The Day After

So there it is, I'm seventy-one years old. Don't feel any different, feel just me. A kid, actually. Kidding, can't you tell? No, really, I don't feel as though I'm any older than, say, thirty, thirty-five? I feel great. And then I grab a quick look in the mirror. Hmm. And so what? Sometimes I look fine, sometimes I look, well, kind of long in the tooth.

But guess what, that's how I looked to myself when I was still thirty, thirty-five. Nothing much has changed in the intervening years.

Another busy day. Hauled out the waffle-maker - not much used - and did banana-buttermilk waffles for breakfast. Because my beloved suggested that. And we really did enjoy them. Also had sausages, with one cut up in tiny bits, placed in very little porcelain bowls for our very spoiled little dogs; a week-end breakfast treat.

We do eat well at breakfast time - and then there's a long gap before the next meal - our evening meal.

While I did an extra-deep kitchen clean-up, then moved on to the bathrooms, he went out to buy another shower fitting for the bathtub in the guest bathroom. This one was leaking, and our son wouldn't tolerate that waste of water. When the shower-pull is activated, as much water still gushes from the tap as from the shower head.

An easy job to do, thank heavens. The unit with faucet was made by Moen. Guaranteed for life. Except that when he took it in to two purveyors of plumbing supplies neither had a replacement in stock. They offered to order. He opted to buy another, better quality model.

And then we had our ravine walk, the snow nicely tamped down on the trails. Mild enough still so the dogs need only their coats, no boots. Chickadees about and their companion nuthatches, and crows as well. The creek is in full run, with the ice having melted and the milder weather also melting the ambient snow. Good grief, it even smells like spring.

When we got back home, he set about changing the oil in the car - he does this religiously every three months, keeping the car in good working order. I had decided to produce a pasta dish for tomorrow's dinner, put it in the oven after we pick our son up at the airport. I'd do it today and refrigerate it because I'll be busy tomorrow, cleaning the house, and it's a big house to clean.

First I had to make the tomato sauce and I put it on to cook before we'd gone out. Then I had to make the pasta itself; rolled the pasta dough into large squares, then briefly cooked them in boiling water. And then the task of preparing the filling, consisting of garlic, onion, mashed sardines, ricotta cheese, grated cheddar, grated lemon peel and juice, parsley, breadcrumbs.

Filled the cooked pasta squares, rolled them and fit them into a casserole. Sprinkled with grated cheese, poured the tomato sauce over. Then prepared a small beef roast for today's dinner, with new white potatoes, and carrots.