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  • I changed things up for this year’s reading review, and looked at different stats. A new one was what year the books I read were published – nearly half are from the past three years. πŸ“š

    β†’ 4:32 PM, Dec 31
  • ✍ Question for fiction writers: do you outline in the same tense that you write in? My friend and I discovered last night that both of us outline in present tense but write in past tense. Curious whether others do as well 😊

    β†’ 11:56 AM, Dec 30
  • πŸ“š My 20 favorite books I read in 2022 – including 9 SFF and romance novels, 5 graphic novels, and 6 non-fiction books.

    Usually I just make a bulleted list, but this year I wrote mini blurbs for each. I’ve never come up with readalike suggestions before, it was tough! πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 5:49 PM, Dec 29
  • Huevos rancheros for breakfast - tasty enough but not worth the 45 minutes it took me to make. I’ll save it for the Mexican place next time πŸ˜‰

    two fried tortillas topped with refried beans, a fried egg, and salsa on a brown and white Heath plate

    β†’ 11:15 AM, Dec 24
  • A chilly but beautiful Winter Solstice morning!

    Blue sky gray clouds, and a warm horizon glow above a snowy suburban backyard edged with tall conifers

    β†’ 10:56 AM, Dec 21
  • We are getting lots of snow days this year! Tonight’s winter storm advisory predicts we’ll get 2-8” in the next day?! 🌨️

    Snow resting on a poof of seeds

    β†’ 10:53 PM, Dec 19
  • I’ve had it with Tidal. For a music player, its ability to play music breaks way too often. Thinking I’ll try Deezer next.

    β†’ 8:20 PM, Dec 13
  • I’ve been making myself a birthday playlist nearly every year since 2002. This week I posted all my birthday playlists on my website! Listen links to Spotify & Tidal. I had fun doing a little analysis too, comparing what years the songs on each playlist were published. 🎧🎢

    β†’ 2:47 PM, Dec 9
  • πŸ“š Failed to consider how big and heavy this haul would be when I requested so many art books – I barely staggered out of the library! πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 1:12 PM, Dec 2
  • Grr, just realized Tidal’s connection to last.fm broke in early October, so it didn’t track the last six weeks of listening 😠 Another tally to my complaints about Tidal. I’ve tracked my listening on last.fm since 2007, this is srs bsns. 🎢

    β†’ 9:37 PM, Dec 1
  • Rounded out National Novel Writing Month at 44k words, which I am very happy with. Just a few scenes shy of halfway – I’m going to keep it up during December (though with more breaks) and hopefully can finish the draft near year end!

    Recap of NaNoWriMo 2022

    β†’ 2:08 PM, Dec 1
  • Early season snow!

    β†’ 10:46 AM, Nov 29
  • Made potato leek soup for dinner, a tasty winter pantry dish. Didn’t have yukon gold so I used Russets – should have peeled them πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ Would have been even better with some hearty beer bread.

    β†’ 1:33 AM, Nov 29
  • Got a lovely sunny stroll at a wildlife area on the lake - and spotted a bald eagle! (πŸ¦… not pictured πŸ˜‰)

    pilings cross a smooth late surface reflecting a blue sky slashed with cloudsman in a jacket walks beneath a tree arcing across a boardwalk

    β†’ 7:27 PM, Nov 26
  • First time making a lime pie, turned out well. Zested and juiced 3 limes (oops bought a whole bag πŸ˜‚). Baked an extra 8-10 minutes (till it didn’t stick to my finger), cooled 1hr on rack and 1hr in fridge. Premade 9” graham crust just held all the filling.

    β†’ 11:29 AM, Nov 25
  • Tried a new buttermilk coffee cake recipe - fine, not too sweet. Tripled the berries, folded in instead of pressing per instructions and they all sank πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ Used extra pie streusel for topping and added 1/2c pecans, could do more. Added ~1/4t nutmeg to cake, couldn’t taste.

    β†’ 11:51 AM, Nov 20
  • Next Sunday, 11/27, IndieWebCamp is hosting a pop-up online discussion on making the IndieWeb more approachable. If you have thoughts from your experience on micro.blog about how to make it simpler to understand and join the IndieWeb, it would be great to hear from you!

