Progress

The foot continues to heal well, though it's still bruised and swollen. I'm allowed to unwrap it and take a shower now, yeehaw. I briefly thought I had a problem with the incision, but the color I was seeing turned out to be the line they drew on with marker before starting the surgery! I'm still limiting my walking, but am getting lots of computer stuff done. Possibly I should still be elevating my foot (as in laying on the couch with the foot up) more than I am, since even having it on a chair while sitting isn't true elevation.

I discovered some beets buried in our vegetable drawer, probably harvested at the end of May. My, they certainly store well. So I made our favorite roasted beet salad with a garlicky aniseseed vinaigrette -- yum! It's a nice break from summer squash and beans, which are the main vegetables that the garden is pumping out right now. There's a big bowl of squash that needs to go to the homeless shelter tomorrow, I think.

Yesterday was my birthday, and we had an excellent celebratory dinner at Vin Santo in Willow Glen with spikeiowa andvoidampersand. We started with a nicely varied antipasti platter and bruschettas. magscanner's lambchops and spikeiowa's porkchop were both delicious. voidampersand and I both had the mushroom ravioli which featured lots of mushrooms inside and out, including significant chunks of morels. The only thing I'd recommend against is the tiramisu. The espresso was too heavy handed and it had a thick topping of chunked chocolate in lieu of a delicate dusting of chocolate powder, very unbalanced flavors. But I sort of didn't mind since I was full enough already at that point (despite only eating half of the ravioli). In fact, I'm sure that's why I'm up and writing this entry at this ungodly hour. I often wake up in the middle of the night after having a heavier than normal meal.

In the book arena, I've now read Glasshouse by Charlie Stross and enjoyed it immensely, even though I thought the ending was a bit of a cop out. I read the first of the MaryJanice Davidson vampire books, Undead and Unwed which was very funny indeed, better than the later book I already read. spikeiowa very kindly lent me Emma Bull's latest book, Territory which was wonderful, set in Tombstone in the Wyatt Earp days. Highly recommended. I hear there's going to be a sequel, which is great because I'd love to keep following these characters.

I'm trying to read New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear. I really want to like it; the idea of forensic sorcery stories à la Lord Darcy is very appealing. But the way she has her characters interact emotionally is so clumsy and irritating, I think I'm giving up. Maybe I'll try it again after reading Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett, one of my birthday books.