Collard Critter

Big surprise this morning. I went out to the garden to pick the greens for Nancy’s bridge club and was clipping collards along the fence when I noticed a coiled snake about 6” from my hand. Now I know the stents in my heart are working! I think the snake is a corn snake or maybe a pine snake but for sure, nothing poisonous. Still, it was an eye opener. I avoided that one plant but continued picking for the crowd.

I don’t recall ever seeing the lake this high in mid February. I guess it’s El Nino or maybe it’s the amount of rain we’ve had during the normally dry season. I don’t like the idea of going into the traditionally wet season with a full lake but we’re not flooding or anything. I just wish the fishing was better – following pic notwithstanding. Actually the fishing is decidedly better than it has been and I’m starting to catch a few decent fish off the dock and around the lake – just a notch above bad. The weather this winter has been unusual and I think the fish just aren’t sure what season it is yet.
Big event – I got a store bought haircut – the first in about 12 years. Since we moved to the jungle, I was ok with the wild look and Nancy was good with the scissors. With her impaired vision, it’s a bit trickier – ears and eyes on the line. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings by looking elsewhere but I think it was putting her under too much pressure. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon enough; i.e. her driving and cutting hair.
Ribolitta – Italian cabbage soup. Nancy’s latest soup masterpiece with loads and loads of garden veggies including a head of cabbage (of course), a pound of kale, and a pound of swiss chard. Plus the standards – potato, onion, garlic, tomatoes, etc etc. Cannelloni beans. The recipe doesn’t call for sausage but we decided that couldn’t hurt. A pound of kale and a pound of chard is really quite a bit so this soup is definitely a winter gardeners delight. I was really surprised how good it turned out.