Gosh what a time this is.  In the midst of everything that is going on, the progression of things that have been in the works for some time with me continues.  Thank heavens for that, I say.

 

Here's a look at page one of the CONTRACT for my book!  Zowee wowee!!!  In a little while today I will discuss the details with my agent (doesn't that sound cool?) and will try to understand the ins and outs of what is described in this document. 

 

And the march of the days shows that my little square foot garden patch is doing a good job.  I have one square foot of beans, one square foot of carrots, one of lettuce, one of beets, a few tomatoes (I'm a tomato lover so I have given four squares to them), and one for cukes.

 

Give us a call (252-1500) by noon or so. Dinners are ready by 3 and can be picked up until we close at 7. If you'd like a salad (3.25) or bread (1.25) just let us know.

 

Here are this week's dinner to go options:

 

Monday, June 20

Chicken Piccata 8.25

 

Tuesday, June 21

Fried Green Tomato, Spinach and Mozzarella Stacks 6.50

 

Wednesday, June 22

Pomegranate-glazed Pork Tenderloin 6.50

 

Thursday, June 23

BBQ Ribs with Carolina Cole Slaw (GF) 9.25

 

Friday, June 24

Here is this week's casserole:

 

Wednesday, June 22

Shepherd’s Pie with Hickory Nut Gap Beef

Full: 65 Half: 32.50

 

And this week's Lasagna is:

 

Friday, June 24

Italian Chicken Lasagna

Full: 60.50 Half: 30.25

 

Oh I love this time of year.  Farmers call, drive into town with their trunks and truck beds full of their harvest.  We have some 300+ tiny farms in the area, which is an amazing and fine thing.

 

We had been told that the Wednesday tailgate market was going to move, which made me very sad.  They've been in this neighborhood for years but there was a bit of a split and I'd heard they were moving.

 

NOT SO!

 

Turns out those who want to move are moving BUT the stalwarts are staying.  So please, please PLEASE come and make sure you buy your produce from these hard working folks.  As I pointed out last week, there's a mostly-empty parking lot on Lexington Avenue, right behind our building.  And then you can stop buy here and get some extra things to go with your fresh purchases.

 

June 20, 2011

 

Hiya,

 

Well, it is Monday and I’m just now writing to you. We had a weekend of storms and fierce weather and between that and other unexpected turns of events, now is when I am writing. Ah well.

 

We’ve had mornings of lightning and thunder for the past few days. Though they say that is unusual, it has now happened every day with such regularity that maybe it is our new norm. It’s kind of funny to wake up to the rumble, the flashes of light, the stirring of the leaves, the quickening of the wind. Tye, my pup, generally self-contained, hops up onto my bed and gets closer and closer to me, assuring me she’ll protect me from yet another tempest.

 

One thing about this much rain is that I have not been able to get in to look for the Queen that I hope has now hatched in Hive # 1. Bees don’t like to be disturbed when it is rainy or windy or, heaven forbid, when it’s lightning. So I’m just hoping that things are going along well and that the bees are doing what they need to be doing. I’m really just an observer, after all.

 

Speaking of observing, I’m trying to figure out how to deal with this time of my life. I’ve now started the treatment that will bring me back to health. Oddly, I didn’t feel unhealthy until I started get treated. How’s that figure? And the way these things go, the trick seems to be to blast the gremlins with as much force as possible and then hope like hell that the resilience of the non-gremlin parts will prevail and bring me back to a place of stability before the next blast. This first round was a hard hitter for me and I felt knocked way down.

 

Through it all, I am getting support and love and care from many, many people and that really helps. In the middle of feeling so dizzy, it is good to open my eyes and see everyone else standing still and strong, standing by with words and thoughts and care. This makes a huge difference.

 

So today I am at work and for the moment the storms have stopped. In an hour I will talk to my agent about my book contract. Though I have actually already started, maybe I’ll say that today is the day that the real writing begins, the day that the roads starts the climb back up to the light from the dark of these past few extremely challenging days. One recipe today, one story tomorrow, one little bit at a time.

 

When I decided to ride my bike across the country a few years ago, a sweet friend, who had done that ride a few years before, said, “Just keep making little circles with your feet and you’ll get there.” That ride was, at the time, the hardest thing I’d ever done. Now the idea of making little circles with my feet seems a breeze compared to this particular ride I find myself on. But maybe it’s more similar than I think. We’ll see.

 

Okay? Okay.

 

Oh, and I have one square of Rainbow Chard and one square of Broccoli too.  I'm very pleased with this little garden.  I've taken to sitting in my yard watching the bees zoom in and out of their hives, checking on the progress of my little beds. 

 

We have a crackerjack team of cooks, as you know.  Turns out, they are also swell landscapers and gardeners too.  Hmm, maybe the two go hand in hand?