Briefly, love the moment

Yesterday evening, my honorary Indian daughter made a sudden welcome visit, because she found herself in the neighborhood,and we had a wonderful catch-up about her family and job and mutual friends.

She never arrives empty handed, and brought a bag of chocolate and Indian mangoes, the best.

And her visit reminded me that we need to enjoy and celebrate every moment we have.

Earlier I'd made Food for Fortitude 

Cod baked with butter and capers,  wilted spinach and an apricot sauce.  We need this kind of food in parlous times.

And there's nature, the lavender blooming at the door 

And the yellow wood sorrel undeterred by mowers because it blooms too low under the blades to be cut down. 

There are lessons all over here which I won't insult our communal intelligence by underlining.

Be safe. Do what's right today. March in spirit or in person. We're worth it.

June day at home and away, and strategic planning for 6/14

I wake early these mornings, and get my walk in before it gets too warm and the shade moves away.

Only a couple of frogs at the pond Wednesday morning, jumping, but I could hear them farther away 

Back home I did a bit of garden cleanup, mainly battling with catbriar, and carried the debris to the trees to add to the grass cuttings left by the landscapers.

Then I transplanted the spearmint into its own pot and gave it a place outside.

Back, California poppies I think, front, small zinnias, spearmint and large zinnias.

Finally got the lemons processed. I use lemon zest a lot, but don't love using the micro plane. It's effective though. I like tackling life with zest (!)

Since the lemons were large, the rind was thick, so I chunked the lemons up for lemonade, rather than juicing them. 

Thick rind usually means less juice, though the smell was still heavenly.   And I dealt with yet another sinkful of dishes, amazing how they add up.

This afternoon I read, well maybe slept, on the deck, Frederica, old Heyer favorite on my Kindle. 

There's a lot of woodpecker activity close by, drumming in trees, rattling calls, so I'm hopeful of a nearby nest. I haven't seen who's active, could be flickers or downies or red bellies, since we have all of them.

The cardinals are busy and there are tiny peeping sounds, maybe young getting around to flying. That and chickadees, and wrens. 

I see very little activity,  but I hear quite a bit. A crow was chased out of the nearest tree by a bluejay, who may be nesting there, too. It's an avian condo development in a couple of evergreens.

This is a great time of year, not too hot yet, not too buggy yet. Wednesday was my  sister's birthday. I think she'd have been 96. She made it to 92, living independently at home till her last couple of days.  I'm hoping for something like that. I'm in much better health than she was at my age, so we'll see.

Happy day everyone! Getting ready for Saturday, those who can march and demonstrate. Thank you! 

And if agitators attempt violence in order to discredit the march, here's the strategy

Ted sez do what we can, be safe, and loud.