What are you all up to today?

Well, now I'm going to make a tomato, corn and basil salad with a lemon vinaigrette.

So, I'm reading the NYT article about the Zizians, who are a cult-like group in the Bay Area linked to six deaths. And I'm getting twitchy because they profile as one of Marjorie Taylor Green's whackadoo fantasies: they're an anarchist, vegan group and their leader (and many of the group) are transgender.

I just know it's going to be a Fox news / right wing bugbear for years to come, fueling the anti-trans hate.

The half flat of strawberries I bought at the farmers market yesterday were squishier than I'd hoped at purchase, so I just made a pie (with oreo crust!) and put it in the fridge to chill. The rest I'm going to turn into syrup for future french toast and waffles.

Combine that with early morning church, weekend laundry, and a weekly two-hour Zoom write-in that's about to start, and it's a pretty busy Sunday.

Just groceries (done!) and then food prep for me today. After a shindig on Friday and a shindig yesterday, I need to chill out.

Dog walking, a bit of tidying, and watching the Tour de France are about it for me today. Then Sinners later tonight downtown.

Which, by the way, if you want something engrossing, mostly very charming, and educational—and have ever had a passing interest in the Tour de France—definitely check out the Netflix series Unchained. Each season (season three just dropped) covers the prior year’s Tour with tons of clips and interviews with many of the leading riders, but also a lot of the underdogs, along with analysis of all the rivalries, triumphs, and defeats of the race. It’s so well done. You really get a good feel for who many of these guys are and their personalities and how that impacts the race. And watching the race is a whole different experience.

Definitely recommended as a palate cleanser from watching anything to do with [waves hands] all of that out there.

I did the dishes! Even the errant pots and pans and cutting boards.

Also, we cleaned the Guinea Pig cage, and by "we" I mean Matilda did 80% of the hard stuff and I took the soiled liners down to be washed. (Which is unpleasant enough - carrying armloads of urine soaked cloth down the back stairs etc.)

Also emptied the garbage can and put out the bins.

I need to vacuum and I have a stack of about four packages that need to get in the mail and I should start packing/addressing those so I can run to the P.O. tomorrow.

I've been trying to stick to a disciplined diet and no alcohol for a week or two after my birthday indulgences of cake and pizza and I've been good so far. Fortunately, Alembic has some great mocktails, including my current favorite which is Strawberry Shrub and ginger beer.