Cold, windy, and a little rain. We need every drop of rain we get! It is weather like this that reminds me how glad I am to be retired. As a hospital pharmacist, I had to be there no matter what the weather. Now, I can enjoy a quilt, a cup of hot tea, and a cat on my lap on these inclement days.
Our goldfinches have left. They picked a bad time to move north, IMHO. It is cold here and much worse farther north. I've had to break ice on the birdbaths. We have the usual crowd at the feeders. I've been filling the feeders twice a day since it is so cold.
I made the best soup last night! I posted the recipe for Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Soup yesterday. The next time I make it I will decrease the amount of meat from 2 pounds to 1.5 pounds and increase the barley from 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Also I used all beef broth instead of half beef half chicken stock. I toasted and buttered some sourdough bread. So good!
The quilting on the table runner is finally moving along. I think the problem was that I didn't have an audio book to listen to while quilting. I used to listen to NPR while quilting but here lately I just have no patience listening to the crisis du jour. Audio books are so much better.
Lots of good books. I finished listening to The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank on audio CD. It was good but not great. I enjoyed it. I am almost finished with Basilica by R.A. Scotti about the building of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome during the tumultuous Renaissance, Reformation, and Counterreformation. Excellent! Other books in progress: Bad Science by Ben Goldacre (group read for GoodReads Science group), The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert, and The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass.
Still no trip to Brazos Bend for birding but the trip to Louisiana is all set for the last week in March. Now if only the weather will cooperate!!
I did get tickets to the Houston Symphony for March 14. An evening of Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi! Lovely!
I have been giving some thought to the situation in the Ukraine. More on that tomorrow.
3 comments:
I LOVE barely soup. So, I'll have to go check your recipe out and copy it to save and try.
This year, with the winter that the entire country has had, it's gonna be tough on the birds and their migration. Some, but very little, have started their venture north already.
As for birding in Arizona...I lived there for nearly a decade and I know how many birds there are/were. I miss the cactus wren more than I realize.
Happy Birdin'!!
Hugs...Hootin' Anni and
Anni @ I'd Rather B Birdin'
Hope you like it! But do decrease the meat & increase the barley.
I still have about 30 goldfinch... Michelle
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