Rice, the Chinese Bat Disease, and the Garden

Last night I made three different rice dishes for Kathleen and her kids.  Her kids are constantly complaining about the lack of meat in the dinners since the start of Lent and they sat down to the table saying they weren't going to like it.  Oh, they were so wrong!  They loved it.  Dish one was a very spicy dish flavored with onions, cayenne pepper, garlic, casltlevetrano olives, shallots, basil, fresno chiles, and tomatoes.  The second dish was a Persian dish flavored with almonds, ginger, cumin, and anise.  And for desert I made rice pudding topped with my homemade caramel.  That last made me especially happy for Kathleen was amazed that I know how to make caramel.  I keep thinking I've shown her all my tricks but then I do something that surprises her.  I hope I can keep it up.  The kids ate everything I cooked and asked for more.

The National Guard converted the Santa Clara Convention Center into a hospital for CBD patients.  A woman just three blocks from where my sons lived died.

Squirrels ate all the rubdeckia bulbs and all but one of the echinecea bulbs Basil planted.  I do not like squirrels.

Now the boys and I are going to visit my parents' grave to pray for them.