I managed to change my blog host, a not entirely straightforward process that caused me not a little stress. I’m finding most of the photos on posts won’t load currently, so that will be something to sort out sometime. With the new host, I also needed to change the way everything looks. It’s a bit cleaner I think. I hope you think so too. If you find any accessibility issues, or if colors or fonts prove challenging for whatever reason, please let me know! Also, if you had an email subscription, I don’t think that ported over so you will want to resubscribe.

December ended up being the warmest one on record here in Minnesota. The weather forecast is promising a big change by the end of the week. Big change, meaning winter weather will be closer to what we generally expect this time of year instead of hovering just below and just above freezing. Since I’ve had to stand around waiting for buses, I can’t say I have been so very sad about the warm weather no matter how unsettling it is.

Thursday morning while waiting for the bus in the dark at 6:15, I heard a faint little squeaking sound. The closer I listened, I realized it was a quiet bird chirp. Kind of early for the birds to start. The bird kept quietly chirping, and I soon recognized the call of a chickadee. And then I heard a quiet reply. 

They were not morning chorus songs, but sounded like sleepy chatter. It was like the first bird kept saying, hey are you awake? over and over until the second bird woke up and asked, what? When the bus arrived my heart was full of happiness from listening to the bird conversation.

In spite of it being so warm, the chickens don’t like the wind or the thin layer of snow on the ground. When we allow them into the garden to roam they often cluster under the protection of the hazelnut or witch hazel, or under the deck. When they are under the deck, they press themselves against the tiny basement window. This window looks into the basement over the utility sink and washing machine. The laundry/utility room is not finished and the light is fixed to a rafter by the sink and has a pull string to turn it on and off.

The chickens—Mrs. Dashwood, Sia, and Lucy—were huddled against the window and startled by the sudden light. Oops, sorry chickens! I laughed, and went about my business loading the washer.

And then I looked up at the window and gasped, ack! Three chickens peered in at me. It was kind of a creepy horror movie sort of moment. Mrs. Dashwood was sitting down, feathers puffed out and looking huge, head cocked to the side, her beady eye staring in. Lucy was standing up next to Mrs., her head jerking around as she followed my every move. And Sia was on the other side of Mrs., the whole side of her face pressed against the window so her white bouffant kept out of her eye.

They remained that way the entire time I was loading the washer. And when I turned off the light, they didn’t move.

This morning it happened again, only this time it was Mrs. Dashwood, Elinor, and Sia. When I turned on the light it scared Elinor. She squawked and flapped and ran away. Mrs. Dashwood continued sitting there, calmly turning her beady eye to the window. And Sia smooshed her face against the glass to peer in. Oh dear chickens, I love them!

On New Year’s Day I placed all my seed orders. Yesterday the seeds I ordered from Baker Creek and Pinetree arrived already! I’m still waiting on seeds from North Circle Seeds, a small but growing Minnesota seed company, and Fedco. I ordered a lot of seeds this year since we are trying to replace some vegetables that we loved in our CSA share. And of course I needed to add some seeds to try out, like flax, goji berry, sea kale, and dyer’s chamomile. Once I receive all the seeds, I will post a list of everything that will get planted, including from seeds I saved. That is, if you’d like to see the very long list.

James and I also had a discussion about trees. You may recall I had decided to add a quince tree to the garden come spring. Well, I’ve changed my mind. I know, I’m a fickle gardener! After actually tasting a quince (I liked it), and the initial excitement of planning to plant a new tree wore off, the second thoughts came round.

In order to eat quince, it really must be cooked. And while they are ripe at the end of the growing season and can sit a little while before being cooked, adding to the monumental work James already does to preserve our produce didn’t seem right. Plus, thinking long-term towards our energy descent, what will we do if we don’t have consistent electricity to run the stove to cook the quince? Plus, I had a ken that it was going to end up being one more fruit I like that James has no interest in eating. Quince cancelled.

