* Well, I am going to do something vaguely St. Patrick's Day today: I got some ground lamb yesterday and am going to make lamb patties with Cumberland sauce (red currant jam, citrus, dry mustard, a little vinegar) for dinner tonight. Maybe if I can motivate myself, mashed potatoes to go with it.
* I made a cocoa-based chocolate baked custard last night but it SEPARATED. There's a dense and dark bottom layer, and a milky-colored top layer. Not sure why that happened but won't be doing that recipe again. (I was careful to mix it pretty completely). I saw one somewhere that used melted baking chocolate so maybe I will try that.
* In the grocery the other day, something I observed: a young boy, maybe about 10 or so, loudly berating his mother because the store didn't have the brand of something he wanted. Telling her she was stupid and that she should have gone to the "other" store instead. And she stood there TAKING it. Oh, my gosh. If my brother or I would have pulled that on our mom, we would have been marched out of the store and either sat in the car, or, if it wasn't a 100% essential trip, driven straight home and sent to our rooms, with the fear of God about what would happen when our dad got home put into us. (Which would probably amount to severe grounding, loss of allowance, loss of privileges like tv time, and maybe added chores - my parents didn't use physical discipline but they knew how to let a kid know they were disappointed in them).
I will admit I cringed and sent up a tiny prayer that in 8 years or so, that young one doesn't show up as a student on my campus, because kids who feel no fear in berating a parent tend to grow up to be miserable people to have in your class. Both for the prof and for the other students.
And yeah, I get it could have been a rare tantrum of a kid who was out of cope for some other reason, but the weariness of the mom's expression suggested it was not.
And okay, I admit, there have been plenty times I have inwardly groaned or muttered under my breath, "Stupid Wal-mart, why don't you carry that" but the thing is....the way my town is, shoot, the way even Sherman is, it's not like there are a lot of close by easily accessible grocery stores. I tend to shop one place, and if they don't have the brand I like, I make do or don't buy that product.
And anyway, I don't have anyone IN PERSON to throw a tantrum to about it, so I just groan under my breath and keep going.
* Storms this morning with what I think was a little hail. And it's remarkably colder than it was yesterday. (We might get a frost Sunday morning; guess I hold off on planting my beans until after that).
And yes, I'm growing beans again this year. I decided seeds were fine (beans grow well from seeds and I have had excellent success with them in the past) but that bedding plants are out as too expensive (no tomatoes this summer, but that's okay; I rarely got many anyway and often the possums or something got them before I could).
I also got a bunch of "mixed annual" flower seeds for the front flower beds, and some nasturtiums. I just like nasturtiums. I have never eaten them (you can, but they're very peppery) but they are attractive plants. I may do one of the raised beds just of them since I'm not doing tomatoes this year. Or maybe I get a packet of basil and do a whole bed of that and make homemade pesto and freeze it.
* I also have to divide my daffodils after they die back a little. The good news about that is more bulbs to plant somewhere else - I may used some of the cleared-out backyard area (where the leaf pile was) as a place where I "naturalize" daffodils. (I've seen this done other places - where you just plant them everywhere - and it looks fantastic). Daffodils do well here; most other spring bulbs not so much. (Tulips you have to dig up and refrigerate each year so they vernalize, and something seems to eat my crocuses).
* Started back to exercise again today after being sick. Managed a half-hour on the cross-country skiier (a bit less than what I normally do, but I didn't want to give myself an ocular migraine* or a coughing fit or something). I'm glad to get back to it, my bursitis was starting to bug me again and I notice it comes back if I don't exercise for a few days.
(*The first time I ever had one, it was going back to exercising after a long bout of bronchitis and I did too much. It freaked me out because I thought my retina was detaching....I was living with my parents at the time (in grad school) but neither one was at home (My mom was teaching a 'service course' at a distant site, and my dad was in meetings). I called the eye doctor and told them my fears and they said, "Can you drive out here" and I kind of whimpered and said my vision wasn't good enough. So the doctor sent his nurse to get me. I felt kind of foolish then because when I walked into his office I realized I could see normally again. But he told me: I'd rather see you for 'nothing' than have it be something serious and you don't get seen fast. He also said he figured from my description it was an ocular migraine but he wanted to dilate my eyes and everything just to be sure - and yes, it turned out my eyes were FINE, it was just some neurological wonkiness. I have had a number of them since. They are less alarming but still unpleasant - they don't hurt, but I can't do anything much until they clear up because I can't see well enough to read or sew or drive. If I take an ibuprofen and go sit in a dark room for 10-15 minutes, they usually go away.)
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