Slow-Moving

It's really nice to have the warm sunshine and summery-looking clouds, but someone could sure shut off the fan! We're tired of constant howling winds. One calm day per week isn't enough to suit me. We even had some snow squalls last week, but there wasn't enough moisture in them to register. We're more than ready for those April showers and the resulting May flowers.

I've managed to get healthy enough to clear off another couple flowerbeds. This was after finishing the one that caused me to experience congestional (I may have coined a new word?) distress. And yes, I did wear one of Dennis' grain dust masks while stirring up the leaves and dust and little birdie offerings this time. The chives are greening up (fresh pesto in my near future - it's so good on a baked potato). The daylillies in the south bed are up, and my one puny patch of daffodils is shooting up leaves. I haven't checked anything else yet. There are only five (six?) more flowerbeds to go. One of the problems with being in the country is knowing when to quit making a yard.

Dennis mentioned getting the garden tractor tuned up and hauled to our yard, but I haven't seen that action happen yet. Which is okay because once it's here I'll have no excuse for not tilling the garden patch. It certainly isn't too muddy! And my riding mower is in town getting an overhaul, finally. I'm sure the blades need to be replaced as I've hit just a few rocks over the years.

My cyclamen plant is thriving. It's still sending up more flower buds. The blossoms last a long time, too, and are so pretty. The other really red amaryllis is in full bloom right now, but those flowers aren't as long-lasting. I'm sure it will look pretty sad in another week. Then I'll have to chop off the stem to prevent it trying to go to seed, and so the growth will go back into the bulb.

One of my Mother-of-1,000-babies is trying to bloom. And right below the flowers the stalk is shooting out lots of hairy-looking tendrils I've got to believe will turn into roots. If I was more driven, I'd chop it off and plant it to test that. This lazy person still hasn't tried to repot the bush-on-fire crotons I've got started. They have enough roots. Likewise the variegated ice plants I have started. I just make sure they still have water.

No new recipes have been tried lately, but I did throw together a pot of hamburger soup. A half-pound of hamburger was browned, about 1/4 cup of chopped red onion and seven crimini mushrooms were halved and added to the pot, over low heat. A couple smallish red potatoes were diced and added, along with a cup of water and a teaspoon of beef bouillon. There was a large Ziploc of Roma tomatoes from last years' garden in the freezer, so I ran eight of those under hot water to slip the skins off, then they were added to the pot. Seasoning consisted of a generous amount of freshly grated black pepper, a sprinkle of dried parsley, and a big sprinkle of sausage seasoning. I thickened the soup with arrowroot powder with a bit of water. It made enough for two meals for the two of us, and went well with saltines. Dennis crushes a handful into his bowl, I make 'sandwiches' with butter and two crackers for myself to go with soups. Sometimes I'll sprinkle in some red vinegar. It's my German heritage coming out.

I don't have much else to talk about this week. We haven't seen our pheasant nor our deer nor any fox around lately. We did see four antelope about a mile north of the house on Sunday. But the gophers are out in force alongside the highways. And now my varmint commentary is done.