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I just posted on Phil's blog that gardening, cooking and working on my art car always make me feel good. Today I managed two out of three. Worked on digging out the beds for the vegetable garden this morning, and again in late afternoon. I managed to get one of the two beds completely dug out. The soil wasn't as heavy as the solid clay around the septic tank. But on the other hand, the spot we chose for the bed is full of big roots, and is where the previous owner stored her gravel collection, which made the digging harder. Also it's always harder to dig when it's dry.

After all my hard work, I treated myself to this recipe for spring vegetables with shallots and lemon. I didn't feel like messing around with fava beans so I used edamame instead. And I didn't feel like vegetarian so I added chicken. And also used a strip of bacon instead of butter, just because I could. It was the yummy Irish peppered bacon from Zingerman's this month. (Did I mention that Georg got me the bacon of the month club from Zingerman's for my birthday? Every month we get a pound of specialty bacon in the mail. Is that not the perfect gift?) The recipe turned out great if I do say so myself. Nice and bright and lemony. I made enough extra for lunch tomorrow.

Now I'm chilling, enjoying the tiredness in my arms, surfing Ebay and watching a backlog of soaps. Happy St. Patrick's Day!