Oh. GREAT.

Mmmhmm. Just L-O-V-E-L-Y. Since school is starting early this year, I reckon the back to school bugs figured they would, too. Yep, the jolly-good stomach flu has arrived in SWVA with all those happy returning vacationers. Thing is, my kids are homeschooled- so I guess that's my answer to those who say it's not real school. We get all the back-to-school viruses, so we must be a real school. That is if I can go out in public during the next week... I usually self-quarantine until I'm better. I think it'd be the worst sort of rude to spread this kind of joy around the community.
And, drat it all- I don't time for the flu during this point in the garden season! Too much to do.
Oh, this one starts out with thrush like symptoms (aka/ thrash- that weird tongue coating, burning thing that lets you know your good bacteria has been killed off by antibiotic or virus). Then moves on to the easily fatigued stage with profuse sweating; then the hit-by-a-truck phase, which lasts all the way through both the congested, anxiety attack phase and the sleep for 24 hours straight phase. Then the fun with the tummy begins. I put this on here just to:
a. let you know what joys to expect with school this year
b. say UN-thanks for whoever brought it back home from vacation with them!
Oh, and it makes your head really muzzy- attention span drops, grouchiness comes in waves, fever makes your pillow nasty, and spelling/typing skills drop off.
According to DH, the tummy part lasts for about 4 days. FOUR DAYS! I do NOT have four days to waste- all the bloomin' harvest is coming in! (See, we just thought he was sick because of a procedure he'd had done recently- but it was this.) Thanks dear, for that wonderful kiss you gave me...>:-(

Anyway, today would have been a perfect gardening day. Overcast and cool for a change. And the carrots, radishes, and lettuce are all coming up nicely :-) I love the garden. It's honest.
OH! And soooo cool! We have very alkalai soil here, so we have all sorts of poisonous plants that thrive here (makes for accurate mystery writing). Well, this year a lovely vine started showing up all over the yard. It covers 1/2 of my "natural habitat" that we call the burn pile, but never burn b/c there are too many critters that live there. It has tried to take over my hostas as well as my wood shed. It has beautifully shaped leaves, little purple flowers with yellow stamen things, and these bright, shiny red berries. I knew it wasn't Virginia Creeper, and told the kids it was probably poisonous. Well, after some searching (plant identification on the internet is a lengthy process) we finally found pictures. SO COOL- it's deadly nightshade! I want to get a sample of it and preserve it since it's so pretty. I wonder if it was the long, cold winter that brought it out this ye