammock - and the stand when we realised our trees aren't close enough together! I got him a couple of DVD's and a think geek shirt. He had loads of cards and was a very happy bunny.

Sunday - off to Las Vegas (yippee!) C and A where the lucky ones (A won $500 on Keno - she thought she'd won $60 her face was a picture when the guy behind the counter told her how much - she couldn't believe it!) I broke even playing BlackJack. F won a bit but gave back a heck of a lot more. We went to see the Blue Man Group again (our second time, A & F's first) just as good as last time. We ate in the wonderful Chinese Restaurant at the Luxor and made our annual trip to Paris for lunch - only this year they aren't taking amended orders - what you see is what you get. So the Americans who wanted the cheese and ham sandwich but with american bread and cheese and fake ham were out of luck. God - living here you begin to forget what real food tastes like.

Back to SLC on Thursday - vegged on Friday - took C's parents to airport Saturday. They are still in US but in a much cooler part, then they fly to Canada - lucky buggers.