Just some tree

Well, it worked for a while

In lieu of piling things on this chair to keep the dog off, some time ago we came up with the idea of simply turning it backwards, and it has worked remarkably well. Until this morning. The question is whether this is a new habit or a one-off — like our prior dog Benji who opened the living room door once from the inside. But only once.

And yes, in case you’re wondering, that is lawn furniture in our living room. Much more convenient, and actually much more comfortable than most of the “proper” living room furniture sold in Uruguay.

Of course I had to have dessert

And of course you know what I had to order. Hot (both caliente and picante!) chocolate topped with ice cream. Yum!

Acuity test

Here are three parked cars with Uruguayan license plates. One was parked by someone who did not learn to drive in Uruguay.

Can you figure out which one it is?

About that kindling

Perhaps should have stacked in a dry place.

Or maybe not left it there over two years.

First frost 2025

Sometimes as early as the beginning of June; sometimes as late as mid-July, but here it is, and heavy. Polar front predicted to give us several days of cold weather…oh sorry, “extreme” — from -2 to 3°C, or mid 20s to mid 30s°F. Pretty funny for someone who grew up in Connecticut. Or, God forbid, Canada! 😱

However, what we lack in extreme cold outside we make up for with our home’s insulation, consisting of single brick and stucco. In other words, nothing.

But Uruguay! This apparently goes back a bit (source):

They have fine houses and well-padded pocket-books. Many of them trace their descent from families that came to Uruguay hundreds of years ago. Their possessions are in great estates, rented houses, and in cattle and sheep. They have their palaces in Montevideo, whose floors are marble, and whose ceilings are frescoed and upheld by marble columns from Italy. They have vast one-story buildings on their estates, where in summer time they entertain like lords, supplying every guest with a horse. In the winter, their surroundings are equally pretentious, but very uncomfortable, for the houses of Montevideo are as frigid as the white marble in which they are finished. The people believe artificial heat unhealthy, and in this city, which is as large as Washington, and quite as cold, there is not a furnace or a steam-heating plant. During cold snaps, a hostess often receives dressed in furs, with her hands in a muff and her feet on a hot-water bottle, and gentlemen and ladies come to state dinners in over-coats and fur capes.