Sadnesses

Several friends have passed away this month, too many in a short span of time.  All from cancer. 

Becky Lockett, long-time friend, Principal of TriValley Elementary School, Master Gardener was married to Michael who is also a long-time friend.  Rev. Rosie Rimrodt needed a Pysanky egg for an RE class and I knew Becky was a talented Pysanky egg painter.  She loaned me one and insisted I keep it.  Her gardens are astounding.  A group of MGs went over this past Tuesday to do a cutback and weed.  Tomorrow I'm meeting Michael and we will visit Becky's grave.  I did not have any idea her cancer returned.  When we were at Colgate with Daad's Reunion Singers, the people who takc care of our plants left a note about her death. 

Our Ginkgo

Distinctive shaped leaves.

The oldest botanical specimen on the planet.

The Mojito

Several years ago our daughter Laurie described a drink called a "mojito" comprised of rum, lime juice, mint, simple syrup over ice and shaken well and then topped off with club soda.  Shaw's Crab House in Chicago is where I sipped my first mojito and immediately decided this was the best libation ever.  I learned this is the drink Ernest Hemingway enjoyed at the Mojito Bar when he resided in Cuba.

With our bountiful supply of fresh mint, making a mojito is easy except for the simple syrup.  But I enjoyed the drink so much a supply of simple syrup was kept on hand in the refrig.  

Last year or maybe the year before,  the Bacardi Rum company came out with a mojito mix -- all one had to do was add the fresh mint and the club soda.   Delicious!  

The mint is now young and lush.  For the past several evenings, I've had my mojito and Ed his beer.  I became tipsy.  Surprised as I was, I chalked this up to drinking the mojito on an empty stomach.  Wrong!  

I WAS DRINKING THE BACARDI MIX STRAIGHT WITHOUT ANY CLUB SODA!