Snowdrops

Today I worked until 11 am. I had some lunch of leftover crab cakes and potatoes when I got home, and then I went over to Mom and Dad's house to look at a horse trough Dad had offered me to grow strawberries in. I looked at Dad's horse trough offering and gave it a thumbs-down. I took instead a large plastic tote that I can fill with dirt and cut some holes in the side with a knife. That should make a fine strawberry tub. Dad has been hard at work collecting JUNK and his place is worse than ever. I went upstairs in the garage, looking for containers I could used for gardening. The loft is filled with raccoon poop and it's very nasty there. You have to wade over many dead radiators and other unidentafiable things to even get the garage door open. I took some bricks for making a raised bed and also some plastic buckets from Dad's mountain o'junk for putting bean bushes or cucumber vines in.

Dad also offered me a blue plastic barrel that might be suitable for some type of composting system. It's not very sightly, but we could spray it paint black. I will put Avinash in charge of developing a new composting system, which is a very appropriate activity for an environmental engineer.

Dad was just on his way down to Madison, due to a distress call from Katya-Kate. Her friend, the one who was an abused spouse, had left her husband and was staying in a little apartment without any furniture in it. Dad was donating one of Heath's chairs to her, not that he doesn't have any chairs of his own to donate. Her car was also having issues again and so Dad leapt to the cause.

I gave Suki a little walk. She was very perky and playful, but tired quite easily halfway up the road. I brought her in for a drink and she went into the closet.

Dad had left a pan of cabbage something cooking on the stove and burnt it. It's a good think I came over because I think he would have gone to Madison with it on, otherwise.

Mail call:
nothing but junk, junk, junk. I chucked it all in the recycling bin.

Book update:
I finished Carola Dunn's Tudor Secret. The characterization was very satisfying, but unfortunately the plotline featured the requisite smuggling and espionage theme. Also, I felt it was poorly named. I kept waiting for the Tudor Secret to appear and there to be some plot connection to historical Tudor times. The only Tudor feature was a Tudor rose motif in clothes and jewelry. Also a Tudor ring supposedly featured a sphinx design, and I do not believe that the Tudors traveled to Egypt at all.

In the evening I worked on scanning Dad's old photos from Korea. They are badly deteriorated and need Photoshop fixing.

I made a "poppy seeded bloomer" loaf from from bread recipe book. It turned out nicely, which is satisfying after its 8 hour prep time.

Supper was a sloppy joe. Avinash made dal and rice.