Back from Jamaica!

What a great trip! Beautiful beaches and luscious tropical scenery! We had such a relaxing time just sitting on the beach, swimming endlessly, and sipping the national beer,"Red Stripe". Went to see the world famous cliff diving and had a great dinner at "Ricks Cafe" The sunsets were so fantastic! We sat for hours watching the sun slip into the ocean. It was amazing. We went Snorkeling on the reef, I picked up tons of shells and the most beautiful Conch shells. We spent a whole afternoon at the Appleton Rum factory, sampling all the delicious rums. It is an amazing process to see them making it. We ate our way through "Jerk Chicken" drank buckets of " Dragon Stout Beer" and enjoyed the bananas called honey bananas, a much smaller and sweeter version of ours. Vendors walking along the beach always had a great selection of fresh fruit to choose from. Well now I must wash the mountain of laundry piling up! Back to the daily grind!!!!

Bumper Crop of Heirloom Tomatoes !

With the slow start to summer, I thought the tomatoes would never ripen. Finally we got some serious sun and warm temps in July and August. Now the rain has been falling, the temperature has dropped at least 20 degrees, but not to worry! The tomatoes are ripe and so sweet. We have gorged on them every night. I still have quite a few on the vines, but as soon as they get just a bit of color, we bring them into the house and put them in the kitchen window. They ripen like magic!!!! I will miss them when they are gone. Next year I will add more plants. Heirlooms are so easy to grow, and so delicious! I am going to make Tomato Jelly next week with the leftovers.....