not again!

Around 6:00 tonight, when I went down to get something out of the fridge on the lower level, what was at my sliding glass door, but THE FLOCK, nosing around in the grass. By the time I grabbed my camera and opened the door, they were already a few feet away - but I got this picture through the screen. That vertical is the garden hose that goes to the upper deck, where there may ultimately be a few plants. After my visit to the dentist this morning, I went to Home Depot to pick up some things and ended up buying a few petunias and a nice big hanging lobelia for the front of the house -- plus a couple of cilantro plants, some rosemary, and some mint. This is the earliest I have been with herbs - but it is only a beginning. My favorite thing is to have them on the deck, open the kitchen door and snip them fresh all summer. I still need to buy dill, thyme, and good Greek oregano. Those and the basil, will have to wait a bit. It is still too cool for me to be in the mood to actually plant anything in the ground. Next door to Home Despot there is a wonderful Asian market, where I spent about an hour and came home with Chinese eggplant, cute little tender bok choy, ginger, bean sprouts, black soy sauce, black bean sauce, pea shoots, and my favorite dried black mushrooms and cloud ear mushrooms.

I made hot & sour soup, which I haven't done in years. And I dug out the wok and made a delicious stir fry with fish. Gee, I actually cooked tonight. I also bought some seaweed, a jar of kimchee, pickled ginger, soba noodles, and a few other random items. Would have bought out the store if I had known what to do with all of those interesting things.

I am sewing a sleeve on a quilt and I think I will go to bed early. Turned in last night at 8:30 - all this sneezing from whatever is growing out there is simply wearing me out. Oh, no, I just realized it could be the TURKEYS! I happen to be allergic to feathers.