It's that magic time of year when the garden offers new surprises every day. Today it was one of our tulips, a little gem on the mound in the back yard.

The wisteria is starting to leaf out, and the first iris - a lovely little white thing - is blooming in the front yard.

Lissa got the irrigation system in our back yard running this afternoon, and most of the work is done on the front irrigation. I've been pretty diligent about weeding every day during my vacation, so that's largely under control.

It cooled off nicely as the sun went down, so Lissa and I took a long walk down through the neighborhood to Central, past the high-end folks waiting for a table at Scalo to Flying Star, which is low-rent enough for us without being unapproachably hip. I had shrimp pasta with corn and poblano chiles. L had a patty melt, minus the cheese, which I think is an odd concept (what exactly is left to melt?) but she seemed to thoroughly enjoy.

I feel unbelievably relaxed, like I can really sleep now. And so to bed.