    β†’ 11:59 AM, Nov 19
  • Alas, Twitter has reached the point where it’s no longer even macabre fun to watch it disintegrate… if he’s going to make what should be important policy decisions based on Twitter polls, I’m 100% done. Logged out.

    β†’ 11:43 AM, Nov 19
  • I’ve collected a list of small online shops from my social media follows, and thought others might be interested given the season πŸ˜‰ It includes (mostly American, West Coast focused) shops for home goods, art, paper goods, clothes and accessories, personal care, and gardening.

    β†’ 12:52 PM, Nov 17
  • I don’t have time or energy to explore a new social platform right now, so I turned on ActivityPub support here at @tracy@notes.tracydurnell.com. I’m always wary about messing up DNS changes but it took longer to log in with 2FA than it did to set up my custom subdomain πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 3:35 PM, Nov 16
  • Micro.blog is a much better place to actually talk to people, and for my mental health, but I have been having a blast watching the “Twitter is dying” party today 🀣 (I don’t actually want Twitter to die but sometimes all you can do is watch it burn and enjoy the memes πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ)

    β†’ 11:58 PM, Nov 11
  • At last night’s Homebrew Website Club, we lamented never finishing our blog drafts. Today I realized one of my drafts was about choosing and finishing projects. So I haven’t written any of today’s NaNoWriMo words yet, but I did write this 2000 word blog post πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 6:24 PM, Nov 10
  • Finally planted my bulbs today! I went light this year: three packs of camas, three huge allium bulbs, and ten yellow mini tulips 🌷 Between digging and raking the front yard, I’m going to be sore tomorrow! πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 6:48 PM, Nov 9
  • Our power was out for 16 hours yesterday so we had to toss most of our fridge 😒 But it’s better than getting botulism!

    β†’ 3:50 PM, Nov 6
  • So this was very brown πŸ˜‚ Veggie sausage, mushrooms, cabbage πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ, rutabega πŸ‘Ž, and biscuits. Biscuits better drop baked than touching. Too much baking powder, and needed a good bit more buttermilk.

    β†’ 6:56 PM, Nov 4
  • You know how they tell you not to start running by running a 5k every day? NaNoWriMo is kinda like that for writing πŸ˜‚

    Three days of more writing than I’ve done in months, and I’m definitely feeling it!

    β†’ 8:43 PM, Nov 3
  • First day of NaNoWriMo! This will be my 11th time playing πŸ˜ƒ

    Feeling excited and apprehensive to start a new book project for the first time in a few years πŸ™Œ Been revising my WIP for-ev-er.

    β†’ 11:37 PM, Nov 1
  • πŸ“š Library haul! Tried to get a lot of stuff that will have pictures. Accidentally had a mini Russian theme with Soviet Seasons, Soviet Space Graphics and Putin’s Russia.

    β†’ 2:30 PM, Nov 1
  • Halloween setup πŸŽƒ We skipped giving out candy the last two years but this year we’re doing the honor system - as cute as the costumes are, I don’t really want to interact with 100 germy little kids πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 5:09 PM, Oct 31
  • This morning we dashed down to Kubota Garden before the rain and enjoyed some beautiful fall color! More photos 🍁

    β†’ 1:46 PM, Oct 30
  • This week I randomly decided I want to be more ambidextrous, so I’ve switched my mouse to my left hand. I’ve got the buttons down but definitely working on that fine motor control for putting the cursor in the right spot πŸ˜‚ Interesting but probably a short-lived experiment πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

    β†’ 7:46 PM, Oct 28
  • So happy it finally feels like fall! Rain, colorful leaves, bedtime tea, down vests and SCARVES! πŸ₯°

    colorful scarves hung on a decorative ladder

    β†’ 10:25 PM, Oct 23
  • AQI around or over 300 at my house right now. Got air filters going in my main rooms but still have a headache πŸ˜‘ Rain and wind can’t come soon enough 😒 Forecast for tomorrow 🀞🀞🀞

    β†’ 9:47 AM, Oct 20
  • Spent the day out in public for the first time since March 2020, and my brain is fried. I’m sure the smoke didn’t help – masked up except while eating but it was well over 150 all day πŸ˜‘ Visited the new Burke Museum and bought a huge pot for a japanese maple.

    masked man behind round window displaying 75 cowrie species

    β†’ 8:25 PM, Oct 19
  • At least the climate apocalypse is pretty.

