Late February

After Ski Week the kids ‘went back’ to school, as in, distance learning resumed. The end of February was quiet, with the five of us home, the kids learning ‘at school’ and Mike ‘at work.’ I finished organizing the workbench in the garage, we looked into getting a big screen for the patio door but ultimately decided it was too expensive and we’d need to find another solution for enjoying indoor-outdoor living while having indoor cats, I made focaccia (to the kids’ delight), our patio furniture arrived and we put it together. We really wanted to get the patio up and running so we could catch the very beginning of the warm weather. This was especially important with everyone at home during the pandemic. We wanted to support as much outside time as we could, and enable people to take meetings and work and attend school outside. It’s easy to go stir crazy when all five of us are cooped up indoors all the time, 24/7. In slightly larger news, Owen got his braces off! His teeth look great. When he smiled without braces, I was actually startled at how much his new, beautiful smile looked like my niece Melanie’s! Amazing how, with orthodontia rearranging his teeth and jaw, the end result was to heighten our family resemblance. I also made paella in the end of February. First time I’d done this. I’d been wanting to for years, and I finally got around to getting a paella pan and making it on the grill. It took MUCH longer than expected and was not ready to eat until midafternoon. Lela, who had an afternoon engagement, was a bit pinched for time but she very kindly wanted to eat my paella too so she made it work. I was very touched. It did turn out delicious – seafood and chicken on rice – despite being so late. I learned an important lesson about cooking on a flat surface on the grill: the big gap between the fire and the grill bars means a lot of lost heat, so cooking was very slow. I ended up getting six small paella pans so I could make it on the stove in the kitchen instead, where the heat was much better. (These pans were all carbon steel and quite inexpensive). And lastly, Lela dyed her hair! Manya has been dying hers for a while and taught Lela how. Lela dyed her tips blue.

Gizmo in the cat tree

It's their favorite spot

Big branch came down outside Deer Hollow Farm

Winter dinner of Thai gail lan and cascabel beans

ridiculous cat

Stretching

Member of the family

New cat toy! Little cardboard rolls on wire

It's a big hit

The bouncing, jerky, erratic motion of the wire...

... makes the lure look like an insect

It's a different motion than they've seen before, and it's very engaging

Lela with foccacia and gravlax for lunch. My job keeping everyone fed well during distance learning

The workbench, organized!

The shelves, now as deep pantry and task bins

The workbench with everything reorganized and labeled

Cricket watching out our front window

I like this one. We ended up putting the puzzle away.

Mushroom patties and Chinese sweet stem cauliflower stir fry

Mike sharing something on the phone

This is a common scene

Our old patio furniture

We're getting ready for the outdoor season

For a while we considered a pull-accross screen

But it was too expensive and cumbersome

We'll need to figure out a different way to have cats and enjoy the patio

Reorganizing the battery cabinet

The cats are HELPING

Batteries, tools, wire, tape, string...

Foccacia, at the kids' request

This is a big hit

School lunch. Not bad!

Relaxed kitty, feet in the air

Examining a BIG hole dug by one of the rabbits

A new cat on the farm, named Canvas -- Lisa's outdoor cat

She's a pretty one. Owen takes a MUCH greater interest in cats now that we have two

Funny license plate: Pleiades

Watching nature shows in front of the fire, Owen snuggling with Gizmo

Gizmo watching an underwater scene

Both cats watching intently

Our new patio furniture has arrived

Gizmo playing with Mike's boot shoelaces

It's a little distracting

Another foccacia

Prosciutto and olives

Owen right before getting his braces off

Braces are finally OFF

Amazing to see him like this

What a great smile

With a nice, normal bite

Putting the patio furniture together

We watched a show about cats in Istanbul

I don't know if the cats can perceive it like we do, but it's fun to watch them watch

Getting rid of a rug

Mike's lettuces are coming up

As are his seedlings

Our new patio furniture! Happy to have seats for the family.

One more seat and all 5 of us can sit out here

We pick up Owen's retainer

It's taped to the door

Cat in a bag

Closeup

Composed salad with mushroom patties, cascabel beans

Owen can eat popcorn again! It's not allowed with braces.

Happy popcorn day!

Early spring lunch with artichoke! Along with omelet and cascabels

New LED lights. These have almost completely replaced incandescents

I got the cats a fish toy

It's a weird toy

But they're interested

It flops

Dragging it like fish prey

The kids playing ou back with homemade swords

Omg, Cricket asleep on my lap!

This is a big moment. Getting her to trust us enough to relax

I refuse to move a muscle

Relaxed cat, with her paws relaxed too

She doesn't feel the need to be braced for action

Relaxed and trusting

It's a good moment

Asparagus are here at the market!

Lela working on the patio, on the new furniture. Very happy to potentiate this.

Making paella on the grill

Browning the chicken. It took a LONG time to cook this on the grill.

My setup

It eventually started to come together

I could watch the sun move as it cooked

It wasn't done till after 2:30!

It was delicious, thankfully

Here's a closeup. I would need to solve the heating problem for next time.

After this I got individual pans for the stove (closer flame with more BTUs)

Mike checking on his seedlings

Tiny little shoots are coming up!

He'll plant them in the garden when they get bigger

Mike with Cricket on his lap

Our neighbor, Lin, came over with her new puppy, Mei Mei!

Spring dinner of mushroom patties, cucumber salad, and deviled eggs

Lela dying a lock of her hair

Lela's lock of hair dyed blue!

Close up of the blue lock