Life is good.

- slept late.
- exercised and activated Lia for 45 minutes. That, plus a later 20 minutes home alone training has her zonked out in the hallway. Murp is also snoozing, so both are quiet. Quiet is good.
- cleaned the kitchen and half-filled the furnace container with 128 kg. of wood-pellets while doing the home alone training.
- now I have the rest of the day to myself with a sleeping Felix on my desk and the low-hanging winter sun warming my back.

And I love living in the country:
- this morning Lia and I flushed out a flock of quail hiding in the maize stubbles.
- the other day, hundreds of sparrows took flight as I came into the garden. It puzzled me right until I saw the small hawk (stupidly) trying to navigate through the tree branches to catch one.
- we have hedgehogs pottering around the stable and shed in the evenings and who come out to share the cats' evening meal.
- the starlings are gathering in large numbers and fly around like black clouds before settling on the electricity cables.
- almost every late drive gives us sightings of pheasants, foxes, hares, mice, frogs or deer.

Experimental American Cooking.

Had three overripe bananas and a bowl of creme fraiche that needed to be eaten, so I looked up banana cakes. Found an American recipe that sounded interesting, BUT

- how much is 1 cup?
- one stick of butter?
- 350 degrees Fahrenheit?

Looked up the latter, but had to "guesstimate" the two former and replace some ingredients with similar ingredients. Cake is in the oven, but it smells BURNT!