For the love of god and small children, don't forget the bottoms of your feet!!

(my laptop, hydrangea blooms, illuminated by citronella candles in the darkness of the deck. . . )

Seriously. When have you ever thought about hosin' down the soles of your feet with bug spray?!? Never entered my mind until tonight, when the only part of my body that was bitten by a freakin' skeeter was the bottom of my foot. Now, it's driving me crazy, scraping the sole of my foot against the leg of the patio table, to no avail . . . I've been using this fabulous repellent, too—all natural, with oils of patchouli, lemon grass, citronella, catnip, from a company called V'tae, and I shit you not, it works as well, if not better, than OFF or any other toxic concoction labeled "bug repellant." And smells divine, to boot. But you have to remember to spray the soles of your feet!

Sitting outside in the cool darkness on our deck tonight, after dinner, after walking the dogs (again), after cleaning up the kitchen, starting laundry . . . The deck is my home office when the weather is good. Love, love, love this space. . . oak tree umbrella, breeze travels through—not too little, not too much—just so . . . tonight, we had dinner with the bounty of my first trip to the farmer's market this summer. Zucchini burgers: shredded a couple small zucchinis, a small onion, a handful of baby carrots, a clove of garlic in the food processor, then added the concoction to a pound of

ground beef. Oh, and tossed in a small container of feta cheese, for fun. Shape into patties, grill. Also cooked up some beets and greens (and stems—no wastin' anything in this house, man). I cleaned and trimmed the beets, tossed in the oven for an hour or so . . . sauteed the greens and stemswith a small onion, garlic and olive oil, dash salt and pepper, and added peeled and quartered beets to heat through.

I wish Bob could have joined me out here. Kinda lonely to eat on the deck all by myself. At least the doggies were both outside to keep me company (e.g. irritate the hell out of me), both couldn't get close enough to me (e.g., my burger . . .)

Bob's been having a tough couple of days. Nothing specific, nothing monumental, just tired, no energy, feeling kind of weak . . . He's been eating his meals in bed the past day or so, as it's been hard to stand long enough to even eat a meal, with pain and weakness interfering. Reminds me of the early days of this journey, when I'd bring him a plate of breakfast or whatever down to the basement, so he could eat while lying on the futon, on his stomach. . . almost seems like we're taking some steps backward . . .

Tomorrow, I'll be making a few calls, to his cardiologist, to primary care and maybe even to the surgeon's office, to start the surgery ball rolling again. A lot of things need to be in place for the surgery—the two main surgeons' schedules, the hospital stay to deal with the IV blood thinner, the bowl cleanse (which will be seriously monitored by moi) . . .so let's move . . .

sauteed beets and greens

finished burgers! Almost forgot to document the proof, that I can be domestic when I put my mind to it, I can do it, I can do it . . .