Weekly recap of my ritual of existence in this liminal space called life. (See here for more info.)
- Weather
Variable, unsurprising for spring, with high temps ranging from 80.8 °F to 54.3°F and lows from 35.6°F to 57.2°F. The average high temperature this week was 69.1°F, the average low was 46.3°F. We covered a couple newly planted tomatoes on Friday night. Rain fell this week, on four days, totalling 1.79 inches. We’re still in a severe drought but this week’s report was measured before much of this recent precipitation.
Standing water at bottom of vegetable garden after some rain —
— and forecast for cold and wintry mix/snow on Saturday (which we got, just a little, didn’t stick)
- Beginnings/Firsts
We finally had our first black bear visit the yard this spring, on Monday night around 11 p.m. Only got a motion camera pic from the backside.
The Japanese lantern is now out in the yard.
Another first this week: We ate at a restaurant (that opened last year?) that we’ve been wanting to try in Sunapee Harbor, NH on Wed. — delicious food, great menu and service, and a fabulous harbor view on their deck.
- Wild Things (Flora, Fauna, Fungi) in addition to others elsewhere in this post
TOP row: Forest-ogre June beetle; ruddy Metarranthis moth; Canadian tiger swallowtail butterfly. Second Row: clouded sulphur butterfly; hybotid dance fly; punctuated ground crab spider. Third Row: green striped grasshopper; deer; raccoon. Fourth Row: fox; garter snake; barred owl we heard. BOTTOM Row: male cardinal; slug.
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- Wandering
We walked at the lake on Monday; on some trails known for their masses of pink lady’s slippers on Tues. — and we counted about 150 of them; and around town on Wed., Thurs., Sat., and Sunday. We shopped at a nursery in Boscawen, NH on Thursday and had lunch in Sunapee Harbor on Wed. My husband fished on a brook in Enfield on Friday.
in town
lake
wooded trails
some lady’s slippers
nursery
- Curiosity & Discoveries
some odd/interesting flavours of salami at the grocery store: cacio e pepe and balsamic & Parmesan
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I discovered how much both the weeping spruce and the andromeda (Pieris japonica ‘Red Mill’) have grown in recent years!
- Creating
Yay, I might have created a meditation habit. I meditated every day (actually, evening) this week, totalling 3 hours 25 mins. We’ll see if it holds.
- Repairing and Maintaining the human(s), the cat, and the cars
Human: I worked out three times this week (3 hours); I plan to take a break from working out next week. I walked more than 11,000 steps on six days, more than 14,000 steps on three days, and a high day of 18,011 steps. on Tuesday. I spent time in the woods and the garden this week. I meditated every day!
Cars: My husband spent some time on Wed. investigating an A/C issue in the BMW.
- Nesting
Cleaning/Maintenance: I watered the houseplants on Friday, cleaned up the sunroom (first pass, 1.25 hours) on Thursday, and cleared out a big pile of home and garden magazines and clippings dating back to 2010 on Tuesday. We did clothes laundry on Wed. My husband did the dump/recycling run on Sunday. Plus the usual cleaning of toilets, counters, etc.
Financial/Admin: I paid my dermatology bill on Thursday. Backed up the laptop on Wednesday. Installed the Vivaldi browser on Saturday and spent about two hours setting it up and syncing.
Supplies: Just more plants!
Food: I made asparagus-shrimp risotto on Monday, which we had with a green salad. Had the risotto again on Tuesday with sautéed cauliflower. I had it again on Wed. while my husband had a PBJ sandwich (that was the day we ate out for lunch). On Thursday we had veggie burgers with arugula, spinach sautéed with garlic, and couscous with artichoke hearts and pine nuts. On Friday my husband finished the risotto and I had takeout pizza (spinach, artichoke, black olives) from our local place in town. We both had the pizza on Sat. and Sun., with cucumbers and corn. My husband made three baguettes on Saturday (and gave one away).
the green salad (there’s lettuce under there)
- Garden
I spent about 7 hours gardening this week, planting, weeding, and a little watering of new plants. My husband picked up weed piles on Friday and put the Japanese lantern out.
