Alan Rickman, Strawberries and Gardens

My Alan Rickman marathon continues. I recently saw Dogma, Galaxy Quest, Close My Eyes, and Blow Dry. Of these four, Blow Dry was my favorite, a sad, serious but very funny movie. As always, Rickman was great, but there were also wonderful performances by Bill Nighy and Warren Clarke. More coming soon ...

Yesterday I went strawberry picking. Fresh, local strawberries. Mmmm. Good.

My outdoor garden continues to do well. Tomatoes growing beautifully. I've even spotted an occasional flower. Unfortunately the southern vegetables aren't doing as well. A few of the butterbean seed germinated and a couple only of the okra, but no sign of the pink eyed peas. I suspect it was a combination of old seed and the cool, wet weather that came after I planted them.

The inside 'garden' is coming along. Not as much progress as I'd like, but some progress all the same. I'm beginning to think (hope, anyway) that a first draft might be ready by late summer or mid fall.

Movies and Books

Having been told by several friends what a wonderful actor Alan Rickman is .. one friend even described him as 'lovely', I decided to have a look at some other films. I know him mostly as Snape in the Harry Potter movies, and yes, he is wonderful in that role. As it happens, I had seen some of his earlier movies some time back but the name hadn't stuck in my mind, while others are new to me. Tonight I watched Snow Cake, a very sad but quite wonderful film. One of the things I like is that he is the character he portrays not just some 'star' playing at a role. I'm looking forward to seeing some others.

It's a bit like discovering a writer who has several books out and reading them all starting with the first. Quite a different experience from reading them with a year or so inbetween.

Gardens and Books

Today I had my first taste of what's to come in the outside garden. There are several types of lettuce and other greens and I made a wonderful salad for lunch. It's amazing what a difference there is when you have freshly picked, tender greens. Mmmm Good. It will be a while before there is anything other than the greens, but I'll enjoy them in the meantime.

We've had cool weather so whether the okra, pink-eye peas and butter beans will germinate remains to be seen.

I must also mention Graceling, a book I finished in sitting. I really enjoyed it.

My own work is progressing slowly, but progressing.