Getting Ready to Go

What to do in this last full month in St. Louis, while packing half of our stuff to send to Montana? Well, the choices here are quite varied and some, quite wonderful...

Salad of vegetables, herb aioli and homemade potato chips at Niche.

Having a lovely Monday supper at Niche (http://www.nichestlouis.com). Its chef, Gerard Craft, is a finalist for a coveted James Beard award this year.  Our salad looks like spring on a plate. It is a mix of winter root vegetables and spring asparagus, in a yummy dressing of garlicky herbed aioli plus several, nearly see-through-thin potato chips; the best entrée is thick spaghetti, braised beef, olives and pecorino cheese; and dessert is homemade vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce -- all for $30, a bargain on Mondays, right up there with Farmhaus (http://farmhausrestaurant.com/) another favorite restaurant with great cheap eats at lunchtime: $10 for Wednesday's "Blue Plate: Fried Chicken. Mashed Taters. Mac and Cheese. With salad and tea." Lest you think we're diner diving, Farmhaus' chef Kevin Willmann made Food & Wine magazine's list of Best New Chefs of 2011. Go St. Louis!

Here's more of what I'm doing before heading out West:

Checking in on the portulaca -- some of which I helped start from seed -- in St. Louis' Forest Park greenhouses.
The not-for-profit Brightside St. Louis (http://www.brightsidestl.org/) grows new annual flowers each year, such as this heat-resistant portulaca, to give away to city neighborhoods after Brightside's yearly alley clean-ups. I volunteer, along with hundreds of other folks, as Brightside celebrates it's 30th anniversary this year.

Posting vintage items, for the first time, on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/).

Thinking that I have way too many bangles. You?

Etsy-licious -- the new Etsy page.

Taking our old backpacking and kayaking equipment, even lanterns and old down jackets, to a new consignment shop called Old Mountains Gear Exchange (https://www.facebook.com/oldmountainsx) in Webster Groves. We're divesting, de-cluttering and dee-lighted to down-size in this manner!

Attending a wind quintet concert of rarely performed music (from left, flute, oboe, French horn, bassoon, clarinet) performed by friends with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (http://www.stlsymphony.org/). This event is free, packed with music buffs and held in a refurbished conservatory in Tower Grove Park.

Getting in a last visit with our favorite neighborhood cat,  Josephine. Think she'll miss us?