This is what my arms looked like day before yesterday. They’re slightly better today, but infinitely uglier, because each blister scabs as it heals. I look like I’ve wrapped my arms with bubble wrap. Bubble wrap that’s been used with burgundy paint. It’s nasty.

My right arm had lots of blisters right in the bend of my elbow, and is so swollen that I can’t straighten it out, or bend it enough to put something in my mouth. Eating and brushing my teeth are real challenges right now—my right arm doesn’t bend far enough, and I’m kind of useless with my left!

The good news is that I went and flashed my nasty, oozing arms at the Bad Neighbors, and their daughter came over the next day to let me know that they’d sprayed Roundup along the fence line, and were going to try to have some of the scrub cleared. She’s interested in gardening on a budget, so I mentioned a few plants that would choke out a lot of the scrub. She’s starting an herb garden in her backyard. When I’m better, I’m going to bring her some chocolate mint, which she’d never heard of before, some rosemary babies, which I have in abundance, and a list of shade-loving ground covers.

Meanwhile, the front yard needs mowing badly, and I’m just not up to it yet. I’m contemplating putting on long sleeves and jeans, even though it’s in the 80s today, and venturing out to the store for supplies.