Author: Jaclyn

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 24, 2019)

Hi, friends.  I’m staring down the barrel of what is going to be a very busy and stressful week around these parts – three filings due Friday, plus meetings out of the office and finishing up a bunch of things that I have let linger and can’t let linger anymore.  It’s a good thing I have the quintessential summer weekend to look back on!  On Saturday morning, I took Nugget to get his summer haircut, then we stopped by Duck Donuts to surprise Daddy and Peanut.  We barely had time to shovel the donuts down before we were out the door again, headed to Butler’s Orchard in Maryland to meet up with friends for blueberry-picking.  (We’ve picked blueberries and apples with these friends a few times, so we all took a vote and decided we are the official pick-your-own crew.)  On Sunday, we headed into the city around midday for Daddy’s Father’s Day gift – a baseball game at Nationals Park!  I’m on a mission to make the family into Nats fans.  It was a lot of fun!  The kids ate an alarming amount of ballpark food, Teddy Roosevelt won the Presidents’ Race, and we got to clap and cheer for the hometown team, which is always good times.  We didn’t make it through the whole game (and the Nats lost, anyway) but it was a successful outing and we’ll definitely do it again.  The weekend wasn’t all home runs and blueberry pie – there was a lot of bickering, some yelling, and the house is trashed.  Still, I think what I’m going to remember is the smiles on the kids’ faces as they plucked sun-warmed blueberries from the bush and stuffed their faces with ballpark cotton candy.

Reading.  The reading continues to be slow without Metro commutes.  (I’m trying to remember how I kept up my reading pace in Buffalo, where I always drove to work.  I’ve gotten used to my cushy public transportation ride.)  I spent most of the week over Unmarriageable – two P&P adaptations in a month, who dis?  The weekend was devoted to Dear Pen Pal as I continue my re-read of the Mother-Daughter Book Club series.  (So delightful.)  I have a couple of pressing library deadlines this week, so next up will be The Library Book.  Looking forward to seeing what all the hype is about…

Watching.  Well, I watched several innings of the Nationals vs. the Braves this weekend, which was a lot of fun.  I’d forgotten how much I enjoy going to the ballpark.  Steve and I agreed that we need to get a babysitter and go back for an evening game one of these days.

Listening.  I’ve made it through all of my back episodes of Speak Up for the Ocean Blue!  I’d downloaded about fifty of them when I first found the podcast, so this is an achievement.  Still on an ocean kick, I’m now working my way through my (much shorter) backlog of A-Pod…Cast for Killer Whales, and after that, will probably move on to Whale Scout.  I’m definitely on a whale jag, but what else is new?

Moving.  Much less movement this past week, unfortunately.  Work was really crazy as I tried to make progress on a few pressing things, and that got in the way of gym time and weekday runs.  I have another busy week coming up, but am hoping to still make time for at least a few workouts.  I did get in some gardening, which is a surprisingly good workout – especially those weeding squats.

Making.  Not much making, either – unsurprising for such a busy week.  I didn’t do any food prep or, really, even any cooking.  I did make herb chains for a garden blessing at sunset on Litha, so that’s something!

Blogging.  Lots of fun stuff coming up for you!  I’ve got a garden update on Wednesday and a fun ballpark recap on Friday.  Next week, since it’s a holiday week, I’m skipping the usual Monday reading post and rounding up my Fourth of July pictures through the years – there has been some growing!  Wonder what kind of picture I’ll get this year?  As for the rest of the week, business as usual – I’ll have my June reading round-up on Wednesday and my garden tasks for July on Friday.

Loving.  One of my favorite Instagram follows is London-based blogger Miranda Mills, who shares beautifully curated posts on her Miranda’s Notebook and Miranda’s Bookcase feeds.  She’s currently on vacation in NYC and has made it her mission to find every charming and/or floral corner of the city.  I love New York City, but I’ve been there so many times that I sometimes forget about its charms.  Seeing it through Miranda’s eyes has been such a treat, and has me craving a weekend trip up to the Big Apple.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

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Lakeside

Some time ago, Steve and I were debating the eternal question – if we were ever able to buy a second home, would we want a beach house or a lake house?  Steve voted beach.  I could go either way, but I think I’d probably tilt toward lake.  I just love a good lake.  Don’t you?  Anyway, as summer is rolling in, I’ve got to thinking about all of the lakes I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy.

Most definitively, the Great Sacandaga Lake, where my parents have their camp.  This lake was a fixture of my childhood – sailing, paddling and windsurfing on its friendly waters, jumping off the dock and the boat deck with my brother and cousins, and lighting bonfires on the beach every Labor Day.

