Amelia's here! She and Kevin (and Leia the cat) arrived safely about 11:30. I am so glad she's here! I was starting to be a little overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done today.

Yesterday morning, Ray drove himself to work, parking at my Dad's. I moved books around and cleared stuff out of Amelia's room. I made the bed in the downstairs room. I did some stuff on the computer. I kept starting and stopping and couldn't settle on anything. I was trying to peel a giant butternut squash (two of them, actually) and it was hard and I would stop and take some things upstairs. Then the phone would ring. Mostly I arranged books on shelves. Eventually I got both squash peeled and cut up.

Ray came home about 2 and we ate something, which I should have done earlier without him. Macaroni and cheese, bean salad, and ratatouille. Pretty yummy lunch. He helped me with moving heavy things. My Dad arrived and transplanted lots of baby plants. All day, we thought it would rain any minute. Ray mowed the lawn, expecting not to be able to get it all done. I pruned the black raspberries, a surprisingly difficult job, especially since I was wearing short sleeves and short pants. I finally went back to inside work and it never did rain.

Captain left and Ray and I fed the pigs when he was done with the lawn, on the way to a really nice dinner at Porterhouse--my Dad's treat for Ray's birthday. They had a lamb special that Captain and I both had that was excellent, with mashed potatoes and asparagus. The asparagus was a little underdone for us. Ray had chicken saltimbocca. We had drinks and red wine and a couple desserts, which were disappointing. Captain knows most of the staff there pretty well and talked to several of them at length. We talked to Meredith about wine. When Sean (the manager) asked about our dinner, Captain mentioned that the desserts weren't as good as the rest of the food. Since he never orders dessert, he hadn't noticed. And the creme brulee is really good. The peach cobbler I got was okay, but the chocolate ganache tart was kind of dry. And neither came with whipped cream or any garnish. Sean said he would speak to our waiter, Michael, because it should have, and the cobbler should have ice cream. I hope he doesn't get in a lot of trouble.

At home, about 9:30, I mixed the cream and butter and sugar into the squash and made the mini-quiche pastry into tart shapes in the pans. I was tired, but Ray helped me make Amelia's bed and clear her room out a little more. I went to bed at 10:30 and was just about asleep when she arrived. I had to get up and say hello before I went back to sleep.