New Scenery

The newish aquarium at the YVR international terminal. Definitely helps to pass the time.

New News

David is currently in Barcelona visiting his sister, and we will regroup in London on Wednesday morning to start our short camping tour of England and Ireland (including some presentation that I am supposed to make at some conference). Through all of this Tess (rather than Melissa, who wasn't available) will be looking after Farcical Farm and its denizens. So far none of this is new news.

This is a trial run of sorts for Tess. If everything works out well for her and for us she will take the helm of Farcical Farm from November 2009 through May 2010 while David and I are in Tasmania. Yes, Tasmania. David is on sabbatical for the next eight months, and I have jumped at the opportunity to do a post-doctoral fellowship between UTAS and UBC. All the details are still in the wash, but Tess would bring her Canadian gelding Justin to keep Tonka company. So thanks to those of you who have been so *cough* subtly *cough* suggesting other horses for me to consider, but that's not in the cards until next summer. I secretly suspect that Maddie will save herself for me (sorry EvenSong).

A Peck of Purple Peppers

David bought and installed our pepper and tomato plants this summer, so I am only vaguely aware of the varieties. There are some skinny, spicy-looking green peppers that I look forward to cooking with, and there are these pretty little purple ones. I'm not sure whether they are sweet or spicy, and I have no idea how big they are supposed to get. In all honesty, I don't really care because they are so cute.

On the redder side of the visible spectrum we have tomatoes. So. Many. Tomatoes. Until this morning I had thought they were all small varieties, until I found this monster hiding in the tomato jungle.

One of the problems I'm having with the tomatoes is accessing the obviously ripe ones. I can *see* them, but actually getting my hand through the foliage to grab them takes some careful planning and unusual contortion. It saddens me that we will be away as most of these ripen, but I am hoping that our house-sitter (a new girl named Tess -- more on that later) will pick them and toss them into the freezer for us.