Last Wednesday was a sad day. We buried Beth's gran. She was 96, which is a pretty good stretch for anyone. She was ill for a while, and wasn't mentally with us for years. She reacted to my voice when we visited her in the hospital, but I guess only she'd know what she was trying to say.

So life has to go on.

As it did yesterday. We went to Yankee Stadium to see the Toronto Blue Jays get beaten 6-2. Rivera closed the game, home runs by Sheffield and A-Rod sealed the victory, and the outfield (Matsui especially) were outstanding. Beth was there, Beth's brother Mike, her parents, our brother-in-law and varoius friends of friends. We were enough of a voice that you could hear us chanting for certain players. The game was replaying in the evening when we got back and hearing us shouting out "Ga-ry Shef-field" surprised me. We were LOUD!

It's going to be close for the end of the season. Fingers crossed for the Bronx Bombers.

Listen : Baseball Cap - Faithless ... Babeball Bill - Echo & The Bunnymen.

Every seven years, my life gets interesting. I'm 35 now. Hold on tight, it's about to get interesting again.

First of all: we went camping and did a bit of sight-seeing. When it comes to the great outdoors, there's one thing that Nature has always known.

I am the King of Insects.

Small insects love me and want to in my general vicinity at all times. That usually involves biting me. I used to use DEET-based stuff which was smelly and sticky, so I'm glad for a substance called 'picaridin'. Cutter Advanced™ is the only insect repellent available in the US with this stuff in it. It smells faintly of Bailey's Irish Cream, which is nice, and works great. I'm happy to give it due props here.

The mosquitoes have asked me to abdicate. Maybe I'm not the King of Insects. I'm not the Lord Of The Flies either.



We also visited picturesque Longwood Gardens and I took this picture. It's actually four pictures all 'Photoshopped' together.

So what's the interesting stuff? We put a deposit down to build the house. The bank has our mortgage application and it all starts in earnest from next week. Whooo boy.

Listen : Let's Play House - Snoop Dogg ... Mr. Mortgage - Peter & The Test Tube Babies.