Nearby, lovely Lake George – I have more memories here as a teenager and twentysomething – strolling the village and the docks first with my friend Jessica (once we popped into a junk shop and picked up a bumper sticker that said “Honk if you love Sweden!” and her parents scratched their heads the whole way home about why so many cars were honking – duh, everyone loves Sweden) and in my twenties, with my high school BFF Jenn and our mutual pal Seth (a college classmate of mine and co-worker of Seth’s).  We’ve spent a few evenings kicked back at Seth’s lake house while he grilled up a dinner and the next door neighbors fired their pirate cannon at the tourists on the Minne-ha-ha.

Another childhood fixture – postage-stamp-sized Mirror Lake, around which the village of Lake Placid nestles.  Most of my memories are from winter – skating and sledding on the frozen lake – but I watched my rugrats splash and play in the lake’s clear waters last summer.

Five minutes from Mirror Lake, there’s gleaming Lake Placid.  Once my dad and I launched kayaks near the village and paddled all the way to the back slope of Whiteface Mountain, then popped open a bottle of sauvignon blanc and floated around with plastic wine glasses in hand.  (We should do that again.)

My mom’s childhood memories are all of Lake Minnewaska.  Her stories of visiting a lakeside resort here with her parents – a resort that burned down decades ago – are so Dirty Dancing it makes me want to tango.

Nowadays, my most frequented lake is probably Lake Burke.  We’re usually to be found on the hiking trails circumnavigating the lake, but this summer I’d like to get out on the water.

Although I like my lakes small enough to sail across in a Flying Scot, I did live in the Great Lakes region for three years, not far from the shores of mighty Lake Erie.  The views never got old.

And speaking of Great Lakes views, my habit of treating myself to sunrise runs while on business travel served me well when I watched the day roll in over Lake Michigan while in Chicago for a traditional labor law workshop.

But the greatest lake of all has to be Cayuga Lake, with its waves of blue just downhill from the greatest university in the world – obviously – Cornell.  (Honorable mention to sweet Beebe Lake, with its excellent running trails.)

And I haven’t even mentioned the lakes I’ve been lucky enough to dip a toe into on my travels – like the most famous lake of all, Scotland’s Loch Ness.  (I didn’t see Nessie.)

And postcard-perfect, unspoiled Derwentwater in – where else? – the Lake District.  Just looking at this picture is making me want to go back to Keswick.

Clearly, I love a good lake.  And this summer I’m hoping to add Lake Washington and Lake Union to my list.  Of all the things that are quintessentially summer, a clear lake tops the list, right?

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Lit Bits, Volume IV

Random thoughts about books and reading…

I currently have 36 books checked out of the library.  The maximum that a patron can check out at any one time is 50, so I am well over halfway to the max.  The pile is so tall that the North Carolina whelk shell that lives on top of my library checkouts is just barely clearing the underside of the kitchen cabinet.  Now, just to be clear: this is not all my doing.  The kids have contributed to the excessive library stack.  But – still.  Ridiculous.  (N.B. This is no longer true, as of the date of publication of this post.  It’s way down now.  But it was true when I started the post, and is still ridiculous.)

It’s funny how a book that you thought was just a good time can surprise you with a message.  A few weeks after finishing Time’s Convert, I was driving along on the highway (taking the kids to the Udvar-Hazy Center to meet up with a school friend) and the thought popped into my head that Time’s Convert had a lot to do with consent.  A vampire novel could easily slip across an invisible line, but Deborah Harkness’s vampires are very concerned with consent.  They don’t always seek it, especially while hunting, but the more modern vampires in particular are very uncomfortable with the idea of “feeding” without it.  There is a scene in which Miriam produces a woman to feed Phoebe, and Phoebe finds the whole scene distressing.  She finally mumbles “thank you” and the woman – who is perfectly aware of why she’s there and what Phoebe is supposed to be doing – congratulates Miriam on how well-brought-up her vampire “daughter” is.  And when the vampires actually create a new one of their number, they have a long speech they go through to make sure the human in question knows exactly what they are getting into and is 100% on board.  (It doesn’t always work, because what human actually believes they are about to be made into a vampire?  But they try.)  I found it fascinating that the vampires were worried about consent, and tried to obtain it, and I wish that they always did.  I’m still not sure that Harkness handled the issue as well as I would have liked, but it was just interesting that a book I thought was purely a fun read could have prompted this line of thinking weeks later.

Apparently everyone knows I have a problem?  My BFF, Rebecca, recently urged me (again) to read a book by her favorite author, Susan Fletcher.  She also said: “I was going to loan you my copy, but I decided if I did, you’d never read it.  I figured I’d let you get it from the library instead, and then maybe you’ll actually read it.”  Point taken.  Point taken.  I’m a library junkie.  And I guess everyone knows.

