Oy vey! I have been sick the last few days. Like stay in bed and not move kinda sick. Which was bad because I was just on vacation the prior week. My doctor ordered me to stay home in bed and rest since Thursday. I finally could not stand it anymore and had to get up for a while today. Liesl has been a great nurse (dogs just know) but she had a little cabin fever this morning. I took her for a shorter than usual walk on the beach. It was drizzly but it was nice to feel the coolness on my face after being feverish and headachy for the past few days.

I had to use my stern momma voice a couple of times because Liesl tends to think she is funny. She will pick out certain people (I can not figure out her criteria) and poke them on the backs of their legs with her cold nose. She thinks this is even funnier when they are wearing shorts. I am usually pretty good about catching her before she does it. She will get a certain excited walk, and her ears go back, or she will double back after someone who just passed us. Hence, the stern momma voice. On the off chance that I miss her cues or if I look away (there were a school of dolphin today) and she does provide the poke, she will turn and look at me with a big smile like she thinks she is hilarious. Mini schnauzers...

After I returned home, I got back on the sofa with my blanket. I was finally able to stitch today. Luckily, it was Shark Week this week since I was not able to concentrate on a whole lot. I must admit, I am a bit Sharked out. I am also tired of the commercials for "Hill-Billy Hand Fishing." It looks like pretty much every possibility for reality shows has now been exhausted. LOL

I was wiggly from having to lie down for the past few days. It gave me too much time to think of stuff to do. I had a burst of energy and decided to take 15 minutes to clean out my largest kitchen cabinet and my spice cabinet. I should have to wear a hard hat when I open those cabinets because lately when I open a door, stuff rains down on me. It was a good thing I did clean them out because I learned that I pretty much have a couple years supply of sugar (two five lb bags), lemon pepper (three unopened bottles), green chiles (four cans) and Jello Sugar Free chocolate pudding mix (6 boxes). I feel like I have accomplished something big.

I am pretty fortunate. I live in a major agricultural area, referred to as The Salad Bowl of the World. We have unlimited access to really fresh fruits and vegetables. I have been thinking a lot lately about hearing that I should eat food grown locally and in season. I am finding that this is also a more economical and fun way to eat. For instance, as I was on the Martha Stewart website, there was a reference to foods that are currently in season and recipes for them. One of the veggies was eggplant. Now I happen to love eggplant, but I have always felt limited with ways to prepare it. It was thrilling to look through all of the recipes for eggplant. There was a recipe for eggplant tomato soup that looks heavenly. If I am feeling well enough to cook tomorrow, I am definitely going to cook this for my lunches this week. The other thing that I am finding is that I am finding so many exciting recipes, that I am naturally cutting back on my meat intake. I am having so much fun discovering new ways to cook. I think I will add eggplant to my veggie garden plan next year.