I'm a little sad that, having discovered surfthechannel.com and bit torrenting, I have now exhausted the existing stock of Gossip Girl episodes on top of all the other silly shows I've been enjoying. I think I will have to take Erika's advice and start exploring the wonder of the new Dr. Who once I finish up Coupling.

Ah, wonderful free time. I have a lasagna in the oven (I opted for the simplest version, with nothing but pasta, sauce, spices, and cheese) that smells yummy, and am doing the laundry and drinking some Bell's Two Hearted ale I found hiding in the back of the cupboard.

I have a new obsession with scramble that has taken over for my previously irrepressible compulsion to play scrabulous.

Another day, another sunset.

You'd think I'd get tired of the same exact view and capturing it with the tiniest, most subtle variations of color and tone. But somehow, I don't.

La Belle Dame sans Montmerency

The funny thing about running out of money is that it forces you to be very creative, to draw on hidden reserves. Not only figuratively, but literally, practically. Suddenly it's very handy, my habit of over-buying and hoarding amazing supplies of delicious jarred sauces, canned and dry beans and legumes, frozen chicken and ground beef, tofu, tempeh, and a variety of nuts, dried fruits, and whole grains that even the Whole Foods bulk section would have difficulty surpassing. If I were snowed in for a month, I don't think I would starve here, and I might actually get progressively healthier as I relied increasingly on whole foods and ate more and more rationed portions.

I'm sitting here eating a breakfast of home-cooked oatmeal with dried Montmerency cherries and blueberries, toasted pecans, and honey, as I write this. This afternoon (or over the next couple of days), I'll prepare a whole wheat lasagna with spinach and beef, a couple of broccoli/mushroom quiches, a carrot and lentil salad with feta, lemon juice and red onion, and a chicken curry of some kind with ginger, mushrooms, carrots, celery, onions, and snap peas to serve over brown rice. And that will still not exhaust my fresh food from my big grocery shopping expeditions at Costco, Busch's, and Kroger at the beginning of the month.

Yes, I could use a credit card to fill up the gas tank and buy more food, so I could have whole milk with my coffee just the way I like it, and my favorite dry cereal with fresh blueberries, more fresh spinach and grape tomatoes for salads, and whatever else I am inclined to reach for when I open the fridge initially. But I've decided that I'm not going to do that until I really have to, because for now I'm very well fed and enjoying being in retreat from the world. It's a beautiful, sunny day out on the lake, and I have nowhere I need to be. And I even have delicious fair-trade organic coffee from my awesome, wonderful friend Katie. :)

So, I'm just going to stay here, clean house, write, and listen to the birds, while I give myself facial masks and a manicure, drink cleansing teas and fermented barley water and do other fun cleansing rituals from Helene Silver. Later this week I'll dig out my certificate for a free pedicure at Aveda Institute, and probably finally get a little sassy haircut to style my wacky mop I've been growing out for a few months without losing too much of the length.

Yes, life's okay.