It's spring!

Since I last wrote -- yeah, I know it's been too long -- we've not experienced a frost at all, and yesterday temperatures were in the low 80s. Most of the flowering trees and shrubs are in full bloom -- bradford pears, cleveland pears, forsythia, tulip trees (wish we had one of those), and many flowering crab apples. Our peach, plum and apricots are in full bloom.

Barry has most of the back garden in -- swiss chard, spinach, peas, beets, potatoes, etc. He's also redone the herb garden -- looks great -- and the cat loves the catnip we're raising just for him.

The lawn got mowed for the first time yesterday and today, and it looks so nice outside now.

Most of the trees have not leaved out yet, but the maple flowers are out, and other trees won't be far behind.

On a totally different note, we've discovered a new grocery store. Dunham's in Stanford, about 10 miles away, carries ONLY Kentucky bred and raised beef. We bought a whole rib-eye steak slab (I guess that's what you call it) for $5.99 a pound, which is about half the price in the major grocery stores. Plus we know we're supporting Kentucky agriculture that way. They slice it any way you want it -- we had most of it cut at 5/8 inch, with some on the end sliced really thin for rib-eye sandwiches. We've NEVER spent that much for meat before, but it should last us most of the summer, along with the pork loin we bought the other day. The meat manager is very helpful, trying to answer any questions we had -- except that he was SOOO busy cutting meat, he really couldn't take much time with us. WE WILL BE BACK!

Right now, I have an Easter ham in the oven, basted with a mixture of pineapple juice, brown sugar, ginger and nutmeg, and I stuck some whole cloves in. It's cooking very slowly, and should be wonderful tomorrow, with sweet potatoes and greens, and a good Moscato wine!

Speaking of which, in about a month, we won't have to drive 15 miles to buy a bottle of beer. Danville voted "wet" last month, and by June, we'll be able to buy all our beer, wine, and distilled spirits right in town. Just like most people in Maine can do, and HAVE been able to do for years! The naysayers are still barraging the newspaper with all the gloom and doom predictions that will now happen to Danville -- strip clubs on every street corner, prostitutes all over town, drunks falling down in the middle of Main Street, and the whole city going to hell in a hand-basket -- yeah, just like the thousands of other towns across the country where one can buy wine with a meal, and a bottle of vodka in a liquor store. These people simply prey on fear -- so like many issues here and in Maine.

OK, dinner is ready, so I'm off!