Lettuce seedlings (that will need thinning) and tulip poplar petals (and weeds between the patio pavers).
We had torrential rain late yesterday afternoon, ushering in cooler temperatures. Today's high is only 61F, and it's a bit chilly out now. But the sky has cleared, and it's looking like a pleasant spring week, all told.
It's St. Patrick's Day, and I'm not wearing green --- lack of foresight in putting my 9x9 capsule together, I guess. But then I'm not really going out anywhere, except to fetch the Artgirl from the airport. She'll be here until Thursday for some appointments, then is driving the restored Chevy (Tess the Chaos Wagon, they call her) back to Dallas, meeting up with her brother and some friends for camping in Oklahoma on the way.
Otherwise . . . just the usual here. I won't make it to daily Mass today because of the airport pickup, but I hope to get there some this week, as well as to Stations of the Cross on Friday. Actually, for the monks at Belmont Abbey, Friday is a solemnity (the death of St. Benedict, Holy Father of all Benedictines), so we'll go in for that Mass and . . . cash in on the solemnity a little. St. Joseph is this week, too, and Annunciation is next week, so . . . It's a Lent of suffering, let me tell you.
On the way home from church yesterday we stopped at the grocery store, and I bought some Korean glass noodles (actually bean threads) and mushrooms, to replicate this Asian soup Marly's husband Michael made for us on Thursday. He had just made up the recipe --- Marly said he'd made it four times in the last several weeks, and it was subtly different every time. The basic ingredients are:
*broth (I'm using chicken bone broth, because I have it; he used vegetable broth because Orthodox Great Lent)
*lime juice
*Thai fish sauce (or oyster sauce, or plain tamari/soy sauce)
*red pepper flakes for however much heat you want
*ginger (copious amounts --- he used fresh, grated ginger, but you could use ginger paste)
*garlic
*onion
*greens (he used kale, but you could use spinach, bok choy, etc, torn in large pieces and wilted in the soup)
*mushrooms (he used oyster mushrooms; I'm just using some jarred mushrooms I found at the store)
*glass noodles (those translucent Asian noodles that feature in Korean cooking, and in spring rolls)
So I'm going to play with these ingredients and see how it turns out. The Artgirl is my Asian-comfort-food child, so I figured she'd appreciate a nice warm noodle soup. It won't be pho, but it'll be in the same register of foods. Mine won't be vegan --- except for oyster sauce (which I guess is Thai?), Michael's was. He also made us sandwiches on the side: slices of avocado and tomato with alfalfa sprouts and some kind of mild mustard-ish dressing, on very grainy wheat bread. I don't think I'm going to do that, but it was a delicious, filling lunch, all told.
Otherwise . . . I'm just sloping a little lazily into this Monday. Spring break is over for the husband. Hard to believe that a week ago we were going to Blowing Rock for our anniversary. If 35 years have flown, the last week has positively vaporized. A little sad to have all that behind us, but it was a good week, and he got a lot done: midterm grading, but also garden and housework he had been wanting to accomplish.
We got all those planters filled --- 17 of the 30 I had bought. He had thought that we couldn't possibly fill all 30, but the soil turned out to be less expensive and less onerous to deal with than he had supposed, so I might get my remaining 13 grow bags filled after all. That would be nice, as our actual soil is so poor that anything planted in it is bound to do less well than if I had planted it in fresh enriched potting soil. I will have to amend all these planters in years to come --- I generally do add compost to the old ones, year after year, and/or top them off with some new enriched potting mix. But at least the base soil is there now, so that we'll never have to buy quite so much again.
I planted a second container of beet seeds yesterday while the sun was shining, and one of purple carrots. I already had one of red carrots, and I want to do another of mixed red and gold beets. I also planted some more cilantro seed, as I have volunteers from last year coming up in various places, so I guess it wants to grow right now. We still have a few weeks until time to plant peppers, tomatoes, squash, etc, but the time is coming --- it'll be so lovely to have the whole kitchen garden filled with growing things again. I am still using my dried cayenne peppers from last year's crop, but eventually I will use them up, and it'll be good to replenish that supply. If I never have to buy red pepper flakes again, that's one little victory in my life.
I want another azalea for the patio . . . good thing I'm not buying clothes right now. I did expressly exclude garden items from my Lent no-buy, because now is the time for all that, here in my growing zone, and if you want to grow things, you can't sleep on it.
