My apologies for the long absence. I have a bad habit, when there’s lots on the fire, of just putting my head down and plowing through until it’s done. Good policy for getting one thing accomplished without interruptions, but the interruptions are generally because there’s more than one thing to be done.

Anyway, I’ve hauled myself up to the surface and can report on what’s up with me and the band. And where to begin. I’ll start with the most recent first, as this is going to be a lengthy account (but I won’t make you read it all at once. I’m a fan of installments. I used to love those weekly movie serials… but I digress).

I just got the garden tilled! Woohoo! You’d like it. My pal Pat came over with her little Troy-bilt “Pony” and made a seedbed out of a patch of rocky but rich and level ground, and today is bed making day. Uh, for you non-gardeners, that may sound like an indoor activity, but it’s not. Raised bed are the way to go unless you want to till over and over to keep the weeds down. With beds, you can just tend to the planted area and cover the paths between with newspaper, cardboard or jute-backed carpet strips. It’s more work to set up, but saves a lot of labor later, when it’s hotter and buggier. So I’m headed out to the garden now, and I’ll tell more later about, uh, things that happened earlier.

Stay tuned.