Crab for Dinner

Our "landscaped" hill looks like a wasteland of dead plants punctuated by the occasional cheerfully blooming daffodil and narcissus. It's ironic that the things that nobody remembers planting are the things that pop up in increasing numbers every year with little or no encouragement.

The ice plant is another story. It was spectacular for the three weeks it bloomed last year, but it has been attacked by mites, mold, moles and frost. Some of it was clearly dead, so OilMan took it out. The rest of it is living on borrowed time. Even if it isn't dead, it looks like it for most of the year.

We went to pick up some roses this morning in Petaluma at a place that specializes in "character roses". In May and June when the roses are blooming, it is very beautiful. In February on a wet day, one has to use one's imagination. The man was very nice, seemed happy to have customers, "my first today" and helped us pick our pest, fungus, frost and drought resistant plants for our slope. A very sleek and well fed marmalade cat roamed around through the bare root plants. The man said it was feral, but I think he took good care of it.

On our way back home we stopped at Santa Rosa Seafood, tucked in between auto dealerships and car repair shops. I sat in the car watching the crabs being transferred from the boiling pots to the ice bath, and from there into the ice filled bags, and ultimately our fridge. Dungeness crab, lettuce from our garden and polenta bread from our favorite bakery in Petaluma for dinner...