take two: breakfast bars

I gave this recipe a second try over the weekend, this time baking them all the way through (and adding dried blueberries and sesame seeds), and voila! Yummy oaty goodness. They are a bit on the sweet side, which makes me think I may try Sweet Kitchen's version next, but overall I am pleased with the results--H. rather likes them, which means I will have to make another batch anyway if I'm to take any to work for my snack stash.

In other news, I've been busy these past weeks with unexpected company, a leaky water valve, pushing dirt around in the backyard, and a nest full of hungry peeping sparrow chicks, which I've been watching through my front window. You can't actually see much, apart from the comings and goings of the two parents, but the placement of the nest keeps me from walking on that side of the yard (I try not to stress out the birds more than I have to), so I end up just pointing the garden hose in the direction of the hydrangeas, and hoping that enough of the water makes it to the roots of the plants. I can't wait for the chicks to fledge and leave the nest, so that I can climb up there with the ladder and clean all those twigs and straw out of the eaves. What a mess.