    AQI 181πŸ”₯ 😷

    gray peninsula beyond pink tinted water with slight ripples and pale pink smoky sky at sunset

    β†’ 8:26 PM, Oct 18
  • Thinking about how cool my little hometown library was. They gave me carte blanche to write graphic novel reviews for their website after college. (I did work there in HS.) My huge library system now is great but would never be game. One neat part of a town of 13k vs city of 90k.

    β†’ 2:02 PM, Oct 15
  • I’ve reached my limit on the pandemic hair: it’s gotten so long I just accidentally tucked it into my pants πŸ˜‚ πŸ€¦β€β™€οΈ

    β†’ 12:12 AM, Oct 12
  • Coconut lime cake from Snacking Cakes. πŸ₯₯ The lime was pretty subtle, I could only taste it in the glaze. Took 20 minutes to assemble. Would eat again πŸ‘

    β†’ 6:39 PM, Oct 7
  • Baked a pie with my u-pick apples πŸ₯§ Typed up my go-to apple crumb pie recipe so I can stop scrounging up the old photocopies whenever I want to make it πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 12:13 AM, Oct 6
  • Backyard finally installed! Should have just done this ten years ago instead of all my failed DIY attempts πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ (except we didn’t have the cash then). Now I have a bunch of pruning and tidying up to do so the deck and front yard also look decent πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 5:38 PM, Oct 3
  • Big library haul today because my branch is closing for a month for repairs! Goal was lighthearted reads, nothing expressly political, so I got a bunch of comics and picture books. I keep getting books that are too dense or anxiety-inducing for the evening wind-down.

    β†’ 2:24 PM, Oct 2
  • Spent 6 hours driving to and from Eastern WA today for a memorial. Tired now! Happily it was a lovely fall forest and we drove a scenic route, past Mount Rainier (Tacoma) and over Chinook Pass for the first time. Listened to 5 CDs - husband finally conceded they’re handy πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 9:33 PM, Oct 1
  • Have spent six hours writing a blog post today…and it’s not done! Send help! πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 10:10 PM, Sep 29
  • Went apple picking with friends this morning! The honeycrisps were all picked out so we got cosmic crisps and a couple ambrosia. 🍎

    β†’ 1:10 PM, Sep 26
  • Brunch! I love croissants 😍

    β†’ 11:51 AM, Sep 25
  • Celebrated the equinox with an apple crisp 🍏 Added 1/16tsp cloves with the apples, and zest from half a lemon in the topping. Couldn’t taste the 1/4tsp ginger. Omitted vanilla. Prep time 40 minutes, bake time 50.

    β†’ 10:49 PM, Sep 22
  • Got our boosters! πŸ’‰ They weren’t ready when we arrived so we popped across the street to check out a boardwalk we’d never seen before. Pretty!

    β†’ 4:42 PM, Sep 20
  • My backyard is finally getting installed! Started on the design with Yardzen last October, signed the landscaper quote in February… Today they demo’d our garden beds and spread the dirt around the yard.

    β†’ 11:10 PM, Sep 15
  • One of the reasons I try to do brunch a lot is Ingrid Fetell Lee’s writing on joy.

    “Over time we develop the muscle of deferring joy…The only way out of this trap is to reinvest in joy in the present.”

    β†’ 11:13 AM, Sep 11
  • One of the reasons I try to do brunch a lot is Ingrid Fetell Lee’s writing on joy.

    Over time we develop the muscle of deferring joy…The only way out of this trap is to reinvest in joy in the present.

    β†’ 11:11 AM, Sep 11
  • Today’s library haul πŸ“š Hey, I got a rainbow! 🌈 Psyched for Dr. Janega’s graphic medieval history πŸ‘

    β†’ 3:21 PM, Sep 6
  • Happy Labor Day! Thanks to the Labor movement, past and present, for fighting to protect workers ✊ Can you imagine how hard they must have worked to get a national holiday designated in honor of workers???

