Blue Monday

Drat!  I was promised sunshine today, and it's just as grey and gloomy this morning as it was yesterday.  The rain did hold off until after dark, and I do appreciate that small favor.  Like a small kid who's been promised a trip to the ice cream shop and didn't get to go, I feel like kicking my heels and sulking.  Ah well, it's early yet, and perhaps it's another lesson in patience (of which I'm in short supply).

All day yesterday I revelled in flipping switches and pushing buttons and actually getting a response from the appliances.  I watched NASCAR, finished the aioli, and vacuumed the carpets.  I've been working at perfecting risotto, and needed the oven to caramelize the butternut squash.  My criteria for a successful recipe is, "Would I pay for this in a restaurant?" (if I ever went to a restaurant).  The answer to last night's attempt would have been a resounding, "Yes!"  I wish I'd written down the ingredients used, as I was cooking without a recipe.  Gosh, it was good.

While in the kitchen, I glanced out the window and was startled to see three tom turkeys, tails spread and feathers fluffed, come strutting together down the walkway to the front door.  I thought, "Good grief, I'm not prepared for gentlemen callers."  (Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie.)  I needn't have worried as they made an abrupt turn and headed for the feeding oak.  These boys had just dressed early in their finery to make a grand entrance to impress the hens who were already under the tree. 

Once again, I think I have a buyer for Nineteen.  It's very hard to think of letting him go, especially after his compassion when Lucy was down.  He is such a sweet boy.  Economics and good sense tell me that I must thin the herd, but my heart tells me I'm going to miss him terribly, and I know it will be the same for Tessie.  Lucy has a strong relationship with a particular drum-beating bunny...she just keeps going and going and going.  There are days I am sure it will be her last, but she greets me again in the morning, asking for her bowl of cereal, so we just muddle along together.

Ohmigosh!  Can it be?  The sun is rising and it's pushing the cloud cover aside.  Maybe it will be a blue-sky day after all!