The State of the American Economy

So some few years ago I was wine tasting with a friend in Napa. Actually, she was tasting and I was smelling, since that's what is left me these days. But we came to a recommended place, Arger-Martucci, not a big name in wine, but it was a great little winery. They also happened to be the sole importers of a particular olive oil, Casa Brina, which we sampled and I bought some of.
Fast forward about 18 months, some other friends try the oil and love it, so I go looking to buy some more, hopefully on line. A quick search reveals that the distributorship for the oil has moved to a winery in Washington State, the Betz Family Winery. But when I go to order the oil, the 2006 batch is all sold out. So I call the winery:

Apparently the situation of the dollar and the euro is such that in order to get the 2007 batch they would have to double their price to sell it. (Going from $26 - $52 a bottle). So they have decided that they will not be carrying the oil this year, and hope to be able to get it next year.

That's right. the dollar is now so weak that we can no longer afford to import really nice olive oil.

But really Mr. Bush, the economy is fine!

Well, I'm back

So sorry for the long hiatus. I was, well, getting married. But now that it's over (yes, I am officially Mrs. Culture Ghost...no more sig-ot), and we are not the center of the universe anymore, it's time to get on with the garden.

I was looking at an earlier post that has a picture of the yard. We done a whole bunch since then and it still looks like that!

The first round of seeds came up gloriously, stayed around for a few days and then all promptly died. I have another round of seeds percolating in an impromptu greenhouse made by CG, but I think until yesterday, it's been too cold at night for them to germinate. So I wait, and dream of plants instead of seeds and dirt.