    β†’ 3:07 PM, Sep 5
  • Making bad choices, eating brownies at 10:30 😎 Only had 1oz unsweetened chocolate so I used 2oz bittersweet and 3/4c+2T sugar. Subbed half the flour with cacao. Added 1/3c chocolate chips and walnuts. A tad bitter πŸ˜‚πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

    β†’ 11:34 PM, Aug 28
  • Borrowed Snacking Cakes from the library and ordered a copy as soon as I finished flipping through πŸ˜‚ I baked the Berry Cream Cheese Cake tonight. Not too sweet, coffee cake like.

    β†’ 10:46 PM, Aug 22
  • Cheesecake bars, but with a Cornflake crust because I forgot to buy graham crackers πŸ˜‚ A little odd but not bad.

    β†’ 12:20 AM, Aug 19
  • Turned yesterday’s leftovers into Brunch #2, with the addition of a piece of french toast and the last of the strawberries.

    β†’ 8:10 PM, Aug 14
  • Brunch! Tried out Impossible Sausage. Very meaty, a little uncanny valley for both me, a pescetarian, and my husband who eats meat. The spices are spot on. Could definitely use for breakfast gravy.

    β†’ 10:39 AM, Aug 13
  • Lovely day for a walk by the river.

    β†’ 6:01 PM, Aug 12
  • Lemon blueberry bread - vegan recipe but I made it with dairy πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ Decided to do today’s baking before the heat of the afternoon.

    β†’ 2:28 PM, Aug 11
  • Mmm, strawberry shortcake! πŸ“ Baked half and froze half, curious to see how well they’ll bake up. Used 1 whole egg, omitted ¼ tsp baking powder. Made 8.

    β†’ 11:48 PM, Aug 10
  • Got grapes for the first time in a couple years, forgot how refreshing and delicious grapes can be! πŸ‡

    Can’t wait till I can get my hands on some Rainier cherries… πŸ’ Just don’t feel up for the crowds of the farmers market yet.

    β†’ 9:31 PM, Aug 5
  • Still life with basil

    Also I need to refinish my damn cast iron again πŸ€¦β€β™€οΈ

    β†’ 10:08 AM, Aug 5
  • It’s weird being on a medication that suppresses appetite – I’ll be fine, fine, fine – then suddenly STARVING. Granted, my interoception has never been great, but still. I have snack reminders on my phone at 3 and 5 pm nowadays πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 11:07 PM, Jul 29
  • πŸ“š Rest of my library requests came in, mostly comics and social justice. Seeing this together, probably should have gotten a few more comics and light reads πŸ˜‰

    β†’ 12:54 PM, Jul 24
  • Tried a new coffeecake recipe which promised - and delivered - more topping than cake πŸ˜‚ Subbed ginger for allspice. Took 55 minutes to bake. Very easy.

    β†’ 12:39 PM, Jul 23
  • Adapting to the jobless life

    Somehow I’m already in my third week since quitting work! Part of me still can’t believe I actually left. I’m proud of myself for prioritizing my own health and happiness, and thankful that my husband makes enough that it was possible.

    I am still wrapping my head around not having a day job.

    It’s different to let myself not be busy every moment. It is a challenge to let go of that compulsion “I should be busy doing something,” even knowing that’s a capitalist trap. This will be good practice for me - I’ve deeply internalized the drive for efficiency and productivity, and have a hard time relaxing. I’ve been working on separating my self worth from my productivity for a while now, but that shit runs deep. Doctor’s orders are to rest and do restorative activities - now I’ve got the space to do so, I can work on the next step of letting myself do it.

    Even as I’m exploring freelance work, I expect to spend less time working, and anticipate cooking and cleaning more. (Also hoping to fit in more creative work but haven’t figured that out yet.) Our society values paid labor more than domestic work, and although I know that’s BS it’s still a mental adjustment to find myself in that role after fourteen years of working for someone else. It feels more heteronormative than I’m comfortable with to rely on my husband’s income while I do household management - but then again, I’ve always done more of our household work since I’m in charge of the food and finances and furnishings, so if I can get away with not having a full “second shift” then why not let myself have fewer obligations on my time? We now can see the “you can have it all” line was a scam that got women to work and manage their household and have kids without offering societal support - and just because I’m childfree doesn’t mean it’s not still a lot of work to keep a house running and feed two humans three times a day.

