i want a giant plate of caffeinated fried food please

well dear one & only reader: i survived the first 2 days of no caffeine; quite possibly it is more accurate to say that all those around me survived. i nearly caved the first day off as the headache was brutal, but i managed to stay the course.

the more difficult has been the food. i should have gone to the market before beginning my evil, life-sucking diet healthier eating habits. i need to figure out what snacks will give me the same emotional satisfaction as the ones they'll replace. as it stands, all of yesterday was spent fantasising about snuggling under a blanket on the couch, with an entire casserole of stuffing all to myself. mmmmm.

***

autumn has been uncomfortably hot thus far, even for southern california. today & tomorrow are promised to be cooler, so i plan to get as much work done on the farm as possible. everything is suffering from the heat, & the dry wind. i didn't plant any seeds at summer's end; because the beds need serious work done; but we lost a pumpkin, & the row of leek seedlings. happily we had another pumpkin already harvested, so thehobbit will have something to carve.

it's amazing how wild the earth goes when one is too busy to tend it properly. the farm isn't too bad, but the rest of the yard is insane. still, i think if we focus one section at a time, we should have everything under control by winter's arrival.

i'm so grateful to live in a house with a gigantic backyard, that i don't really feel i can complain about all the work to be done. 11 years of apartment living is still too fresh in my mind for that.

the little guy in the photo is a garden gnome we rescued from a pile of things tossed when a neighbor moved last year. thehobbit & i love him with his faded paint, & ever-watchful stance. thehobbit says that he guards the blueberries from goblins, but (as he's nowhere near the blueberry bush) i'm not sure what he's watching for.

***

that's all i have time for today. i wish i could stay to chat longer, but i have a hobbit in need of a pre-gardening snuggle. i hope you have a lovely day.

~peace.