§ I’m happy to report that this week was much less dramatic and eventful than last week.
§ We’re up to 15 hours of daylight now. First light is at 5:26am and last is at 9:36pm which is basically my schedule nowadays too.
The dog day cicadas have started emerging, finally filling in the last missing element of the midwest summer soundscape.
§ The ramps I planted back in April quickly withered as the weather got hotter. Ramps are notoriously hard to transplant but I held out hope that at least a few of them would survive to make an appearance next spring. Well, all of a sudden I noticed some new alien-looking flower stalks right where I planted the ramps and, from what I can discern, I’m pretty sure it’s them! Exciting!
§ Last Sunday I went kayaking for the first time in a couple of years. It was great to paddle though lily pads just coming into bloom. I only got a little sunburned in the process.
§ Starting on the first of this year, I started tracking data on the dinner I would eat each day. 13 weeks ago I analyzed everything from winter. How have things changed during spring and early summer?
As predicted, there was a large jump in “American” meals. Earlier this year, they were third most popular, at just 16% of dinners. Now, they make up more than a third of all dinners. The other dramatic change was to “East Asian” dinners dropping from 25% to 5%. As the weather has gotten warmer, I’ve been making a lot less stir fry and a lot more barbecue.
Some of my favorite new recipes this season were:
I’m still baking a loaf of sourdough each week although my skills quickly plateaued.
§ This week’s No Bells article exploring Ireland’s underground music scene arrived at the perfect time.
§ Chuck Grimmett inspired me to see if there were any pick your own blackcurrant farms near me. It turns out, despite Ohio’s laws restricting blackcurrant planting there is a small farm that grow a few of the legal cultivars locally.
§ Yesterday I went to the opening of the Lantern Festival at our local zoo which is starting to become a bit of a tradition. It was great! There was some overlap from last year but enough of the lantern displays were new that I’m glad I went again.
