I needed a bit of a gardening 'time out'. Cough, cough.

As you know, I developed a cough while moving 25 or so yards of wood chips. I still have it. I've been to the doctor who thought it was an asthmatic reaction to something in the wood chips. The dust coming out of the chips ranged from white, to grey to black. I've had an X-ray and will see my doctor again on Tuesday. I don't think the inhaler is working and I've coughed stuff up, so I think it might be an infection or something? Anyway, my point in sharing this...is, if you have a lot of wood chips to move, I highly recommend a mask.

This is an N95. Very heavy duty and probably overkill. A very good choice for me at this time. It excludes everything!! 

Update: my doctor now thinks I have a lung infection. I agree, it feels very much like my childhood lung infections and pneumonia that I had one after the other. I did not know at the time that I have an allergy to something in cigarettes and back then people smoked in supermarkets, airplanes, restaurants....actually I don't think there was anyplace you couldn't smoke. Anyhoooo, I think I should be on the mend soon!!

My first ever beefsteak tomato. Black Krim.

I have tried to grow tomatoes for four years. I could grow cherry tomatoes, but never the huge Brandywines I was trying to grow. This year we had a mild spring and we have had a hot dry summer. Presto!!! My first huge tomato. Here it is....Black Krim.

Isn't it just beautiful. 

Here is my Black Krim, an Amish Paste tomato and a Shiro Plum. Yesterday and today I worked all day in the hot sun moving wood chips. I get outside and I don't like to stop for lunch. So each day, I picked a sweet, super juicy plum. They are so much better than I remembered.