Weekly recap of my ritual of existence in this liminal space called life. (See here for more info.)
- Weather
We had issues with the rain part of the weather station again this week but fortunately had measurable rain only on Friday and Saturday; I think we got about 2.85 inches overall, based on another local weather station online and a friend’s rain gauge. We actually had three mostly sunny days this week (Mon-Wed.)! The average high was 69.1°F this week, with high temperatures ranging from 81.5°F on Wed. to 56.7°F on Sunday. Lows averaged 47°F, ranging narrowly from 42.3°F on Monday to 53.2°F on Thursday.
- Beginnings/Firsts
Saw my first Canadian Tiger swallowtail butterfly this year at the bog on Wednesday. Saw my first couple of slugs for the year on Thursday.
- Wild Things (Flora, Fauna, Fungi) in addition to others elsewhere in this post
Jack in the pulpits from the yard and trails.
- Wandering
Got in several walks this week with the less rainy weather, including three local trail walks, two in-town walks (one long), and a visit to The Fells.
in town
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trail walks
birds Merlin heard on the trails
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The Fells
birds Merlin heard at The Fells
- Curiosity & Discoveries
We came across this carcass, which looked to me — and iNaturalist folks agree — like an opossum, on one of our trail walks this week.
- Creating
Collages, meals, the garden, a welcoming space in the sunroom, the usual.
- Repairing and Maintaining (everything but the house & yard)
Body/Mind: I worked out four times (4 hours) this week and walked over 9,000 steps every day, including five days over 12,000 steps, three days over 14,000 steps, and two days over 16,000 steps. Treadmilled one day for 1/2 hour (2 miles).
- Gardening/Yard
I spent about 8 hours in the garden this week, planting, watering, weeding, cutting back, pruning, pulling out invasive vines and saplings. On Monday I planted 6 zinnia, 2 scaevola, 1 coleus, 1 begonia, 1 dark-leaved cardinal flower, 5 nasturtiums, and 19 gladiolus (10 ‘Donatella’ and 9 ‘First Blood’).
My husband mowed for the 2nd time this year on Tuesday, picked up my weed piles, moved a volunteer dwarf sour cherry (‘Crimson Passion’) to a new spot, and pulled out a multiflora rose using a rope. He also sprayed the perimeter of the house for ants on Monday.
in the garden this week
birds Merlin heard in the garden (24 species here)
- Nesting
Cleaning/Maintenance: We cleaned (cleared, tidied, vacuumed, dusted etc) the sunroom for 2 hours on Friday morning, a rush job before Salon met there; it’s not perfect but it’s 80% more summer-ready than it was before. The washing machine once again didn’t drain all the water and soap while I was doing towel laundry on Tues., even after five extra 12-min. spin and drain cycles, so my husband ordered a new pump for it (the impeller on the pump was chewed up, probably from when other pieces of the machine broke off a while ago). The part was delivered Wednesday, he installed it, and it worked great for a load of clothes that day and on Saturday. 🤞 My husband made a new cat screen for the window near his side of the bed this week so it can be opened without worry that the cat will get out (Bumble has never tried to claw his way through a screen, or shown much interest in being part of the outside world, but it’s easier to be safe than sorry in this instance).
Financial/Admin: I renewed my Zoom business subscription for a year this week. I also renewed my Atlantic subscription. I received my very first social security retirement distribution this week.
Supplies: My auto-order of CocoLabs dental flosses (three coconut, one pineapple) was delivered this week. I ordered some Columbia pants via eBay on Sunday.
Food: Grilled hot dogs, mac & cheese, and corn on Monday; a salad with tuna, arugula, veggies, and black beans on Tuesday. Dinner out on Wed. I made the penne thing (asparagus, edamame, pine nuts) again on Thursday (using our chives) and we had that and the leftover tuna salad on Friday. I made the herbed tortellini dish (with artichokes and olives, and I added capers and white beans) on Saturday, which we also had on Sunday. Asparagus is still in season!
- Sleeping & Dreaming
Sleep times varied from 5 hours 54 mins to 8 hours 26 mins, with an average per night of 7.5 hours. My average (Fitbit) sleep score was 84.5. REM sleep accounted for 14 hours 8 minutes of sleep, deep sleep for 8 hours.
- Reading / Words & Ideas / Listening / Watching
Reading
BOOKS: I finished Long Island Compromise (2024) by Taffy Brodesser-Akner and started Lies and Weddings (2024) by Kevin Kwan. Both are about very wealthy families — extremely wealthy in the case of Lies & Weddings — but the latter has only one really maladjusted main character (and a bunch of minor ones). It’s a romp and I am enjoying it! Up next is Fever Beach (2025) by Carl Hiaasen, whose Florida-based novels are always a wild ride, and then Anne Tyler’s Three Days in June (2025) — I always look forward to anything she writes.
OTHER
I loved this article on psilocybin (the active ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms): I Tried Magic Mushrooms for My Mental Health. Here’s What Happened by Robert Sanchez in 5280 (June 2025)
this looks good —
Watching
Mostly “Vera” this week except an “I Love Lucy” and an “International House Hunters” one evening.
Listening
- Connections & Community
Local Support: I bought gift cards for my nephew and cousin, whose birthdays are this week, from restaurants that are local to them (Lancaster PA and Hurlock MD). We had dinner at a restaurant in town on Wednesday evening and we had breakfast twice this week (Wed., Sat.) at a local café/bakery. Bought items at the local farmstand on Wed. and Friday. My husband worked (volunteered) at the local car museum for 10.5 hours this week.
Relationships: I hosted Salon in the sunroom on Friday (5 of us), with another friend (ED) visiting to drop off some of her tomato seedlings as we were meeting, so she spent some time meeting them and they her. That friend ended up getting an aster (as did we all) from one of the Salon members, ND, and ND got a tomato from ED. That was a fun intermingling.
I ran into a friend (AS) at the farmstand on Friday and we caught up for a 1/2-hour. Chatted with our neighbour (JL) for 10 mins on Tuesday outside. Emailed a friend (KKT) on Tues. and she emailed back on Wed. Another friend (ChWN) emailed on Friday. Ran into an acquaintance (LV) while walking on Sunday and chatted with her for 10 mins. My husband spent about 4 hours at our friends’ (ND&TD) helping to clean and air their basement when it flooded on Sunday.
Donations: Renewed our memberships with Cornell Labs and Mt Cuba Center this week.
- Endings/Harvest
Harvested chives again this week from the garden. My uncle’s viewing/visitation was on Thursday.
- All This Useless Beauty
this honeybee on cotoneaster at The Fells
parrot tulips
textures
the texture again – Clintonia (bluebead lily) and Indian cucumber root growing together
something about this
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