    And speaking practically, his salary dwarfs mine - after taxes and insurance and retirement contributions the amount that made it to our banking account was only 25% of our take-home income πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ So not unnoticeable, but less than we were setting aside in savings. I don’t know how this will work out in the long run, but I don’t see the need to run myself ragged anymore for not that much more money.

    β†’ 12:30 AM, Jul 20
  • Upside down orange cake from Erin Alderson’s Easy Vegetarian Kitchen cookbook, which I like because it offers four seasonal variants for each recipe. This called for cardamom but I was out πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ Whole wheat so it tastes “healthy” πŸ˜‚ Would be good with a dollop of whipped cream πŸ€”

    β†’ 9:01 AM, Jul 19
  • Lemon poppy seed cake 🍰 Alas, not as delicious as I dreamed. I originally wanted to make an easy recipe I have to doctor cake mix, but my cake mix expired in 2019 πŸ˜‚ Took 40 minutes to bake, and needed a smaller pan. Coating the pan with sugar was a trick I’ll try again though!

    β†’ 11:29 PM, Jul 14
  • I don’t recall my mom ever making a casserole when I was a kid, so I kinda forget they’re an easy dinner option. Unexciting, my husband doctored his with Sriracha πŸ˜‚ Halved recipe, but kept 2 cans tuna. Could have used more sauce. Tuna casserole

    β†’ 6:45 PM, Jul 14
  • πŸ“š Today’s library haul is a bit random. Reading a lot of heavy stuff so tried to balance that with some lighthearted reads. Some comics on the way too but I was out running errands anyway πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

    β†’ 11:39 AM, Jul 14
  • Trying to cook dinner more often now I don’t have an income πŸ˜‚ Stuffed portobello mushrooms and zucchini fritters stuffed with goat cheese. Turns out we don’t especially like portobellos πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

    β†’ 7:53 PM, Jul 12
  • Brunch! Strawberries finally went below $7 a package 😳 so I made my fav strawberry biscuits πŸ₯° Apparently our cold wet spring delayed our local strawberries πŸ“

    β†’ 11:41 AM, Jul 10
  • Date night with husband after a week of quarantining apart at home! Made pizza from pre-made ingredients πŸ˜‰ We were too scared to try tossing the dough so we rolled it out - very springy so was actually pretty tricky πŸ˜‚ I and my back are excited to not sleep on the couch tonight πŸ™Œ

    β†’ 6:51 PM, Jul 8
  • First unemployed weekday! Trying to treat this week as vacation before diving into the job hunt/ planning so I made a big breakfast. Boosted leftover potatoes with some veg, threw in a (store bought) salmon cake, and topped with a fried egg 🍳

    β†’ 9:12 AM, Jul 5
  • Reading The Wake Up πŸ“š

    30% in and liking it a lot - but feel white supremacy is an incomplete explanation. As a non-religious person, I’d say it’s not just a white supremacist culture we live in, but a white Christian supremacist culture.

    β†’ 10:25 AM, Jul 4
  • A brunch kind of day 😊 Potatoes quick roasted in the toaster oven with eggs, leeks and spinach.

    β†’ 8:53 PM, Jul 3
  • I’m FREE!

    β†’ 3:39 PM, Jun 30
  • Felt like making cornbread, which meant I needed to make chili to go with. Pulling out ingredients from the fridge, I found a package of fresh pasta that needs to get eaten. So now I’m making chili mac and not cornbread πŸ˜‚πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ Another day…

    β†’ 6:17 PM, Jun 28
  • In Seattle it seems we go from sweats to shorts weather in about three days πŸ˜‚ Summer is here! 🌞🫠

    β†’ 2:22 PM, Jun 25
  • I recommend reading On Tyranny to wrap your head around how we can resist and endure.

    Build community. “Do not obey in advance.” “Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.”

    My notes

    β†’ 12:12 PM, Jun 24
  • Put in my two weeks’ notice today after 7+ years! Not sure what comes next but time for a change. Maybe a new job, maybe personal projects, maybe freelance? Exciting times!

