Thursday

Little lemons, that's what I call them: the little lemons of a January day.

Take the weather: stuck at foggy, drippy, cold, wet. There will not be a different photo for you from my morning walk. It will be a repeat of the same, every day, because that's what the weather will be like for the next two weeks.

(the marching band...)

Breakfast: I'm feeling like I should return to oatmeal. Step aside, croissants, I need to get back to a healthier start to the day.

I have an appointment for a 30 000 mile checkup on the car. I drive up, ready to relinquish Alpine Blue for a couple of hours and am told that it will take the whole day. The whole day? I can't be without a car for the whole day! Ed's out at work and I have kids to pick up. And what is it that you need to do that requires a whole day? I'm given a list and a price tag. Whoaaaaaa! I will have spent ten percent of the cost of the car on maintenance this week! Why cant we have better public transportation in place anyway? Cars cars cars! We rely on them, we need them, we cant live without them and we spent a fortune on making them safe. (Nice big squeeze on my little lemon here!)

I reschedule the tune up for a weekend day and go back home, where all these little lemons lead me to bake lemon blueberry muffins. Because when life throws you little lemons, you may as well bake these muffins.

On the upside, the kids are up and running and I am back in the pick up line waiting for them.

(Off come the coats! Neither kid likes to sit in a car with coat on...)

And we come to the farmhouse and it all feels so normal again!

Well, except for the drizzle, the fog, the kind of stuff you're okay with in November, but not now, not in crisp January! 

I've made a batch of farro with cauliflower, tomatoes, and parmesan. A perfect comfy food. No lemon juice for this one. Warm and cozy, familiar and delicious!

 Okay, I'm ready for another day of drizzle, fog, and cat fights, and chickens messing up our walkway. It's all good. Really truly.