Weekend surprises

You win some, you lose some. My car was making some odd noises and was about due for an oil change, so I took it over to my local mechanic, hoping to get it back quickly and cheaply. Four hours and $500 later, I got my car back with new front brake pads and rotors, "adjusted" rear brakes, a leaky valve cover replaced (that accounted for $150 of the bill all by itself), the engine degreased where the leak had built up, and my oil changed. The upside is that I won't have to worry about it over the summer, and this was the most I've spent on the car in the 5+ years I've owned it.

Last night, I went out back to take out my trash, and look what I discovered growing out of a crack in the concrete of my rear steps:



It's a bit difficult to tell from the picture (I took several, but couldn't seem to get one that didn't come out at least a bit blurry), but those are wild strawberries. I looked around my yard some more, and found a couple of other ones that are either flowering or coming into fruit. I'm probably going to pick them tonight--the only question is what to do with them. There aren't enough for a strawberry pie, a strawberry daquiri, or even enough to top a bowl of Mini-Wheats, but I'll find something to do with 'em.