When Bob left this morning I was staring listlessly at the pantry wondering what to do for breakfast. He'd asked if I wanted cereal and I told him to go ahead and finish it off, I'd find something else. As he was leaving he said, "I left you some cereal if you decide you want it."
Now, to be fair, he didn't actually know how much was left, he poured a smaller bowl and there seemed like enough left over. But . . . not so much.
Then again, I told him to finish it off because I really wasn't feeling cereal this morning in the first place. What I really wanted was a cinammon crumb cake muffin (which, if we're being honest, is just a way to eat cake for breakfast without as much guilt) but I didn't want to go out or spend the money or consume half the day's calories at 7:00 in the morning.
So I put on some tunes (thank you Chicago for being perfectly mellow this morning) and started baking. The recipe for muffins is actually the simplest thing you can make, very cheap, and you already have all the ingredients anyway. Instead of giant expensive cake, I whipped up the smaller but Übercinnamony muffin with a lot less fat and sugar. Twenty minutes of enjoying the cool breeze and birds and dogs in the backyard and voila!
I left my coffee cup in the midst of the baking frenzy so if you look carefully you can see tiny whiffs of brown sugar and cinnamon on the inside of the cup. YUM!
The center sank just enough to put a 1/2 a teaspoon of butter in the center to melt.
This was definitely the morning for the smiley ball.
And my backyard birds were very interested in all our activity. They were checking us out as much as I was watching them. I still need to pull out the bird book and try to figure out what kind of birds these are. They don't have the same song or the scissor tails that the front porch swallows do. [Edited to add: I'm thinking Purple Finch.]
Just over the fence their nest resides in the hanging flower basket, and there were four adults birds very involved in taking turns swooping around the nest and watching for intruders.
Whichever three weren't on direct nest duty were hanging out on the roof.
It was just about 60° when we were enjoying our morning together, which meant the hair had come down out of the ponytail and the flannel shirt was still very comfy on the back deck. But the sun on my shoulders was so warm and friendly. You can't help but smile.
And even when you have to come in to work, with this face smiling up at you all day, that morning happiness just lasts and lasts.
(Note at left: the flannel shirt came off pretty quickly.) We're climbing near 90° today so by lunch its tank top, shorts, and an eye on the right time to close up the windows and shade the rooms to keep it from being too uncomfortable later this afternoon. The hair had to go back up into the ponytail and it's getting so long that I keep being surprised and delighted by the sensation of the swish of hair down the center of my back. This evening the pups and I are going on a long walk to celebrate another day of being thankful for the little things, like muffins and sunshine and swishy ponytails.
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