My purpose is, indeed, a horse of that color.

Sasquatch reminded me of the quote by Maria, from The Twelfth Night, which I use as my title for today. It is also my purpose, and the purpose of my most charming and funny gentleman caller, with whom I hope to split huge winnings from a Derby victory, that our horse of that color makes a speedy recovery and suffers no lasting damage from his recent small setback. We remain optimistic that he will quickly regain his form and will go on to more thrilling wins in the Sport of Kings. And if not, then they can shoot him for all I care, and while I haven't discussed this possibility with my GC, I suspect he shares my sentiment. If he doesn't, I'm sure he'll let me know in no uncertain terms. (You will, won't you, honey?)

Today is a beautiful day in our city by the river and Sas and I wandered the grounds earlier, sniffing for rabbits and keeping an alert eye out for squirrels. The birds are singing and flowers are blooming and we felt revitalized with the arrival of Spring. (Of course it's supposed to snow tomorrow, but we live in the moment as much as possible and so will not let this distressing prediction cast a pall on our enjoyment of this day.)

Narcissus poeticus recurvus

This charming and very fragrant daffodil is one I found growing in the woods behind the house. I shamelessly dug up a few of the bulbs to plant in my yard, and I'm glad I did because some idiot came along and built ugly houses there and killed the daffodils! They have flourished and spread in my yard and I should cut some to take to the office tomorrow.

After our excursion outside, Sas and I settled in to await H, who was supposed to be here early to finish(!) up my floor. Well, Sas quickly tired of waiting and decided a nap was in order, and while I was tempted by the idea of a nap, I also wanted to work on a recipe I've been mulling over. And so I set to work. There's a traditional dessert in Kentucky called Derby Pie, which has walnuts and chocolate and eggs and butter and sugar, of course. It's quite rich, but delicious in small slices with whipped cream, just to gild the lily. Buford had heard of something called a Derby Pie milkshake and he and I agreed that it sounded like a wonderful thing indeed. It occurred to me that Derby Pie ice cream might be even better and so that was the recipe I set out to perfect. First, I had to make a Derby Pie, of course, but, one is not allowed to call it Derby Pie since that is a very protected trademark and the owners of the trademark have no sense of humor whatsoever. Well, I've never been a scoff-law, so I decided to call my Derby Pie Supertrifecta Pie, which conveys the racing theme and also hints at the awesomeness of the dessert. It was my idea that I'd bake the pie and when it was thoroughly cooled, I'd chop it up and mix it into the almost fully churned vanilla ice cream, thus chunks of the pie would remain intact. And that's what I did, and we have a winner! This will be a perfect dessert to take to a Derby party and I'm excited by that idea and more than a little proud of myself. Sasquatch asked vigorously to taste the ice cream and so I gave in and let her have a small spoonful...not too much because chocolate isn't good for dogs, plus 67 pounds!

She approved.

H finally arrived and I am certain he can finish the floor today. He also promises to install my new light fixtures and that cannot happen soon enough. I've been working in a dim kitchen for so long I fear my eyesight is failing. But the new serpentine ceiling fixture with halogen spotlights should provide ample task lighting, if it ever gets installed...

--Ina