I think things may be slowing down again. Hooray! Work is much slower, except for yesterday when we stayed until 6:45. But that's just Friday at the print shop.

DH's work is very slow for the whole summer. So that means he's bored. Which, in turn, means he's looking for things to worry about, like our finances. The boy needs a hobby! He's going to set up the fish tank soon- after some loans are paid off. But for now his hobby is worrying about stuff. Oh! And he's doing the hcg diet and it is really working! Twenty days ago he weighed 237 and this morning he was 216. He has 20 more days of the hormone therapy part and then he does 6 weeks of maintenance to ease back into a more normal diet without his hypothalamus going bonkers. This hcg thing is really awesome. If I needed to lose more than the 20 or so pounds I need to lose, I would do it too. But one of the side effects is that I am also losing weight. Since I eat what he eats for dinner instead of fast food or biscuits and gravy like before I have lost about 6 pounds in the 20 days, which is a healthy rate for someone not on the hcg diet. I'v been a little worried about getting enough good fats though. THis phase does not allow any fats or starches whatsoever and I don't want to tempt the poor guy so I don't eat that stuff either. Today I added some olive oil to my grilled chicken and spinach salad though. I do take fish oil every day. Perhaps I should do an evaluation of my average daily diet and see...

The garden has entered the summer phase, which means the tomatoes are not setting any more fruit, the beans are climbing like mad, and I am doing daily battle with the squash vine borers. Oh, they make me so angry! I hate them and wish they all would die. I tried a blocking technique this spring but is isn't working. So now I go out there with a bamboo skewer and impale the little buggers. It is disturbingly satisfying. But I want to eat squash! The flowers are doing well. The Gazanias are blooming really well, the morning glories and the moonflower are taking over the front bed, the orange mint is turning into a ground cover (anybody want some orange mint?) the cosmos and the tithonias are just staring the blooming and the daisies have hit their peak. The daisies are so floppy that I had to tie them up. They look funny.

Here's my front Rose of Sharon. I like it a lot. It has pure white flowers.

And my weedy front bed

The potted plants are doing awesome. The hoyas are vining and blooming and being happy. The Ficus is super happy and so is the Monstera. It is trading season at the Hoya Forum on Garden Web so I just got 4 amazing cuttings and I had to set up a new rooting aquarium to hold everything. I'm expecting a couple more cuttings in the next week or so and I'm setting up a few more trades. I'm not even trying to trade this much, but other people need things I have and then they want to give me something and who am I to refuse?! Ha! Oh, and the Viresia splendens pups are growing too.

The Monstera is the big thing in the front, the amaryllises are behind it. On the birdbath are 2 varieties of sanseveria (Mother-in-law's Tounge), an ivy, and my Ficus

The new rooting aquarium

Baby amaryllises that I hybridized myself!

Viresea pups


I made some chocolate shortbread earlier. DH hates the stuff. He calls it drywall! But I like it just fine and so I can have shortbread in the house without tempting him. It is still pretty warm and it just melts in my mouth. Mmmmmm! I used the extra dark cocoa in it too. Oh, it is heaven! I have to control myself or I'll eat the whole pan (I made a half batch) and that won't be good for losing weight. It may be worth it though...

I wish I had a pool in the backyard. I would go out there and just soak. It is unusually hot this June and the heat and humidity is very oppressive. Makes me glad I'm not working outdoors anymore.