Steve and I watched the adaptation of Good Omens together.  As expected, he loved it.  But he still hasn’t read the book.  I keep pressing it on him and telling him he’d love it (and to be fair, I don’t push books on him unless I’m sure he would really enjoy them; no one is telling him to read Cranford).  He says he’ll get to it after he’s done with his current Patrick Rothfuss doorstopper.  So – next year sometime?  I’m on record as saying I don’t mind being married to a non-reader, because HELLO, more bookshelf space for me.  But still, I want him to read the books I want him to read.  Is that normal?  I’m a complicated lady.

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 17, 2019)

Happy new week, and happy Father’s Day to all the dads, grandads, pet dads, uncles, father figures, kindly neighbors, and every good guy in our lives (and in your lives)!  I hope all of my friends had a wonderful weekend celebrating the men in their lives.  We did, but it was a busy one – as is usual for us.  Like every Saturday, we were up and out the door early – this time, to a birthday party at a new-to-us park in Arlington, with a splash pad.  There were about seven different parties going on at the same time, so obviously the park thought it would be a good time to turn off the splash pad for maintenance.  #fail.  The kids had fun anyway!  I stuck around for about an hour, had a coffee, and chatted with some of the other kindergarten rising first grade (!!!) moms, then left Steve and the kids at the park and rushed off to my yoga studio for a two hour Ayurveda workshop.  I left with lots of information, some good ideas, and the instructor’s business card.  No sooner had I gotten home, slammed a lunch of green soup and French fries (#balance), than we were off again, this time to summer camp orientation.  The kids met their counselors, checked out their summer classrooms, and made mud pies in the giant sand pit.  It’s going to be a good summer.

On Sunday, we attempted to let Daddy sleep in a little, but he rolled downstairs at about 7:00 – oh, well.  We had strawberry pancake batter all mixed up and ready for the griddle – prepped by the kids and me, with spiritual assistance from Rachael Ray – and we served him up a sweet breakfast.  After that, Daddy wanted a low-key day around the neighborhood and some time to “do man things,” so I ran interference while he went to Home Depot ALL ALONE, which he seemed to enjoy, and then filled up the propane and cleaned the grill.  The rest of the day was devoted to wandering the neighborhood – we hit the playground and the pizza joint, and I took Nugget to the library to get him out of Steve’s hair later in the afternoon – and then we fired up the grill for the first time since moving into this house (embarrassing, I know).  For the first grilling, we went with Beyond burgers on brioche buns – YES.  MOAR THIS.  Happy day, Daddy.  We hope we made you feel as special as you make us feel all year long.

Reading.  Another week with no commutes, but I managed to finish three books and start a fourth – not bad!  I’m prioritizing reading as long as I’m Metro-less, so don’t expect much in the “watching” category.  I wrapped up The River in the Sky early in the week, then spent most of the weekday reading hours over Our Castle by the Sea – not sure why it took me awhile, since it’s a fairly short YA book, but there you have it.  For as long as it took me to get through Our Castle by the Sea, that’s how quickly I slammed through 1939: The Last Season – really enjoyed that one.  Finished it up on Sunday morning and turned to Unmarriageable, which I’ve heard is wonderful.  I’ve just started it; can’t wait to dig in.

Watching.  No screens, other than repeated viewings of my #1SecondEveryday video as it grows longer and longer.  (And I’m clipping my videos to two seconds, not one, so it’s about a minute long already not quite a month into the project.)  Other than that – lots of watching, but not watching on screens.  I watched my littles splash each other in the bathtub, run around the playground, and do a really weird dance outside the fire station.  But that was all Life.

Listening.  As happened the last time Metro was under construction (a few years ago now) while my reading has taken a hit my listening is off the charts.  I finished up my back episodes of Vegetarian Zen (except a couple of holiday back episodes I’m saving) and am now working my way through my backlog of Speak Up for the Ocean Blue episodes.  I’m as far back as January of this year, so chugging along.

Moving.  Lots of movement this week!  A couple of runs, a couple of gym days, and a midweek yoga class with my friend Kim.  (Not planned, but we will be yoga-ing together on Wednesdays intentionally for the rest of the summer, and I couldn’t be happier about that.)

Making.  Strawberry pancakes, grilled veggie burgers, and lots of memories, as usual.

Blogging.  Y’all, I have NO IDEA what I am going to write to you about this week.  I usually have posts planned in advance, even if not written and scheduled, but I have a completely blank week ahead.  I guess we’ll all be surprised…

Loving.  The dads, of course!  This weekend was all about them, and I always enjoy this celebration because I have a good one.  Steve is the best father I’ve ever met.  While I try not to wait all year to tell him that we appreciate everything he does, it’s really fun to make a big deal out of celebrating him.  And my kids are also lucky enough to have the world’s most fun-loving grandad.  Pretty good haul they got in the father department, right?

