Dula and her Rice Wraps

Vladimir loves his new backyard...every night when we finally manage to drag him back inside, he passes out in his favorite chair and is comatose the rest of the evening...this is a good thing.

Tony bought and potted a Chocolate Mint plant...the only thing I can come up with to do with this is put it in some sort of sweet bread. Any other ideas?

Herbs handy at the back door

The tomato patch. Basically, I knew I needed to get the plants in STAT, so I really only planted tomatoes because I can't live without them. We planted 11 varieties of heirloom tomatoes including: 2 black brandywines, orange oxheart, red zebra, green zebra, mortgage lifter, rainbow, and Nebraska wedding...the other 3 I can't remember off the top of my head. Hopefully they thrive--since the garden is in my backyard this year, I think I'll have time to weed and water accordingly. I also planted a bunch more basil in there for pesto, and I'm trying a row of heirloom squash seeds a friend gave me (though it might be too late this year for seeds, we'll see).

This crazy vine (above) takes over the back fence, and since we moved in we've noticed a lot of the back neighbors (mostly immigrants from here and there) picking the leaves. Once Tony was back there and a lady asked "is it okay that we pick these?" and Tony of course told her that it was fine and asked her what she did with them.

This morning the doorbell rang and there was a light knocking, so I answered it. A sweet-faced woman stood there with a plate wrapped in foil. "For you and husband" she said to me. I asked what it was and she told me "wraps, for you and your husband." I didn't correct her, but I did ask her name (Dula) and thanked her a bunch of times.

The wraps are very much like a dolma--grape leaf wraps--they are filled with curried rice and chicken. Very delicous. I just can't believe how kind our neighbors are. Even when we were gardening, 5 or 6 people came over to introduce themselves. I already feel more at home in this house then in the last two apartments I've lived in. Hooray for the kindness of strangers.