    β†’ 11:51 PM, Jun 20
  • Ten years ago today, I posted my first article on my blog Cascadia Inspired! Since then I’ve published over 300 posts about nature, creativity and productivity. My intention for it has shifted over the years but it’s brought me joy in all its forms.

    β†’ 11:12 AM, Jun 19
  • Peach cobbler! Added zest to the biscuit dough, went shy on the sugar in the filling.

    β†’ 10:04 PM, Jun 13
  • Apple blackberry crumble with lemon curd greek yogurt πŸ˜‹ Cut sugar in filling to 1/4c shy. Added 1/8t ginger. Only had ½ pint berries. Baked 40 min at 375, could have done 5 more min for more crisp.

    β†’ 10:29 PM, Jun 4
  • First batch of strawberry biscuits for the year! Also made home fries for the first time in quite a while. I love brunch!

    β†’ 12:51 PM, May 30
  • Rhodie is finally starting to bloom! Love watching the bees go to town.

    β†’ 5:13 PM, May 21
  • First night of vacation, and what do I do? Write a 2000 word blog post πŸ˜‚

    Americans interested in advocating for climate in your city, I shared insights from 8 years working in local government. cascadiainspired.com/how-to-ad…

    β†’ 11:02 AM, May 20
  • Officially ON VACATION for the next 17 days! πŸ™Œ Starting it off with a walk around the block in the sunshine 🌞

    β†’ 3:14 PM, May 19
  • So, turns out I’m pretty upset about Roe vs Wade. Woke up at 3 this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, filled with rage. Wrote a screed on my blog, will review later to see if it’s worth posting or it was a venting practice πŸ˜‰ Hope I can get a couple more hours sleep now 🀞

    β†’ 5:37 AM, May 18
  • Looking for comp titles

    Been reading lots of Kindle Unlimited books to try to find comp authors for my sci-fi romance book - found another potential one today! I’ll try a couple more of her books to get a better feel for her style.

    It’s tricky to find a match for style, tone and heat level. I’m writing sexy space opera but a lot of the genre is sexy alien bonding, which is a poor match on heat and style, so there are fewer options to choose from πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ It’s interesting to dig deep into what’s already a niche genre and see how many styles there are - and figure out what readers expect from each.

    The closest overall match for my WIP is an older author who’s stopped publishing, so I’m hesitant to refer to her. More recent books have been comparable in style but not heat level πŸ€” Guess I’ll just have to keep reading, oh darn πŸ˜‰

    β†’ 12:27 AM, May 17
  • Front yard looking lush! May is probably its best time of year. My purple contorted filbert is getting decent sized and looks pretty in person, arching towards the sunnier part of the yard, but is hard to photograph!

    β†’ 6:01 PM, May 13
  • Do other people have a really hard time uploading pictures? It fails almost every time at least once but often twice. It also takes several minutes to decide the photo didn’t work :/ so can take ten min to get a post up. (I’m using Gluon on Android if that makes a difference.)

    β†’ 7:09 PM, May 6
  • Ugh, these Finola tulips are too pretty 😍🌷

    β†’ 2:41 PM, Apr 24
  • Cat in sunlight 🐱🌞

    β†’ 10:23 AM, Apr 24
  • My camas is blooming! πŸ’œ Feels a little early but I think this is common camas versus great camas I’ve had in the past.🌱

    β†’ 9:24 AM, Apr 22
  • Need something to distract from…everything, so I am biting the bullet on an idea I’ve resisted for eight years πŸ˜‚ Bought the domain and got it working, now I need to make the product πŸ˜‰

    β†’ 11:39 PM, Apr 18
  • Spotted a trillium in the woods today! I usually miss the flower so always a treat to catch. 🀍

    β†’ 4:12 PM, Apr 17
  • “Chocolate snacking bread” is very chocolatey, as advertised πŸ‘ (perhaps a tad bitter with 70% bars?) I don’t have enough milk in the house for this πŸ˜‚ Not usually big into chocolate cake stuff but saw this in a cookbook and it called my name.!

