An Early Morning Spring Walk

I decided to try to fit in an early morning walk today. Weather is coming and this will be the last chance for a few days. The road I walk on has an irrigation ditch and many of the houses have property behind them that is used for gardening, animals etc. I left at 6:30 and only had about 20 minutes to walk. No music was needed or wanted - the morning was alive with the sounds of all sorts of small birds busily chattering. I heard a rooster, there were several doves to be seen. Even a few seagulls gliding past. One of the first interesting places I pass is a pasture that always has an interesting mixture of animals... today was a lone llama, and several small domestic deer. Down at the end were two goats who were head-butting! That made me smile.
I also passed many trees with blossoms. The wind was already beginning to blow them off the branches... a sign of the coming storm. I regretted not having my camera with me. There were beds of tulips and budding trees, a black and white cat crouching in the long grass - when our eyes met, he dashed off. But the most interesting sight of the morning was a very large goat sitting in the front yard of a house! He was an extra large goat with the long horns. He was sitting near a large, empty galvanized pan, which must have held his breakfast earlier. This was a very unexpected sight, and would have looked quite ordinary if it had been a dog! I stopped and we looked at each other, I walked on but turned to look back at him... we looked at each other again. He used his horn to scratch his shoulder, and I smiled all the way home just thinking about that unusual encounter. Next time I take this early morning walking route, I am bringing my camera!!


And now, in the interest of adding a picture to my blog... here is a picture of the roasted vegetables that I made last night. Next time I will roast them for a shorter amount of time, because they were softer than I like... but I will make them again soon.
Bell peppers (I used red and yellow), zucchini and yellow squash, "thick" asparagus, vadalia onion or sweet onion, cut in wedges. Mix and brush with: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic cloves, basil, salt and pepper. Divide unto 2 large cookie sheets sprayed or (cover with parchment - that is what I do-less clean up :) You will put one pan on lower rack and one on upper, and trade them half way through. Roast at 450 degree oven. The instructions said 25-30 minutes... I will check them at 20 minutes the next time. Serve immediately or at room temperature. Leftovers would be good in a hummus sandwich or some kind of rice or grain salad, I think.
(*I also had a cob of corn that I cut into 2 inch pieces and threw in... they are not in the photo, but were good... I will experiment with roasting corn another time as well.)