Asking.  What are you reading this week?  What should I blog about?

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The Summer List 2019

Summerrrrrrrrrr!  I wait all year for this season.  Bring on the heat, bring on the humidity, bring on summer thunderstorms and campfires and late sunsets and lemonade and (vegan) s’mores and tie-dye day at summer camp and lightening bugs (fireflies, lampyridae…) and sand-between-the-toes and splashing in the pool and paddling the Potomac and Belmont Bay and… I could go on.  I love basically everything about summer, and last year’s weather was such a bust that I’m determined this year will make up for it.  It has to.  I want to do everything, of course, but I’m holding myself to ten things and here they are:

  • The BIG one: spend five days on a kayaking eco-tour around the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State.  I can’t wait!
  • The other BIG one: take a family vacation to a new-to-us spot on the Outer Banks.
  • Build up my running base, and sign up for a fall 5K.
  • Take the family to a Washington Nationals game.  #natitude
  • Make mini pizzas on the grill.
  • Read from my own shelves.
  • Celebrate Litha by candlelight in the garden.
  • Go back to Shenandoah National Park and hike a new trail.
  • Make homemade popsicles.  (This is basically mandatory if you’ve seen Nugget’s popsicle dance.)
  • Help Peanut host her girlfriends for a “reading party” in a neighborhood park.

I could think of so many more, but the above should make a good start toward a pretty epic summer, don’t you think?  Now, pass me a vegan s’more.

What’s on your summer to-do list?

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The Spring List 2019: Final Accounting

I’m on record as not loving spring.  Mud, allergies, sheets of rain – meh.  Give me the hazy hot days of summer, thank you very much.  But for better or for worse, spring is one fourth of the seasons of the year, so I do try to make the best of it with all the spring activities (at least, when I can breathe).  I think we did spring right this year – daffodil picking, hiking the bluebell trail, enjoying the blossoms in the neighborhood.  I didn’t check every item off my list (read on) but I did enough that I can say this was not a lost season.  In spring, that’s really all I’m looking for.

  • A MUST: hike the Bluebell Loop Trail at Bull Run during peak week.  Done!  This is indeed a must, and we’ve made a point of getting to Bull Run to hike the bluebell trail every spring for the past three years.  I had a brief moment of panic when the park reported on Facebook that a freak storm had destroyed all the bluebells, but then I realized that it was April 1st, and I could breathe again.
  • Help Peanut and Nugget hunt for eggs in the churchyard after a joyous Easter service.  Hmmm – I’m calling this one-third done.  We did go to church on Easter, and Nugget did hunt for eggs in the courtyard, but I didn’t get to enjoy watching him because I was dragging his sister home as she finished off a massive temper tantrum that started toward the end of the service.  Keeping it real, folks.

  • Host my mother-in-law, my parents and our dear family friends on successive weekends in April.  Done!  Grandma visited Easter weekend (she missed the above excitement, because she was already on her flight back to Florida, lucky duck) and the following weekend my parents and our family friends stopped by for an overnight on their way back north after spending a month on Hilton Head Island (must be nice, amirite).  It was such a treat to see all those beloved faces two weekends in a row.

  • Stock up on the gear that Steve and I will need for our kayaking trip to the San Juan Islands this summer.  My REI dividends just arrived and will be put to good use!  Done!  We set up a date night and booked a gear fitting appointment, and came home laden with shopping bags.  The dividends were indeed put to good use, and I’m hoping that we also get lots of good use out of our purchases over the years.  (Steve came home with the Nemo sleeping bag he’s testing out in the picture above – can’t you tell how happy and contented he is?  It’s stuffed with real down, so wasn’t for me, but I ended up with a cozy Marmot sleeping bag stuffed with recycled synthetic down and am snug as a bug.)

  • Related: get into eco-touring shape with regular gym-going during the week and weekend paddling as soon as the boathouse opens.  Done!  I’ve been hitting the gym a few days a week, running on other days, and we’ve made it out for two mornings of paddling, including a windy day on the Anacostia last weekend – that was a workout indeed.  I don’t know if I’ll ever feel really in eco-touring shape, but I’m doing my best.
  • Read Wives and Daughters, by Elizabeth Gaskell.  Didn’t.  Darn library deadlines.

