Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #insertblankie, home on September 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Before today, I couldn’t say that I had ever had a furnace condemned.
No longer.
In our ongoing saga of appliance fails, our seventeen-year old furnace has developed an unfixable crack. And now we wait until we can get a replacement.
I swear we’re not doing this on purpose.
What I do appreciate is that we discovered this problem before the snow starts. Because now our fireplace is on the fritz too.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, beauty, Canada, fall, fall foliage, home, inspiration, nature, poutine, Thoughts on September 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Canada is a global leader in many arenas: friendliness, humor, dishes featuring cheese, gravy and potatoes.
Come fall, it also leads the way in terms of natural beauty.
The leaves on the maple across the street are beginning to turn. Thanks in part to my father falling in love with the Appalachian mountains on a job interview, I’ve watched this dance most of my life. First the green fades into yellows and orange and reds, slowly and then fast, until every vista is filtered through a rainbow-colored lens.
The change depends on a number of factors such as precipitation and temperature, but check out this map for a prediction:
2023 Fall Foliage Map & Nationwide Peak Leaf Forecast
More on the map and how it was made:
See When Brilliant Fall Foliage Will Peak With This Interactive Map
According to the map, fall foliage season began on September 4 and will end on November 20.
For comparison, here’s the Farmers’ Almanac weighing in on dates by state: Fall Leaves: America’s Top Destinations.
When will peak fall happen for you? Soon, the trees whisper. Soon.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, home, interesting creatures on August 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »
You know how I’m always going on about how nice it is to not mow because duh, mowing is a drag, but also because it creates space for plants and insects we don’t usually see in your average suburban lawn? Well, the good news is that my backyard is busy. Not only do I have lemon verbena and apple mint and milkweed popping up from previous years’ seeds, along with aster and grapes and lamb’s quarters and sorrel and the like, yay, but I just met something new.
Meet the pigeon horntail, which is not a pigeon and not a dragon but is instead a giant insect native to these parts. I’ve never seen one before and I certainly didn’t expect to meet one while out refilling the bird bath.
Halfway into the yard a loud buzzing caught my attention. It sounded like a phone on vibrate, but no. It was instead a very large (and somewhat scary looking) wasp-like creature, about two inches long with a ginormous stinger-like protuberance (not a stinger, but I didn’t know it at the time). It appeared to be freshly born as the buzzing was from its sole moving wing. The second wing was still stuck to its body. I happened to have clear pitcher with me and popped it over top of the thing to get a photo, then looked it up.
Pigeon Horntail (Tremex columba) · iNaturalist Canada
Let’s see:
— Tremex columba, species of wasp also known as the horntail wasp or wood wasp
— native to eastern and western North America (good, so I don’t have to kill it like a lantern fly or murder hornet)
— does not sting or bite (phew, seriously, that tail thingie is no joke)
All good. They like decaying wood so I’m guessing its parental figure was attracted by the stack of wood we acquired after trimming the trees.
I’m not a bug person but it was an interesting new find. I watched until it freed its second wing. And off it flew.
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Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #fuelforwriters, baking, home on August 17, 2023| 1 Comment »
I am trying something new today: cheesecake. I am sure that I have made a cheesecake at some point because my lizard brain remembers the pain of a hot water bath slopping up against my forearm, and the annoyance of a leaky springform pan. That said, I don’t remember many other details because I’ve been avoiding this kind of cake for years.
But I had a special request. Mr Man wanted a cheesecake. And not just any cheesecake, he wanted it to be chocolate.
Ok, I said. I can do that. (Pretty sure I can do that.)
After much research and a number of modifications, I am doing it.
If you are unfamiliar, cheesecake is typically a multi-day affair. It requires a bake and then a cool and then a chill, preferably overnight. If you’re in a hurry, you can try some of the no-bake variants out there, but they still tend to require significant time in the fridge.
Here’s the base recipe I’m using: Epic New York Cheesecake From BraveTart. (No water bath! My forearms are thanking me. And how did I not realize that there is no flour at all in cheesecake?)
