Planning greenhouse designs and garden changes does require some thought. Often when either of us are thinking such complex thoughts, we close our eyes. To the casual observer it might look like we are sleeping but, far from it, we are actually problem solving and grand scheming. E finds he does his best thinking prone in our bedroom. He has been thinking this way, every afternoon after lunch, since his surgery in 2000.

For the last two years Piper likes to think alongside him. If E, as often happens, is delayed past one pm with the day’s project, Piper will go ahead into our room to get the thinking started. They think together for a couple of hours and return refreshed and with all of life’s problems solved.

Since having children I have learned to do my best thinking sitting up in my chair. Often, for maximum concentration, my eyes are closed, but I assure you the cogs are turning. Shanty, apparently, doesn’t like to think in the afternoon so I have to save a chew stick to occupy her until all of our thinking is done.

I don’t know if it was because restaurants were closed last spring but we were able to take advantage of a great offer of fresh Halibut for an amazing price from a local fisherman. We bought thirty pounds and vacuum sealed it into forty 3/4 pound packages. We have budgeted them to once a week and have ten left. E has played with several recipes and has now specialized his craft to three awesome dinners, one of which will be on the table tonight. Normally, we would be drinking our $3.00 home made Pinot Gris but tonight we are going to splurge and open a bottle of the nice wine we bought on our last wine trip to the Oliver bench. Maybe, I like to think, we will be able to take a trip like that again one day

It did snow here, not very much down at the house, close to the water, but up top at the garden area there is maybe six inches. After we had finished today’s thinking, I took Shanty up to the top of the hill for her walk about and I was reminded on the way back that what is a steep windy driveway in the summer is a luge track in the snow, complete now with puppy poopage obstacles. At the end of the luge track is a cliff.

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I thought you might be interested, so I very very carefully went back down to the house for my camera and climbed back up to the midpoint for a picture. Apparently, I was quite correct that it was dangerous because on my second trip back, I slid the last five feet on my sit me down. Fortunately, it is warming up, the snow will be gone soon, and I have an ample

sit me down