  • Clear the winter detritus off the back patio, stock up on herbs, veggies and fruit (!!!) and get my container garden started for the season.  Done!  The garden is planted and is producing already – wahoo!  Check in with me throughout the summer for gardening updates.
  • Get my dad’s old camera fixed and cleaned, and start shooting film.  Another one I’m calling one-third done.  I took the camera in for an estimate and it took the store three weeks to get back to me – frustrating – and then the estimate was so expensive I’m now not sure I want to go forward.  I really want to get the camera fixed, and I really want to shoot film, so I might see if they will do a payment plan.  Otherwise, this item may appear again on the fall list.  After all the gear we needed for our upcoming trip, I’m just not in the mood to make another big purchase right now.
  • Listen to the new Decemberists limited edition EP, Traveling On, on my record player by an open window.  Haven’t done this as of press time, but I still might.  My windows are open most nights right now.  So… maybe Saturday night?

  • Take a photography walk with my dSLR through my neighborhood once the blossoms are out.  Three-quarters done?  I didn’t bust out the dSLR, but I did take a photography walk and captured the redbud blossoms – my favorite! – blooming all over Old Town.  Get a load of that purple!  I probably could have gotten better snaps with my actual camera, but the iPhone worked fine.

Not too shabby!  Like I said, not being a major spring lover, I had to motivate myself a little bit to do these things, and obviously not all of them got done.  But I did feel like I had a nice season.  Even at its best, for me, spring is just the opening act – I’m a summer girl at heart.  The mercury is rising every day, and so is my mood, and Litha is still ahead of us – check in with me on Friday for my summer list!

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 10, 2019)

Does it have to be Monday?  I feel like I need an extra day – but I always say that, don’t I?  We had a crazy busy weekend, even busier than usual.  It started early, with a date night on Thursday night – first to our favorite wine bar and French bistro, and then followed up with a gear fitting appointment at REI.  Because that’s how we date night around here.  Friday was the kids’ last day of school for the year; how is it over already?  It was all I could do not to cry – they’ve both had such a wonderful experience this year.  Being a room mom in Peanut’s classroom was an experience I wouldn’t have traded for the world – hope I can do it for Nugget too.  I dropped them off, but I missed out on pickup because they had an early dismissal and I was on the phone literally (paging Chris Traeger) all. freaking. day.  Had a work crisis – not of my own making, at least – and while my office ended up the heroes at the end of the day, it was a stressful few hours.  I really needed to work this weekend, too, since I didn’t actually get done anything I’d planned to work on at the end of the week, thanks to said crisis – but it was not to be.

We were up and out the door early on Saturday.  Having spent the latter part of the week pouring over weather forecasts (as usual) and comparing the radar against our calendars, we figured out that if we wanted to get out on the water, we had to make it happen first thing.  So we trundled over to the Ballpark Boathouse with all of our gear and spent a little under an hour paddling around Nats Park.  You can’t tell from the picture, but it was insanely windy – to the point that, paddling into the wind, we pretty much weren’t going anywhere.  But we got a good workout, so that’s something!  Headed home, slammed some lunch, and got ready for a farewell party for a little girl who has been in Peanut’s class the past few years – her family was here on a temporary work assignment for four years, and they’re headed home to Beijing tomorrow.  They’ve been such a huge part of our kindergarten family and they’re going to be so missed.  Hugs were exchanged, tears were shed, and rash promises to visit them in China were made.  (Actually, I think that would be really cool.)  On Sunday, we did more running around.  Steve needed to work, after losing out on Friday billing in order to shepherd the kids while I sorted out my work crisis (which was much appreciated).  So I took Nugget out to run errands – Target, Whole Foods, and the library – and to a bowling birthday party for one of his preschool pals.  Nugget, it turns out, is something of a bowling prodigy.  This was his second time bowling, and he won the game, beat my high score, and invented a library of stylish dinosaur-themed bowling moves, complete with sound effects.  The boy can bring it, what can I say?

Reading.  For a busy week with no metro commuting, it was a decent reading week.  I finished Eligible juuuuuuust in time to slip it in Peanut’s bag on the last day of school.  (It didn’t come home, so I’m hoping that means that Ms. Shaw got her book back.)  Didn’t love it, but as I told Steve: I had to read it, because a teacher told me to.  Next up was Burnout, which I heard about on the Sorta Awesome podcast, and – wow.  Those ladies weren’t kidding.  I think I need my own copy, because I really wanted to highlight.  I finished it on Sunday morning and picked up The River in the Sky, which I bought a few weeks ago from the new indie bookstore in Old Town (swoon!).  I’ve never read any Clive James, and I’m going to have to seek out more, because The River in the Sky is lovely.

Watching.  The only watching this week was the kindergarten class movie – twice.  I attended the “world premiere” in Ms. Shaw and Ms. Lynch’s classroom on Wednesday afternoon, and then watched it at home with Steve after the link was emailed out to all the parents.  There’s a less-than-flattering picture of me at the class Halloween party, but other than that, it’s adorable.

