DAY5 or what happens when the neighbors go on vacation

My good neighbor Andy and his wife Pat left for Maine last evening.  They missed a tremendous thunderstorm which woke this household at three in the morning.  It was a spectacular light and sound show, but it did little to alleviate the oppressive heat and humidity which was back with a vengeance at daybreak.  I thought to myself - I should be a good neighbor, I should go check on Andy's blackberries.   I'm sure that the ONLY reason he was able to leave town with clear conscience is because he KNEW that I would look after his crop.

Some flour and sugar, a few pats of butter, fresh lemon juice ...

If only there was a way to offer a scratch-and-sniff feature on this blog!  It smells better than the Italian bakery on Sunday morning.  After Mass.

My Italian sunflowers fell over in the storm.  I also lost one of the tomato plants that my sister gave to me, but will you LOOK at that big marmaluke tomato!!!!  (marmaluke is a Carson expression - it makes me laugh whenever he says it - always so enthusiastically!!!  Always reserved for something inordinately HUGE!)  That marmaluke barely fits in the palm of my hand.  I have marmaluke paws.

Do you remember the movie 'Michael' which starred John Travolta, Jean Stapleton, William Hurt and Andy whats-her-name?  There is a scene where the actors are ordering and eating and singing about pie.  "Pie is pretty", Andy chirps.  And she's right - the only thing that makes it prettier is the scoop of haagen-dazs vanilla to one side!