Spending my work day in front of a computer screen, taking care of outreach plans and box office reports, so I’m spending pre-work in my garden, after another terrible night’s sleep. It’s just past 7:30 and I’ve already eaten a breakfast involving actual cooking, so that should be some proof of how long I’ve been up.

Yesterday wasn’t a terribly thrilling day, except that now I can publicly congratulate my oldest friend (hi Rachel!) on her pregnancy, and the fact that she’s having twins. If you’re reading, Rachel, I’m putting together new food care packages for you ASAP.

Also, this week, I came up with a lower-tech squirrelproofing technique involving plastic chicken wire (I got fed up with untwisting and getting stabbed by the real stuff), clothespins (my staple gun-made cages don’t hold up over time, though I did repair work on those too), and bamboo stakes. They are working well. This is the most robust cucumber plant I’ve ever had.

Here’s some shabby repair work on he cages I made four (?) years ago, with my now-thriving, no longer squirrel-nibbled, pumpkin plant.

So yay! All is not lost. I need to make more barriers, as the rodenty bastards out here have even been nicking hot peppers, but now that I’ve made it less curse-y work, it will be a smug pleasure. Until they figure out how to breach these defenses too.