Our tree gives beautiful apples which I just went outside to pick. I quartered a few of them and tossed them into a pork, cabbage, potato, onion, cider vinegar, and caraway seed-seasoned dish that's in the oven now for a couple of hours to braise. Most of the apples are very high up, above reach now, and as I kept tilting my head back to try to reach my readers would slip off my head and onto the grass. I'll go out with a rake tomorrow and shake or poke a few more down, sans readers, and the fruit is really just so beautiful, perfect, and delicious that I'm inspired to make a pie or strudel or crostata or something.

The day started off with tornado warnings, but nothing's happened - yet, though the sky has been a sickly pewter much of the day and on my walk around the back roads by the creek and the church I got caught in a downpour so I was drenched when I got home. But it didn't matter. I stripped in the laundry room and went upstairs. I'd washed my hair this morning so now it had gotten a second rinse and when it dried it fell in pretty waves, like a light perm. Oh perms - what a dreadful mistake those usually turned out to be. And why - when my hair has quite nice body to it now?

By the way, if anyone wishes to comment but feels more comfortable with email, I've added a contact link to my user profile. I know how lame this sounds - I hope it works. It should. I just can't seem myself to toggle between two different gmail accounts on my home computer. Google has evidently never considered that people might wish different personas, or that there might be more than one user to a computer. But anyway - if you'd like to contact me for any reason and it's your first time - try bellehudson12534 (at) gmail (dot) com.

I have to say that I'm very intrigued about who is the kind reader with the iPhone who regularly visits my blog. You made my summer, if inadvertently (that is, for me it was a case of mistaken identity - and yet it saved my sanity by prolonging a delusion) and - well, I just really appreciate your page hits. Do I know you? Let me say this - you better not be my brother, because if you are I'll be pissed. Though if it is you, brother (or someone else already in my acquaintance), and you contact me soon then I'll be cool with it - consider it like a library fine amnesty week. But assuming you're a complete stranger, someone who seems to like my blog - well, I wouldn't mind getting a clue about you ("off the record") - it'd be really nice to know.

Wow, this post feels so administrative to me. That's okay. It was that kind of day. I did laundry, baked cookies from scratch (chocolate chip), pushed myself to make the braised cabbage dish. Missed Stella the Artist while out on my walk, but let it cook for the last couple of hours on my slow-mo computer and am playing it now. Have I mentioned this week how much I love that song?

Kisses all - not the greatest post today, but I think I outdid myself in the last couple of days so I wanted to keep in touch but needed a bit of a breather. Love, love, love - and thank you.