HEY!  I just noticed.   My one blooming iris appears to be a “Michigan” Iris…blue and gold.  Go figure.

Today I made a triple batch of chocolate chip cookies. Baking isn’t always a good idea when you’re on Weight Watchers, but it’s a tremendous test of will power! I have to say that the chocolate chip cookies and I were pretty evenly matched. I ate less than I wanted to, but more than I should have.

I made them for my husband to take to work, using the big KitchenAid mixer my mother-in-law gave me years ago that sits in a cupboard unused most of the year. I thought I had done a triple batch in this mixer bowl before, but as I was attempting to add the 9 cups of flour to the bowl I realized I probably never did quite 3 times the recipe before. I had flour being flung out of the bowl on all sides, flour in the air, flour all over the counter, in my face, on the floor. As the mixer continued  doing its job, the cookie dough expanded, spilling over the sides of the bowl, like some sort of mutant experiment gone wrong. I burst out laughing.

It was a fun and productive way to spend the day. Results? One totally trashed kitchen and 197 cookies. ..well…minus four. But who’s counting?

Yesterday we went to see “The Color Purple” at the Fox in Detroit. The Fox is a very elaborate theater, all gold and jewel toned walls and columns and ceilings. It absolutely glows. I think it’s strange that it has the most intense security to enter, complete with metal detectors and people searching all women’s purses, but it sells nachos and beer to patrons and allows all of that into the theater like a movie house. Most theaters don’t search purses, but don’t allow food and drink inside the auditorium. It seemed a shame to see crushed nachos, spilled beer and litter between the seats on our way out of this beautiful space after the show. I’d think people could wait three hours before needing a fast food fix, but you never know.

The show was great, which surprised me. It wasn’t on my list of shows I especially wanted to see. It’s the story of a black woman being used by men most of her life and I figured it would be depressing. But it wasn’t, not by a long shot, and in the end, of course, she realizes her worth. It was fun to see her along the way begin to see a different way to respond to men besides the down trodden way she had been raised to respond. Of course all the women in the audience were cheering her on. Quite enthusiastically. At one point she gets discouraged because she’s asked God to help her get out of all sorts of bad situations and she doesn’t think He ever listens to her. Her friend says that though “it does seem He’s taking His time getting around to you,” reminds her that everything around her is proof of God, even the purple flowers along the road.

The voices soared, the story was compelling and sobering and even joyful; I am grateful that I got to see it. If it’s ever in a town near you, it’s worth the price of the ticket!

Meanwhile this week I am supposed to hear about the job I interviewed for last Wednesday. I’ll be disappointed if I don’t receive an offer, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up. I know library work is what I need to be doing. I’ll find a place somewhere sometime.

I wish it would rain. For a lot of reasons. First, today I put in my tiny vegetable garden, just three tomato plants and some green beans, peas and chard. Plus I planted a few herbs; rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley and thyme. In case I ever decide to cook you know. Mostly I just like the way they smell. I figure the ground hog will eat the green beans when they sprout, just like last year, and the deer will eat the chard later on. But I can dream! This is the time of year where I imagine all my wonderful gardens weed free, blooming profusely, with healthy vegetables abundant. Each year these dreams convince me of their believability before the reality of a long hot summer complete with my own private set of garden invaders sets in.

The other reason I wish it would rain is to give me a break from the gardens.  I want an excuse to sit inside and read a book. Or fall asleep, which is more likely to happen.  I have weeded for what seems weeks now, and I have more to do. This is the result of letting the gardens manage themselves last year. Never let a garden have its own way! Lesson learned. Husband suggests that I hire someone to weed. I don’t think we can afford anyone to do the work I’m doing. Heck, we probably can’t even afford me!

So….I have hung up my gardening gloves for the day. It’s supposed to rain. It needs to rain. I washed my car yesterday to ensure we get rain today. Here’s hoping that works.

Today I ran around doing fun things.  Along the way I saw lots of things that made me smile.  Here’s the short version:

I was outside working with Katie because we have doggie school tomorrow night.  After a little bit of sitting and staying she got bored and went to sit in the shade.  I sat down with her in the long grass under the tree and we just watched the world go by.  That in itself was nice, but as we sat there a wild turky ( http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i3100id.html ) walked out of the shurbs near the house, strutted across the lawn in front of us and disappeared in the underbrush by the road.  Katie and I were both still as we watched the turkey go by.  Me because I was amazed.  Katie because that was the biggest bird she’s ever seen!

Later in the day I dropped by my library.  In the yard was a kildeer( http://www.kildeer.district96.k12.il.us/kildeerBird/KildeerBird.html ) with three tiny little round baby kildeer birds running all over.  The babies were about the size of a golf ball and just the cutest thing.  Then I drove down to Milford on my way to a mall.  Going through town I noticed the families of Canadian geese   each complete with 3 or 4 yellow dumpling baby geese.  Apparently spring is happening everywhere, whether or not I’m ready for it!

After my quick trip to the mall I stopped at Kensington Metro Park http://www.metroparks.com/parks/pk_kensington.php# to check on the blue herons who are nesting now.  I wanted to see if the young ones had hatched, but I think the adults are still sitting on the eggs.  On the way out of the park I saw a whole mess of swans out on the lake, so I turned down a road to get a closer look.  Pulling into the first picnic parking area I found a pair of sand hill cranes http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i2060id.html    right in front of me!  I sat and watched those from my car for quite awhile.  When they finally wandered off into the woods I began to try to count the swans.  There were over a hundred out in the lake, it was impossible to count them all.  It was pretty spectatular.

When I got home I walked the dog and realized the lupin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupin  is beginning to bloom in my yard.  See, not everything that makes me smile is a bird!