this little life of mine

The garden doesn't look too bad, but I'm afraid there is something or several somethings attacking a couple of the plants. Specifically the zucchini is covered with those annoying little white bugs as well as dozens of flies. We've been spraying incecticidal soap for a couple weeks, but it may have already been too late. I can't figure out where all the damn flies are coming from, though. That's very annoying.

The tomato plants are finally starting to produce some tiny green tomatoes:

The zucchini plants appear to be okay, but as I said, they're covered with bugs and some of the leaves have brown patches on them. I have no idea what's going on with them.

The yellow crookneck squash plant is still going strong, but we've sprayed it, too, since it's so close to the diseased zucchini.

I feel bad for the Japanese eggplant, though, because the squash plant is totally crowding it out. The one little eggplant I could see looked good, however.

The bell peppers look fantastic! Beautiful green colour, lots of buds and blossoms, and even a couple peppers:

And, finally here are the cucumber plants. I couldn't find any cucumbers, though. The vegetation is so dence, I couldn't get down inside to look around. It's one of the best looking plants in the garden, though.

Elsewhere in the garden, the lavender is absolutely beautiful, but it's also covered with dozens of buzzing bees, so it was hard to get very many pictures:

Mom and I planted these brightly coloured flowers last year (or was it the year before? I can't remember!), and they came back this year:

The echinacia is blooming as well:

And so is this plant, which I can't remember the name of anymore:

And, in the front, my Midas Touch rose has simply exploded with blossoms and buds! I bought some decorative bark to surround it and help keep more water around the plant rather than running down the hill.

Next week mom and I are going to spend a lot of time working on the yard. It's a three-day weekend, so we'll have plenty of time to get our work done, and still rest and relax! Who knows, I might even grill something. Ha. Maybe not.

I know this colour looks a little bluish in the picture, but it's really a pretty bright shade of purple.

The FL Supervisor gifted me with this delicious organic white nectarine fresh from her tree. I shared it with my mom this evening and we agreed it was the juiciest, sweetest nectarine we'd ever tasted!

Yummy! There's way too many good cooks and/or bakers in this office!

So when I went to the doctor about my injured leg I weighed 175 on their scale. Remember? Well, yesterday at the gym I weighed myself - not on the digital scale, as I think it's calibrated incorrectly, but the kind like they had the doctor's office - and it still had me at 222. *sigh* So what does that mean? Are both the scales at the gym wrong? Or was the one at the doctor's office wrong? And how can those kind of scales be wrong? They're based on using the weights to balance the bar. So who's scales are right and who's are wrong: the doctor or the gym? And how much to I really weigh? I'm wearing size 16s so the 175 makes more sense. I guess. But I don't know. Maybe I never will.

The garden is beginning to explode! Here's two more zucchini and two crookneck squash harvested today:

Check out the zucchini my mom found when she was watering the garden this afternoon:

So far this week for the Thursday 13:

1. My sprained tendon is healing nicely. I haven't needed the cane at all this week, although I brought it in to work with me on Monday just in case. I almost have full range of motion now.
2. I cancelled my appointment with the rheumatologist on Tuesday. I know it was something I was really looking forward to a few months ago, because I really wanted to find out why I got the iritis and why it was lasting so long, but actually my eyes have been getting better. I can tell they are. And, since I don't have any weird symptoms of anything else, there's really no point in going. And also, I'm very tired of going to doctors!!
3. Speaking of doctors, my eye doctor appointment yesterday went really well. While there are still some "rare cells" in both eyes, my distance vision is the best it's been since the start of this whole mess, and everything looks great. Dr. B. is pretty happy about it, and just wants me to stick to my current eye drop routine for another few months. By the end of the year, it should be totally cleared up, I should be totally off the predne-whatevertheheckitis, and hopefully I will not have this problem ever again.
4. I really kind-of enjoyed driving into work yesterday (Dr. B.'s office moved across town, so I can't walk from work any more) - listening to the radio, singing along to the songs I know, not waiting around for a bus to show up (or not), being in control of my time; it was awesome! - but I did kinda miss reading my book, and I definitely missed being able to take a nap on the way home!!
5. Speaking of reading, I finished Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. It was one of my all-time favourite books when I was young, and I read it over and over and over from probably 5th grade through high school. I hadn't read it in a long time, but was inspired to do so after visiting the Santa Barbara Mission and learning that the girl from book was based on a real girl who lived on one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara. I either didn't remember that little fact, or had never learned it when I was younger, but I found it fascinating, and looked at the book from a totally different perspective.
6. Last night after my doctor appointment, I headed to the Farmer's Market in Atascadero. (It closes up at the annoyingly early time of 6:00 p.m., so I usually don't get to go.) It was hotter than hell, but I was determined to get fresh produce! And so I did: radishes, spinach, baby red potatoes, carrots, white nectarines, blueberries, broccoli, fresh squeezed orange juice, a sweet potato, and some apricots. Yes, I did go a little crazy, I guess.
7. Speaking of veggies, our garden is looking really good! There are two yellow squash (as you might remember) that are veryvery close to being ready for harvest! I feel bad for the poor Japanese eggplant, though, as the yellow squash plant is totally crowding it out!
8. This week has gone by really fast, it seems to me. Things are a little crazy at work, so that might have contributed to the feeling of increased speed. More changes, more people coming and going ... gah! It's frustrating, but I suppose that makes life a little interesting as well.
9. Miss K., Miss S. and I are planning to attend the Central Coast Writer's Conference at Cuesta College this fall. I know that's a long way in the future, but I guess I'm writing it down to remind myself that I need to get on the ball and get some writing done!!
10. I haven't taken a single photograph this week, and that thought makes me very sad.
11. It has been incredibly hot here in SLO County! 105° in Atascadero and 102° in SLO. It's crazy! What makes it worse is that it's not cooling down at night much past 77°, so we really don't get any relief from the heat. I'm afraid I'm just going to spontaneously combust when I walk outside!
12. I am so looking forward to having lunch with Miss K. and Miss S. tomorrow! I missed our Friday lunch last week due to the leg injury, and really missed chatting with my friends.
13. The Atascadero Wine Festival is this Saturday. I had been looking forward to going, but with this heatwave continuing through the weekend, I'm not sure I want to bother going. I might just buy some fancy-pants wines at the grocery store and mom and I can have our own wine tasting in the comfort of our air conditioned house!