Clear Skies , Cold Days

7:00

7:36

8:44

Well, it's 8:00 and I have been up for an hour and a half.  Not a cloud mars this morning's blue sky and the sun fills the living room, as I sit on my couch, with my ball cap on, shading my eyes so I can read on my computer.  It's cold outside, 22º, although it should get up to the high 40's later in the day.  Schools are closed around here although most businesses are still open as there are no confirmed viruses in Chautauqua County, probably because there has been no testing. 

Yesterday was blue and cold, like today I guess. It was a day to be outside, to enjoy the warmth of the sun and we both took advantage of it practicing social distancing.  I was up early, enjoyed my coffee, breakfast and wrote the blog before Evie even got up, lucky gal to sleep in.  I let her enjoy her coffee without me bugging her and went for a forty-five minute hike through the Victoria/Woodlawn woods.  It was a crisp morning, so I wore gloves and a stocking cap and listening to music on my earbuds.  The snow has gone, the trails are brown with last fall's leaves and I noticed for the first time, skunk cabbages, the first signs of spring in this area. 

When I returned home, Evie was ready to get going, so we started on our dinner, a Guinness Stout stew.  Unfortunately, I had not read the recipe carefully and the first step is to allow the meat to marinate in Guinness overnight.  So there went Sunday dinner.  I cut up the meat, filled a container with two bottles of Guinness and put it in the refrigerator for Monday's dinner.  Fortunately, we had a backup dinner, half of Saturday night's pizza.  It sounded good to us so Sunday night dinner was solved.

In my quest to find red lentils, l had an Indian dal dish in mind called Spicy Red Lentils by Nigella Lawson.  So Evie and I got busy. This time Evie was the sous chef, chopping up the onions, the garlic, sweet potatoes and I sauteed the veggies, added four spices, water, a can of chopped tomatoes and lentils and let it simmer for about forty-five minutes and I had an Indian dal.  It's not the most attractive looking dish, a mash of pulses and veggies but tasty and healthy, perfect for my lunches.

We decided to forego our big breakfast since  Evie had been snacking on cut-up fruit most of the morning.  I was hungry so I heated up the last of the chicken soup and pulled the fish sandwich out of the refrigerator and heated it up, hoping it was still worth eating.  The soup was great, the sandwich a bit soggy but edible as I watched Narcos.

While I read some and took a nap, Evie set up the lounge chair in the side yard and sunbathed for close to an hour, hidden from the wind, bundled up in blankets.  When I woke, she came inside happy to have some fresh air and warming sun.  We both felt like getting out so we drove over to the Chautauqua Institution for a half-hour walk around the streets.  As usual, we met only one other couple out enjoying the day, the grounds, the sunshine.

We were home in time for wine time and the daily comedy show,  Trump speaking to the American people, followed by the experts correcting his words.  How anyone can take this man seriously is a mystery to me.  We enjoyed our wine, the waning of the day, as Evie set up a music list, the 'top twenty five songs right now' as recommended by the New York Times. Dinner was easy, just pop the pizza in the oven and make a salad. So dinner was easy and tasty, especially with a Pepsi.  The salad tasted really good, Evie working her magic with vinegar and oil.