I have a new respect for figs. We thought that our tree out the back had stopped producing, but recently it has gone into overdrive, blowing little purple bubbles for all its worth. We have been picking them, and some of them we give next door. Lisa eats them raw, but I tried one and I didn’t like it. There was something about the taste that just didn’t appeal. We thought about drying them, and actually looked for a dehydrator, but eventually we tried drying them in the oven, with some success. They shrivel up beautifully and are very tasty. We just can’t eat them fast enough!

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Recently we succumbed to a long nurtured desire to own a large and powerful telescope. This may have had something to do with the current excellent positioning of Saturn and Jupiter for viewing. We checked online, and it turned out that an excellent site (www.telescope.com, duh) is maintained by a reasonably local company. After much research, we ordered a Skyquest XT6 6″ newtonian reflector on a dobsonian mount.

It’s pretty cool, just heavy enough to be stable and still be able to lug around. The tube can be unclipped from the mount with a couple of springs, and would fit in the trunk of the car if it weren’t for the fact that you want to treat the tube gently, what with the mirror and the sighting scope and stuff.