porch life.

Posted on May 29, 2012 by barefootrooster

Reading. With chocolate peanut butter ice cream.

Watching a storm roll in from the porch.

A pinwheel blanket begun. A wedding lap blanket the color of the sea.

I did not take this picture on my porch. What kind of flowers are these? This is a snapshot from a walk I took last week in town.

I don’t know why I snapped this picture. But I did wear this outfit on Memorial Day too, so I’m sharing.

This one needs no explanation.

And now I’m all caught up on photos! (And I managed to sneak a little bit of knitting in there.) The wedding I attended last weekend was lovely, and some new friends I made there took me sailing — in a race! It was so much fun, and the perfect way to spend the Sunday morning after a Saturday spent celebrating a very dear friend.

I don’t have any pictures of this, but today I took my first swim in the lake this summer. I’m looking forward to a lot more of that. And now I should really get some work done today…

tending to.

Posted on May 24, 2012 by barefootrooster

If I had to sum up the last week or so, I’d say it was filled with “tending to.” Tending to what? All sorts of things — small but lingering stuff on the to-do list, filing, travel planning, long-overdue emailing, etc. Also, a bit of tending to myself — an end-of-the-semester bug forced me to slow down. Boh and I even managed a few afternoons of reading on the couch.

Pure sweetness is what that is. On Saturday, still feeling lousy, but needing to get out of the house, I decided to tackle my extremely forlorn potted plants. (Forlorn is the nice way of saying absolutely dead, I think.) I’m actually pretty proud of my first ever herb collection — I managed to keep my rosemary, thyme, and sage alive well through a mild winter on the porch, though eventually they succumbed to neglect during the busiest part of my semester.

I snapped these right after potting them: sage, rosemary, basil, cilantro, thyme, mint, and some marigolds I picked up on a whim. (M., if you’re reading: I tried to take good care of those bulbs, but nothing happened, and then after I moved them outside, the pot that doesn’t drain developed a green sludge on the surface. So I gave up and planted marigolds.)

I haven’t done any tending of my yard, unless you count Boh’s “fertilizing,” but this year the wildflowers are amazing!

Also amazing? Asparagus. This has been my go-to meal of late: broiled asparagus witha little bit of olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. Plain for lunch, and with a fried egg on top for dinner.

Boh and I are headed out of town for the weekend: he’s going to frolic with my parents, and I’m off to a dear friend’s wedding. Getting ready to leave has been extra hectic because I’ve been feeling icky this week, and because the lake house won’t be empty while I’m gone. It’s graduation weekend, so a friend who is defending and her family will be enjoying my home in my absence. I sure hope it’s clean enough for them…

early morning fog.

Posted on May 21, 2012 by barefootrooster

I don’t remember which morning I took these pictures — early last week, I think. I remember taking Boh out first thing in the morning, and going back for my camera. I love it when the fog rolls off the lake and hangs low.

Also last week: a claw! On a train! I was stopped for construction when I noticed that there is work happening on the train tracks. The claw was picking up new railroad ties from inside the car it was mounted on and slowly placing them along the tracks as the train chugged along very slowly. So cool.

Also cool? Prescription sunglasses! I cannot tell you how excited I am about these. Last week I went running without my contacts! I took long walks with Boh and didn’t squint! I even indulged in a bit of people-watching from behind my new shades. These are going to make it so much easier for me to work outside — at coffee shops and on the dock. Hooray!

And this? This is the cowl that will not end. (Also, the sweetest dog.) I really want to knit until I run out of yarn, but I am also ready to be done with this project. I’ll probably split the difference and spend a few more evenings on it and then just bind off.

Boh says hi. And that he loves belly rubs.

I love this mug. It’s filled with honey and a splash of apple cider vinegar dissolved in hot water — a remedy for a super sore throat, which is what I was dealing with on Friday. I thought I was massively allergic to something that just came into bloom, but I actually think I came down with an end-of-the-semester malady. It morphed into a full-on head cold yesterday, and I think I’m past the worst of it now. The good news? My grades are done, and I’m planning to drop them off on campus first thing this morning! (Which means that my summer starts today! Not vacation, exactly, but I’ve got a month before my summer TAing gig starts, and I’m looking forward to settling into a sustainable rhythm with my dissertation research and writing. More on that soon, I’m sure.)

Happy Monday!

bibimbap on the dock.

Posted on May 20, 2012 by barefootrooster

This post starts and ends at M.’s house — which is a good thing, because lately her cooking has been way more inspired than mine. (I’m pretty thankful that she invites me over to enjoy it with her.)

Bibimbap on M.’s dock.

Bibimbap at sunset.

Sunset.

Supermoon.

Recap. No, really. I read about this somewhere in the blogosphere and bought three (two for me, one as a gift) immediately. I’ve got one on a mason jar I’ve been using as a water bottle, and the other one has been capping everything from salad dressing to deliciously portable green drink. I can’t wait until they are available for wide mouth mason jars.

Savory popcorn to accompany last week’s grading. (I haven’t made anything to go with this weekend’s final round.)

And these: smoked salmon blinis with dill and creme fraiche. At M.’s house, clearly. I did help, by bringing the yeast and by manning the griddle. These were a wonderful way to start Monday.

(For those of you playing along, you’re right: I’m a week behind. My grades are due tomorrow morning, and then I’ll be working to get my blog closer to real time.)

asparagus everything.

Posted on May 16, 2012 by barefootrooster

The farm I joined for the spring season had a festival celebrating all things asparagus a few weeks ago. This is beer-battered, deep-fried asparagus. Yum.

And this is asparagus ice cream. Also delicious.

And this is the farm. So lovely.

Can you spot the snake in the lake? This is the biggest one I’ve ever seen here. Don’t worry, I googled extensively the first time something I thought was a stick turned out to have a tongue. There’s nothing here that is aggressive or poisonous. Still, I was glad to be on the dock.

This guy was too busy focusing on the breeze and the sunshine to worry about snakes in the lake. Stay tuned for knitting and spinning. Promise.

oops.

Posted on May 12, 2012 by barefootrooster

I didn’t mean to just not blog these last few weeks, but it seems that is exactly what I did. Want to see some pictures?

Sweet, silly dog.

Mick told me about green shakes, and I’ve been making them pretty regularly for the last few weeks: some combination of banana, almond milk, green stuff (spinach, kale, etc), something sweet (local honey, a medjool date), and some kind of frozen fruit (mango, berries). They are magical. And delicious.