Mother of the bride dress poll

Some of you know my youngest daughter, Hope, is getting married this fall.  They are having a nautical theme, so their colors are blue and gold (and white, of course).  I picked out a couple of dress possibilities in order of how much I like them - let me know what you think!

1. This one is only $115 from Vbridal - it comes in gold or navy, but I love the silver.  What do you think? 

2. My second choice is also a surprisingly good bargain and it kind of cracks me up that there IS a Black Mother of the Bride Dress website.

3. I like it - especially for $69! Its on Ebay, so I might not decide in time

So which one?  Comment to vote! 

A shark ate my dinner!

July 17, 2016

Out for another beautiful day of fishing on the Delaware bay! As always, I was hopeful there would be fish for dinner, but had a back up plan just in case!

We headed out to drift by the outer wall and caught a couple of nice Kingfish!  I put them on a stringer and we continued to drift for a while.  The bites slowed to non existent, so we headed for the inner wall. 

I put the stringer of fish back out and tied them kind of loosely to the cleat since there was such a length of it (it is really for the pier so it is 20 feet long!). 

There was a tense moment when ferry's were both coming and going on either side of us.  Other than few if any more bites, it was a great day - perfect weather really. 

Then I heard Jim shout and I lurched for the stringer that was rapidly pulling away from the boat  I missed it and broke one of the guides on my rod (not the new Penn, thankfully!).  I felt sick. 

"I'm going to cry." I said, "I'm going to throw up!"  I was so upset I couldn't breath for a moment. Finally we just started fishing again - in silence.  I got a bite!  I started reeling it in. 

I actually saw the second Kingfish we caught earlier slip off the stringer I had just caught with my line and realized the first fish was really just a head now.

Probably not a good idea to have a stringer of fish hanging in the water outside the boat in shark -infested waters. 

Well, the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches were pretty good, actually! 

Double Rainbow!

Spotted this double rainbow while visiting family and attending a blues fest in Upstate New York.

The single one before the second shower brought out the second was a bit brighter, I think!

Historic Lewes Farmer's Market

July 16, 2016

Great Historic Lewes Farmers Market today!  So many good produce is available this time of year. Our first stop is almost always Tommy's stand - he owns Kalmar Farms in Harrington, DE. two large cantaloupes for $5!  We ate one on cottage cheese when we got home.  We don't know everyone by name, but we have our favorites, for sure. 

Another must do is Old World Bakery, where we have a hard time deciding between garlic and olive, usually.  Today we just got the organic sourdough whole wheat. It is "different" and I don't mean that in a bad way.  it is literally like nothing you ever had.

While one of the stand hands, Maggie, and I were discussing the merits of this sour, hearty bread made without yeast, a man tried in vein to interrupt.  I found out later from Jim that he had obtained a croissant from another stand hand and wanted to pay, just wanted to pay, and kept waving his money around.  "He must be from the city," Jim noted.  Yes, must be.

It's nice to talk to the farmers and learn about how they raise their crops and about some of the unusual items they sell or how to prepare them.  Davidson's Exotic Mushrooms actually makes recipes from there mushrooms and have samples and recipe cards to share with the patrons.  This is such a nice touch and the recipes are always delicious!

While buying cherry tomatoes from one stand, I asked about romaine or other lettuce for our BLT sandwiches we had planned for lunch (not with the cherry tomatoes!) and were kindly referred to the hydroponics farmer.  We were, indeed able to obtain some beautiful butter crunch lettuce for our BLTs.  In this heat!

Right now, our plan is for roasted vegetables, with a little chicken for dinner.  All done on the grill for easy cleanup and yummy  taste!

Snake in the blueberry net (again!)

For the second year in a row Jim has had to spend a 1/2 hour or so extricating snakes from the blueberry netting we keep in the shed!  I felt terrible - he worked all day, mowed the lawn and then had to free this poor little guy (5 feet and a bit skinny) from the netting.

No sooner did he cut away a good part of the net than the snake slither its way back in.  I was a patient witness and felt like there was nothing I could do, when finally we decided Jim would have to hold the snake's head and tail and I would cut away the netting along it's length.

It worked!  I am sure he was even happier to be free than we were to see him go!

Out with the old!

Out with the old and in with the new!  We just pulled out the beautiful bush beans that the groundhog ate down to the ground and planted some new plants okra peppers and eggplants.

We got it done in time for the rain to boot

We harvested some leaks scallions and red onions too!  Both gardens are really shaping up nicely!

I would have to say the coolest plant we bought this year is this beautiful spicy globe basil plant - beautiful and delicious!

Finally! We got our big boat in the water

We got the boat in and already took it out clamming near the pier at Cape Henlopen State Park - got some nice clams for appetizers.  It's a challenge to find them at first, but once you hit on a couple, you just keep finding them.  There are only a few places where you can go, so be sure to read up on the rules! 

Just put in my crab pot, but I didn't have the door closed right, so I lost a few good ones!  Will check it again today and hope I recaptured them! 

I just love sitting on the dock and looking down the canal.  It is always restful, even when the weather is overcast. 

Happy 4th of July!

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.