Wow. Look away for a few days and people get sick. Steve and Jon's Mom, I hope everything heals up quickly this week. There isn't an easy fix for what ails Charmion, just keeping on doing what you're doing. FWIW, you haven't posted often about that loneliness after losing a spouse—it feels like you're going about this in the best way (no impulse to hoard his belongings, for example), but we're here when you do need to share.

I've enviously watched the progress in a friend's yard this summer; despite the heat and lately the mosquitoes he has it up to it's best postage stamp of glory look. Back when we were still working at the university he almost gave up the garden entirely; retirement and a renewed attention to health (he has a slow-moving prostate cancer diagnosed this year) have impelled him to work in the yard. He has a small house with a tiny front yard (a nice sized back) that is spectacular with xeriscape plants (well-adapted and native) and a lot of native flowers. I didn't have the ability this summer, but this fall I need to get out and work on the front. I wish there was a permanent and painless way to get rid of Bermuda grass. It's the number one weed in my gardens (and always will be as long as it is the turf grass that grows on the existing patches of lawn).

In the sewing studio I've spent time mending things, such as the a few inches of zipper that separated from the purse in a favorite leather handbag, and this morning I'll patch over a hole in the pocket of a nice weathered (but not holey) pair of jeans. I'm still discarding from the closet and finding other things to put back into service. When shopping I tried on a long sweater coat last week that was very soft but while it hung nicely on the rack, didn't hang so well on me (they didn't take into account that if it wraps, it should overlap at more than just the waist - and a larger size didn't remedy the poor hang of the garment). Instead, I have a wool coat that I bought probably 45 years ago at a now long-gone favorite high end department store (go in for the annual clearance sale right before inventory and you could afford a few of their things) - it may be back in style by now.