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Squirrel!

We are having a very busy February at our house. I'm sort of glad it's almost over. Is it just me, or has this been a weird winter? It's been very mild here most of the season. Mild and wet. And yesterday and today it's like 90 degrees. In February! WTF?

I've developed a few obsessions this month. The first is coconut. I cannot get enough coconut right now, both scent-wise and flavor-wise. I have a coconut-almond granola recipe I'll be sharing with you very soon, I swear. I think I have it perfected now, and I can't stop eating it. And it smells so good that it practically qualifies as edible potpourri.

The second obsession is tea. There is something about having the crud that makes me want tea instead of coffee. Hot tea. Spicy tea. I finally made this recipe for spiced chai tea concentrate that I pinned forever ago, and it is so good. I did make a few changes, though: I used rooibos tea to make it naturally caffeine-free, and I cut the brown sugar back to 1/3 of a cup because I am not a fan of sweetness (unless it's this Sweetness). I mix this 1:1 with So Delicious Coconut Milk (Original flavor)(which does not taste at all like coconut, although obviously I WOULD BE OKAY WITH THAT) and heat it in the microwave and it's a caffeine-free, dairy-free (leave out the honey and it's vegan!) cure for everything! Except things that can be cured with caffeine and dairy (and honey, if you went that route).

Third, I cannot stop eating this salad: mixed baby "spring" greens, cubed grilled chicken, walnuts, dried cranberries and a tiny sprinkling of bleu cheese. With this dressing: dijon mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar and olive oil. I CRAVE this salad. I, like, go to bed at night all excited at the thought of eating this salad for lunch the next day. If I weren't making it myself from scratch, I'd swear there was crack in it. So weird.

I'm not obsessed with my garden, but I am a tiny bit excited about getting it going again. I used to grow vegetables and stuff but that awful dog in the photo above put the kibosh on that, because he eats everything. EVERY. THING. So now I pretty much only grow herbs on my awesome dog-proof herb table and flowers in the front beds where the dog can't get them. Last weekend I pruned my roses and cut back a bunch of dead stuff, and today I bought some lavender and cilantro to replace what died in the inferno last summer. I came thisclose to buying basil and some patio tomatoes, but it could still freeze here so I restrained myself. Barely.

My daffodils are up! Well, three of them are, anyway. That may be all I get this year.

In other news, thanks perhaps in part to all that chai tea, my annual February Crud has reached the point where I no longer FEEL sick, but I still SOUND like I have tuberculosis. So, that's fun for me and all the other people in line with me at the grocery store.

Alrighty! That's all for now. Gotta get back to driving somebody somewhere for something. Oy.