So obviously, this is why I haven't been around.  Things have reached their regular summer intensity around here. The snow melted in mid April, and within a couple of weeks we were thrust into full-blown riotous greenery and summer frivolity.  The weather has been  stupidly fabulous since then - everyone, even the winter-hardened local are feeling bowled over by the full-on summer that has just descended on us.  I know they say bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world, but "they" have obviously never seen Latvian lawns after a long winter.  We arrived in the country a few weeks ago to find the lawn had grown up to our waists.   Totally insane.