We bought some plants at a nursery on Thursday: one ‘Red Riding Hood’ Japanese anemone; two Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed), both labelled ‘Ice Ballet’ but one had both pink and white flower buds; two ‘Little Redhead’ Indian pinks (Spigelia marilandica); a tarragon plant; and six quart-sized plants ($7 each): one dark cardinal flower, two ‘Turkish Delight’ sedum, one Lady’s mantle, and two small purple ‘Buzz Midnight’ buddleia. I planted the tarragon and two Sungold tomatoes on Thursday — we got the tomato plants for $4 each from a roadside stand on the way home from the nursery — and on Sunday planted most of the rest, though not the Indian pinks or the cardinal flower yet.
Also on Sunday I picked up my tray of seedlings — remember I planted 100 seeds in late April at the farmstand and left them there for their (much better than my) tending and ministrations? — which will be planted next week when I gather the strength and stamina to do it. I have to figure out what goes in the raised bed, and where, and what goes in the regular vegetable bed, and what goes elsewhere. The tray of plants looks very nice! Almost everything germinated except the Gaillardia (blanket flower), of which there’s only one sad looking specimen, and there were only two of the seven Mexican sunflowers 😔
some garden pics this week
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- Sleeping & Dreaming
I got an average of 7 hours 37 mins sleep per night this week and an average (Samsung Fit 3) sleep score of 92.3. I had 15 hours 15 mins REM sleep (and lots of dreams) and 7 hours 38 mins of deep sleep.
- Reading / Words & Ideas / Listening / Watching
Reading
BOOKS: I finished The Living and the Dead: A Novel about a Crime (2023) by Christoffer Carlsson (transl. Rachel Willson-Broyles) this week. Really liked it. It was odd reading this right after I Refuse, because it’s also about a tangled teenage relationship between two boys, Sander and Killian, now men whose lives have taken vastly different paths. The story begins the morning after a party in rural Sweden (near Halmstad), when Siri and Gerd, two police officers, are called to investigate the death of 18-year-old Mikael, whose body has been found in the trunk of a car. Sander and Killian, both 17, are suspects and both have secrets, as do others, and within three years, after another death and an actual explosion that rocks the town, Siri retires from the police without having solved the crime. Twenty years later a funeral and another death leads to the case being re-opened. So well written, atmospheric and introspective, with an enveloping dark energy that tantalises and leads to a satisfying conclusion.
NEW WORD: From The Living and the Dead, a Swedish word, kymig:
OTHER – Nothing this week.
Listening
Some Shazam’d songs this week … I can’t recall when I last heard “Jackie Blue.” Four of these songs are on my car playlist (of over 500 songs) but that’s not where I heard them this week.
Watching
Still watching mostly “Schitt$ Creek.” This screenshot (with Roland, David, and mannequin in the Blouse Barn) amused me.
- Connections & Community
Local Support: Bought asparagus and cucumbers at the local farmstand on Monday, had lunch outside at a localish independent restaurant on Wed., bought treats from local bakery on Thurs. and Sat., and ordered takeout pizza from local (small chain) pizza place on Saturday. My husband volunteered at a local car museum for 7.75 hours this week. Probably not providing actual support but in the vein of a community interaction, we attended an open house at a very cute and very small lakefront-adjacent cottage for sale on Friday evening, hosted by a realtor we like (AMA) and we met and chatted with a native plant landscaper (SP) there.
Relationships: I hosted Salon on Friday with five of us meeting in the sunroom for two hours. We picked up a friend (ND) from the park & ride on Sat. evening (and gave her a homemade baguette). I sent flowers (from a local to her florist) and a restaurant gift card (from a local to her seafood place) to my cousin on Thurs. for her birthday next week. I sent my nephew a gift card for Peter Millar for his birthday on Friday. Chatted with friends for 5-15 mins while running errands on a couple of days (LV, MB, JS). The usual texting, emails, social media.
- Endings
The red and painted trilliums are finishing up their bloom here.
and farewell to the Valdivia tulips
- All This Useless Beauty
these azaleas outside a building in town — every year I wait for their bloom
evening at the marsh
sunlight in the woods
delicate white epimedium flowers with water drops
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