Good morning on this new Monday.  Frosty but the sun is rising and we should be in the mid 40s again.  I transplanted my mints yesterday.  They and the bay tree sense spring is coming.  Each has nice new growth.  The rosemary is putting out secondary leaves also.  But all of the containers are frozen and won't thaw out very quickly.  I did notice that the fence gets a bit of sun mid-morning that reflects into the patio area.  That fence is a complicated blessing.  On the one hand, being white, it reflects sunlight and heat into an area that generally would not get enough sun to grow many of the plants I put in.  The heat is nice early in the spring or late in the fall because it warms things up.  But in the high summer that area can become a big oven.  I recorded temperatures in areas of 120+ last summer.  That is one reason I moved the little greenhouse toward the house where it will get more shade.  I don't know what will happen this year because I plan to put in corn which will shade part of the fence.  Maybe that will keep things a bit cooler.

I didn't get any stitching done on the tablecloth because I spent my time in deconstruction mode.  I think I mentioned the old cloths and pillow cases I had accumulated.  Well I got some of that processed.  The old brushed cotton nightgown that had the shoulder seams shredding I cut into strips for crocheting.  A pieced strip I had planned for a quilt top that never really worked out well I took apart to the individual blocks because I have a workable plan for them.  I ripped the seams out of several pillow cases.  They will make a nice base for some crazy quilt blocks and the embroidered panels will be put into other quilted projects.  I don't get rid of any embroidery unless the stitching is so far gone that I can't repair it.  I still have a pile of deconstructables to finish off.

Damn!  Another vampire that won't die.  The teaser headline read 'Lock up your e-mail.'  I think they need a bigger legal stake.  And the willingness to use it.

The financial world is anxiously waiting to see if Greece will get the anticipated bail out when the Eurozone finance ministers meet.  I wish that bailout would alleviate the conditions for ordinary Greeks.  But it won't because the programs that most affect them are the ones being cut in the name of 'austerity.'  But then the Greeks aren't the only ones facing growing poverty at the same time government aid is sharply cut back.  And the increased demand for Medicaid in suburbia isn't the only statistic that has shown a troubling trend recently.  They say that 47 million now depend on food stamps and the food pantries report a growing number of their patrons used to be donors.

This BBC report asks a good question: when was the last time any members of the Troika or any of the finance ministers walked the streets of Athens and saw what austerity has accomplished.  But something else in the story struck me.  First, everyone believes that there is no alternative.  They are in an either/or box of which no one is trying to think outside.  Second, the minister quoted as saying that what people have left after the draconian cuts to wages and pensions is better than nothing at all.  But having been on the receiving end of such cuts I have to ask 'when is something indistinguishable from nothing?'

We just got back from our weekly shopping trip and are a bit bummed out.  Our local supermarket has is in the middle of a make-over and we are disappointed so far.  They redid the produce section and, while it looks nice, we noticed not a single acorn, butternut, or spaghetti squash in the area.  We have never seen that before.  We were also looking for unsalted butter and found only a couple of brands.  We will give one a try and see if we like it.  It is sad in a way that we could find star fruit, papaya, baby bananas along but not a single winter squash.  I hope the bush butternuts I plant to grow produce a bumper crop this summer.