Saturated earth-

-small lakes everywhere after last night's deluge.

Ten day outlook looks promising, I'll throw together an evite tonight for the neighborhood goodbye-to-summer backyard bash.

Bought our first butternut squash today-think I will turn it into a peasant soup with chunks of other root vegetables, garnished with a sprinkling of chopped lemon thyme, toasted pumpkin seeds and a swirl of creme fraiche. Yes, and I'll bake a loaf of crunchy, 'no knead bread' too. Cooler weather has this eat-everything-in-sight-effect on me.