So… We planted cucumbers way back when, and sure enough they grew and we got lots of cukes. Then our CSA veggie share started sending cukes our way. With Karen out of town and a million pounds of other veggies to get through, what’s a guy to do? Make pickles!

Once again, the internets saved the day. I had a vague idea of how this might work – is it just cucumbers and vinegar? – but no real definite plan. The first thing I found out was how to tell if your cucumbers are good for pickling or if they’re too ripe, and unfortunately most of ours were well over-ripe. Also probably not the best variety for pickling. But there were still plenty of cukes in good shape, including the CSA ones, so I got to cutting and soaking the slices in a salt water brine for most of the day.

Then this evening I cut up 2 onions and peeled a million cloves of garlic. Using my homebrewing know-how I skipped the pre-boiling of the jars and lids, and after a thorough cleaning just threw them into a sanitizing solution for a bit. Put the garlic and onions on the bottom along with rounded tablespoon of the "pickling spices" from our local co-op, and started shoving cucumber slices in the jars! I had read that for a crisper pickle you can heat to 180 and hold it for longer rather than boiling, so that’s what’s happening as I type.

As soon as I started hearing pings and creaks from the jars, I knew I had trouble on my hands – all the directions mention some magical device for removing the piping-hot jars from the water, and I of course had procured no such device. Hmm. But hey! I deal with piping-hot liquids all the time in the form of unfermented beer! I have heat-safe tubing! I’ll just siphon off the water from the pot and carry the whole thing downstairs gently to cool. Awesome.

So, a big adventure. I know how Karen loves her pickles, with any luck these won’t be terrible – I may crack a jar in a week to see how they’re doing, but everything I read said they’ll be much better in a few weeks to months. Maybe a little pickle party on the North Shore in a few weeks! (if she makes it… fingers crossed.)

Also a few projects in the "development" stage for the house – mostly lighting, and mostly around the basement. I’ll post more once there’s more to post!

PS – Bruno misses you, Karen.

The rain garden has more blooms! This awesome red "something" flower (Karen knows the name) has been rocking out for a few days, and yesterday I snapped a few pictures. We’re pleasantly surprised to see so much growth and blooming out of these brand new plants, hopefully that means they’re established and healthy for years to come…

Brown Dog found a big stick on his walk yesterday and has been enjoying some quality time with it.

The garden continues its rampage. (compare to this) I took that picture this morning, and unfortunately by this afternoon the combined heat and lack of water (I was trying to hold out for the forecasted rain) wreaked a bit of havoc on the tomatoes – now that their fruit is so big it’s getting really heavy and a few of the taller stems collapsed. I noticed it sagging as soon as I got home and gave it some veggie first aid, I’m confident most of them will pull through.

Sick and tired of the cluttered destructo-zone in our kitchen closet, I rigged up a tiered bag holder for our recycling. It looks super ghetto but I justify it by looking at you, sneering, and saying "It’s for recycling. It’s made out of things I had lying around — and cardboard. Get it??" Then you feel embarrassed for pointing it out and I go get a drink from the kegerator. Best of all, the vacuum fits under the rack, much nicer than hanging out in the office.

I helped nature do its dirty work on this female blossom this morning. I don’t care what you say, we’re getting a pumpkin out of this mess.

Finally, today was the last day on the job for my super awesome co-worker, Eric, who’s off to bigger and better things in NY, NY. Wah. The Walker won’t be the same without him.

So, you know how sometimes you’ll be like "ow, my arm hurts, hey, what’s this lumpy thing? That can’t be right! Oh, wait, there’s one on the other side, too. It must be ok." That happened to me today, only with my eye. My contact had been bugging me all day, just wouldn’t sit right and it felt like something had scratched my eye. I took it out to clean it and my eye still hurt, so I peeled back the lid to see if anything was under it and "holy crap there’s a freaking lump under my eyelid!!" Two hours of panicking later, researching symptoms on the internets, wearing my crappy old prescription glasses, trying to call around to see who can make me new glasses at 7 on a Friday (turns out a contact prescription is not enough to get you glasses), I finally moseyed back into the bathroom to, you know, check the other eye. Sure enough, same lump. It must be a duct or a callous from my contacts, gross either way, but at least there’s symmetry! Which obviously means it’s OK!

Since I couldn’t focus on it in the mirror during the initial investigation, I took a few digital pictures for reference. Enjoy.

• What year were the members of Duoteam born?
• 1977
• The same year Star Wars came out.
• What’s Nate doing at work these days?
• Oh, you know. The usual.
• And Karen?
• Digging, planting, mulching, driving a dump truck, etc.
• Does Duoteam speak of itself in the third person?
• Yes. It does.
• Is it true you have an 8-tap kegerator in your basement?
• Yes.
• How’s your garden doing?
• Really well. The tomato plants are HUGE, the pumpkin is growing like a maniac, and the cucumbers started slow but are putting on a strong showing. Not to mention the out of control rhubarb, exciting raspberries, chili peppers, dill, and basil. Great stuff.
• What’s Bruno been eating lately that he shouldn’t?
• Mulch from the rain garden.
• How long have you been engaged?
• About an hour.
• How’s that working out for you?
• Awesome!
• Can I see the ring?
• You can.
• Did Karen really pick out that ring while travelling in the Orkney Islands a few years ago?
• Totally.
• And Nate went there to get it?
• No. He got it on the internets.
• Is that cheating?
• No.
• So, engaged. Yay?
• YAY!!

This is Karen and I about 24 hours ago, hiking a canyon north of Tucson, AZ. Did you know saguaro cacti don’t start branching out until they’re at least 50-60 years old? That probably puts this monster behind me at over 100 years old. Whoa. The saguaros were blooming while we were there, and I found out each saguaro flower opens just once, in the cool of the night, and then closes forever by about noon the next day. If it was pollenated, it will produce fruit, if not… try again next year.

We were in AZ for Karen’s brother’s wedding, a very nice ceremony and reception with lots of good food and fun. Karen was in the wedding party and looked great, but we’ll have to wait for the official photos to come back since I don’t think either of us got any.

The wedding was on Friday, leaving us Saturday and Sunday to explore Tucson and lounge by the pool, and we managed to hit three local brewpubs! There are even a few we didn’t make it to — who knew there were so many in Tucson? Not me. Good times all around, good people, and congratulations to Dean and Daniele!

So… yeah. A week of brown rice or quinoa for breakfast, steamed veggies for lunch, and a dressing-less salad for dinner. For a week. No beer. No snacks. No munchies. No coffee.

And it actually was good for me. Neither of us went to bed before midnight almost the whole week (I was launching greenroutes.org and working, Karen was wrapping up grad school) and yet we were able to wake up and function without caffeine. By the end of the week I was amazed by how much more awake I was during the day even on less sleep. Weird.

I’m glad to be back on normal food, for sure… Beer especially – I’ve got some crazy good beers coming on tap right about now. (Smarty Party invitees, take note) But the detox diet enforced once and for all the wisdom of taking in a bulk of calories for breakfast, rather than lunch and dinner. That’s something I hope to maintain.

Would I do it again? Probably. Once or twice a year, maybe. It was remarkably easy towards the end, and we were both almost reluctant to go back off it. There are lessons to be learned from eating closer to the source, less processed, less refined, less "messed with" food… But in the meantime, I’m going to go get a beer.