Text 29240, 158 rader
Skriven 2009-09-30 09:49:00 av BOB GEARHART (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av RUTH HAFFLY
Ärende: Passports
=================
 Ruth Haffly said to Bob Gearhart at 09-28-09  21:41
 Subject: Passports<Ruth Haffly>

 RH> Hi Bob,
 
 Hi Ruth
 
 RH> For sure!  I've done that a few times (the Canadian border) with my
 RH> family when I was a kid and a couple of times after Steve and I got
 RH> married.  Didn't have to show any ID.  Coming back to the States from
 RH> Mexico, even in the mid 80s, had to show a picture ID; my military one
 RH> worked for that.
 
 I haven't driven through the Mexican border since 88.  Had a Tourista
 sticker on my windshield.  If you plan on going more than 150k south
 of the border you need to show you have Mexican auto insurance and
 purchase a sticker to identify your vehicle. Get searched and checked 
 out at the Mexican customs stop, where surprisingly  they don't or
 didn't hold the hand out for the traditional couple bucks like at at 
 the border.  Coming back it was the usual, how long have you been, are
 you bringing anything back, etc.
  
 BG>  to me.  I still have Canadian currency that I bought for 64 cents

 RH> That was a savings; I have a few Canadian coins I've picked up here &
 RH> there.
 
 I used to travel over often, so would keep a couple hundred in Canadian
 bills.  Since Bush taught me what criminals they were over there and how 
 I should fear my inlaws (I married a French Canuk) I haven't crossed 
 much.  I'm to far from his southern border to associate with the folks 
 he preferred, or the cartels that contributed to his well being.
  
 RH> Yes, none of them know how to do a good pork bbq. Matter of fact,
 RH> western NC doesn't either. (G)
 
 BG>  Dunno.  You guys cook your pigs so much you have to tear them apart
 BG>  and add flavoring after.   :-)

 RH> Flavoring is added while they're being slow cooked.  The vinegar, hot
 RH> sauce, brown sugar, etc sauce is cooked on the pig and more is added
 RH> as it's being shredded.  Even more is available on the table.  Hog
 RH> heaven! 
 
 LOL...  Figured I'd get a rise with that statement.  
 
 RH> Meanwhile, as we wait, we are begining to get color on a tomato.  I
 RH> counted 11 on the plants today; Steve spotted the first bit of color.
 RH> There are more blossoms so we should be eating fresh tomatoes for a
 RH> few weeks into the fall.
 
 BG>  How late will they go, when do you get your first frost?  Ours will
 BG>  be sometime this month, so we are eating good now, but will be back
 BG>  to importing pretty soon.
 
 Predicted low of 34 tonight with a frost warning out.  A bit of frost
 will do in the tomatoes, but until a hard freeze the other things I 
 like will still be available.

 RH> I'm not sure when the first frost hits.  We're supposed to have a low
 RH> of 49 tonight and the next few nights tho.  IIRC, we had frost in maybe
 RH> late October or early to mid November when we lived on the NC coast
 RH> but that was 27 years ago so my memory could be off.
 
 Global warming is melting all the ice caps. Dumping thousands of tons 
 of ice cubes in the oceans are making the oceans cooler so it is 
 cooling sooner than in the past.  I used to keep green tomatoes until
 February before they ripened.  Not only are they growing weird and
 ripening funny thanks to Wally's China-Mart imports, but they are not
 producing anything to save.
    
 RH> We'd have to pick them all when a frost threatened when I was a kid.
 RH> They would be spread out on the floor (on paper) in what was then our
 RH> play room (or guest room) to ripen up.  My mom woould can them as they
 RH> ripened, usually making green tomato relish out of the last ones.
 
 Yes, a dark place in the basement for ours.  
 
 BG>  season is passed.   Plus I get at least one good feed on fried green
 BG>  tomatoes, something I love but Dorothy abhors,.

 RH> I've never had it but I don't think I'd have any problems enjoying it.
 RH> We did get to try some fried pickles this spring while visiting
 RH> friends in Alabama.  They were good; I think the tomatoes would have a
 RH> similar taste.
 
 It's a sour tasting thing, not vinegary or lemony, but sour.  I like
 them, but I'm the only one.  Having been thrown out of my own kitchen
 I have to eat what I'm told to eat now by the main chef.  My dear 
 departed Aunt Jean would make a piccalilli with green tomatoes and 
 Zucchini.  I miss Aunt Jean, she made some good stuff.
  
 RH> Steve put lots of dirt in and we've had no trouble with it leaking
 RH> out. Did yours have a foam "plug" with a cut out for the plants?
 
 BG>  Yes, foam with a slot.  It is filled 3/4 of the way up with dirt.
 
 RH> Ours is probably  closer to 7/8 filled with dirt.
 
 Mine is really a sad looking thing now.  Hanging all droopy and browning.
 Tomatoes look more bronzed than ripened. 
  
 RH> We got ours after our vacation.  Part of the plants have died but
 RH> there's still enough live area that the tomatoes are producing well.
 
 BG>  Mine made nice tomatoes about the size of a baseball that were rotten
 BG>  on the bottom.  Normally I get tomatoes about the size of a softball

 RH> Ours are ripening nicely, no rotting.
 
 As it was my daughter who put it together and my part was creating a 
 spot to hang it, maybe she used some nitrogen rich soil, which could 
 be the reason for the stem rot.  But that would have kept the leaves 
 nice and green.   They browned up like the others.
 
 BG>  that ripen evenly.  But I guess the fungus Wally's China-Mart
 BG> imported  got the ones on the ground too.   The ripen on the bottom
 BG> and are still  green on the top.   Next year I'll get my plants from
 BG> someplace other than Lowes.

 RH> We got ours at Lowe's but probably a diffeent supplier.
 
 Strange plants I had.  One was an early girl. They usually produce about
 two weeks before the beefmasters, but this year the plant never grew more
 than six inches high.  The type of plant not just mine, but the neighbors 
 too.  Next year it's back to the nursery for me.
 
 BG>  I stayed in Raleigh at the Marriott Center near downtown. As I was

 RH> The one near the Crabtree Valley Mall?
 
 Yep, the mall was on the other side of the freeway if I recall correctly.
 Walked over there and bought a book or something.
 
 BG> only  there for a week, I didn't request a car and used the buss to
 BG> get around,  so didn't see a lot of the area.  It did seem riding in
 BG> the shuttle out  to the Nortel school, there were a lot of local small
 BG> farms in the area  that could have made for good veggies local.

 RH> We're still discovering the area.  I suspect next spring we'll be able
 RH> to go on line with the Dept. of Agriculture and find out who has what,
 RH> where.  Right now most of the information I pick up on is thru the
 RH> newspaper.  Not a bad source, actually.
 
 Seemed a nice place, a bit hot and humid for my likes, but very green
 otherwise.  Looked a good place to grow a garden.


 RH> -!-
 RH> Catch you later,
 
 OK
 
 
... A day without sunshine is like, night
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