A couple of years ago Greig didn't spray the blueberries and every single one had a worm in it - they closed two weeks after they opened. I've been eating a lot of Greig's berries over the years and am still healthy - in fact, I think that's why I have no signs of macular degeneration in spite of my age. Don't know what they use for spray but assume it is an approved product Now in Maine, where wild blueberries are the biggest crop they grow, they spray the hillsides from an airplane. Japan happily imports most of their crop - in spite of making such a fuss about our apples. Years ago my older nephew went with his mother and me to pick blueberries in NJ - sniffed when he got out of the car, told us to wait in the car and went over to talk to the owner of the place. Came back looking kind of green and told us to forget it - they were spraying with dieldrin! Dan is an environmental chemist and he spotted the familiar smell right off the bat. Needless to say, we took our business elsewhere!

Nothing. After a couple of hours' sleep, I was in the garden a bit before 8 (it rained some last night, but not muddy) picking regular peas and edible-pod ones, green beans and lettuce to take to the two churches that I attend, one at ten and the other at 10:30. After clean-up ... it was just 11 when I got out of here, dropped the tray of veggies at the 10:30 one just before service was over, got to the second just before 11:30, when not only service but much of coffee hour was over, with some heading home. So ... I had coffee and a few cookies just before noon. Canadians will know what "Tim-bits" are ... (Tim Hortons, nation-wide popular coffee house, carries donut holes, calls them "Tim-bits" which one can purchase as singles, by the few or by the box) ... well ... I've found that they have donut-holes at one No Frills store in town (and a couple don't seem to) so I bought a box and had several with milk when I returned home in the early afternoon. Did someone say, "Not very balanced and nutritious a diet, that"? Guilty as charged, I guess. A few days ago I put three heaping tablespoons of Cream of Wheat into a bowl with water and salt, microwaved it for 2? 3? min. Not enough water, I guess - usually it cooks around the edge, still gruelly in the middle, needs a stir and another shot. This time, it was thick and dry. It took me several minutes, after adding water, of gentle, stroking stirring to get the lumps cleared out. We've had a rainy, cool spring and start of summer, with crops delayed. I was pleased the other day to see that my turnips were growing well, but when friend and I looked at them today, some tops were drooping - they were rotting at the top. Little black bugs had got into them and several were soft and mushy inside, largely eaten away. We have a gardening guru on phone-in over province-wide section of national radio every Monday, but tomorrow's a holiday so he may be in on Tuesday, so I'll try to get through to find out what I need do to combat the little devils. Also, almost didn't plant cucumbers, as for three years their leaves have turned golden, then go brown and crispy - from blight, they say - just after flowering, when fruit is getting started ... but put some in ... and I see that the leaves of one hill are getting that golden cast, again. Drat! Good wishes for a beautiful summer week. ole joyful

I baked a Krusteze coffee cake from a box Thanksgiving eve. Not bad and easy as could be. Surprisingly, everyone had some for Christmas morning, and DD baked some cheese and sausage pinwheels too. We finished it off today with coffee and tea. I will do that again, but I won't use all the sugar topping as it was just a little too much. I miss that Aunt Jemimah streusel topped coffee cake mix that came with its own pan.

We went out for breakfast today. I ordered a benedict of fresh spinach, grilled tomatoes, crisp bacon and avocado - hold the eggs. The hollandaise sauce was made in house and was very good, although I would not have minded a bit more lemon. My only complaint was that the english muffins became kind of soggy due to the spinach and tomato that was sitting on top. If I were to order this again, I'd slide the english muffins out from under the spinach and tomatoes before starting to eat. I think this desconstructed benedict would be perfection and I may make it at home one of these days. I also had a cup of fruit salad on the side that consisted of fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries and sections of pink grapefruit.