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i love my morning poo, because i'm always lighter afterwards. the surprise element is when i step on the digital scale and find out by how much. my current weight seems to fluctuate from 148-152 lbs. i'd like to get it into the lower 40's, and ideally the 30's. i'm hoping my recent weight gain is a side effect of our long winter, and i can finally shed a few pounds during our warmer months. but i think the main reason isn't the lack of exercise (even during the winter, i did a lot of snow shoveling) but rather too much snacking. if i must snack, i'm trying to keep it healthy, like a piece of fruit or some carrots, but every once in a while the temptation of a bag of potato chips is just too much. at today's weigh-in, i managed to get down to 147.6 lbs.

some of my seedlings have gotten big enough that i'm thinking about transplanting them outside, or at least give them some time to get used to the outdoor weather before final planting. today was another fairly mild 60's day, but the temperature will drop for the rest of the week with temperatures only in the 50's after tomorrow. there's plenty of sun in belmont and if i can get a decent cold frame set up, i can store some of these seedlings in there. primarily the delphiniums and lupines, which i started the earliest. i picked out 6 largest lupines and 6 largest delphiniums to take back to belmont. sensing my own backyard could use some perennials, i selected 6 more large lupines (no delphiniums though, they prefer full sunlight, while lupines can do with partial shade).

while inspecting my little planters outside i noticed 2 columbine seedlings emerging. i really don't know why the others haven't emerged, or maybe now is just the beginning and i might look forward to some more columbine seedlings.

i also took an inventory of all the plants i have in my grow closet:

rack positionwhat's growing
top8 snapdragons
8 best boy tomatoes
4 heirloom tomatoes
8 cherry tomatoes
middle10 lupines
17 delphiniums
10 sweet basil
1 eggplant
bottom6 lupines
2 delphiniums
8 (9) thai basil
9 eggplants
3 sweet basil
6 cucamelons
12 hot peppers

the list doesn't include the 6 lupines and 6 delphiniums i took away for belmont. the 6 additional lupines for my backyard were subtracted from the above list however. the thai basil has 8 seedlings and maybe an additional 9 but it's slow to grow and may be stunted. today the cucamelons have germinated so i uncovered them and added them to the closet (now with more room because i removed some plants). the cucamelons germinated pretty well, i'm almost regretting planting 2 seeds per pot. i may be able to salvage a few when i thing them out.

i ate a greek yogurt for breakfast but got hungry enough that i later ate a tea egg. in the afternoon i went to market basket to pick up some groceries. the weather was very nice, i didn't need a jacket, just wore a long-sleeved shirt. i bought a package of bacon that i'd later cook when i got back home. had all the doors closed, the windows and back door opened, and two fans blowing to vent out the smoke, quite the spectacle. nowadays when i cook bacon, i cook the whole package. i use a tall pot to contain the oil splatter, and a splatter guard as well.

in the late afternoon i spent some time in the basement cleaning out the clutter and seeing what i can throw out. i then remembered since yesterday was patriots' day, trash pickup won't be until thursday morning, so i won't be able to put out my trash until tomorrow. steve must've forgot because when he came home later, i heard him hauling out all our trash for naught. i did bring out a large 24 lbs. bag of barbecue brickets. i took one out and tried to light it but it failed; this happened to me with the last bag, keeping it in the basement causes it to absorb the moisture and lose it's ability to ignite. i threw the whole bag away, almost entirely unused since the last time i had a barbecue in my backyard, which was maybe 10 years ago. next time, use up the brickets faster, or leave them in the house to keep them dry.

by the time i left the basement, by clothes was covered in cobwebs and dust. i left the soon-to-be-transplanted plants outside on my backyard deck to get some real sun for a change. the slight breeze also does them good, strengthens their stems. i filled up my aquarium tank and did a load of laundry including washing my bedsheets.

it's my third and last night of salad and with each iteration i keep on adding more ingredients. tonight it was: red-leaf lettuce, scallions, celery, corn, chickpeas, and shredded bacon with an italian dressing. i'd forgotten my days of collegiate salad bars, but i've always liked adding corn to the mix for some sweetness and chewy texture. the bacon sort of got lost in the salad; i only chopped up 2 strips and they weren't crispy anymore (i didn't bother reheating them to try and crisp them up). still, it makes me feel better eating some animal protein instead of just relying on chickpeas (which made me a little gassy later in the evening, thank god nobody was around). i'm trying to think of what other ingredients i can add for the next time i eat salad again. cucumbers might be nice for some crispiness.

in the evening i discovered something weird with my EF 17-300mm telephoto lens: for some reason the focal length doesn't match up with the focal length on my other lenses. maybe it's an artifact of being a long zoom lens, but 200mm on my EF-S 17-200mm is not the same as 200mm on the EF 70-300mm. i tried to look up an explanation online but couldn't find one. bottom line is the 70-300mm is even a longer zoom than what the focal length numbers on the barrel implies.