Good Tuesday morning to you all. The possible rains evaporated yesterday so we had sun and moderate temps. We are in the process of catching up on chores that have languished while we were down with the bronchitis. Laundry is spread out all over the living room floor and it will take all day. Not a usual situation for us. Later I have some cucumbers to pick and pickle and some tomatoes to pick and stew. But right now I get to start on my trip through the net and e-mail.

This was the first story on the agenda. Don't you just love the whole notion of 'transparency?' How about the notion of 'moral hazard?' I really do resent the way the financial tail wags our economic dog. And I resent the slight of hand that gave the banks almost $2 trillion of our money with two thirds under the radar. And I resent the fact that the Fed gave it out with no strings attached.

Well, my first two chores are done. No, not the laundry. Rather the tomatoes are stewing with a nice mix of onion, thyme, basil, and the first two of the Zavory peppers. The pot is already giving off the most scrumptious odor. And the cucumbers/onion/salt mix is curing in the fridge while the elements for the pickling liquid are mixing on the counter. I will rinse off the salt early this afternoon and mix in the liquid before putting the future pickles into freezer bags and freezing them. Oh--I didn't tell you--I am doing a spicy freezer pickle. No muss with jars and hot packing.