things that happened while i was on vacation

i'm still sick but i'm so far behind on everything that i don't have time for "luxuries" like, you know, illness anymore. today you'll be getting a brief update of what happened while i was gone.

ca updates are forthcoming. it's a daunting task. we did a lot and there's too much to write about while i'm still feverish.

ok, so update...

j and d gave us some of their peppers that they somehow managed to grow in this freakish whorepiss of a summer.



i will probably use them in an orange chicken dish. thanks, guys!

here are all of the tomatoes that i managed to eek out without the benefit of the sun or temps over 70 degrees f.



naturally, none of them have ripened. i've got bananas though so i'll see if they'll work their magic. otherwise, we'll be eating a lot of fried green tomatoes. (those are black krims and amish paste for those of you keeping score.)

padre sent some dill pickle chips. they were delicious after a long train trip.



the best thing that happened, however, was the arrival of my signed copy of the name of the wind!



patrick rothfuss is a total sweetheart! not only does he sign books for his fans outside of scheduled public appearances, but he also included a lovely note! (i sent him some of the paintings that i've been working on this year. honestly, i was only expecting him to sign my book! the note was a wonderful surprise!)

(oh, if his assistant somehow finds this post, i apologize for my horrible penmanship. i really appreciate all of your extra effort in assuring that i received my book! thank you!)

i'm going to end this post on that heartwarming note. please know that ca trip updates will be posted soon, in all probability over the next five or six days. i'll be playing catchup at my other blogs so there's that stuff to read in the mean time.