It’s been an uneventful week since returning from our mini-vacation.   My health continues to improve and worsen, day by day, so I never know what I’m in for until I open my eyes in the morning. Standing on shaky ground, wondering what comes next, seems to be my new status quo.

Regardless, I decided Saturday would be productive, no matter what. Fortunately, I woke up feeling better than in recent history, so I took advantage of it. After easing the morning in with coffee and comic book reading, I headed out to mow the lawn. The forecast was for high temperatures in the 80s and 90s this weekend, so I wanted to get it done before the high heat of the day.  Despite a few waves of nausea, I managed to get the front and back lawn mowed, which thrilled me.

Here’s Harvey and Rita, my yin and yang puppies, enjoying the sunshine on a patch of dirt in our yard that refuses to grow grass, despite our best efforts.

After a little rest and shower, we headed out to do some grocery shopping. We had hoped to go on a bit of a bigger adventure into Vermont,  but I wasn’t feeling great after mowing the lawn and didn’t know how long my “get up and go” would hold out before it “got up and went.” So, we stayed local.

First stop was a new local restaurant, “Oh, Corn!” which advertises itself as a completely gluten free restaurant:

We had been wanting to try it out, both because its local and because its gluten free, and finally decided, despite my re-ocurring gut issues, we should check it out. We ordered a small sampling of their dishes, and I enjoyed tasting several things.  Their food is delicious, and we will definitely be patronizing them again.  It was nice to be in a restaurant where every item is gluten free and I had all the same choices as everyone else does. While I have managed to get by when dining out, it gets a little frustrating and depressing having only one or two options on the menu, having to ask questions of waiters and chefs, and being the high maintenance guy at the table when out with friends. I try to laugh it off, but it does get to me sometimes.

After lunch, we headed next door, in the same plaza, to the Green Grocer:

This is a natural food store that carries a lot of gluten free products and staples, so we are eager to support it. While we can’t get all of our groceries here (it’s more expensive than the local big chain grocery stores,) we can get a  lot of them and it had many of the items that are on my new “recommended” list for gastroparesis, particularly fermented foods (which are good for aiding digestion) such as  Sauerkraut and Kefir.

After that, we headed across the street to a recently discovered fresh seafood store that we love, Harvest Moon Market, where I picked up some scallops, swordfish steak, shrimp and a few other items.

Seafood, and fish in particular, seems to be the best food for me to eat, and easiest to digest, so I indulge in the selections from this store, which are shipped in fresh and never frozen. While I don’t mind eating the occasional frozen fish or shrimp, as a staple of my diet, I much prefer the fresh selections. Plus, while not a dedicated gluten free store, they are gluten knowledgeable and offer a small, daily selection of prepared soups, sauces and salads and are willing to check the ingredients they used, when asked. And the owners are very friendly and a joy to interact with, giving off a mom and pop vibe that is inviting and a nice departure from the unfriendly, impersonal service which has become the standard MO of most major retailers and grocers these days. (I often feel like I’m bothering the folks at the fish counters at the larger grocery stores when I ask questions about their selections.)

By this time, I was running low on steam and my body was starting to punish me for indulging in real food at lunch, so we headed home. While not the adventurous outing I had hoped to indulge in, it was enjoyable to eat out and visit local shops and enjoy a relatively “normal day.” We finished out the evening binge-watching the series ‘The Good Place,” a relatively entertaining comedy that is easy to watch and enjoy, even while half focusing on it and the various auctions on eBay I’m watching.  Speaking of which, I won an auction for a nearly full run of a 60 issue She-Hulk series I’ve been looking for. It was a great buy and I only had to find the 9 issues missing from it to finish the set (easily done with the internet at my fingertips.)This has also inspired me to do a post of some of my other favorite comic characters, aside from Green Lantern, most of whom are women. (Go figure – I like reading about powerful, intelligent, independent women.)

Finally, while not a very pleasant week otherwise (until Saturday, gut issues aside) I got this fun t-shirt in the mail Friday:

I don’t think this purchase surprises anyone who has followed my blog or knows me at all. How could I resist purchasing a T-shirt that has both rainbow colors and Green Lantern on it?

Pretty sweet, eh?