in this case, can cause problems! Starting way too early this morning with a wake-up call from Toby because it was storming (time for his Thundershirt and Rescue Remedy!), it kept raining most of the day (almost 4″ in the gauge), and a pond that’s nearly overflowing. We’re usually lucky to have a foot or 2 in it! 
At times like this, we’re very happy to be 200-300 ft higher than the highway, because the creek running next to it went over the road in at least a couple of places (pictures on Facebook), and it was even worse in a number of areas around the St. Louis region.
While I was over by the pond, I sneaked a peek into the bluebird house, and saw what looked like a blue tail sticking up on the left, but didn’t want to disturb her, so it’s not a very good photo. 
Meanwhile things are blooming, and I saw the first hummer of the season this morning, though only briefly.
Serviceberry (top); flowering quince (left); lilac (right).
I tried a recipe from Essential Pepin today; Red Snapper with Leeks, Mushrooms & Shallots – with a few substitutions, that is. The recipe said it was suitable for any firm-fleshed fish and I had a piece of flounder, green onions, dried shiitake mushrooms and 1 red sweet Italian pepper, so I sliced, diced and seasoned a bit, simmered everything but the fish in a cup of white wine, then put the fish on top of the sauce, simmered until the fish was just done, and the recipe’s definitely a keeper! 
Talk about getting out of one’s comfort zone! Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t crochet very much – my skills there are pretty minimal, but a friend asked for help with his Mom’s treasured afghan. She’s in a nursing home, and the afghan had been sent through the big washer. Unfortunately, some of the yarn in it was wool and didn’t tolerate that at all well.
Granny square: before.
It would be nice if it were possible to insert rows/rounds into crochet like you can with knitting, but as far as I can find out, crochet doesn’t work that way, so I ended up taking the square out, adding 2 rounds with new yarn, then recycling the original yarn for the last 2 rounds. She was very thrifty with her ends, so it wasn’t easy 😉 Hope I don’t need to do it again!
Granny square: after
Sautéed Baby Squash with Basil & Feta – I had small, but not baby pattypan squash, so I cut a white one and a yellow one into wedges and sautéed them until lightly colored on each side (this pretty much eliminated the excess moisture I get with most squash preps), subbed green onions for the leeks, cut up a couple of Roma tomatoes, and totally forgot to add the cheese, but it was yummy and will certainly be repeated. Sweet peppers would be good in this too!
Another keeper was Skillet Mexican Zucchini – the original recipe is meatless, but I sautéed strips of chicken breast (cleaning out the freezer), then added them at practically the last minute. I skipped the pickled jalapenos, and I’m not sure if I remembered the cheese, but I did stir in some sofrito and chili powder with the garlic and onions, which gave it a bit of zing.
Joyknits! 