It's a busy week... and it's only Monday. Actually, last week, this week, and next week are just one very long, very busy 21-day week for me. Work is kinda crazy, and I am not home much right now. Good thing I have more energy than I did a month ago!

Thanks for all your nice messages about the news in my last entry. It is fun to finally be able to tell people what's going on. Tomorrow I will start the fifth month of the pregnancy, so in just a couple more weeks I should be about halfway through. I am starting to get bigger now but I don't have many symptoms at the moment. Although I still get very tired at night.

I've been having a nice time this month, though. The peaches are in at Lyman Orchard and they are great. I've found a great farm stand (Draghi's) on Rt. 17 between Middletown and Glastonbury, and I've been hitting it most weekends as well. Sometimes I combine it with a trip to the Audubon Society in Glastonbury to check out a bird book from the library there. Marty brought me back a box of home-canned vegetables and jam from his trip to Georgia last week (thank you, Anna and Scot!). And we are making lots of plans for next year, too.

I don't have much to update on tonight but I will leave you with an ultrasound picture. This was taken about 4 weeks ago on August 1, so the inhabitant is quite a bit bigger by now:

News and Updates

News and Updates

Here's something new to check out: Farmington Valley Chorus. It's a new website for my chorus -- I've been working on it all summer. There are still a couple of pages that need to be finished up, but mostly it is live!

And something else you may enjoy: a new Raspberry World Gallery. Right now there are only two albums there, from our trip to Pennsylvania two weeks ago, but I intend to use this interface for posting pictures from now on. Be sure to click on the small pictures to see my comments, and the bigger versions. You can even leave comments of your own on the pages with the bigger pictures.

Finally, a bit of personal news: I am pregnant! The due date is in February. I feel like I've been keeping a secret, and I guess I have. It's kind of scary to tell people now, but I'm glad to be able to, as well. It hasn't been easy for us to get this far. But we are very happy to be here.

Maybe now you all know, I can start posting again!

Ziggy's Native Land

Miss Rachel commented on my last post and asked where Ziggy's Native Land is. Here are a couple of clues:


Click to enlarge.

Not enough clues? How about this one?


(You will definitely have to click to see what this is.)

If you guessed Central Pennsylvania, you're right! When we got Ziggy in 1992, Marty and I were attending graduate school at Penn State. We moved away from Central PA in 1997, but this weekend we took a trip back there to visit some of our old haunts. Ziggy didn't come with us, because he hates riding in the car.

Here's one of my favorite sights in Central PA, the round barn outside Centre Hall:



We actually have a professional photo of this barn hanging on our living room wall. It is a magnificent barn!

State College and Penn State have grown a lot since we left that area, but most of the other places we visited are just about like they used to be. We hit all our favorite Centre County spots: Bellefonte, Centre Hall, Pleasant Gap, Rebersburg, Aaronsburg, Boalsburg, Axemann, and even Penns Cave! We had some great meals and even visited with one of our old next-door neighbors.

I'll try to share some more photos later in the week. I took a bunch of pictures of Bellefonte!

Off to Happy Valley

We are headed off for a long weekend in Ziggy's Native Land. I'll be back in a few days with lots of pictures of my favorite restaurants and other things.

Have a good weekend.

Taste of Summer

Don't be jealous.

The tomato sandwich is one of my favorite foods. I dream of it for eleven months of the year -- and for the other month, I indulge myself completely. Yesterday I had the first one of the season.

The wonderful thing about tomato sandwiches is that they always live up to my expectations. As long as I can make myself wait until the tomatoes are really ripe, they are just as good as they ever were, from my childhood on.

My tomato sandwich recipe:

local ripe tomatoes, sliced
white or wheat bread
Hellman's mayonnaise (not light)
salt and pepper

Spread bread with mayonnaise. Pile up tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Close sandwich, slice, and enjoy. This is a seasonal recipe, best when local tomatoes are at their peak.

Or, if you're feeling greedy, you can go for the Kitchen Sink Sandwich version. Two layers of juicy tomatoes -- no wonder you have to eat it over the kitchen sink.

Now's the time, people. Don't let tomato season pass you by. Get out there and enjoy a taste of summer.