Freaky bug

We found this on the Lazy Housewife beans today.  Mary Beth was too lazy (and frightened) to get it off the plants, but she did take a photo of the bloggable creature.

Party in Vicksburg: New York Style

Our friend, Sandy, of Replaced Southerner blog fame, coordinated a fabulous party on Saturday night to honor the Tirpak newlyweds.  We not only enjoyed fabulous cocktails in a swanky Warehouse Hotel Suite, but we also got to see Miss Mississippi on the big flat screen TV (hence, the crown attire).  Good times.

The Mirror Ball for Miss Mississippi

Our friend, Liz (pictured here in the swanky Marilyn Monroe dress), attended the Miss Mississippi Mirror ball with us.  Ned wore a tux.  Mary Beth won $13 at the Rainbow Casino slots.  And, in the photo below, we even had a bit of time for a staged photo with our friends Rob and Todd, dancers at the pageant and, most importantly, owners of our favorite bar in Vicksburg.

The Craziest Week of our Married Lives

And we're still smiling, but barely.  First, there were the pageant luncheons.  Every day, sometimes twice a day, since last Saturday.  Then on Monday Mary Beth had to cook for an art reception; on Tuesday she spoke at Rotary; on Wednesday Ned came down with a sinus infection and attended a business dinner; on Thursday, we went to Jackson with a U-Haul (we've lost count as to what number rental this was -- we wish they had a frequent rental program); and today, Friday, we had duties related to pageant meals and unloading the moving van, all before the Miss Mississippi parade and Mirror Ball.  Photos from that tomorrow. Today, you'll just see our photo on the balcony with our Miss Mississippi staff photo ID badges.  Yeah, we're that cool.

The Spider Iris

We saw this at the greenhouse in Chicago, adjacent to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  If we could grow these in Mississippi, I'd have them all over the back yard.  I think they're beautiful, but Ned's afraid of spiders.

Yum...Friday's lunch at Fat Johnny's

Ned enjoyed a Mother-in-Law at Fat Johnny's on Friday.  Liz (pictured above) polished off a Mighty Dog with me.  For those who don't know, a Mighty Dog is a hot dog in a tamale in a bun, topped with onions, relish, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, chili, and -- yes -- nacho cheese.

Glimpses from the Vicksburg Farmers' Market

Saturdays are for car shopping...

It's not a hybrid, but they claim it gets 36 miles to the gallon.  We'll see.

My husband is an arsonist.

I know he's an arsonist because all the Gingerbread Family photos were mysteriously removed from the house before the fire.  Plus there are those incriminating photos of him with the lighter fluid.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Chicago: Day Three

After a morning of phone calls and e-mails, I sealed up the laptop and goofed off for the afternoon.  Twas great fun...

We began at Navy Pier.  I insisted on riding the ferris wheel, despite Ned's fear of heights (aggravated by my insistence on jumping back and forth across the car to get good photos, none of which I'm posting here.)  We calmed post-ferris wheel frights with an Italian lemon ice.
We bought tickets for WICKED.  I wore green to celebrate.  I would have painted my face, but Ned said no.

We checked out art with our friend, Liz, and grabbed dinner at the Berghoff.  Ned ordered the sausage sampler platter.  Me, I chose pierogies, because nothing's better than mashed potatoes in fried pasta!  More news tomorrow, when we have the entire day to explore!

Chicago: Day Two

Bummer of a day.  Except for getting to see Rosemary and Gus for dinner, neither Ned nor I left the hotel today.  We worked all day long.  I just finished working a few minutes ago (11 p.m.) and Ned's still at his laptop.  We have no photos (since we forgot to take a picture at dinner), so here's an image from yesterday.  Ned's standing next to a photograph at the Chicago Art Institute, taken by a family friend in Columbus.  To learn more about Birney Imes, check out this article on the UT Web site, or look at the cover Lucinda William's album, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.  I can't find a Web site for him when I Google, but it'd be great if he had one.

Chicago: Day One

Who was I kidding?  I got no work done today.  I'll have to call it a vacation day.  Ned and I flew to Chicago with our friend, Liz, at 7 a.m. this morning.  We've been running ever since.

