Good Morning, All. The warmer weather has been nice. It still feels a bit out of sync though. These temps should have been here a month ago. And geese have come back on their way south. I expect to see (and hear) them later this month. Nothing seems to be coming in its expected time. The garden is doing well and seems to be reveling in the warmth. I do have to watch the water though. Things are drying out so quickly even though all my containers and pots outside are plastic. The nice thing about doing containers is that, at least for me, there isn't as much work once it is all set up. I have caught the weeds before they became a problem. I only found three caterpillars all of which were quickly dispatched to my compost tub. Yesterday I spent more time than usual because I had a new crop of lettuce to transplant from the egg carton starter cups to the garden and I transplanted the lavender out of a large container into its own smaller pot. I hope I can salvage it but the petunias and portulaca just about drove it out. I didn't expect them to spread so.

Tuesday Mom fixed zucchini boats from the one mature zucchini. It was very tasty. The globe shape lends itself to the boats very nicely. We have also used a small Mexibell pepper which had a bit more kick than we expected and a couple of the False Alarm peppers (taken green) which were as advertised--mild with only a hint of heat. I think I will try to save some seeds from the Mexibell a see if they will grow next year.

I found this little item on MSNBC as I scanned the headlines on my way to e-mail. I am, as I so often find myself, of divided mind about this. My first thought was of Bernie Madoff who, I admit frankly, I would not mind seeing in a bread line or public shelter. I would not mind one bit if a large number of the other white collar criminals who have plagued us of recent years joined him. But then I also thought of the majority of criminal cases that have made the new and realized that most of the inmates don't have the resources to pay such fees. I also don't believe that prison inmates should be served substandard or spoiled food, or charged for toilet paper. As one of the people interviewed noted, it doesn't make much sense to release a convict with a bus ticket and a debt of $40k or more. It is hard enough for most convicts to make an honest living when released without that kind of millstone around their necks. And I wonder how much is window dressing--sanctimonious idiots trying to appear tough on crime without doing anything truly constructive about the problem. But the thought that comes most uncomfortably to mind is 'DEBT SLAVERY.'

Time for breakfast, a turn among the garden containers, and some piecing. Bye for now.