Old friends

Most folks peel the fuzzy skin off a peach before eating it. I don’t, because that’s the way I like them. Had one this morning. It was soft, juicy; I did have to lean over the sink to eat it. Sweet, yes, a little, and, well, peachy-tasting. Polite comes to mind. Nice enough, I guess, for a total stranger.

I know some old peaches. I’m acquainted with J.H. Hale. Good friends with Elberta. Spent many a fine afternoon with Hale Haven. On a first name basis with Reliance, Red Haven, and a few others; trust ‘em with my taste buds.

But this one was a stranger.

I was a little leery when we purchased it. From another state, the sign said. It and its siblings were big, round, hard, fuzzy things. Looked ripe, but the guy said to let them sit on the counter for a week or so, and they’d “soften right up.”

What?

Apparently, “soften right up” is the new ripe. Who knew? Anyway, we were out of peach jam, and this was all we could get.

So I asked for an introduction. “What’s its name?”

He looked at me kind of funny, but humored me. Looked it up. Rattled off a string of numbers.  “X323B, or F25R, or something like that.” I didn’t respond. “Freestone,” he said. “Midseason.” I waited. “Good market peach.” I nodded.

That’s nice. “Good market peach.” Growers like that. So do shippers. Commercial canners. Grocers. Farm stand owners. “Good market peach” means profit. Convenience. 401k. College loan payments.

Whatever. I understand. Really I do.

But “Good market peach” is not a benchmark for flavor.

And friends don’t have numbers.

Howard Tuckey                                                                                                     9/2016

Catching up part 1

Ooookaaay! Looks like I can still post, so why not? Don't like it? Don't read it! :-)
So how to catch up?

I won't bore you with health stuff - let it suffice to say that my wife and I have both had to make some "adjustments" to our lifestyle. Both of us are retired now, and this year we celebrate our 50th anniversary. I'm blessed!

In that regard, you might find something here or there about our family - our four daughters and sons-in-law, our nine grandkids, and now our two GREAT-grandkids!

Yes, blessed!

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I see I started a book list way back there. Hmmm - how many books have I read since 2012? Wow!
There are over 700 books on my Kindle alone! Now, I haven't read them all, but I have read way more than half of them. Many of them are free copies of old classics, that I peruse from time to time.
So that's one area that needs work

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Three of the books on my Kindle are ones I wrote myself - Mattie's Place, Mattie's Town, and Annie Down The Street. The first two are collections of short stories that I like to describe as "Alice's Restaurant on Prozac." A few have actually described them as sort of "Lake Woebegone-ish." I find that extremely flattering, and I'll try to reach that level of quality. The third is a varied collection, containing mild horror, science fiction, and dark humor. Might even be a poem in there. I haven't read through it for a while.

All of them are available for Kindle, at Amazon.com.

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Still doing the garden thing, but I've cut down from the 8000 square foot plot to a few raised beds closer to the house. I don't walk so well any more, so that's one of the "adjustments." I also built a greenhouse right next to the beds, and am enjoying it. One of the topics I enjoy talking and writing about is gardening, so I'll be doing some of that.

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Yep, gardening, and cooking, and writing, and, well, whatever tickles my fancy at any given time. Except politics. We'll try to stay away from election politics. I do talk about it a lot, and have some strong opinions on the subject, but not here.
I hope.

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So, welcome - or, welcome back! We'll see how it goes.

Wow! I had forgotten about this place!

Got busy, and it totally slipped from my mind.

I wonder if I can still even post to it, after all this time?

Ahh -- Rain! You can almost hear the garden sighing!

It's been way too dry so far; the grass crackles when I walk on it, and I can hear the tomatoes beg for a drink as I walk by. Sometimes I carry a couple of gallons of water, but I have to be careful; the one mean zucchini tried to trip me, and I thought I was going to have to call for Tom Bombadil to get me loose!

No, it's not that bad yet, and this afternoon's rain will help for a few days. Maybe long enough for me to bury a temporary water line out to the garden shed so I can do some watering at night. It's nice having our own well.

We've been dealing with pacemakers and other health issues, so I've been doing more reading than writing, but I'm getting caught up on some books I haven't had time for until now. Sometimes I wish there were 36 hours in a day instead of 24, but I'm sure the extra time would fill up to overflowing, and things would be right back to hectic in a hurry!

We've lost some good friends since I was last here, most notably Ray Bradbury. I still read his books whenever I get a chance. Another one I'll really miss is Andy Griffith. He was like everybody's favorite uncle, cousin, big brother, all rolled into one. I'm hopin' that up in Heaven there's a street sign pointing to Mayberry.

There are others, but these two are enough to miss for now.

And that's enough of this for now as well. Hoping not to take so long between entries -- gotta get back to what I'd like to do best!

see ya

That long ago?

It's hard to believe the last time I posted on this blog was back in November! Lots of things happening since then. So much so that I don't know where to begin! But to keep it short, I'll just hit the high points.

I published two more books since then -- Mattie's Town, and Annie Down The Street on Kindle, and then moved my first book Mattie's Place  to Kindle as well. Now to get them visible enough to start selling!

We are currently visiting our daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids in Wickenburg, Arizona. It's beautiful here, and I've been doing lots of reading, and actually finished and published my third Kindle book from here a little over a week ago.

Dorie is retired now, so after this trip we'll settle down to learning how to live in today's economy on a retirement income. She's busy making dresses for our oldest granddaughter's upcoming (June) wedding. She'll be making the wedding cake as well -- a large Red Velvet cake. Lots of work!

I can't wait to get back into the garden! Even planted a row of peas on January 9th. Cari Grace, our youngest granddaughter, started some seeds for me yesterday back home, so I'll have some tomatoes and cucumbers all ready to go into the garden when it's time.

Will try to keep this more up to date, but gotta run along now.

That long ago?

It's hard to believe the last time I posted on this blog was back in November! Lots of things happening since then.

November 30?

Can you believe this weather? Here it is the last day of November, and the day before yesterday I was out on the back deck with a cup of coffee, reading a book! Amazing!
Cold weather is coming soon, though, time to snuggle in for the winter, I think.

Just canned another batch of Dorie's veggie-beef soup, and we're looking at doing up another batch of applesauce, while they still have apples at a decent price at the orchard. We've got some granddaughters who can't get enough of that stuff! And I should have made a double batch of apple butter as well!

The garden is resting for the winter, but there's activity going on underneath. The garlic is in, and I'm doing next year's garden on paper -- lots of heirloom tomatoes, more parsnips, and I'll be trying some of the vertical gardening techniques I've been learning about.

Didn't get the tunnel greenhouse built this year, but it's still on the burner for next year. Of course, if the snow holds off I just might still be able to get it put up this year.

Finally got my shop cleared out so that I can work in it again. I'm hoping that one of the Edenpure heaters will keep it warm enough, as I don't like using the kerosene heater in a space that small.

Still working on the next two books, and planning to send them all to the various Ebook venues, like Kindle, Nook, Sony reader, etc. Maybe soon!

Enjoy!