Instead we are going to get an Illinois Everbearing Mulberry, which is actually a variety native to the United Staes, long-lived and hardy. We know we like mulberries, we forage them from a tree in summer nearby at the creek. We only ever get enough for a couple of oatmeal breakfasts. James likes mulberries. I like mulberries. They can be eaten fresh, jammed, and dried, and cooked into pancakes or muffins or pie. It would be great to have more than the little bit we forage. The tree can grow over 20feet/6m tall, but, with aggressive pruning, can be kept half that size and still be healthy and fruitful.

We also decided to plant a peach tree. I’ve got many neighbors now who have peach trees and they regularly get good fruit. James and I both grew up with peach trees in our backyards in southern California and love peaches. Since it seems growing them in Minnesota is more reliable these days, we decided we needed our own tree. Fresh peaches, canned peaches, peach jam, dried peaches, peach pie, peach scones, yes please!

Because mulberry trees start fruiting in about two years after planting, we’ll be welcoming a peach tree this year and the mulberry next year. The garden will then definitely have reached maximum tree numbers and still have space and sun for vegetables.

My clavicle is doing great. There is so little discomfort in my shoulder now that it’s hard to keep wearing the sling. I will, of course. But I’m taking that as a good indicator that my orthopedist on Friday will tell me I don’t need it any longer and I can move on to the next stage of healing. I will be so happy to have two arms again! Hopefully I won’t have to wait too much longer before I can bike commute to work again. I doubt I will get the go ahead for that on Friday, but I will definitely be asking when.

This has been a really interesting experience observing reactions from two different sets of people. My bike friends ask if the bike is okay, and then tell me about the time they crashed on their bike and broke a bone of their own. Whereas non-cycling friends, not all but a number of them, want to know if I’m going to buy a car and quit biking. When I told one friend who asked that question that I could hardly wait to get back on my bike, she exclaimed how brave I am.

I’ve crashed my bike before. Once I landed on my face and broke two front teeth. I’ve had plenty of bruises and some really bad road rash. Not once have I ever thought of giving up cycling because of it. I don’t consider myself brave, and I’m sure my cycling friends feel the same way. When you get hurt doing something you love, whether it’s cycling or gardening or cooking, you don’t give it up. You pick yourself up, dust yourself off, heal from your injuries, and get back to it. Because the joy you get when doing something you love is what living is all about. Give up joy and you give up life.

What do you do that brings you joy?

Reading

• Book: Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Ursula K. Le Guin. This is a three-in-one book containing Le Guin’s first three published scifi novels from 1966 and 1967. I just finished the first one, Rocannon’s World. It’s a very male, very plot-driven adventure, but I can see the seeds of future Le Guin. I’ll be starting in on the second novel probably tonight.
• Article: Books Briefing: Against Counting the Books You Read. If you have access to The Atlantic, this is a thoughtful article about why you might want to consider not counting how many books you read. Oh, you can keep track of what you’ve read, but aiming to read a certain number as a metric indicating something about you as a reader is not illuminating at al all. Says Emma Sarappo, “Quantifying my reading, whether by titles finished, pages read, or another metric, doesn’t capture the quality of my attention to each book.” And she challenges us to focus on what and how we read rather than on how much. Maybe I liked what she had to say because I am not setting any book goal on Goodreads even though it keeps telling me to. And I am thinking of ditching Goodreads altogether and using LibraryThing. I have some major updating to do on the actual “my library” part of it, but I can use it to keep track of titles I have read and even keep a wishlist. And it’s all out of the clutches of Amazon.

Listening

• Podcast: Imaginary Worlds: Prologue to Ursula K. Le Guin. This happens to be about how Le Guin questions the colonialist mindset and delves extensively into her anthropologist father and his study of, and friendship with, Ishi, last known member of the Yahi people.

Watching

• Documentary: Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin. It’s been quite an Ursula time of late! This is a one-hour documentary from 2018 about the life and work of Le Guin and features appearances from the likes of Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman.

Quote

The truth is, productivity is a by-product of a functional system, not a goal in and of itself. The question is not whether you are productive but what you are producing.

Celeste Headlee, author of Do nothing : how to break away from overworking, overdoing, and underliving (I haven’t read this, let me know if you have)

James’s Kitchen Wizardry

It was a great wizardy week. There was a delicious delicata squash and white beans casserole, heart shaped pita bread, and peanut butter baked donuts with chocolate ganache and crushed peanut topping.