What parts are edible? I know they make wine out of them (I learned that from Mr. Bradbury).

Technically, all of them. You usually eat the young greens when they are tender, either raw in a salad or cooked like any other greens. They get tough and bitter as they age. You can also eat the flowers, also when young. I think it's the flowers that are made into wine. The roots can be ground up and used like a flour.

The important thing is to be sure you gather them from a site that isn't sprayed with pesticides or exposed to a lot of car exhaust or other noxious chemicals.

I've had soup made from the heads. Didn't kill me. I think they're pretty, and much maligned.

Nah, babe. Utter a little thanks, because that was some kinda scary. Take him to the doctor, anyhow. It was freaky enough, he could still stand a visit. I am *so* relieved he is improving.

Doctor's appt at 10:45. I told them it was getting better, but they want to check it anyway. They think it's residual - you can get deep muscle pain with viruses. This is the second time he's had a high fever this month, which is very unusual for him. Build up of lactic acid? I don't know.

EM isn't totally healthy, but at least the rash is off her face and neck. It's sort of migrating south. Anyway, she can take him afterwards. I think he'll be fine, but it'll be good to check.

I hope, whatever it is, it's easily treatable, Hec.

{{Connie}} good letter.

Timelies. I've been computer wrangling this morning; cleaning up the hard drive, reinstalling a difficult program. It's not as fun as it ought to be.

I've bought dandelion greens at the food co op and sauted them with spinach. They were pretty good.

The property gets lots of shade so I'm not sure what can be planted there. The front yard is just patchy grass and dirt and *that* has to be fixed.

And I need to get some kind of lawn mower. The yards (front, back, side) are very small and Grandma used an electric mower, but I was thinking about trying a push mower.

but I was thinking about trying a push mower.

A self-powered one? Those are good for exercise, but require their blades to be sharpened periodicly.

Push mowers work well if you 1) cut the grass frequently and 2) there aren't things like the evil seed pods from the liquid amber/sweet gum tree to stop the wheels ( I mean blades) from spinning. I like the push mower because it is easy to get out and lift if i need to.

A self-powered one? Those are good for exercise, but require their blades to be sharpened periodicly.

Also, the good ones are not cheap, and they don't work well on longer, seedier grass or weeds, which appear to just bend down and spring back up rather than getting chopped.

Which is why at some point, we need to break down and get a gas or electric mower.

I'll have to look at the yard more.

Also, I hope Emmett just has a residual leg cramp. I had growing pains in my feet and they were just awful. I wouldn't want anyone to deal with that.

I hate it when Annabel does this.

It's time for her morning nap. She's been fighting sleep for a full half hour now. Crying. Rubbing her eyes. Crying. Lying down for about a minute, making me hope she'll surrender at last, only to stand up and start crying again.

It's driving me crazy, but I feel like if I pick her up or take her to the living room to play, she won't sleep at all, and will get even more cranky and off schedule, so the only thing to do is wait it out. But it's maddening. I may have to leave the room in a few minutes for my own sanity.