Thursday

Wow, hold on, can you believe I'm actually doing 2 posts in one day. That's how great I'm starting to feel once again. The crud I believe is on the way out and how thankful I am. Today started out the usual with a quiet time, oatmeal for breakfast and a ride on the the bike to the Rec. It sure sounded, smelled and felt like a spring morning with the bright sunshine, birds singing and a cool dampness in the early morning air. We certainly take it for granted that big old ball of sunshine is just gonna be there every morning when we wake up. Thank GOD for his perfection in creating such an awesome universe.

When I arrived at the Rec. one of our every day players was absent which is a little unusual as Jim is a daily constant. I know he is kicking from all of the forwards he sends to brighten me each day. Hope you will be there tomorrow, Jersey Jim. There were only 2 players for the first hour and Mike and I worn each other out. Just as we were packing it up for the day 3 more of our late arriver's showed up. I was still suffering from a lack of stamina due to this cold, so I bowed out after a few games and headed to the library to pick up some books on hold for me.

I got home in time to water the garden by hand before Amy and Ava came by for lunch. Just an update on the condition of the garden after the back to back frosts 2 weeks ago. Well the beans both 1/2 runner and pole beans are making a come back with lots of new growth and lots of blooms. The squash is trying to come back yet the cucumbers were totally dead. I have new seeds that are up about 2 inches and just waiting to be transplanted. Lots of the lettuce's have either been eaten or going to seed. I have about 2 dozen new seedlings that will be mature in a week or so and ready to be added to a salad. The mustard greens are gone as most went to seed after the frost nipped them but the collard greens are sweet and tender and better than ever. I just transplanted some radishes which are about 2 inches high. The eggplant is loaded with blossoms as are the jalapeno peppers. We ate about 6 heads of broccoli which I must admit were the sweetest ever and huge in size.There are 2 more heads maturing as I write. The beets didn't seem to mine the frost at all as did the sugar peas. The tomato's are burned on the outer leaves and look bad but there are new blooms as well as the fruit is ripening. I picked about 1/2 dozen this morning. Some aren't as juicy as we like but better than buying green house 'maters. So that is about it except for the oregano,basil, chives, rosemary which are doing OK. The basil was touched by the cold but is coming back plus I have 4 new seedlings I started from seed that should make it and I'm planning on bringing them to the mountains when we head up in May.

Nancy and I took off to Home Depot after Amy took Ava home for her afternoon nap. We hadn't changed out floor lamps according to Nancy in 20 years so, even though they worked we purchased 2 new floor lamps and a table top lamp for the living room. Just our part to help with the recession. It was very noticeable to the inactivity at this HD store. It was like a ghost town. WOW. I picked up some seeds for the spring garden as I will start them about 3 weeks before we head north to the mountains.

We had left over meat loaf with horseradish, fresh Brussel sprouts and white rice for dinner. Nancy and I are both glad this nasty crud is starting to go away. Well we are having Nancy's folks for dinner tomorrow night. We brought back some fresh frozen rainbow trout from N.C. and I will pan fry them outside. YUMMM!!! Well talk at you later. LATER