An intruder discovered!
I’ve been noticing some severe damage on my tomato plants and decided to investigate. I thought it looked like caterpillars and starting hunting around on the bush for them. They were caterpillars alright – big, nasty, green ones! I looked them up on the internet and it said they were tobacco hornworms – named so for the little horn on their hind end.
Here you can see a big one and on top there’s a little one – yes, this is a picture from just this afternoon! Unfortunately, the only way to get rid of them is to pick them off by hand 
I was warned by a website that they ooze green slime when disturbed so I grabbed a glove and a plastic sack. About 25 worms later, I finished the job; boy, Brian sure has to be gone at the worst times! I sure could have used a guy right about then!
In more cheerful news, the watermelon patch is amazing! Over 20 watermelons and new ones each day! I think one is close to getting ripe. Notice the striped melons? I guess one of our plants wasn’t what we thought 
I can hardly wait to taste them!!!!
31-Jul-2007
31-Jul-2007
Today I had spaghetti and waffles for lunch – I love being home by myself 
29-Jul-2007
Yesterday we went sailing with a friend from Church. He’s sailed a lot in the past 3 years but has only owned this sailboat for the last 6 weeks. It’s a catamaran, meaning it has two pontoons instead of one keel. We helped him rig it up and then took off onto lake Palestine.
The wind was pretty minimal at first but we eventually caught enough
to go at a good clip. We spent a couple of hours out there then Brian
and I finished the day with dinner at Texas Roadhouse and a visit to
one of his childhood friends.
We also dug up our potato plant today and found it had produced one little potato! It was just an experiment with a store potato that had sprouted so I didn’t know what we’d find. We did have a good laugh over it and I told Brian I’d make him hash browns for breakfast tomorrow. 
27-Jul-2007
Okay, a little explanation on my sudden trip! I went to Mt. Hermon, CA to visit my sister-in-law, Kim.
Kim works as a kitchen manager at Mt. Hermon, a Christian conference center settled on the side of a mountain in the middle of towering redwoods – gorgeous!
We walked every day (sometimes twice a day!) and I was awed by the scenery and wildlife. I saw a deer and her two fawns on one of our walks.
One day we enjoyed the California sunshine in Santa Cruz (about ten minutes from Mt. Hermon). We walked along the beach and admired the natural bridge. I liked watching the Pelicans too. It was cold on the beach so we found a spot out of the wind and sat for a while – unfortunately, we didn’t realize just how hot the sun was until examining our sunburns that evening! 
The next day we took a hike along the railroad tracks – again, stunning scenery. It really calms and soothes me to be out in the beautiful woods and weather. You could hear a stream in a gorge below for about half the walk.
And finally, here’s Kim and I just hanging out and eating good food. 
We had a good time and I’m glad Brian was able to give me up for that long. 
*edit* I came back home to a clean house – I have such a wonderful, thoughtful husband! *end edit*
22-Jul-2007
Hey folks, I’m headed to California! I’ll be there until Thursday.
Please pray for me while I’m there and for Brian as he holds down the fort.
