chilli cookoff

today was a day of small miracles. for the first time in ages it seems, the sun was out all day long. when i woke up it was shining in the window...which it often does before disappearing behind a wall of grey shortly after 10 am. not today though. i could hear the robins chirping and hopping around outside. i think it's gonna stick for a little while, this turn in the weather...

spent most of the morning turning the beds outside. we have such lovely dirt...i'm sure it is mostly due to the hard work of those who came before us, but i appreciate it after dealing with the immensely sticky alkaline clay we had in ashland. i never would have been able to turn 5 beds of that stuff by hand...no way. finally saw some worms...that's a good sign. if i can keep the weeds at bay, i'm gonna plant some spring crops soon. figure it can't hurt to try...i was able to grow carrots last year in this weather. i noticed the neighbor's camelia is blooming...digging and hoeing is a good workout, forget the bally's membership.

heard a strange sound, and looked up in the willow. there was a young hawk up there. couldn't believe it! we don't have any kinda wildlife around here but pigeons, crows and rats. can't recall ever seeing a hawk. hope it'll stick around and eat the huge rats we have in the garden...it's kinda creepy having them scampering around under foot...one thing's for sure, you can't go in the garden barefoot on account of 'em. i ran inside and got my binoculars and got a good look. yep it's a hawk. too bad the crows chased it away before i could show it to sarah.
since it was sunny i got to see my favorite dog who lives next door. what a cutie pie, i missed him. neither of us gets out much when it rains.

it's weird having stephen gone...apparently he's in north dakota now so he's almost there. says it's snowing...i can imagine.

today was very satifsying. i finished my homework, and got to eat chilli and drink beer. a thoroughly satisfying day. i wonder if will and melissa still have the chilli cookoff... i feel like i'm keeping the tradition alive at any rate.
here's what i would enter, if i were there:
brian's almost famous no-bean, no meat chilli:
(no beans because he can't eat 'em, no meat because it's a vegetarian recipe. I'm sure you're wondering what's left, but fortunately TJ provided a solution for that long ago: millet!)
no idea what all's in it in the way of spices but i'm sure it's all the usual suspects...tomato sauce, onions, and whatnot. the secret ingredient is a bottle of beer, then you add 1 lb fake sausage (real if you prefer but we're not into it), and about 2 cups of cooked millet. cook it all together in a slow cooker and it turns out beautifully! we eat it with fritos and cheese and a bottle of beer. word.