Sunshine on my shoulders

It feels so much like spring right now! Sunshine and blue skies, my horse is starting to shed her winter coat, and I've got plant starts on my windowsill. Day two of the long weekend, and I feel like being lazy and luxurious, rather than doing the huge amounts of schoolwork I have for this week.

Yesterday I got to ride in the sunshine, and made my first attempt at correcting Starla's gingivitis. I bought mouthwash, put it on a washcloth, and held it to her gums, hoping for some antimicrobial action. I was also a little afraid of losing my fingers. Luckily, though she objected to having a hand in her mouth, she liked the minty-fresh Crest. She kept licking the washcloth.

I drove up to my folks place after, for a lazy night with the family. Leo and I caught up that evening. I've really been missing him- it's been a month and a half since the last time I saw him. Maybe it's the pretty weather. I want someone to share it with besides Miss Starla!

My parent's backyard in the sunshine.

Mr. B doesn't like the camera.


Miss Nellie is unconcerned by flash.

I utilized my parent's well stocked kitchen to make kale chips. I just heated the oven to 350 F, seasoned kale leaves with salt and olive oil, and baked for 10 min. I liked them, but I think I'd want to season with something with a stronger flavor next time. Maybe sea salt and lemon juice? I also got the idea for tea-infused vodka, to make an alcoholic Arnold Palmer. It seems really easy (just steep loose-leaf tea in vodka for a few hours), and I think that would be a great summer cocktail. I'll try it when it's warm enough to sit outside!

Kale chips!

My beans have started sprouting :) Success! Now I just need to see if any of the other veggies follows along. I'll post pictures when I get a little more impressive growth. I also went ahead and planted some marigold seeds. I learned at Nunhems that they help keep the pests away (though there is debate over the mechanism of how they do this), and so I thought I'd grow some to plant around the tomatoes.

Baby bush bean.

My friend Shonda came over on Sunday evening and we had a movie night, which was some of the most fun I've had this quarter. We ate pizza, junk food, and watched the BBC's Emma. We will hopefully be able to squeeze something like that in once a month.

Monday I had the day off, but besides riding Starla I put in about 10hrs of homework. The rest of my week was a mess of running around and ups and downs, but I'll talk about that in my next entry. I'm finishing this entry almost a week after starting it! I've been pretty busy. Hopefully just three more weeks of burning the candle at both ends...then I can go on to my even more difficult and time consuming Spring quarter.