being not doing

Things, as we know, don’t always go as planned. The big news around these parts is that I’m pregnant, expecting a baby in October. That’s not the unplanned element; the unplanned part was the way in which this situation (and all the accompanying ailments, small and large) coincided with a terribly hot spring that has [...]

It’s always exciting to see the first daffodil buds, particularly since I’ve moved the bulbs and as a result am never sure I’m going to get flowers. This year I have crocuses in the little bed I created by the lamp post, so even if I did plant them too deeply (as I suspect) they’ve [...]

This autumn found us with a number of refugee plants on our porch that required a permanent spot in the yard. The sad demise of the hydrangea and the clethra twigs at the end of the summer left some space open, and we expanded the planted areas to include spaces in front of and under [...]

The Ruby-crowned Kinglets are making their way through our area, likely somewhat stalled by the nasty cold rain we had most of last week. On my way back from the mailbox this morning I passed several little chatterers flitting around in the bushes near the public library. Even better, yesterday I had a kinglet hover [...]

Lemon garlic pickles, spicy bread and butter pickles, brandied peaches, sour cherry-walnut conserve, cherry sauce (with rum), and canned cherries, with pickled summer squash in front. Now is as good a time as any to report on the canning I did this summer. I had big plans to make cherry jam, or even cherry preserves, [...]