Happy Spring Equinox Day!

 wednesday

The weather continues to amaze me. Put another way, the prognosticators continue to err. As Her Highness and I arrived home, the sun came out and the sky was entirely unthreatening. The light always boosts my spirits.

Puttering around the house, doing little chores here and there, and walking on a beautiful morning with our friends took up the morning hours. I discovered, during our walk, that my anxiety was still high from brain malfunction and the power outage. I had great difficulty speaking with my fellow dog walkers. For the past several years, I’ve been totally fluent with them because I see them three times a week. But not yesterday.

We had lunch at 11:00, as we do when we rise at 5:00, and then… AND THEN … I worked outside until it was time to Zoom with Aidan. I made a great start on cleaning the courtyard. I look forward to more work outside, finishing it up and then cleaning the deck. 

I’d lit a morning fire, but I let it burn out because it was so mild outside the house was too warm. It was an afternoon to be outside. It was thrilling to be in the fresh air with no coat and to be free of the horrid anxiety that plagued me from Sunday until yesterday when the power failure and inability to reach Dr. Shoja pushed anxiety about my role with SPACE out of my mind.

My Zoom call with Aidan was, as always, wonderful. My anxieties were all due to my broken brain. After our talk, I was back to a state of bliss about working with SPACE. Plus, it was 15° outside and brilliant and sunny, so Her Highness and I went for a wonderful and uplifting long walk.

Monday night was not the usual. Yesterday’s post was about Monday night.

thursday

I was up late on Wednesday night, later than I’ve been up for a long, long time. I didn’t go to bed until midnight. I was writing yesterday’s post, stoned on the impact of the movie On Waves and War. But I didn’t sleep in yesterday morning; I was awake at 4:40 and up and about at 5:00.

We’d had some rain overnight. Not a lot, but some, and we needed it. The ground is not super saturated as it usually is. The forest trees are going to have a very tough time this Summer unless we get a lot of rain this Spring (which began at 7:45 this morning). We could be in for a long drought this Summer.

After my four-hour morning puttering, we went out for our morning walk and then into the village for supplies. Pete and Ali are coming to dinner tonight and so yesterday’s first task was making a baclava-type tart with filo pastry, apples, spices and, of course, honey. I had SPACE work to do, but it would begin on the weekend. I had to focus on the dinner.

I was excited when we got home. I hadn’t baked for ages, especially anything sweet. I was keen about trying a new recipe that I improvised after seeing a photograph of a savory tart made with filo pastry. I felt excitement about everything: the warm weather, the lack of rain, my pets, my house, my garden and myself. The gloom is gone.

First, I made a mushroom topping for toasted baguette slices. Half a pound of shrooms of three different varieties including Lion’s Mane, sautéed in lots of butter with diced shallots and lots of garlic, then I added some dry white wine, and let it simmer. Once cooled, I added pine nuts that I toasted and mixed in a bit of sour cream. Salt, sugar, and voila, the most delicious canapé to serve before dinner.

Then, I made a dessert. I buttered a sheet of filo pastry, then added another layer of it on top and buttered it as well, then I scattered shattered pecans dusted with cinnamon over the sheets and pinched them into a narrow strip that I coiled into a tart pan. When I’d filled the pan, I poured the remaining nut mixture on top of the tart and baked it. When it was cool, I poured syrup that I made of sugar, water, cloves, honey and cinnamon all over it and put it in the fridge.

It looks great! If it tastes as good as it looks, I’ll be a winner tonight. Once done, I chilled for a while on the couch before taking Her Highness out for our afternoon walk. It didn’t rain all day, and it was 15° again, and today we’ll likely get some sunshine, and the weekend is predicted to be wonderful weather. I’ll get lots of yard work done.

The atmospheric river finally arrived, just not here. The Internet is full of stories and photos of flooding and pouring rain in Vancouver, but we’ve not had a drop of it all day. God bless the mountains of the big island and rain shadows! 

When we got back from our walk, I made the curry dipping sauce for the naan I’m serving. I bought the naan. I was too busy to make flat bread; it’s a three-day process.

Last night a change: No movie, no television. I just puttered around the house and doomscrolled a little before retiring early.

Today, I make laksa for tonight’s dinner with Ali and Pete, we walk with our friends in the morning, and I clean and tidy a little. Rain is predicted, but it never comes; tomorrow the sun comes for a few days, and I get to do some yard work. Woo hoo! And Spring arrived early this morning. Double woo hoo!!!

John and Bunny's coffee machine.

John is a big fan of triangles, and he is a master of fine woodworking.
This piece features his photos of Bunny's flowers, picked from the garden
and brought inside for admiration.

This is a miniature garden on an old stump. As I pass
it on our walks, I always clean it up.

This is growing in one of my woodsheds.

Sometimes the understory amazes me. This is natural and it's stunning.
It's not always brush under the trees.

The baclava tart that I made yesterday for tonight.