I'm back!

Your patience, gentle reader, is appreciated! It’s been more busy than usual. Two Saturdays ago was the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which was a once-in-a-lifetime event, despite the presence of our president. At least Laura did most of the talking. Celebrities that I spotted included Mary Tyler Moore, Goldie Hawn, Richard Shiff, the Williams sisters (Serena and ?), politicos Condaleza Rice and Martin O’Malley, and various news people. Got to shake Jim Lehrer’s hand, and sought out Maureen Dowd to tell her how much I like her New York Times column. Other attendees included Jane Fonda and Richard Gere, but I didn't see them. Oh, and how could I forget? Constantine from American Idol. I did see him, although I would never have known who he was, but he created quite the stir. I'd say he was almost the main event.

Out in the garden, it’s a mixed bag. Planted the third quarter last weekend. Now, in old-fashioned farm terms, a “quarter section” would be 160 acres — the size parcel my sister and her husband started with in the mountains of western Pennsylvania. In Sweet Surrender terms, a quarter section is closer to 160 square feet. The first quarter that I planted, back in early April, is a bust. Other than a few brave lettuce plants, almost none of the seed germinated; too cold and wet. This last section I planted, though, is coming up nicely, so far. We need rain now; I’ve been watering.

Looks like my first-ever strawberry crop will be good, plenty for personal consumption. Next year should be abundant.

The tomatoes are ready to go in, this weekend. I ended up buying some plants, since my starts looked so lame. Went to a nursery I heard about in Littlestown, PA, Dana’s, which was great. A nice little local nursery. They had Green Zebra tomatoes, which are one of my favorites and very difficult to find.

More catching up later…