. . . and here is the new courtyard with its first load of gravel--actually marble chips. I've got more ground prep to do before I can spread chips over the entire area, but already the difference is startling. Just days ago this place was a wasteland. Tom's going to build a planter to set where the driveway meets the gravel, and I'll put some kind of annual grass in it to serve as a screen. But last night we drank our first evening beers in our new sitting room, and even in its raw and exposed state it was sweet.

Today: work as usual, but this evening I have a reading around the corner at the Burbank Library on Stevens Avenue, 6:30-8 p.m., featuring a few contributors to Balancing Act 2: An Anthology of Poems by 50 Maine Women. Stop in if you're so inclined.