Blackberry season is in full swing. As is always the case this time of year, the biggest, best, juiciest ones are hidden amid the brambles, so I always emerge with scratches all over my hands and halfway up my forearms to harvest them, but it’s worth it. Our black raspberry season started off so well, then ended up being a bust when we didn’t get the needed rain at the right time as they were ripening. The blackberries will more than make up for that.
Asparagus season is over, so the cream of asparagus soup I brought my mom yesterday, which she absolutely loves, is the last of it for the year — from asparagus we grew ourselves, anyway. Sure, I can make more, but I’d have to buy the asparagus.
Zucchini and yellow squash season is also in full swing, and the tomatoes are coming on strong. We’re up to our eyeballs in summer squash. I’ll have to get creative with ways to cook it, beyond basic soup, stuffing it, and using it for vegetarian lasagne. It seems to be mostly the Black Krims and Romas that are ripening now, but some of the others, both heirlooms and newer hybrids, are getting there, too.
There was something funky going on with my really old Garmin GPS that caused me to say “fuck it,” and purchase a new one. It worked fine on battery power, but as soon as I plugged it into the dashboard’s cigarette lighter, the screen would dim so much that it was unreadable. I did the software and map updates on it, and it might work a little better now, plugged in, but the only thing reliable is battery power. Three hours on battery power will get me approximately halfway across my home state. Forget about those cross-country drives. Anyway, the new one I ordered has shitloads more features, including lane assist, and birds-eye views of upcoming interchanges, which is going to be a huge help driving through (or around) major metropolitan areas.
As for the house hunting, over the weekend our realtor emailed me the specs of a listing that recently sold, very comparable to what she knows we want, in the same general area. It gives me a good idea of what the discount off asking is, in this market, for similar properties. Of course, each one is unique, with its own plusses and minuses. Anyway, it gives me encouragement to ask for a second viewing of one particular farm, to both assess some things we didn’t pay that much attention to during our first showing, and assess how much I want to offer for it, initially. I love the place, and want it, but it has some quirks that I can use as bargaining chips. At the very least, I now know I was in the ballpark when I tossed around in my head what an initial offering price could/should be. I can rest assured that it won’t be insulting, and will be considered as a starting point for negotiations, especially if I offer cash at closing as an incentive. I have a copy of the legal owners’ disclosure, and nothing seems amiss. The owners will never get back anywhere near what they put into the place, but that’s their problem, not mine.
However, before I put in an offer, I: 1) want to see the property again, including a better inspection of the grounds, 2) revisit a few things I didn’t pay that much attention to at first look, and 3) understand why the property assessment was cut in half 10 years ago, so I don’t get hit with a reassessment surprise if I buy it, and suddenly see the taxes double. If it turns out that the reassessment was due to selling off some of the land, so the one and only next door neighbor could build his house, that’s fine; that won’t come back to haunt me.
ETA: We have tix to see Matthew Sweet, Wishbone Ash, and Lita Ford. How mixed up is that? Eh, we’re old fogies.
My vegetables hit the dirt and promtly died, so I’m living my vegetable gardening dreams through you. The flowers are hanging in there, though.
🙂
Anything floral around here, besides a couple of butterfly bushes, is long gone. Trade you some ‘maters for a fistful of flowers? I can even toss in a couple of eggplants.
I’ve got neither ‘maters nor blooms. I could send ya buckets of figs, though. Nothing stops those from coming in.
Meanwhile, back in Nicky-land, it’s his 40th birthday! Hooray! What’d ya’ll get him? I won’t tell you what I got him! By the way, does anyone know any tricks for gift-wrapping a wasp nest and a fire-ant bed?
Apparently not much is happening but I thought this was pretty funny:
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Nickolaus Pacione
20 hrs ·
Tomorrow I turn 40 years old and smelling like a toilet because of an accident the uncle had it tracked into the bed as well. It is a smell I can’t get out of me and it’s a nightmare. I will say that much and been living on takeout.
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Well, he’s older, but at least his smell is improving!
There’s got to be an interesting story behind this whole “accident.” Too bad nobody who can write stories knows what went on.
Maybe for his birthday somebody could tell Nicky that bedsheets are washable.
So, the whole house smells like the restrooms at Giants Stadium during halftime? I thought Nicky lived in the basement. I’m surprised the stank wafted all the way down there, and even more surprised he can smell it over his own stank.