Sometimes we deliberately ask questions the answers to which we already have a pretty good idea of. Because I had cooked rice and ground beef for Jackie in hopes of settling his upset stomach, I thought that perhaps the ground beef I had hauled out of the freezer could be left out and form the basis for an evening meal yesterday. Truth is, I was conflicted about it, much preferring to make a lentil-tomato-carrot-zucchini soup and cheese croissants as I most often do for Sunday evening meal.

But I asked my husband anyway. Which of the two he would prefer, a Shepherd's pie or the soup. Predictably, his face brightened and he responded the pie would be 'nice' for a change. Then he added 'but you really enjoy the soup', and I really do. But the Shepherd's pie it would be. It too can be classified as comfort food. Not that we necessarily required comfort food on such a perfect day as yesterday turned out to be. But there it is.

The pie is simple enough, the filling of chopped onion and garlic sauteed in olive oil, then the (lean) ground beef added and stirred to brown, sprinkling over pepper, hot pepper flakes (judiciously), paprika, garlic powder, then flour, half a chicken soup cube and boiling water, stirring until it becomes thickened, to simmer briefly. To that I added frozen green peas, mixed it all together and piled it into a casserole dish.

Meanwhile, potatoes had been cooking, the peel scrubbed, but not scraped off, with a garlic clove added, and a little salt. Adequately cooked, the cooking water was drained, 2 tbsp.butter added, salt and pepper, and mashed with a potato masher, but only briefly. And the potato was piled over the beef-gravy filling, then baked for 30 minutes in a 325F oven. Looks a little messy when it's plated, but it does taste divine.

Today I'll use that bread dough that I had prepared on Friday and then refrigerated, to make a simple pizza. Topped with tomato paste, sweet basil and oregano, sliced tomatoes, mushrooms and red bell pepper, grated mozzarella cheese, a sprinkling of pepperoni and Parmesan.

Earlier this afternoon we went out on a much, much cooler day that roaring wind made even cooler, bearing little resemblance to what yesterday's hike in the ravine had been like. Both days there was sun and shade, and each time we'd gone out yesterday and today it happened to be while the sun was in. But we can see a huge difference in the last several days, trees and shrubs are beginning to leaf out in haste. We noticed some small patches of lungwort yesterday not far from the exit to the ravine, close to the house of a neighbour whose lot is adjacent the entrance.

They're early blooming and they provide bright sparks of blue-pink colour on an otherwise-drab forest floor, insouciant in their sweet presence thrust out of the soil well hidden beneath the depth of leaf-mass from last year and the year before and the year before that... Actually, when we reached home after our hike in the ravine and looked briefly through the garden, we saw that in our own garden pulmonaria (lungwort) had begun its bloom.

It was cold enough today that we needed gloves and wind-breaking jackets to be comfortable while we were out. The wind and the sun, despite the cooler temperature (down to freezing again tonight) is drying the forest out nicely, however, so no complaints there. And though we did come across groups of people in small clumps of three and four, they were nowhere near as numerous as the throngs making their way through the trails on the weekend.

It's amazing how long before we can be aware that there are other people around, Jackie and Jillie's sensory perceptions kick in and inform them of the near presence of others, either people or dogs. They're immediately alert, strain to forge forward, try to see a little further ahead, as though anxious to determine who approaches, friend or foe. This when Jackie often begins 'walking' on his hind legs, 'standing' to make himself taller, to lend greater height to the business of identifying what is ahead.