    β†’ 10:26 PM, Apr 11
  • My usual breakfast lately, with the addition of asparagus 😍 My husband doesn’t like it so I occasionally get it as a treat for myself πŸ˜‹

    β†’ 10:11 AM, Apr 10
  • Skimming through this beautiful book as a design object this morning 😍 “WA: the essence of Japanese design” I’m a sucker for red anyway but the spot gloss on the cover is *chef’s kiss*πŸ“š

    β†’ 11:27 AM, Apr 9
  • Lol, the $50 bulb bed πŸ˜‚ Didn’t have the spoons to prep any soil last fall so I shoved everything I’d ambitiously ordered in one garden bed 🌷🌷🌷

    β†’ 11:06 AM, Apr 8
  • I may have gotten a little excited with the library requests πŸ˜… But most are art books and comics so they’re quicker reads πŸ˜‰ Apropos that the book on top is called “So many books: reading and publishing in an age of abundance” πŸ“š

    β†’ 10:59 AM, Apr 8
  • I’m usually a decent baker but having a lot of flubs lately. Made these biscuits. Despite grating the damn frozen butter it must have gotten too warm before baking because a bunch of butter melted out πŸ˜‘ Will try hotter oven next time too.

    β†’ 7:16 PM, Apr 5
  • Bad idea at 11pm πŸ˜‹πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ (10 min prep listed = 40 for me?)

    Alton Brown’s flourless peanut butter cookies Def needs flaky salt on top. Too sweet imo, I’ll stick with floured πŸ˜‰ Overbaked at 12 min, 10 is right.

    β†’ 11:23 PM, Apr 2
  • Nice visit to the beach in North Seattle yesterday. Grabbed pupusas from an El Salvadorean restaurant nearby to try, pretty tasty. Tons of crows cawing overhead and mallard drakes fighting. Saw 45,000 baby salmon being imprinted on the creek so they’ll return there to spawn!

    β†’ 12:19 PM, Mar 28
  • Pancake day! πŸ₯ž

    β†’ 11:15 AM, Mar 26
  • Tried a new scone recipe today. Think I made the dough too wet πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ Chocolate chip hazelnut for half and plain for the rest. Cut sugar to 1/4c - just right for the chocolate chip batch, haven’t tried a plain yet. 🍳

    β†’ 12:18 PM, Mar 19
  • Small victories πŸ˜‚πŸ’ͺ Finally removed the itchy tag from a dress I bought in 2015. Getting out the seam ripper and cutting it off took five minutes. I put it off for SEVEN YEARS πŸ˜…πŸ€¦β€β™€οΈ

    β†’ 11:29 PM, Mar 15
  • 🎡 Winding down the evening with tea and jazz. Put on Chelsea Bridge by Ben Webster & Gerry Mulligan. Reminded me of Lush Life…haha both by Billy Strayhorn, that’ll do it πŸ˜… Fun that I still have an ear for it after not playing for 15 years, even if my history’s not so good πŸ˜‰

    β†’ 12:15 AM, Mar 15
  • Haven’t done a big brunch in a while! Smitten Kitchen blueberry crumb cake, eggs, veggie sausage, salad and latkes from a local shop 🍳

    Omitted 1/4c sugar from the cake and 2T from the topping, still delish but wouldn’t cut more. Used buttermilk and 450g frozen berries.

    β†’ 12:54 PM, Mar 12
  • πŸ“š Started reading Acquired Tastes: Stories about the Origins of Modern Food

    I doubt I’ll make it all the way through before it’s due back but it’s interesting so far! Also depressing as it’s largely a story of colonialism πŸ˜”

    β†’ 12:42 AM, Mar 9
  • Finished reading Odd Apples, a photography book by William Mullan. 🍏🍎 Very much enjoyed! Heirloom fruit is interesting in appearance and variety. πŸ“š

    β†’ 11:35 PM, Mar 6
  • Made slow cooker pinto beans and Mexican rice for dinner! I have not had much success with the slow cooker so happy these turned out. (I just can’t call them refried πŸ˜‚)

    β†’ 9:16 PM, Mar 4
  • Adulting badge for the day: getting husband’s old IRA rolled over into the 401k for his new job πŸ’ͺ “Only” involved two phone calls and a transfer.

