Home alone.

My Dad is safely arrived in Westport, as well as his grandson-in-law. He is 86 today and still going strong. I am sure they are having a good time and he will be back safely on Tuesday.

The weather here is very nice. We had rain all day yesterday and it is a little overcast today too. But it is pleasantly cool. I have windows open and really love the temperature. I am planning to pick beans tomorrow...and my Meyer lemon is nearly ripe. It is on a plant that M and A gave me a year and a half ago. I have kept it alive, moving it in during the winter and out again this spring. One of the blossoms only developed into a large, healthy-looking fruit, which has slowly ripened.

I applied for a couple more jobs today, but some of the online jobs seem more like scams. I still have 10 or 12 applications pending at the university, but do not hold out much hope.

The thing that interests me most is figuring out what I am going to cook for which meals. Yesterday, I made one of our old favorites: eggplant-tomato casserole and we took it to UUFA for potluck. There was one small serving left for my lunch today. I also finished the green beans in vinaigrette from a few days ago.

Our produce box from vikingproduce.com comes on Thursdays. It is like Christmas, even though I know most of what will be in it the week before. Today: 8 apples, 8 pears, 8 oranges, 4 ears of corn on the cob, 2 heads of cauliflower, 4 big tomatoes, 4 onions, 8 sweet potatoes, and 2 pounds of grapes. All organic, delivered to my door. I get a big kick out of it and I think $62 is reasonable for that amount of food. I plan my meals around using it as soon as possible, plus whatever protein I have on hand or can buy reasonably.

Tonight we will have shrimp from the shrimp man, Trevor. He drives to the coast every month or so and buys lots of shrimp, which he puts in styrofoam coolers. We ask him to take the heads off ours. We buy 10 pounds several times a year and freeze them in small batches of 1/2 - 1 pound. They are very tasty, although not really cheap, about $10/pound. But I know where they come from and what has been done to them.