Nice morning, long walk.

This morning, "I'll just take the dog for a walk" turned into two hours and four miles around my neighborhood.

In my morning routine I discovered that the chickens had, once again, pulled out the little hook that hangs their feeder off the ground. I couldn't find the little hook but honestly, this isn't the first time this has happened and clearly I needed a bigger, sturdier hook. So I figured I'd head out and get another one after I walked the dog. Instead I did it while walking him.

We headed first to His Bakery, one of the best little features of our neighborhood. It's been there since the early 1960's and it's still owned by the same (obviously very Christian) family, who create cakes and pies that are almost too beautiful to eat, and scones that are completely unparalleled. I tied up Patch outside and grabbed a medium cup of local microroasted coffee and a huge, fresh-baked cranberry-orange scone for a total of $2.50 and then headed for home.

Along the way I got to admiring everyone else's landscaping and picking up tips for fence building, original ways to make compost heaps reasonably attractive (yes, really), etc. I found several hidden alleys lined with wild blackberries, so I'll go back there and harvest later in the summer. I was enjoying the walk so much that I decided, what the hey, I'll just walk another mile in the opposite direction and swing by the hardware store. By then I'd finished my scone and coffee, so I dropped into Mehri's Bakery & Cafe for another coffee, and then crossed the street to 52nd Avenue Hardware.

As always, the people inside were very helpful (and kind enough to give Patch a treat, making lifelong friends with him) and I got a heavier, sturdier hook for the chicken feeder at a cost of 49 cents. Patch and I then headed for home, once again taking the scenic route through the neighborhood to admire everyone else's garden setup.

As soon as we got home, it began to rain. Perfect timing! And the Seed Savers' Exchange catalog was waiting for us in the mail!

I got the feeder set back up and now I'm going to get some work done before I head out to run some errands and get to the gym for another swim workout. I swam for a solid hour yesterday and I'm really feeling it in my upper arms today! Then tonight I'll make that hot chile chocolate I was talking about, and get a bit more writing done. But before I get started I need to go whip up some egg foo yung for lunch - with Keith out of town I'm not going through as many eggs, and I have a backlog of two dozen eggs in the fridge and more arriving every day. Kind of makes me miss the molt a few months ago when they stopped laying - now they just won't stop!