It was drizzly yesterday morning and there was the possibility of rain during the day. I couldn't bear to miss out on the free water so I got my patio planter "salad" garden planted before work. It was so easy since I had empty planters, a big of planting soil mix, and some seeds. Zip, bang, boom--instant garden. See? That's a rosemary plant with basil seeds behind it, and scallion seeds closest to the patio doors. The other planter has mixed lettuce, then Black Seeded Simpson (Durwood's go-to leaf lettuce choice), and spinach at the patio doors end. Durwood used his best printing to make the label sticks for me while I played in the dirt. (No, soil. My Grandma Angermeier, a gardening pro, scolded us and corrected us when we called it dirt. "Dirt's what you clean out of the house, soil is what you plant in." Sorry, Grandma, I played in the soil.) Mrs. Mallard came to see what we've got in the way of snacks out for her the other day. The Mr. wasn't along the first time, came the next time just for a walk through, and now she's back today. I've got some loose corn out in one of the birdseed cans but of course if I go out to get it and spread it I'll scare her away. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. And if I put it out when she's not here the *&%$# squirrels will eat it before any duck gets even a smell. I want Durwood to make lots of birdie juice today so that I can put out the rest of the hummingbird and oriole feeders tomorrow. We have out one of each but we like to cover lots of bases. We get very few orioles, I think because there's not a lot of denser woods nearby, but we get some and I don't want to miss them. Day 2 of the shakes & soup diet (geez, I don't want to call it a diet because that word has such negative connotations; any suggestions?) proved a bit more challenging. I was starving in the late morning at work and wanted something crunchy after supper. I suspect the problem was with the wimpy snack choice I made. (actually I'm following the menus in the book) On Day 1 the snack was a green pepper, quartered and seeded, with 2 T. of fat-free ricotta in each quarter/boat, topped with a grind or two of black pepper. Yesterday's snack was 1 lowfat mozzarella stick rolled in 2 romaine leaves; a pale selection after the bounty and crunch and pepper of the day before. I'm going back to the pepper/ricotta combo today. I'm loving the kale & garbanzo soup; it has lots of garlic (6 cloves!) and red pepper flakes so it makes a big impression in my mouth. And there's a sprinkle of feta cheese on top. Mmm. I can't wait to make more of the soups. One has shrimp! What's not to love? (Oh, and I dropped another 1.3# according to the Wii Fit measuring thingy; that makes 4.2# and I know it's not all going to stay off once I get back to normal eating but it's a leap in the right direction and I needed that--badly)May 3--Thomas Crawford, Genius of Mirth. "Lily, goddammit," Esther grabbed at the teetering marble statue, "Lily, you have to settle down." How many times had she said that? A billion times it seemed. How many times had Lily ignored her? Every time, she'd ignored Esther every time. Esther couldn't remember a time when her petite, dark-haired daughter had been still. In the delivery room she'd bobbed her head up off her mother's shoulder to look at everything, brightly watching the world around her. As soon as she was put down she started moving through the world as best she could, rolling at first picking up dust bunnies that had Esther trying to gather them before Lily ate them, the baby keeping up a constant stream of coos and gurgles. Lily walked early and talked earlier; and had seldom been still or silent since.
Better than a child that stays put and doesn't make a peep, I say. I need to get to bed earlier, before 10:30, I keep falling asleep at the switch.
--Barbara
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