On holiday in Europe, Bert noticed a marble column in a
church in Rome
with a golden telephone on it. As a young priest passed
by, Bert asked
who the telephone was for. The priest told him it was a
direct line to
Heaven, and if he'd like to call, it would be one thousand
dollars.
Bert was amazed, but declined the offer. Throughout Europe
Bert kept
seeing the same golden telephone on a marble column. At
each, he asked
about it and the answer was always the same: a direct line
to Heaven and
he could call for a thousand dollars.

Bert finished his European tour in Ireland. He decided to
attend Mass at
a local village church. When he walked in the door he
noticed the golden
telephone, but underneath it there was a sign stating:
DIRECT LINE TO
HEAVEN, 25 cents.

"Father," he said I have been all over Europe and in all
the cathedrals
I visited, I've seen telephones exactly like this one but
The price is
always $1000.00. Why is it that this one is only 25
cents?" The priest
smiled and said, "Son, you're in Ireland now. It's a local
call." ;O)

thoroughly enjoyed. But even Ireland hasn't figured
it
out that it costs a red penny to talk to God.

Your garden sounds wonderful. It's time like this when
I
wish I lived on a bigger lot. I miss my fresh greenbeans
and
peas and other veggies. But I do have tomatoes and squash
growing.

Donna
in WA

-----

The potatoes, as you might expect, seem to be right at
home in the
overcast and the rain, and we've the best crop of peas
that we've ever
had. The tomatoes, squash, and peppers are doing very
well, almost eerie
how they keep growing, and setting flowers in the face of
the cool
weather. The cucumbers and the melons are an intractable
lot, and just
sit there and stare at me, like, whaddaya expect from us?
Next time I'll
look for rain loving, German cucumbers, instead of heat
loving Armenian
and Persian. The Black Cohosh is almost in full bloom, and
the red
Valarian is satisfying the bees and the butterflies. There
are 31 pots
of basil in the garden. If we ever get any heat, it's
going to be "pesto
summer".

The cilantro, and chervil has just come up. I'm about to
germinate some
"Golden Bantam" corn. This will be from seed that has
grown here for the
last four years. One of these years, I hope to see it do
really well.
Got some "White Greasy Pole Beans" to go with 'em.
Strawberries are
swelling, and I'm tryin' to get some mulch under them. The
Prunella
vulgaris that I count on to keep my blood pressure down,
has joined
them. It's a real rascal of a plant, and keeps popping up
in unexpected
places, which is fine by me.

Finally having the last laugh on Mr. Raccoon. Most of our
mulched beds
have wire mesh over them, making them less easy for him to
dig up. I'm
sure he'll get some revenge, but it won't be all his own
way this year.
Squirrels is another matter. They seem to be bonkers for
the African
marigolds that I put out.

Watched "Don Camillo" last night. It stars French comedian
Fernandel as
Don Camillo, a Catholic priest who is at odds with his
childhood friend
and his rural village's newly elected Communist mayor,
Peppone (Gino
Cervi). A simple, lovable movie from another time, and
another place.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism
because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html