Post-vacation De-brief

So, I had a short post ready on my phone to upload - and that's when I became pretty sure that there was no signal (bandwidth) available on the island. I'm glad for the local residents up there: the sheer volume of visitors was unusual - it had been quiet the past 10 - 15 years I'd been up to the island - so this was, in a sense, "back to normal" and businesses were doing well, from what I could see. That also meant, however, that my normal ability to get a line out on my cel phone and check email, etc., was... yeah. no bandwidth available! or, if you're old enough to remember, "All circuits are busy right now, please hang up and try your call again later."

So here we are at "later" and I'm back in the office, and still haven't downloaded my photos from my camera.

I'll get to that soon enough, and I'll post a proper update then - because saying "wow, there were such a variety of cool-looking mushrooms all around our campsite" just isn't the same as being able to show you.

Also, I bought a few books from a bookstore that I found on the drive south and home; including a book with gorgeous photos and clear directions on how to preserve various fruit & vegetable jellies, chutnies, pickles, etc. You can see where this is heading, can't you?

I'll get back to you on this when I've got photos to document the various adventures, misadventures, and mistakes.
Until then, ...

Vacation...

Veronica, originally uploaded by Margo and George.

and then shortly thereafter, I headed out of town for a long weekend. I visited DC on my way south; stopping in to visit a few favorite museums - the Sackler /Freer Gallery of Asian Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the gardens surrounding the Smithsonian castle complex. In spite of foggy, overcast weather, I had a nice visit to the capitol. Lots of flower macro photos up on my flickr site. I eventually wound up at a spring festival down in South Carolina. Lovely, quiet, restful. Enough said. Driving back north was nothing but rain, unfortunately, so it wasn't much of a scenic trip. So much for the Shenandoahs...another time I'll have to make a trip down there to camp and hike the AT on that stretch.

Gone Hiking!

Well, hopefully the garden will survive another week of neglect and weed-jungledom, because I'm heading up to Maine to hike and pick blueberries and sit on the beach. Yes, there is *one* sand beach on an otherwise rocky island, not that I object to rocks, klinker, or 50F degree Atlantic water. It didn't stop me as a kid, and it won't keep me from swimming now!

Thanks once more to the Duchess of 78A for agreeing to water my forlorn tomato plants. Goodness knows the potatoes seem to be thriving in spite of my neglect, as are the raspberries!

See you all in a week, barring a rainy day that allows me to post from the island's library...but I admit that's not terribly likely. :)

Weekend Update

So, I've been scurrying around at work trying to finish up a few things to hand along before I take off for a long weekend. I'll be up in Maine in Acadia Nat'l Park, hiking with my buddy Chiquitita until Tuesday, so you won't hear from me until Wednesday at least. The "Duchess of 78A" has kindly offered to water my plants while I'm away, and Lunabelle's and Stella's Mom has offered to feed and water George. (thank you everyone!)

GardenPunks - Thank you again for your good wishes - I'm remaining optimistic about motorists' attitudes. And yes, I'm afraid my commute by bike is indeed 14.2 miles each way. Oh well. I have two bike shops and several snippets of bike path along the way. And like I said, killing two birds with one stone: cardio + less gasoline purchases in my budget and my footprint.

Thanks to everyone who's been commenting - more updates (and probably lots of photos from the hikes) to follow next week (or, more realistically, next weekend). Crossing my fingers for decent weather...