Listening.  I’m trying to get all caught up on at least one podcast, and I’ve decided to work my way through my backlist of Vegetarian Zen first, so that’s mainly what I’ve been doing.  That, and listening to the song Your Ghost, by the Decemberists, on repeat.  Because Nugget informed me that he wants to “Listen to Oh Your Ghost a hundred times and memorize it.”  Okay, buddy, you got it.

Making.  Lots of food-related items this week.  A fridge full of batch-cooked goodies, including sliced cukes and peppers, roasted asparagus and baby bella mushrooms, chickpea vegetable curry, and a huge batch of jasmine rice and green lentils to serve as the base for a week’s worth of bowl dinners.  And most exciting of all, herbed sourdough crackers, made with some of my discard starter.  They were stupid easy, and came out fabulously.  And yes, I am that lady who makes homemade crackers now.  Come at me, bruh.

Blogging.  Listy McListerson here this week – I have the final accounting from my spring list on Wednesday, and the summer list coming atcha on Friday.  Check in with me then!

Loving.  I think I probably use this one at least once a month, but I really love my community here – and I was reminded of that, a little painfully, this weekend when we had to say goodbye to cherished friends as they prepare to return home to China.  One of the reasons we moved home after our three years in Buffalo was that we were having an impossibly hard time finding a community there.  We felt isolated and alone.  When we moved back, I figured we’d fall back into our old social circles – and we did, to a large extent.  The friends we’d left behind welcomed us back with open arms.  But what I wasn’t expecting was this huge network of new friends that we found through the kids’ school.  Being in their company has felt like a big exhale of a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.  And I’m sending lots of love with the T family as they take the next step in their journey.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

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Garden Tasks: June 2019

The garden is bursting into bloom now – a nice thing about living in a relatively warm area; we have a lovely long growing season.  (Remind me that I’ve said this in another month or so, when I’m moaning about the sun burning all of my plants to a crisp.)  Having a small patio garden, I am never going to have an especially long task list, but here’s what I’ve got on the agenda for June:

  • Stay on top of watering daily – except for the days when we have those summer thunderstorms!
  • On the same note, spray my squirrel repellant every chance I get.
  • Make a final decision about whether I’m going to use squirrel netting to keep pests away from my blueberries and tomatoes, and if I decide to go for it, get the supplies and get set up.
  • Replace my bird feeder (AGAIN) – the birds just aren’t interested in the one I got, so I’m going back to the previous model.
  • Keep up with weeding the front walk and in between the bricks on the back patio.
  • Dig up the lavender (which didn’t take) and plant a few more perennials in the front flower bed – chamomile, maybe?
  • Check for ripe produce, and HARVEST!

What’s on your garden to-do list for June?

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Reading Round-Up: May 2019

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby. I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book. Here are my reads for May, 2019…

Outer Order, Inner Calm, by Gretchen Rubin – The newest Gretchen Rubin was short and sweet – I read it over one day’s commuting – and pretty much common sense, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless.  Rubin, guru of happiness and habits, writes about how cultivating outer order in one’s surroundings can lead to inner peace.  It was nothing I hadn’t heard and read a thousand times before, but the voice and the layout were engaging and Rubin is always good for a dose of inspiration.

Edith Wharton, by Hermione Lee – It took weeks, since this doorstopper biography was way too big to haul on the Metro, but I finally churned through Edith Wharton – and finished it on the very day it was due back to the library, too.  I was really impressed with how much material Lee was able to pull together from the notoriously private and enigmatic Wharton’s life, and I really liked the combination of literary analysis and criticism with traditional biography.  Reading Lee’s take on Wharton’s most famous works juxtaposed with the events of her life at the time she was writing them was a fascinating exercise.

Giant Days, Volume I, by John Allison – Another one-day read, I’ve been meaning to get to Giant Days for years now, and I finally picked up the first volume at the library.  I loved meeting Susan, Daisy and Esther, and reading about their exploits made for a good escape from reality.  It was such a joy, although Esther was definitely the closest to my heart, and if you’ve read the comic, I’ve now told you way too much about myself as a teenager.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman – This was a re-read, but it had been quite a few years.  I was hoping that it would hold up, and did it ever.  I loved Good Omens just as much the second time around, and it made me even more excited to watch the adaptation.  Still love Aziraphale and Anathema the most, still entertained by Crowley and charmed by the Them.

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – And Why Things Are Better Than You Think, by Hans Rosling – I’ve been wanting to read this since I saw it on President Obama’s reading list (also, how much do we miss having a President who reads? #pleasecomeback).  Rosling is a global health professor who breaks down trends in living standards across the world to make the case that – while we still have a long way to go – things have never been better.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but his relentless optimism was infectious, and he had the stats to back up his argument.  Good stuff.

