Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:00 a.m. in "The City."

Yesterday was about as mundane as it can get. I did some reading, played with the girls for a short time, and let the fur-children in and out. I never did get to those indoor chores, well the majority of them anyway, so I have to get to them today.

Mary finished the baguette that she had let rise overnight and we had some of that for lunch along with some pasta that she had made in what she calls her "Down and dirty" fashion. I think she nailed both things because I was quite satisfied with the taste of both.

During the time the oven was on, I took the opportunity to make some additional baked tofu cubes, which I love. I had a slight difficulty with those as I got them into the wrong jar for shaking before baking. However, I managed to right my wrong and the end product also tasted excellent.

Once lunch was over and the fur-children had been settled in, I sat down to read more of The Prisoner, a new novel by Alex Berenson that continues his series with John Wells as the protagonist. Somehow, I was able to get this book from the library when it first came out. I get emails from Berenson regarding his latest releases, but I was surprised that I managed to get this book in the queue from the library. I don't know how that happened, but I believe that I am one of the first in GH to read this novel.

This will be the last book I need to read to get my "Free" gift from the library's Cabin Fever Reliever winter reading program, the winter version of the program that allowed me to get various items over the last several summers. In this case, the gift is an insulated lunch bag that will be great for outdoor activities for Mary and me. Many people ask what they will do when they retire, but as I've often said, I don't have enough time now for all I want to do and there are so many books to read at the library.

Speaking of books at the library, Mary checked out another vegan cookbook the other day, this one entitled The Homemade Vegan Pantry, by Miyoko Schinner. This one is a collection of vegan dishes, literally from "soup to nuts." It was this book that gave Mary the recipe for the baguette that we enjoyed for lunch and which I also enjoyed for my dinner. I was told that I would be on my own, so I chose to make a sandwich using her baguette.

It is not often that a cookbook lives up to Mary's expectations, but this one did, except for the index that Mary feels is not what it could be. This book was/is so good, that Mary ordered a copy for her collection from The Bookman. That was part two of our day as it came in yesterday and we journeyed to The Bookman to pick it up.

I forgot to mention that on Wednesday, I finished my semi-annual set of Supartz™ injections into my knees at the orthopedist. These injections are in lieu of knee replacement for those who suffer from osteoarthritis in their knees, as I do. As compared to knee replacement, the injections are a good choice for me, as I have spent enough time in rehab over the last few years for various ailments to last a lifetime.

Today, Mary has to continue to work on the revision of that recent index from H E double hockey sticks. She dislikes this index so much, that she just had to escape her office several times yesterday afternoon and come down to tell me things about the index or about what she was listening to on the radio. This index is one of the reasons that she has decided to go into semi-retirement. I can't say as I blame her. At any rate, I'll get to those indoor chores and do more reading in my novel while she works.

We have a current temperature of 25° according to the DTWS and its associated FPMS. It was cold the last two days, but the warm up has begun and we'll reach a high today of 40° according to the NWS. We will be in the upper 30s or lower 40s for several days with limited precipitation.

Let's not forget, spring is nearly here. In just three short days, the pitchers and catchers of my beloved Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers report for training camp followed the next day by the same group for the World Champion Chicago Cubs. Ahhhhh.

The sun will rise today @ 7:48 a.m. and set @ 6:10 p.m. Ciao.