Palm Sunday, spring plants, and Sunday dinner—what a day!

            Sunday morning found me in Palm Sunday services with Christian and Jacob. It was a joyful, happy service with more palms than I’ve ever seen, and people waving them everywhere. The little children singing a hymn were adorable, some with their palms hanging limply down as though the child had forgotten why he or she was holding it. There was an air of excitement and anticipation in the church—and a lot more people than usual. And why not? Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was a happy event, even though he predicted the dark events of the week ahead.

fountain grass

ground cover

kid of hard to tell

but it's so green and healthy

geranium

            Today wasn’t quite as lovely as yesterday. The sun hid for much of the day, but it was still warm, and by late afternoon a nice breeze blew. Neighbors joined us to sit on the patio for a while, a small celebration of Jay’s birthday tomorrow—of course, he’ll be twenty-nine again. By sunset, clouds to the west seemed to promise storms, though the forecast is vague. My ground cover is amazing, and rain will make it burst forth even more. The plants Jordan put in pots seem fine, and the basil seeds are just beginning to send up tiny sprouts. I’m thankful that Jordan has taken an interest in my vegetable garden and is following Jay’s directions explicitly, so I don’t have to nag about watering.

Somehow, I associate lamb with Holy Week meals. It’s traditional, of course, both for Holy Week and Passover, but I’m not sure we had lamb at Easter when I was a child—the origin of so many of my taste preferences. I think we always had ham and scalloped potatoes. But tonight, I experimented. Made Shepherd’s Pie but used ground lamb instead of beef. Some recipes call for cubed meat, but I’ve always liked to make it with ground meat. Despite Christian’s aversion to peas and cooked carrots, I just dumped in a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and he dealt with it bravely. In fact, he complimented me several times on the meal, but said he wouldn’t have known it was lamb if he himself hadn’t picked up the lamb at Central Market. I can tell the difference instantly, which led him to say my palate is used to more tastes than his. At any rate, it was a successful dish, with a bit of grated cheese in the mashed potato topping. Another recipe for my growing cookbook.

Tomorrow, back to serious work. Got to start editing the first draft of my==sob!—still untitled novel.

And don’t forget, folks, Murder at the Bus Depot will be available April 6 on Amazon as both ebook and print. Shortly thereafter it will show up on B&N, Kobo, and several other digital platforms. Enough of this lollygagging around. I’ve got to act like a working author.