Travel As a Political Act, by Rick Steves – Steve and I have been huge fans of Rick Steves for years now – we’ve watched his show, carted his guidebooks around Europe, and Steve even travels with a Rick Steves backpack (#nerdalert) – but somehow I hadn’t gotten around to reading Rick’s travel manifesto.  Once I finally picked it up, I blazed through it and loved every second.  Rick makes an impassioned case for getting outside your comfort zone as a traveler, meeting real people and considering global and domestic issues in the context of actual lives.  My only complaint?  I got a sore neck from nodding along so much.

Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste, by Luke Barr – As a fan of Fisher, Child and Beard, I was really excited to read this interesting take on a brief time in their lives when they all came together for a few weeks in the south of France, written by Fisher’s nephew.  It was a delight, and I especially loved the food descriptions – and it made me want to pick up my copy of The Art of Eating again, and to whip up some dishes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Beard on Pasta.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Freshman Force: New Party, Who Dis?, by Josh Blaylock – Okay, I know that AOC is a pretty polarizing figure.  It seems like everyone has an opinion, and the whole world either loves her or hates her.  As for me, I’m solidly in the love camp.  I think her story’s fascinating, it’s obvious she worked insanely hard to get to Congress, and I love that she has big ideas and she doesn’t shy away from talking about them.  So clearly I was all in on this limited edition comic, which collects a bunch of graphic novel-style short stories about AOC and her friends on the Freshman Force (although there was not nearly enough Ilhan).  It was fun, different, and had me pumping my fists.

Women of the Raj, by Margaret MacMillan – I reserved a copy of this nonfiction study of the women who followed their husbands – or who traveled alone with an eye to catching a man – to India during the British Raj, after Claire recommended it.  It was fascinating, and I found it to be a really enjoyable and engaging book, but I think it caught me at the wrong time.  I was reading against a library deadline and was feeling something fiction, but had to knock it out – never a recipe for falling in love with a book.  Still, it was obviously well-researched, very well-written, and a good solid read.

The Bird King, by G. Willow Wilson – Let’s just go ahead and get this out of the way: everything G. Willow Wilson does is perfect.  Right?  Has she ever written something that wasn’t sweep-you-off-your-feet fantastic?  I mean, this is the woman who gave us Kamala Khan and Alif the Unseen.  Along with Catherynne M. Valente, Wilson is one of my must-reads, and The Bird King, a fantastical tale of a mapmaker with mystical powers and his loyal friend, a beautiful palace concubine, in Spain at the time of the Moors, was just wonderful.  I don’t know if it topped Alif the Unseen, which was one of my favorite books read in 2018, but it’s up there.  Go ahead and just sign me up for anything G. Willow Wilson writes, okay?

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, by Cal Newport – I’ve been wanting to read this since Meghan and Kelly discussed it on Sorta Awesome, but I wasn’t the only one – there was a library wait list for months.  I finally got my hands on it, and it was really good.  Inspiring, thoughtful, and realistic, all at once.  I don’t know if I’m going to do the recommended thirty-day tech cleanse, but I’ve definitely come away with some tips for reducing my phone use (just haven’t put them into practice yet – I’ll get there) and a solid dose of inspiration.

The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding, by Jennifer Robson – After seeing The Gown all over Goodreads and Instagram, I had to pick it up.  I won’t say it’s going to be one of the highlights of the year, but I really enjoyed it.  Ann and Miriam were delightful characters, and I loved following their journeys.  I had the same (small) complaint as I had with The Lost Vintage, though – Heather, the present day character, seemed unnecessary and was my least favorite.  I think these books that travel back and forth in time, between characters, are not my cup of tea.  I’d much rather authors just focus on the historic storylines without adding a present-day character to the mix.

Wow!  Twelve books in May – makes sense, because it’s a long month.  But it was also a month that saw a little travel – down to Virginia Beach for Memorial Day weekend – and the closing of my Metro stop until Labor Day (oof).  Still, even with those hiccups, I got a lot of reading in, so much that I’m not even sure I can come up with highlights, but I’ll try.  The Bird King was wonderful, like everything G. Willow Wilson does.  And Good Omens, a re-read, was just as good the second time through.  The one thing I’d have liked would have been to get to more classics, although I did finish up the doorstopper biography of Edith Wharton that I started back in April.  Hoping for some Gaskell or Austen in June, though.  Or maybe even some Trollope – I’m greedy.

