Yesterday I met up with a friend and went birding. It was a really nice day to be out of the house doing something. We saw a few things she has not seen in the area in a while (she is into birds) so I got to see a few new ones. The biggest thing (literally), though was we saw orca swimming by at one place we stopped to see birds. They were a little ways away but we were able to see them close up through binoculars and a spotting scope. A really cool experience.

We took off to a few other places to look at wildlife and worked up an appetite and a powerful thirst. We ended up in a small town at a small restaurant overlooking the water. I ordered up an interesting beer after trying a sample – a dry stout. It was similar to my favorite nectar of the gods – Guinness – but a little less filling. The interesting part of it was the “dry” aspect. Yes, it was a dry finish and I did like it and would order it again

And the food…it was fantastic. I ordered a Mediterranean gnocchi. Gnocchi, capers, Spanish and kalamata olives, pepperoncini, garlic, shallots, roasted red peppers, feta cheese, butter and artichoke hearts. It was absolutely delicious and I am going to find a recipe to make it at home. For those of you who do not know, gnocchi is a small type of dumpling.

My friend ordered tuna lettuce wraps, which had rare tuna slices rolled in sesame seeds, carrots, and some other stuff wrapped in lettuce leaves. I do not like rare-cooked meats (it’s something in my mind) but she offered me a taste and I took a bite. It was good but I just cannot get past that rare cooking.

While we were waiting for our food my friend smacked me on the arm and said “orca!”. I looked out the window (along with the others who heard her) and out in the water a pod of orca were swimming by. This was our second orca pod for the day! Needless to say that was exciting for everyone in there to see and out came the phones to snap pictures. It was a really good day – hanging with a really good friend, seeing wildlife that you don’t get to see every day, sharing a great food experience, and talking and laughing our asses off.

As I type this a squirrel is running along the fence rail with an apple in his mouth. He likes to go over to one of my apple trees and climb up and grab apples. Sometimes he sits on the fence eating them, and other times he runs off with them. I have some bird feeders within sight of my window and the birds are going crazy after I refilled the feeders. I don’t know how they stay so skinny after eating all the seed.

I planted a few tomato seeds in some pots and am waiting for them to pop up. These tomato seeds come from some store-bought ones I always buy. I plan to plant a few other things in the raised bed in the yard and have some fresh homegrown veggies. That will save a few bucks at the store. I’ll wait to plant until the weather warms up and stays warmer (of course) and probably plant from starter plants when they come in. I also think sometimes about moving and have a friend who is interested in splitting a house. That would make it cheaper than what I pay now and saving some money is good, especially if I can get into a bigger house and still pay less.

It looks like a beautiful day again today so I am going to be heading out to do something somewhere. Fresh air, sunshine, and exercise sound like a good plan for the day. I need to get to the store but Saturdays are usually pretty busy in the morning so I will go get a few things later.

Enjoy your day!