We are MOVED IN to the new house...boy does it feel good to be here...(well as good as good can be when temps are in the 40s here!) We love the new house, and it has actually worked out rather well that we havent sold the house yet, because we can now be a bit more relaxed about moving every bit of detritus that we collected there in the past nine years. I am still living in Richmond, Tx, so its not as if going back and forth is a big trip, but the difference between where we were and where we are now.
I cannot thank y'all enough for all the wonderfully warm support and prayers you guys have offered up for me. Thanks be to God!
I saw the note Ruthy made about Flat Frodo, but I do hope he arrived in acceptable condition. I am only sorry he had to leave in such a hurry...reminiscent of Crickhollow, actually. Hair/Ruthy, the little grey bag with the red lumps in it are a little gift I gave to FlatFrodo to give to Sam to plant in Bag End Gardens. They are native to this area of Texas and are known as birds-eye peppers, or chile tepin. They are very close to habaneros in the Scofield scale of heat, and are a wild plant that are dispersed by the birds, in particular the mockingbirds, who love them for the bright red fruits. The best way to eat them is to put them in a carafe of your favorite vinegar. Makes a nice little hot sauce. They grow best in poor soil and really need little maintenance, other than regular watering (once a week is usually good enough), as they are pretty tough little plants. I told FlatFrodo that they were the favorite flavorings of the cowboys who used to live in this part of the country (I also explained that teh cowboys were fairly close to Rangers, and he seemed pretty impressed with that) and that peppers are well known in Texas as a favorite condiment. These peppers, I told him, can be considered the Hobbits of the pepper world : tiny, but pack a potent punch. I sent them along with the hope that Sam can nurture them as he would Galadriels gift to him and that they can be cultivated whereever he lands in his travels (if not, send and Eaglegram, and I will try to find an alternative...I have a penpal in England who wants the same!)
It was all I could offer to him to set him off and keep him in remembrance of his visit here, which I am afraid was not in the events that perhaps he had hoped. I do hope that it shows that I took care of him!
Frodo is fine, but VERY easger to get back home to Washington. He's homesick after all of this travelling.
Nothing tastes as good in salsa as chopped tepins. Some people confuse them with the slightly oval Pequin pepper. Referred to as the "Mother of all Chili", I have read that they think all peppers are descended from the tepin!
Please could you send me some? I would bless you three times!