Modifications are required because my pan isn’t quite the right size and the original formulation is for a lightly citrus-flavored version. For Mr Man’s chocolate extravaganza, I’m using some of the changes posted by GregLasky in the recipe comments, along with most of his ingredient list: Chocolate Cheesecake.
The bad thing about a recipe like this is that I have to wait before I know if it worked. The good thing about a recipe like this? I have a whole day to imagine how great it’s going to be.
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Posted in Food and..., Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #frostyadultbeverages, #notwriting, home on August 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I’m on a day job vacation at the moment and I’d hoped to get to some actual writing today. Instead, we juiced limes. Lots and lots and lots of limes. Eight pounds of limes, in the end, which is what happens when one shops at Costco’s Business Center.
On the plus side, our Lime Freeze future is assured, and the Breville Citrus Press is still one of the best presents Mr Man has ever given me. Spendy and single-use, yes, but worth it.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, art, creativity, happenstance, home, inspiration, Thoughts on August 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »
This morning: hot oatmeal and a cool breeze from the patio door. We leave the door open for the fresh air, which brings the scent of wildlife to entertain the cat, as well as some of the unexpected moments of aggravation and joy that help make a life.
Aggravation: noise from a construction site down the block.
Joy: halfway through breakfast, I hear a beat, a pattern drummed out as from a wooden handle on a large metal surface. It is from the construction site, but it is not the sound of machinery or backup beeps or men shouting. Is it a wheelbarrow, a water drum, a backhoe scoop? Whatever the source, there is both intention and musicality. A bored worker, perhaps, or an aspiring musician. Or just someone inspired to create a moment of beauty in an otherwise average day.
And then send that art out into the world, carried on the wind.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, home, Thoughts on August 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Today, a moment of happiness.
Picture it: the sun has finally come out, the day is warm and the wild things have voted our little yard Best in Neighborhood. Mr Man and I are having lunch under a canopy on the deck out back. This is not a day to consider the cracked boards or the layers of pine needles or the gutter gunk. It’s a day to see the four juvenile robins play-fighting to determine who will get the upper bird bath first, and then squawk when they are all pre-empted by a grackle. It is a day to notice that we are hosting not just animals, but families. The chipmunk has two smaller companions, Mr and Mrs Cardinal are both present, a pair of mourning doves stop by, there are three woodpeckers at the feeder, and the black-capped chickadees shepherd smaller versions of themselves first to the suet, and then to the nyjer, and finally to the sunflower seeds. Squirrels also visit, black and brown and grey, including one flicking the longest, plushest tail I’ve yet seen. There are sparrows and more finches than I can count, a mix of brownish, reddish and a vibrant shade I’m calling Attention-Grabbing Gold.
The extra shot of happiness comes when I realize that our yard is doing an admirable job of being exactly what our wild neighbors need.
The yard is not particularly photogenic. The bushes are a little scruffy and what grass persists is overlong. Hastas and honeysuckle and sweet woodruff sidle up next to lamb’s quarters and dandelions, violets and goldenrod, clover and daisies and oxalis. I don’t mind. It provides water, food and shelter, and is homey and inviting in a way that over-manicured spaces frequently are not.
And our wild neighbors don’t mind a bit.
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Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, anniversaries, cat herding, Chewbacca, home, Writers on July 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
A year ago we adopted the cat who would later (much later, fine, it took quite a while) be named Chewbacca. He is the sweetest cat I’ve ever had, and I’m more than glad we kept looking until we found the right fit. Kittens are cute and all, but adopting this older cat from our local rescue was the best thing we could have done.
Recommend.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, home, nature, Thoughts on May 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »
My lawn is lovely, with white and purple and yellow flowers. The dandelions are going gangbusters, as they do. And I’ve just been out front tidying them up in the hopes that my neighbors won’t get too stressed out about our lawn’s diversity.
In that vein, I give you a brief history of that underrated flower, the dandelion.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, home, Thoughts, ugh on May 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Still sick, but back to work. Slowly.
“I always wanted to be someone better the next day than I was the day before.”
— Sidney Poitier
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J.R. Johnson 
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