Happy St. Patrick's Day

I never did get around to putting out the St. Patty's Day decorations.... and most of them have been brought to my booth in the antique shop anyway.  I had planned to make Irish Soda Bread yesterday, but I got caught up in a book of plays by Paddy Chayefsky and there went the afternoon. (Chayefsky is calorie-free, compared to the bread.) Maybe the Easter decorations will come out of the storage closet next month. Possibly. Maybe.

As I type, the latest (and best, so far) handyman is power-washing the back deck. E has been working here for over a month now, maybe longer.... the to-do list is getting shorter with each of his visits, and my husband is pleased with his work. There is a handyman god after all. Except for the day when his cell phone fell out of his pocket and got shredded by the riding mower, we think that E has liked working here as much as we like having him here.

The bluebonnets have been popping up in huge patches all over the fields, and within the next couple of weeks there will be picture-taking motorists riding along all the back roads in search of the perfect spot for their annual bluebonnet portraits. I hope that they at least check underneath the wildflowers for ant hills and snakes before they tell their children to sit in the grass.

We took Savannah for a ride out into the surrounding towns for some bluebonnet-searching the other day.... she loves the car and we can't even say that word unless we're planning to take her with us. I don't know if it's the car ride she likes, or just being with us instead of staying at home.  We found a small park in the town of Independence and we parked the car, thinking we would let Savannah walk around with us on her leash. There weren't many people there, but the ones who were had lots of little children who were playing and singing and just having fun being kids on a sunny day. Well, Savannah heard the noise of the kids and she wouldn't get out of the car. She just cowered in the corner of the back seat and wouldn't move. We didn't make her get out of the car, poor thing. There are times when the smallest thing either immobilizes Savannah, or sends her fleeing towards the house. Memories of her 'lost' days in the Spring of last year. I don't think I will ever forget those horrible 12 days, and apparently, neither will Savannah. The people across the road continue to be extremely loud at times... a constant reminder of their thoughtlessness.

My iPad (Gatsby) and I continue to learn new things every day. I've discovered "Words With Friends" and have on-going Scrabble-like games with people I don't know. I have Savannah's Facebook photo on the 'Words' game, and I've played with another woman who has posted her dog's photo instead of her own. Right now, the two dogs are in the midst of a game, and Savannah is winning. So far. I bought one of those rubber-tipped Stylus things to use with Gatsby, which makes moving the letter-tiles around the board much easier. I thought by now that my husband would want his own iPad, but he swears that he doesn't want a computer to fit in his pocket because he's on the computer all day long anyway and doesn't want to be able to take it on-the-go.

The barn swallows have started coming back to the porch. Just when we thought the porch columns would be free of bird-poop, they have re-discovered the sheltered spots around this porch. Oh well.... more baby birds to watch as they hatch and sit on the edges of the nests as they wait for their wings to develop enough to let them fly.

March 17th.... Happy St. Patrick's Day... to those who are Irish, and to those who wish they were, if only for a day.