HFM

Busy with summer session starting up for school, so only little doings this week. More mousing. Pickles has redeemed herself, ferociously chasing a tiny baby mouse out of the treadmill on Friday night: It ran straight into my closet. Pickles was very helpful the next day, as well, while I was trying to figure out whether it was still in there. It wasn't. I think I've figured out how to keep the intruders confined to the kitchen and AJ's office until I have time to start to plug up the holes in the garage, which is how they're getting into the house in the first place. On Saturday, I finally put our clothesline back up: I set it up by putting up two cleats on either side of the yard, so that we can easily take it down when we're not using it. On Sunday, I made some ricotta cheese with some milk that was about to go off: I used too much lemon juice, so it ended up with a very desserty flavor. Which isn't all bad. I also saved the whey for pickling. Lastly, 30 Days...

This week, we discovered that the mice are back! We spent Sunday patching mouse holes and cleaning up after the mouse party. Pickles was no help in any of the mouse endeavors, & completely failed to detect that they were back. In fact, it's clear they have been back for a while, this time invading through AJ's office. I see that she was busted back down to Private in October  for dereliction of duty, so I'm not sure what to do. Admiral AJ suggested that she should be kicked out of the Rodent Roundup entirely, but that seems harsh to me. Maybe we'll just put her on potato peeling duty for a while. I also had to find a way to stake the favas this weekend, despite the fact that I can't seem to make myself go to the store to get bamboo stakes. The spring wind had knocked down one of the plants, which are now three feet high, so I had to just make something work (AJ suggests you click to make this bigger..."you really have to see it to believe it," she say...

This week, all time and energy was focused on celebrating AJ's 40th birthday! On Friday night, Mr. Bunkport's partner Reina, who co-owns catering & food consultancy Mocha & Matcha , helped us throw a cooking lesson/dinner party for AJ. Here is the menu (click to make it larger): We had a total of ten people chopping, dicing, stirring, and cheering the cooking on throughout the evening. Everyone had a good time, and the food was incredibly delicious. Some photos of the evening's festivities: (Photographs of AJ as a baby were required for decorating purposes, of course.) Happy Birthday, AJ!

I spent this weekend working on my final paper for school, so no projects to report this week. But here is a picture of Pickles, settling in for a pre-bedtime nap on the couch: In 30 Days of Health news, I have been diligently doing my stretches and exercises, and am happy to report that my back is already starting to feel better. Also exciting, three people have already donated to my project, putting me at 14% to my goal! A big thank you to James, Mama O'Brien, and Momma Arave for their generous donations! If you haven't donated and are able to, please consider supporting my project and the critical services that Lyon-Martin provides to the LGBT community, by visiting my fundraising page and making a tax-deductible donation.  Thank you very much!

Just a little bit of gardening this week. Weeding, thinning, and harvesting a big bowl of spinach and some beet seedlings: Also, took the rosemary branches and made them into more of a fence: The favas are now about a foot high, and the peas are about three feet high. Happy little plants! Next up: some modifications to the screen cage (which is working great -- the spinach & beets are leafminer-free), staking the favas before the wind breaks them, and maybe returning to the outdoor bamboo mural. Also, the 2015 Lyon-Martin Health Services "30 Days of Health" fundraising event has begun! As much as I would like to do another project with Pickles, as I did in 2014 & 2013 , things are just too busy right now for daily dog blogging. So, I'm doing a lower key, but also valuable project: daily strength and flexibility training to improve my posture and nip some lower back pain in the bud. Please consider supporting my project and the critical services that Lyon-Martin p...