Wearing today:
*Wool& Sierra dress (XS) in Iris Blue, bought January 2025, last worn March 15. Wears in 2025: 14
*Secondhand Banana Republic beige silk-cotton cardigan, bought February 2025, first year of wear
*Snag black cashmere footless tights, bought summer 2024, first year of wear (and they have some significant snags and runs . . . I will need to make repairs at some point, and am not super impressed with the quality of these. I'd buy black merino footless tights next time, for less money and more durability. Those also aren't just out-of-the-park quality, but they do hold up to stress better than these have done.
*Secondhand Birk Rosemead clogs, bought February 2023, third year of wear
Except for footwear, this is an exact repeat of last Monday. I thought I'd give the green leggings a little more of a rest, as they have featured multiple times with this dress in the course of my challenge. After all our gardening on Saturday, I washed this dress, my blue linen shirt, and the leggings and hung them out, so they're all fresh and clean. That was the first wash for this dress (hand wash in cold with Dr. Bronner's, folded over the line to dry), and I was curious to see whether she'd stretch out more, or shrink, or just what. I'm glad she didn't shrink, I'll tell you that much. I was very careful to keep the water cold, and other than feeling very soft, she seems about the same as when I took her off: some give to the fabric, over time, so that the fit has loosened up. In this dress size, that's an improvement.
Anyway, I'm glad to wear this one one more time, then after tomorrow, put her away for a week while I wear other things. I think I will focus on neutral dresses with purple accents for the rest of the week, just to flip the script a little.
Back to the boring bathroom selfies for now. Just not putting that much energy into photo shoots of myself today.
Onward.
LUNCHTIME UPDATE:
So far today I have:
*walked the dog about a mile while wearing my weighted vest, go me (but I think I'm going to need a heavier one soon)
*started my Asian soup for supper. Going to let it simmer all day so that the garlic and onion melt and the flavors marry. It's very limey and gingery and smells delicious already. Closer to suppertime I'll add the mushrooms and greens, and then I'll steep the glass noodles in boiling water to fold in as a final step. I'll put a pot of chopsticks on the table for them as wants to use them --- you can't really eat the noodles with a spoon, just the broth.
*washed and hung a load of laundry
*eaten a grilled goat-cheese-and-mixed-fruit-jam sandwich on sourdough.
We don't really eat much cheese. I can't remember the last time I made something with cheddar, which used to be a staple around here. But we do eat goat cheese and feta, usually in pretty small amounts, so it's more of a treat. None of this is a very St. Patrick's Day indulgence, but oh well. I'm sure in Ireland plenty of people are eating Thai tonight.
Also tried some creatine in my coffee this morning, after reading this. The husband has been taking it for a while (usually in smoothies after working out) because of weightlifting, but I didn't know until just now that it's good for brain clarity and bone density, as well as lean muscle mass. I used a half measure, just to see how my body would tolerate it --- I do not tolerate collagen all that well, for example (headaches and stomach upsets), so I wanted to see how I'd do with this. At any rate, the Substack article about it makes for an interesting read.
OK, off to the airport!
EVENING UPDATE:
*Artgirl fetched
*laundry brought in and put away
*broth still cooking, with mushrooms now (I also added more ginger and garlic, because why not). It does smell very, very, VERY delicious. And I've learned that I can just cook the noodles right in the broth --- I thought I probably could, but the directions on the package don't say that, so I wanted to check and make sure (thank you, interwebs). So I'll do the bok choy, then the noodles, pretty much at the last minute, but otherwise it's all good to go.
*Went to the store and got bok choy and cilantro, and also some frozen egg rolls and apple-cinnamon bao dumplings for dessert, because . . . well, it is a feast day, even if it is not an Asian feast day. And the Artgirl is home, so that's celebration-worthy. Again, I imagine many people in Ireland are eating stuff like this tonight from the takeaway, instead of boiled potatoes, so I don't feel too bad not doing a St. Patrick Theme Meal. I don't have a steamer, but I have learned that I can heat the bao dumplings in the air fryer. That will crisp them up, as steaming would not, but I understand that this is acceptable.
I am kind of glad tomorrow is the last day of my little challenge. It's been fun, but I'm glad I haven't committed myself to wearing just these dresses for all of Lent. A neutral + purple mode will be a fun change.
But I will also enjoy wearing my Mama dress again tomorrow --- the one dress that hasn't gotten repeated wear in the last nine days. Temps are supposed to be warmer, so linen 3/4 sleeves should be perfect.