    β†’ 6:33 PM, Mar 3
  • Yes!!! The WA legislature passed a bill to do away with “community councils” - one less tool for the NIMBYs to block desperately needed affordable housing in my town!!! I cannot wait to see the ADUs start to get built! Gotta celebrate any wins in these rough days.

    β†’ 11:40 AM, Mar 2
  • Currently reading Pastoral Song by James Rebanks πŸ“š

    Really enjoyed The Shepherd’s Life so I’m looking forward to this! Going to try to take my time with it. Seems made for dipping in and out, with lots of section breaks.

    β†’ 11:16 AM, Mar 2
  • Starting Good Trouble: Lessons from the Civil Rights Playbook by Christopher Noxon πŸ“š I really like this handwritten / illustrated style for nonfiction.

    Feeling low about current events so hoping this will help my mindset🀞

    β†’ 8:56 PM, Feb 26
  • πŸ“š Library haul! First pickup of the year.

    Psyched that my library just installed lockers for hold pickup, next time I’ll try that πŸ˜„ I asked about adding at my branch when they installed the first trial set elsewhere. I’m surprised they picked my branch honestly πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

    β†’ 7:47 PM, Feb 17
  • New glasses day!

    Haha I ordered these in early December and they told me things were taking forever so I thought nothing of it, then after 2.5 months realized they must have forgotten to call πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 7:14 PM, Feb 17
  • Two years ago today we flew down to LA for an awesome vacation - hit the beach and the Getty Villa. Still not sure when I’ll get on a plane next πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ Our timing was perfect - another week and we might not have gone since Kirkland had the first (known) outbreak in the US.

    β†’ 8:20 PM, Feb 14
  • Lay in bed too late to bake, so I made pain perdu for brunch 🍳 I only like french toast made with sourdough because growing up my mom always made it with sourdough baguette - that added tang makes it for me. Plus fake syrup, mmm πŸ˜‰

    β†’ 1:08 PM, Feb 12
  • Ordered myself a stack of favorite albums on CD to listen to in the car 🎡 My husband says I’m just being nostalgic, we’ll see. Starting off with the annoyance of unwrapping the shrink wrap πŸ˜‚ (Cue car stereo dying in 3, 2, 1…)

    β†’ 3:34 PM, Feb 4
  • Been thinking about my listening habits and music library lately and was curious how many CDs I have left: 36. All of Abney Park, most of Islands, and a handful of other stuff πŸ˜‚πŸŽ΅

    β†’ 6:43 PM, Jan 31
  • Maple pecan scones and eggs with leeks and chevre. Scones were a bit dry even with the glaze, I may have overbaked because I cut them too small. 🍳

    β†’ 4:14 PM, Jan 30
  • Spent the past two days transferring playlists from Spotify to Tidal 🎡 then went to cancel Spotify and it just renewed Thursday πŸ€¦β€β™€οΈ So it goes πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 7:56 PM, Jan 29
  • My friend surprised me with a just because present, a print that harmonizes nicely with the art on the wall - and I had an extra frame in the right size!

    Funny enough, I dropped off a just because gift at her house the same day πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 9:42 PM, Jan 27
  • Greek yogurt apple streusel muffins today. Pretty good for a muffin with whole wheat flour. Batter was too dry so I added ~1T oil and ~2T milk. Topping a bit dry, probably from my lazy butter rubbing.

    β†’ 5:01 PM, Jan 17
  • Blackberry coffee cake 🍳 Replaced topping with the one from Smitten Kitchen’s blueberry crumb cake. Subbed buttermilk for milk and replaced 1tsp baking powder with soda. Tasted fine but maybe slightly less soda? Forgot how seedy blackberries are πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 1:35 PM, Jan 9
  • I’m facilitating a conversation about the intersection of offline and virtual life in a couple weeks - if you’re free Saturday the 22nd come join!

    IndieWebCamp Popup: Analog Meets Online

    β†’ 11:04 AM, Jan 8
  • New Year’s brunch! Roasted potatoes, strawberry biscuits, salad and a fried egg πŸ˜‹πŸ³

    Finally got my phone browser tabs down to zero from a hundred! Been working through them over the past week. A clean start to the year’s browsing πŸ˜‚

    β†’ 1:10 PM, Jan 1
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