Well, we have a new addition to our family.......and I'm already deeply enamored.

Isn't it beautiful?

This freezer is twice as big as our old one. The only fly in the ointment is, of course, that the presence of this leviathan could imply that I'm anxious to have more veggies to put in there........nothing could be further from the truth.

I love the fact that everything is wonderfully organized and user-friendly now that the bags are not crammed on top of each other and into half the space. All of which makes it all too obvious that we've got enough food in there to last through two nuclear winters.

What am I going to do with all this stuff?? Take in boarders? Cook for the neighbors?

Not only that, but the winter garden awaits me. Howard's already planning how many turnips he'll be planting...............

On other fronts, we just returned from a quick trip to Lake Roberts. We hadn't been there in ages and the good and bad news are that nothing's changed.

The lake was just as pretty as ever----this time there were cormorants noisily calling out throughout the day. We saw two water snakes----one of them swimming across the lake! There were millions of tadpoles, and I have no doubt that some of them are destined to be snake food.

We fished ALL day Wednesday and received not a bite except for the bass who were eager to jump on a hook. In fact, they jumped immediately---over and over again. The bad news??

Hint: the thing Howard is holding is NOT a lure...........

Yes, this is the face of desperation.

Between not catching anything and catching and releasing these infants, Howard chose the latter.

As we motored in for lunch, we happened to pass Lou and Mom. There they were, sitting on shore, looking happy as clams. And why is that??

Well, they had a stringer of FIVE trout. What??? How is that possible? We fished all day and didn't even get a bite. They cleaned them right in front of us, babbling the entire time about how the worms were the ticket and how they were going to fry them up in cornmeal and blah.....blah.....blah.

I'm not sure, but I think I saw Howard wipe away a tear.

Later that night, after a few beers, Howard decided that Lou's fish were part of a larger, dark conspiracy. He decided that Lou kept the fish in the freezer, on a stringer, and then whipped them out with a flourish when we appeared.

"But, Honey," I reasoned, "why would he do this?"

"How would he know we were coming?"

"Who keeps fish on a stringer in their freezer?"

Howard and his beers had no answers to these questions.................

Well everything is growing like crazy. The green beans have finally started producing----they've been a solid wall of green for some time but with few green beans. I think (as opposed to Howard thinks) that the plants just weren't mature yet.

The okra have gone nuts (of course) and are producing giants every day. Ironically, bigger is not better in the world of okra, so we have to keep a close eye on them since they easily can grow an inch a day.

As you can see, the cantaloupe are now ripe. Okay, I'll admit it.............there's a little wishful thinking going on there.............

They were absolutely delicious! Nothing you buy in a store can rival the taste of stuff fresh from the garden. The cantaloupe vine has taken over the area next to the small flower bed and, as with last year, I know those #$%@ weeds are busy spreading under the cantaloupe vines, but I guess I'll

pull a Scarlett O'Hara and worry about it tomorrow..........

FYI: That bag next to me was full of okra, green beans, limas, and tomatoes.

Although it was a weekend, we decided to take a quickie trip to Elephant Butte. The lake was wall-to-wall people but our little cove behind the butte was not as bad.

Surprisingly, the carp were only seen here and there---not like the previous visit where monsters casually swam by every few minutes. However, we soon discovered that they were replaced by beautiful brim (green perch) that were everywhere. They were hungry too----no sooner would I put my line in the water with even just a tiny nub of a worm, that they would chase it and snatch it hungrily.

What??? Have we been teleported to a REAL lake?? Is this like the answer to all our fishing prayers??

Alas, as in all things, there are good news and bad news..........the good news is yes, they were everywhere. They were biting like crazy. All day. The bad news? The big ones----the GIANTS---were about three inches long.