For the first time in about 30 odd years our clan is getting together
tomorrow for an Easter picnic at a local park. With the two of us and
all of our direct descendants and spousal units there will be 23 of us.

I baked a ham, Miz Anne made some cupcakes, and we're taking, naturally,
two or three quarts of pickled stuff including sunchokes with
cauliflower and sweet chiles, pickled banana peppers, pickled summer
squash, and some sweet cuke pickles. Everyone is bringing their own
specialty. In the crowd there will be three kids twelve and older, three
that are ten and younger, and five babies under five. The youngest great
granddaughter I haven't even met as yet.

Supposed to rain but we're hoping to grab a pavilion so we have shelter,
daughter is going out early to do just that.

That's the good thing about living in Harris County, TX again, lots of
parks, even several within easy driving range that have either lakes or
creeks where you can fish free. Have plans to take some of the grands
and great grands to a few of these once we get done with fixing this
house and property up to suit us.

Bought a Meiwa kumquat tree today, will plant it Monday in a nice sunny
spot in the backyard. Have my eye on a five-in-one pear tree (five
varieties grafted onto one tree) for the front yard. Have a two or three
year old live oak there now but a grandson would like to have it for his
yard. Have some ornamental hedge planted in front of the front porch,
they're going too, as soon as I can find a dwarf something that bears
fruit. We have three raised bed gardens going already. One is four by
sixteen feet, the other two are four by eight feet. Not to mention the
Celeste fig and the four blueberry plants we put in. The blueberries are
loaded with fruit already. We have taken a good bit of dirt along a
fence corner and are amending it for an herb garden and I'm seriously
thinking of putting in a thornless blackberry in another corner. We've
still got our eyes on all the roadside dewberries and blackberries and
especially on the roadside mayhaw trees.

We're happy with our new home, still changing things to suit us and not
the previous owners. Have established a new church home and are involved
in getting the homeowners association off the ground. Met several
gardeners at the last meeting and have already been asked to teach some
home preserving classes, which I will certainly do, but later.

That's all the news for the moment, nothing to preserve yet but we have
high hopes for our new gardens.

George

Father Confessor, HOSSPOJ