First stop: Fat Johnny's for hot dogs.  We were too early, because the place was still closed.  Second stop: Edna's for lunch.  Yummy.  Third stop (after the hotel):  Magic Bean, where we became midgets in the reflection.
From the Magic Bean we traveled to the Art Institute.  It was great, as always, but over half of it is under construction.  My engineer husband pretended to be enthused, but sometimes I think he just doesn't get it (see below).

Last stop of the day:  Chicago dogs and a White Sox game.  As I type this at 10:45 p.m., the 7:11 game has just ended.  We had to leave in the seventh inning because my fellow travelers can't just take the day off tomorrow (like I did today).  Final White Sox score: 16-5.

Just your normal Saturday in Vicksburg.

We've been so excited (and busy) with the Vicksburg Farmers' Market that our posts have diminished.  Many apologies.  We'll catch up this week.  Today's glimpse:  after the market, we went out for a two hour lunch excursion to LD's.  The fried pork chops were worth the wait, though my hungry husband did get a bit cranky.  While we were there, we saw a traveling group of mimes.  I had to run outside and get the photo -- there are fewer things more bloggable than a surprise pack of mimes.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Hope you got to enjoy a good afternoon nap.

One more VFM note...

The market was a success, in no small part, to our stealth PR campaign.  Check out the good work of our friends here:

Front Porch Fodder

Replaced Southerner

The Ware House

Farmers' Market Fun

Success!  9 farmers (20 booths in all), 1000+ customers, a bluegrass band, no rain, and no leftover vegetables.  For photos, see Shutterfly.  For the incredibly awesome and well placed photo in today's paper, see The Vicksburg Post.

Despite Ned's reluctance to get up this morning when the alarm went off (I am up and dressed and ready to run out the door as I snap this photo), he quickly got into market excitement.
There are the zinnias, free to people who become Friends of the Market.
Here's one of my co-conspirators, Kristen Meehan.  It was early in the day, so she's holding coffee.  She'd soon trade that for ice water.
Liz and Sandy were super-troopers -- staffing the market booth, selling hummus, and even taking a photo with Ned in a silly hat.
And here's the market's personal PR staff.  These are the Who's Who of Vicksburg who helped us spread the word.  Thanks, all!

The guilt is killing me

and I'm too ashamed to admit it to Ned in person, so he'll just have to read the confession on our blog. I ate our first tomato this morning. Without him. I couldn't help it--I was outside watering and it was really hot and I leaned over and saw this one, perfect cherry red tomato all alone on the bush and it just looked so yummy. So I ate it. And it was yummy. Sorry, Ned. There will be more next week.

This is all in my future on Saturday...

Newsflash:  Vicksburg has 8 assorted veggie growers scheduled to sell at our market on Saturday.  That's 8...more than most places.  I don't want to be too cocky, but let's just make it clear that our committee pulled these folks together all by ourselves despite the fact that nobody would share their farmer lists.  And now, we have the most.  We win.  Hands down.  Yay!  

In addition to fabulous veggies from area farmers, shoppers can look forward to live music and 12 other booths showcasing baked goods, handmade wooden items, fresh herbs, and even one of those jumping castles for the kids.  It's gonna be a long, hot Saturday.  Let's hope against the rain.

Valdosta Stencil Graffiti

First Harvest...and Supper

Check out the squash, and all those peppers in the pepper-steak.

Congratulations, Mom/MA & Jimmy!

Some wedding photos are online now at Shutterfly.

Watch our garden grow

We've got garlic.
A blooming Black Eyed Susan vine on the bottletree.
Sungold tomatoes from friends in Nashville, Paul and Joy.
Bell peppers (that actually grew this year!)
And a bit of basil.  The first seeds didn't sprout at all, and Mary Beth was a bit overzealous in planting the second batch.  The hard part will be thinning them.  It just seems so mean.  I'll probably just let them all crowd each other out in a death match.

Mediterranean Night on National Street

Ned and I have been enjoying my cookbook from the Greek Orthodox Church in Charleston, SC, this week.  Here's Thursday's meal -- garbanzo bean salad, eggplant and artichokes, and homemade ciabatta bread.  Admittedly, the bread isn't very Greek.  But it's very good.  Maybe not as good as the salad, though, which is just a healthy mix of garbanzo beans, diced red onion, chopped parsley, and a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, and red pepper.  Yum.

Wedding bells will be ringing this Saturday...

We can't wait for Jimmy & MA/Mom's big wedding weekend!  Here's a flashback to the happy couple at our own wedding.