dreaming@echonyc.com

a quick bulletin, dateline montpelier:

we have crocuses! (this is last year's picture, but you'll get the idea.) we also still have a thick crust of snow over the majority of the perennial bed, so I can't see whether the dozens of red tulips mom planted have begun to emerge. but today is sunny, with temperatures expected in the high fifties and low sixties, so maybe i'll have an answer for you later this afternoon.

the kitten is still cute. we clipped his claws, and he did not mind. he is now significantly less lethal.

we also have new light bulbs. listen, i realize that doesn't sound like breaking news, but it is. last night at the grocery store, paul found some three-way bulbs whose lowest light is 15 watts — perfect for the den, as i like a little light when we're watching tv. their low setting is low, but their high setting is the same as traditional three-way bulbs (150 watts, i believe), so they're still bright enough to read by. they're perfect.

it's not exactly news, i guess, that i am enough of a dork to get excited over new light bulbs.

i'm sewing the binding on one baby quilt, have pieced another, and will finish piecing yet another a little later today.

this morning i burned myself on the heating element of the toaster oven. there is a tiny patch of barbecue on my left index-finger knuckle. for the moment before i realized what was happening, the kitchen smelled delicious.

wednesday i go to louisiana for a week of grandparents, fried seafood po-boys, and untrammelled hilarity with betty and mom. i must unearth my short-sleeved t-shirts, which otherwise wouldn't see the light of day around here until, oh, mid-may.

that's the news, and i...am...outta here.