Nature

It's overcast this morning, following another evening of light rain; 54 degrees with 97% humidity. Steve, Indi and I survived the visits of the yard crew and Eric, from the tree service, yesterday. I took the kids on one long and three short walks, as we had temperatures in the mid-70s with a modicum of humidity. It's supposed to be in the upper 70s today and the low 80s through Sunday - I'll be filling the drinking bowls with ice about every three hours those days. I've been observing a robin building it's nest on the flat top of one of the patio lights, which is attached to the wall between two sliding glass doors in the master bedroom. That bird is incredibly busy, and gets into some of the wildest positions when placing her new additions to the nest just-so. Laura has a tremendous eye for color, and the combination of colors in the tulip bed in the front garden is beautiful. The iris are about to bloom - tightly furled petals peeking out of their buds are an iridescent dark purple, and I'm looking forward to the actual blossoms. I've been lucky in walking the kids so far; Steve believes everything is his best friend, and he's been sprayed by skunks twice this spring. If I spy any skunks, we turn around and walk in the opposite direction, much to Steve's disgust - he moans for about the next 100 feet.
If you enjoy cooking, looking at recipes, and/or seeing new cooking gadgets, I advise you to visit www.cookingenthusiast.com - I have been enjoying their catalog and recipes. My biggest problem is they have a really neat chicken infuser/cooker - it's made of ceramic, has a well for your liquid infusion, and a bowl (to gather the juices for gravy) with a pour spout and handles. It's a really neat little item - but they have a photo in the catalog of a roasted chicken still sitting on top of the infuser, which causes me to break out into almost hysterical giggles. The chicken is very plump (nicely browned and with pepper and herbs clearly visible on the outside), and, to me, it looks like me sitting on a log (or post) with my elbows (the wings) resting on the tops of my rounded hips (the drumsticks). It looks funny. And it just keeps making me laugh. - Am I really losing my sanity?
And a final note that last year's Derby winner, Mine That Bird, has been moved from the training of Chuck Wooley, and is now in the hands of D. Wayne Lukas.....