If it weren't for the fact that this is malaria central I'd be sitting outside right now.  It has been a beautiful day.  Blue skies, 72 degrees.  But we have the worst freaking micro-skeeter problem.  There is a lot of green around us and probably standing water in all of the gardens.  And despite spraying in spring and summer we swarmed.  Grace sat out in the sun for half an hour last time here and came in with 22 bites.  The Maine woods ain't got nuthin' on this place.

I have a friend here, an American gal who works with me, who spent all last year preparing to do half of Il Cammino di Santiago in Northern Spain.  She walked over an hour to work each day and hiked most weekends.  She bought all the right clothes and booked hostels and hotels along the route.  She planned on taking it slowly, she's a couple years older than I am, and gave herself 12 days to do it.  Along the way she began to feel unwell and assumed she was just not as in shape as she had hoped but she trudged on and made to the end where, instead of spending a few relaxing days in the celebratory spa she had booked, she collapsed and spent a few days in the ICU of the local Spanish hospital.  Complete heart failure.  She returned to Italy where she had open heart surgery and spent the rest of the summer, and up til now, recovering!  The woman walked about 225 miles in heart failure!  And I bitch and complain about hiking up a stupid little mountain!  Anywho... so last Saturday I took her shopping and we had a little picnic in the hills.  Sunday I did this:

Who's the big girl??

moi