Good Morning, All. And it IS a good morning. The sun is out and the temperature is supposed to stay in the low to mid 70s. We would be happy to have this all the time--no heating or air-conditioning. The garden is slowly winding down. I have a few more lettuce plants but won't plant any more when we use those. I should be getting a nice bunch of peppers off the Chocolate Beauty and may get some more of the Mexibelle peppers. I have pulled the yellow squash plants. They never fully recovered from the powdery mildew and did not look like they would put out any fruit before frost comes. I have three acorn squash waiting to be cooked and frozen with, maybe, two more. I have pulled two of the five plants that have finished bearing. We got a nice head of broccoli from one of those plants with several more coming up. I was able to get the cabbage worm problem under control. The little fairy eggplant has a whole mess of blossoms and a nice little fruit forming so I have hopes of having some of that to cook and freeze.

We are almost set for winter. The apples and peaches are getting plentiful and the grocery store was running a sale on bananas this week--half the normal price. Mom fixed a banana cream pie with meringue (which we are eating now) along with two peach pies (frozen for later.) She is working on a pair of apple pies which will also be frozen and may get some banana nut bread and a couple of pumpkin pies ready for the freezer as well. That should take care of our winter needs and carry us well into next year.

I found this entry on Huffington Post by way of Ronni Bennett at Time Goes By. I can only agree with Ann Minch--these 'bankers' are 'evil, thieving bastards.' I have begun thinking of our country as a 'kelptocracy' not a democracy. The thieves rule here and it doesn't look like that will change any time soon if some of the political pundits are right. Several are saying that the appetite for reform and new regulation of the finance industry is fading fast now that things don't look so bleak for them. We have only one credit card which is paid in full each month and we watch that closely for any signs that the terms have been unilaterally changed or that new fees have been added. Should that happen the issuer will get it back, in tiny pieces, with a stern letter explaining why they have lost a customer of some 20+ years.

And to continue the theme of the American Kleptocracy go to John Aravosis at Americablog. Health insurance premiums going up by 131%--much faster than costs, inflation, or wages. Has anyone any good idea on how we might translate Ann Minch's debtor revolt into a revolt against the health insurance industry?? I would love to hear it.