The Drone Footage

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10204952925883327&set=vb.1246479483&type=2&theater

Check out this video that my pals Cindy and Dean Johnson put together for me during their recent visit. I had a low-resolution link earlier. This one's better!! Thanks guys!! LOVE it!

The Eggert Visit

Miss Cindy Eggert, way back in 1990-something, traveling in Egypt,
 where the local men would propose to her on a daily basis.

We had so much fun with Dean and Cindy Johnson's whirlwind visit this past weekend that we failed to take a decent photo of us all together, despite all their fancy camera equipment, too. Bugger! So instead, as Cindy and I have been good friends since 1989, when we were in our young-20s, I thought she (and our close associates) might get a kick out of this photo of her at the Great Pyramids outside of Cairo, from 1992? 1993? '95? Help me out, Cindy! Or Mike?!?

That's Dean controlling the video drone, which you can barely see in the distant center,
and Cindy monitoring what it was filming.

The only photo I took of Cindy and Dean while they were here was one of them working their drone. I've been having fun showing off their super-cool footage of our little cabin here. Nothing but rave reviews, guys!! (Though everyone asks if Lili is our dog.) I see serious business potential.

Our weekend together involved a lot of food and brews, some cards and hikes, and simply not enough time. But we take what we can get. Especially from crazy people who drive 14 hours straight to come see us.

We debuted our new waffle maker for our guests,
complete with honey/cinnamon fruit and fresh whipping cream.

As for mountain life, we cracked open another watermelon from our garden while the Johnsons were here. Gorgeous, and sweet as hell! The watermelon, too.

Pretty damn delicious, it was.

Looks like Mom might be our next visitor, at Christmastime. But if any of you have a hankering for fall color and bonfires, the best color seems to be about the last two weeks of October. The guest room is free!! Call now and make your reservations!!

Harvest Girl

Oh dear. Insert your own melon joke here.

We're in full harvest mode here on Flat Top. This year we only had a few experimental crops in the ground; the veggie garden still isn't finished being properly fenced against our neighborly deer. But at just half-capacity, we're not complaining. Even Mason, who'd take a hamburger over an heirloom tomato any day, has been enchanted by the rewards of growing stuff he can eat, especially the jalapenos.

That's our first watermelon, above. I know, sorry about the juxtaposition. We'll crack her open tomorrow. We've had so much rain here, I'm not sure she's going to be super sweet. But if she isn't quite ripe, I'm still eating her -- maybe with the help of the blender, a little honey and some rum. We've got four more melons on the vine; we just need a little break from the damn rain. (Sorry, rain-starved California readers ...)

The tomatoes are in full production, though I don't think it will last too much longer. Damn blight. Yesterday, I had three meals featuring my 'maters. It's impossible to decide which was tastier: the breakfast taco with microgreens and cherry tomatoes, the BLT or the panzanella salad.

Refrigerator pickles; the cucumbers were picked fresh today!

And tonight, I made my first batch of refrigerator pickles! We'll get back to you on whether they were a success.