DOMESTIC AND LITERARY ARTS

Finally, we have tomatoes. Having taken the trouble to start and cosset seedlings I feel that it is only fair that there should be some reward for entire process. This year my  veggies and herbs are planted in containers. I have switched, reluctantly, to plastic pots. Unglazed terracotta is  aesthetically pleasing, but it allows water to evaporate too rapidly and the result is distressed plants that cannot survive our 100F weather. I also use whisky half barrels which I tuck behind thorny rose bushes to keep the deer away. So far so good. The pear tomatoes are way ahead of the Tigarellas. I  confess that I am impatient for them to ripen. We have been baking bread with  whey  left from goat milk cheese and the idea of bruschetta, chevre and olives  dances in my head.
Working on novels and book reviews takes up most of my time. I have recently posted a review of Robin Oliveira's novel, MARY SUTTER in my book blog, www.richtexts.blogspot.com. This coming week I will be reading from a treasure trove of goodies  I received  Simon and Schuster-- Eric leMay's book about cheese, IMMORTAL MILK,   THE WISDOM OF THE LAST FARMER, David Mas Masumoto's reflections on organic farming, ABIGAIL ADAMS,  a biography, by Woody  Holton , BETWEEN ASSASSINATIONS, a novel by Aravind Adiga, and  THE MADONNAS OF ECHO PARK,   by Brando Skyhorse. Additionally, I will review Carey Wallace's THE BLIND CONTESSA'S WRITING MACHINE and Alan Furst"s SPIES OF THE BALKANS. I am looking forward to a guest post  Carey will be writing for richtexts and I will be giving away a copy of THE BREAKING OF THE EGGS--see richtexts for details.

SNOW STORM BULLETINS

Eerily beautiful  Nanking cherry branches.

 Sugar maple tree dazzles the eye.

The snow plow has yet to appear in our neighborhood. That is not surprising. We do not have the snow removal equipment for this kind of precipitation. And just as I type this,  I hear tits scraping sound of the  plow as it  labors past our house.  Shortly thereafter we have a brief  power outage. This inspires us to break out the emergency candle, oil lamps, tea lights.  

"Guard your snow shovel," counsels a friend. Good advice. There seem to be no snow shovels left at Lowe's Wal-Mart and general stores in our area. Crikey!  Occasionally, hooligans steal wood and snow shovels in our fair village .I am not worried.   The attack cats will deal with  thieves, should they show up. As a last resort we can unleash the Great Dane, but I doubt that it will be necessary . Purloiners of wood usually come in the dead of night to load their ill-gotten logs onto their cars. I'd like to see them drive through six inches of this wet stuff. More than one foolhardy driver has failed to negotiate our driveway in  good weather. Six inches of snow make  it  impassible. Goody. 

Hmm...not so goody that I seem to have  the flu. Oh well, I suppose I will be helicoptered out to the hospital if need be. For the mo, the family plies me with hot tea and soup. If neither cures  the cough, fever  and achy break feeling, being cared for helps the morale.

Local papers have photos of empty shelf after empty shelf in our supermarkets. What a bonanza for Safeway and Hell Mart. We stocked up early. The infanta baked bread today using a modified recipe from the King Arthur Flour site. Delish.

DC airports are closed, I hear. Apparently MARC commuter trains will not be running though a freight train just went by. More anon.