Stephanie says

A few Marionberries are ripe. These plums are still very hard although Moose manages to eat a few.

I'm waiting.  The family is waiting for news.  My daughter and her husband are waiting for the birth of their son, eta tomorrow. One's child becoming a parent herself is an odd concept, soon to be a reality.  How very strange.  Milestones, eh?  Born 6-27-2014 at 2:31 am weighing in at 7 lbs and 11 oz             He can call me "Gram" You can call me "Stephanie"

A beautiful selection of small and colorful tomatoes at the market today got me hungering for Caprese, a salad with mozzarella, basil, and a fore mentioned tomatoes.  After the season ends here, I typically abstain from any fresh tomatoes until right about now, when the vine-ripened tomatoes develop some tomato flavor.  For the Caprese, ya got to have fresh basil, which I do in the garden.  The final element is fresh mozzarella balls.  A tub of Fromaggio (cheese in Italian) fresh mozzarella balls were prominently displayed in the cheese case.  I couldn't resist. The first time I ate Caprese was in Manarola, a tiny fishing village on the Italian Riviera sitting at a street side cafe with the warm June sun on my back, the Ligurian Sea in the foreground.  Heavenly.  My traveling companion was my daughter, who as a child ate everything I put in front of her, but who now at age 18 ate only the white food group: pasta, white bread, white cheese - you ge...

Maypop Passionflower  - pretty strange looking flower.  The plant tag said it takes 1 - 2 years to bloom after planting.  Not for this one!  Look at the flower buds above the bloom.  It has a very sturdy vine that dies back after a hard frost.  I was on a grocery run before getting totally distracted by racks of flower and vegetable plants on prominent display.   For sale!   How fortuitous.   I bought a horseradish plant.   I need that for Christmas prime rib.   Must tell my SIL - he’s got a deep fondness for horseradish sauce and prime rib.   Picked up a rosemary plant too.   I nearly killed mine with homemade bug spray – it looks very puny and it just might not make it and I need lots of fresh rosemary for that fabulous sausage-pasta dish. Dang, that is delicious.   Then I realized I needed to go the Territorial Seed Co. because they likely had eggplants.   The seeds I soaked and babied and...

I moved in with Terry a couple weeks ago.   Not like that.   Offices, moved offices.   Grabbed your attention though, huh?   Now it’s me and three men, each of us with our own office AND our own bathroom.   Nice.   It’s fun to work with Terry every day.   I know, I know, that point has been clearly made.   I dote on the man.     He continually surprises me with his thoughtfulness.   For instance: I brought along a giant spathiphyllum to a well-suited home in the lobby and Terry decided it needed a plant stand.   So he built one.   Ala Mission style.   Out of scrap.  Isn’t this great? He may have opened the door, (ha ha ha, door-factory joke) to many requests in the future.    Among other things, we build custom doors, (that being the "Royal We" - I push paper).   Check us out @ Aldercraft - We manufacture custom doors

On a hot day, in classic “dress for success” style, I wear: cargo shorts; a loose tee; a long-sleeve cotton plaid workshirt; big straw hat; garden gloves of course; my sweatband is a folded Harley Davidson handkerchief, American flag just recognizable in the claw of an eagle, (its provenance best forgotten. Doesn’t that just get you wondering?); and the final element is knee-high black rubber boots.   I’m making a fashion statement to any passersby who might notice: that one must armor-up before venturing into the tall, unmown grass known for snake habitation.   The beauty of a small town is that nobody pays much attention to the random oddball.   Besides, I’m past the age of drawing admiring glances as I’m doing yardwork, and I’m conscious not to present a full (and by that, I mean broad) bent-over posterior view to the tweeny boys venturing past on skateboards and bikes.   I don’t want to damage their tender sensibilities.    All for a tee...

Ripening raspberry emerges when I thwack down weeds in the berry patch!