I am sitting here with my puppy preparing to start work. My work day follows the high school schedule in Maine so I work from 2 pm until 8 pm. This morning I have hit the Peloton, vacuumed, dusted, and walked Sophie. The forecast had said it was to be warm and sunny today but during my walk a fog or cloud cover moved in and make it quite chilly. I can tell Sophe wants me to make a fire but I’m putting it off until later. I still hope the sun will grace us as it did at the start of our walk.

Yesterday I cooked and gardened. My topiary bushes were starting to put out sprouts of growth so I tackled them with my hand shears. I have the electric kind of shears too but I like the feeling of shaping them manually with my hands. I was wearing Matthew’s flannel and dad’s LL Bean work shirt to start but quickly got warm. First I took off dad’s shirt and then I went for it and took off Matthews as I continued to sweat. Half naked gardening is one of the perks of having a private walled garden. My new neighbors never use the garden and they are rarely not working so I have an element of privacy I have not known before.

After I finished the shrubs, I came in and began to bake off the chilled double chunk, chocolate chip cookie dough I made. It is a recipe from the New York times and it truly makes the best cookies. I had a roof leak at the start of the week during a hard rain so my “roof guy” Ian came over and checked it out. He also was able to enjoy some of my warm cookies. He couldn’t find a missing slate or any damp so he just brushed off the moss and said he would be back if it happened again.

After the cookies were done I made a cabbage and cashew stir fry to which I added shrimp. It is so yummy and I think very healthy as well. It is seasoned with cumin seed, tumeric and salt and pepper and it is so lovely. I ate more than one portion!

Speaking of food, I thought I would photograph the lunchtime salad I make most days. It is my biggest and most favorite meal of the day. I also have included a photo of kiiwi growing in my neighbor’s yard. I always thought kiwi had to be grown tropically but you see it a lot around here.