Where Am I?

I can't be in Green Bay, WI because GB,WI doesn't have a string of days like these. It's been nice, 50s & 60s, but next week it's supposed to be in the 70s. Starting today. Can you believe it? I feel like I've been tele-ported to someplace like Evansville, IN or Lexington, KY where spring comes in March. Srping usually waits until late April or even May to come here. I have to go out front to snip out the last of the chrysanthemum corpses so the daffodils and hyacinths can bloom. They're already trying. Once I get that done I'm taking Porter with me to Petco to get a Halti for her so she doesn't pull my back & knee out of whack anymore. I don't want to curb her exuberance, far from it, that's actually one of the things I like best about her. I just want to be able to enjoy our walks without days of pain afterward. I'm thinking we can take short practice walks around this neighborhood today and tomorrow so we'll be ready when Tuesday rolls around for our longer trail walks. Choke chains and pinch collars seem cruel to me but if this soft webbing helps her pull a bit less and it doesn't hurt her, I'd like to give it a try. (I just checked with DS to make sure I'm not overstepping my bounds; don't want to since she's really not mine, I just get to borrow her.) She's gotten so much doggier lately too, she didn't even shy away when a couple of bicyclists passed us on the trail yesterday, and bicycles have been her nemesis since she arrived, even ones just lying on the ground, so this is real progress. DS & DIL1 must have been working with her because she's so much more socialized and this morning when we were out in her backyard with the squeaky ball she actually brought it back near me and dropped it. See, what did I tell ya? Doggier. I can't get over myself with this dog. I have spent my first 60 years of life being afraid of dogs, paralyzingly afraid of dogs, and now, just like a switch flipped, I'm not. What's going on? Am I finally a grownup? (Heaven forbid.) I just learned that I have to put my knitting UP. Miss Porter discovered the joys of wool. She pulled out all this yarn, hadn't eaten or chewed it, when Durwood discovered her gnawing on the little pincushion cup on the left side there. My mistake, one I won't make again. Possibly.

March 16--James Peale, Still Life: Balsam Apple and Vegetables. Soup. That's what I want to make, soup. I can feed a lot of people with not much food if I make soup. Let's see... what's in the fridge and larder? Cabbage, that's a good start, oh, and a red cabbage too. There's some chicken I can use, a bit of squash, and okra. This soup will be great. I know I've got plenty of onions, carrots, and celery to give it a good foundation, and I'll simmer the bones in the broth for deep flavor. Now what? A small handful of fresh parsley, a bit of thyme... maybe another pinch. Salt and pepper. Now we're talking. The kitchen is ripe with the fragrance of good soup and I hear a flock of snow geese passing overhead. For a final touch I'll chop these tomatoes and add a it of cider vinegar to bring out the flavors. Done. Now it can simmer while I sew on a blanket and, no matter who knocks on my door, I'll be ready to welcome them with a bowl of soup.

Mm, soup. I feel like I could save the world when I make soup. There were snow geese flying north yesterday. I took a picture. You can barely see them but that's okay. This rectangle of blue will remind me. Thanks, Aunt B.
--Barbara