March is a fickle month, as the old adage goes, "it comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb."Sometimes, we are tricked by Mother Nature, and the opposite holds true, as seemed to occur on Saturday. Originally, my husband Gerry and I were planning on celebrating the "Feast of the Mighty Winds" on March 7. We make up our own holidays , as you may already be aware, and were planning on celebrating the March winds, complete with a rich gassy meal of beans, vegetables, and beer, on which to laugh at our own mighty winds. However, it was such a beautiful, calm day, with temps soaring into the 70's, it no longer seemed appropriate. It was renamed Lion and Lamb day. Like a kid on a treasure hunt, I went to the Internet and found two perfect pictures of a lion and a lamb, printed them, and posted them on the fridge. We then set off to the grocery store to purchase our dinner, on which lamb stew and lion cake were decided. I couldn't resist buying two bunches of daffodils, just to keep things festive. Once home, I got busy making a red velvet sheet cake with buttercream frosting, and when it cooled, I used tubes of decorative icing to turn my cake into the head of a lion. I was pleased with my artwork, while Gerry was sufficiently amused. He then went to work preparing the curried lamb stew, and when done, put it in the oven to slow cook. We then retreated to the patio, with our bunny Otis, and watched as he hopped around his puppy pen. Our resident goose couple paid us a visit for their daily bread, and Gerry fed them with stale rolls. Otis watched intently, until the gander got a bit too close to his pen... and he charged the poor bird. Honking loudly and flapping his wings, a panic ensued as the geese flew off, and Otis, now terrified, flew around the pen looking for a safe place. He seemed traumatized by the ordeal, and so we had to put him back into the safety of the kitchen. The afternoon wore on lazily, as we listened to music... mostly Van Morrison (Gerry found a "lion" song) and U2. I wrote a poem, (which I will share at a later date), so I was exempt from wracking my brains for a song with the word "lamb" in it. We had a nice dinner of lamb stew, honey mustard brussel sprouts, and roasted parsnips (plenty of fuel for wind). The night ended with the first backyard fire, that was fueled with sticks lying on the ground from the last wind storm. For dessert, we cut into the lion cake and then hit the couch for some mindless TV. It was another perfect holiday... that came out of nowhere.
