hrj

How is it that I have this extra time (no commute, not leaving the house on errands) and I still feel like I'm not getting much done? I skipped doing my LHMP reading yesterday, not on purpose, but because it was bedtime and I hadn't done it yet. On the other hand, I did a lot of in-box clearing, so there's that. And I"m making progress on getting the back yard into shape. The nice thing about a "puttering" routine is that I don't do some much of any one activity that I'm wrecked the next day. So I've been taking the weed-whacker to the grass in manageable swathes. (The back yard is too ... complicated to use a lawn mower.) And I've cleared the grass and weeds out of two of the raised beds along the fence that I didn't grow anything in last year. I think I'm going to put the tomatoes there this year. I like shifting things around. Not sure if I'm going to get yard work in today. Just as my work day ended, it started raining. But now it's sunny again. So maybe I should strike while the sun shines. (Or make hay while the iron is hot?)

Yesterday's dinner was somewhat minimalist: the remaining Sri Lankhan style lentils with a quarter of a broiled eel (sushi-style) for flavor but not much substance. Today I thawed out a package of hamburger that I plan to split into three dishes, plus some homemade tomato sauce. I'm planning a pasta sauce with fresh herbs from the garden. I don't have any regular pasta (except for lasagna that I'm saving for when I've picked up the right cheeses) but I've got two bags of soba noodles which I actually prefer.

I've been doing some impulse shopping to support small businesses promoted by friends. On Monday I ordered some Jane Austen inspired tea blends from Bingley's Teas and the arrived today already! So I know what I'm having for tomorrow's afternoon tea. For similar reasons I ordered ... ok, don't laugh. Because I'm in the middle of this big "sorting through my spices and reorganizing them" project. But I wanted to buy something from Penzey's Spices and what tickled my fancy was four different varietal cinnamons. When I'm back to socializing with other people, I think it might be fun to do a cinnamon bun taste-test comparison.

A random TP-shortage tip. (I'm not short, but I did calculate that what with staying at home all the time, that 24-pack I started with isn't as surplus as it might seem.) For those of us without fully external equipment (trying not to be gender-essentialist here), a hiking tip I learned in extremis is that if you have a squeeze bottle of water, you can just wash yourself with a couple good squirts after urination, then pat dry with a launderable towel. If you're squeemish, I advise dedicating the squeeze bottle to this purpose and not re-using for drinking, though since there's no contact, that's more of a "ritual uncleanness" thing.