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 3, 2019)

Happy Monday, friends!  This is the last week of school for my munchkins – we are limping to the finish line here.  Last week was a busy one, with the preschool class picnic on Tuesday, the kindergarten class picnic on Wednesday, and field day (for kindergarten through fifth grade) on Friday – somehow, in there, I also managed to work.  So I was exhausted by Friday night, and definitely ready for a rejuvenating weekend – which I can’t exactly say that I had, either.  On Saturday, we were out the door early to meet a crew from my office at Huntley Meadows Park for Clean the Bay Day.  We spent two hours tramping up and down a streambed, and I think we pulled several pounds of trash from the park.  A job well done, but exhausting at the same time.  On Saturday afternoon, Nugget and I drove down to our favorite garden center for a new bird feeder – since the birds seem to be singularly unimpressed with our green one, we went back to the red one we had before.  Hoping for better results.  (If we don’t see the birds back at the feeder soon, I’m going to start to think it’s the birdseed instead, but that wouldn’t make sense because I’ve bought the same birdseed that I always get.)  On Sunday, Steve had promised the kids a trip to the zoo, so off we went.  It was mostly uneventful, but I did get a super-cool action shot of a ring-tailed lemur in mid-leap.  Sunday afternoon, Nugget and I had a birthday party to attend at a nearby nature center.  The little dude had a great time going on a nature walk and watching an animal presentation, and I had a great time chatting with the other parents at the party.  Definitely a successful weekend, but not an especially restful one.

Reading.  Somehow, despite a busy week of trying to squeeze a full week’s worth of work into a four-day week with three school events and no metro commutes, I managed to finish three books and start another.  How?  I wrapped up Digital Minimalism on the playground on Memorial Day, then spent most of the week over The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding, which wasn’t earth-shattering but which was solidly enjoyable.  Over Friday and Saturday I blazed through Much Ado About Anne – those Mother-Daughter book club books always go fast for me, and they’re such a sweet escape from the daily grind.  Finally, I turned to Eligible, Curtis Sittenfeld’s retelling of Pride and Prejudice for the Austen Project.  I am decidedly ambivalent about it – I haven’t been a huge fan of any of the prior Austen Project books, and I think I might be the only thirtysomething woman in the world who is kind of meh on Curtis Sittenfeld in general – but Peanut’s teacher pressed her own copy into my hands, and now the clock is ticking.  I have to give it back to her by the last day of school, and that’s Friday.  (She hasn’t asked me for it, but I really don’t want to still have her book come summer.)  I’ve had it for months now, so it’s time to actually read it.  In my defense, she has had my copy of Where’d You Go, Bernadette – with the brilliant short story “Dear Mountain Room Parents” in the appendix – even longer.

Watching.  It’s here!  IT’S HEEEEEEEEERE!  Good Omens has finally dropped on Amazon Prime – I’ve been waiting for more than a year, and I am loving it.  Steve and I are three episodes in – so halfway through – and really enjoying it.  It’s pretty faithful to the books, with a couple of exceptions, and it’s absolutely hilarious.  Steve hasn’t read the book, so he has no idea what’s coming.  It’s almost as much fun watching him experience the story as it is watching the show itself.

Listening.  The usual diet of podcasts – mostly The Mom Hour and Vegetarian Zen – and Nugget and I also listened to some music in the car this week.  It’s definitely summer, because I fired up the Rusted Root CD, which is the quintessential summer music to my mind.  All I need is a couple of chords, and I’m back at Camp Little Notch, standing on the picnic tables at the swimming dock, belting out Send Me On My Way with Heidi, Sarah and Rose, or three Yuenglings in, dancing to Ecstasy live on Libe Slope on a hot May day at Cornell.  For some reason I rarely listen to Rusted Root when it’s cold out, but as soon as the mercury climbs over eighty it’s all I want to hear.  I would like to reach out my hand…

Making.  The usual, good stuff all around.  A cleaned-out fridge, a container full of sliced veg for the week, a pot of soup (pureed kale, chard and sweet potato in my homemade vegetable broth this time), and progress on the 2018 family yearbook.  And memories.  Always memories.

Moving.  Been an active week!  In addition to two hours of hiking through a streambed on Saturday (and hefting a heavy bag full of trash as I did so) and tramping around the zoo on Sunday, I got in one gym day (elliptical and legs) and two runs on my new favorite Braddock-to-King loop.  I’m feeling stronger and more motivated than I have in quite awhile.

Blogging.  May reading recap coming atcha on Wednesday – a good one for a long month – and June’s garden to-do list on Friday.  Check in with me then!

Loving.  My Bushel & Berry raspberries are ripening, a few every day, and man are they delicious!  I have to say – I am still giddy with the excitement of having raspberries in pots on my patio. Growing fruit has been on my garden bucket list for as long as I can remember, and I really didn’t think I’d be able to make that happen until we move, hopefully to a place with a yard, next year.  It’s been so cool to watch the raspberry bush grow and ripen, and I have high hopes for the blueberries.  Definitely bringing plenty of smiles to my patio.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?