Good things

Chipping at it

I'm upping my jogging frequency. I'm trying not to get over-ambitious but to keep working at it. No dramatic changes but I'm sleeping okay and certainly think it's good for me. Still plenty of sunflowers along the wetlands path. The starlings have moved on or changed their schedule, I'm not seeing the murmurations at sunset anymore. I was happy to see migrating seagulls yesterday, circling lower than expected. I'm used to seeing them very high in the sky. I see a family with three generations regularly and have gotten fond of them. I need a pair of daily distance glasses for jogging and everything else. My wired together pair works for mooching around the house but exercising with them is pesky.

Steam it up

Dear friends have recommended KJ Charles books and I'm going through the Will Darling Adventures now. M/M Romance! plus smart story. Good to see there are more like Cat Sebastian out there. I think I'll go get that third book right after work today. I'm looking at The StoryGraph as a goodreads alternative. I've copied my books over and we'll see if I can make the change. 

  

Make it quick

Here's a weekday dinner recipe we loved this week: BudgetBytes's Chipotle Lime Chicken and Rice. But make it even easier: use ground turkey instead of chicken breast. While prepping I found a forgotten bag of lemons and limes in the fridge. The lemons were fine but there were grievous lime losses. Luckily there was one good one left to use. I've been less than inspired to cook lately so it's nice to find a fast and tasty option. The temps dipped and then got hot again so the oven doesn't appeal. And for some reason that has me wandering away from the whole business.    

Another winning recent dinner was Smitten's Black Bean Chicken Chili. It's mostly a pot of beans with some chicken in. I have a history of cooking dried beans and being disappointed that they are still crunchy. I did the quick boil method to start so I could be sure that they would get done. Happy with it. I think more things could be added to flavor: bell pepper, bay leaf, jalapeno. Or just plop a spoonful of salsa in the finished product like I did.   

Make it dance-y

Our h.s. reunion trip is a week away now and excitement is building. Our sweet host is making a disco night playlist and asked everyone for five fave dance songs. I had a good time throwing mine together. I hear there will be a disco ball and everything...

Purple news

Mmm, purply

Still enjoying the randomly purple streetlights around town. Local news story link. Eventually they'll get these defective light fixtures replaced. But until then we'll get to see the Princely pools of light here and there.  

Plague latest

Got news yesterday that the campus Covid transmission rates are lower than the surrounding county rates. I find that reassuring. As far as I know, I don't know any colleagues who've gotten sick at work. I have pretty much lost my sense of pandemic dread. Being back at work in person is better for me in a bunch of ways than working from home.

I wish the high school could require vaccination but they can't so, as at my workplace, they're relying on masks. Daughter is concerned about choir where they sing through masks and I don't know how to gauge that risk. I hope we can collectively get through this winter without lots of cases.  

So happy to hear that my nephew regained his sense of taste and smell recently after having had Covid in early spring. My brother says that all three of my U.S. nephews are fully vaccinated now which was a nice surprise. The ex-sis-in-law is an anti-vax so there was influence in the other direction. 

Tripping

We're going to send our h.s. senior on a euro trip next March. This is a group trip that's being organized by a German teacher at a nearby school. 

Flowering

I have decided to plant some of the milkweed by our mailbox. It gets full sunlight and is hard to mow around. I hope it will come up in the spring and then I can mulch around it. Some of the milkweed pods I'm going to put in the freezer and plant next spring in case that's more effective. The marigolds continue to bring the joy. I am going to look up how to string a garland.  

Pudsey

Yesterday I learned of the existence of someone referred to as Bishop Pudsey although they also had the name Hugh de Puiset. He was born around 1125, was possibly related to Charlemagne and has fame as a strong-armed bishop in the north of England. "The most princely of all the Prince Bishops of Durham." His role as bishop lasted an impressive 42 years, 1156-1198. He built at least one bridge and some buildings and paid for a regional inventory called the Boldon Buke. He was advised by a hermit named St. Godric of Finchale. It was a well upholstered rabbit hole to fall into. 

Ambulation

I want to walk above the white cliffs in summer. Photos and description of the long walk at this Diamond Geezer post. From that post:

Jogging has happened over the past month. It's not as often as I aimed for but I am tracking my dates so I can see the pattern. I'm doing a few minutes of jogging, a couple minutes of walking and repeat for 30 minutes or so. At the end of this week I get to lengthen the jog sections again. I'm aiming to get to a 25 minute jog with warm up/down walking on either end. I did not feel like going yesterday evening but I really wanted to have gone and there was only one way to get there. Current temps are not as cool as I'd like but firmly in the temperate range so now is my time. When I go at sundown there are usually starling murmurations with groups that join and separate over the wetlands. Currently there are tall sunflowers by the path. I often think I should have a bag to pick up trash but it's a different goal. 

I have lost most of my interest in mowing the grass. I only got the front mowed a week ago, never got to the back. Maybe I can get them both done this coming weekend. Big black butterflies have been visiting the marigolds in the front. And I saw stripey caterpillars munching on the rue yesterday. <fist pump> I have milk weed pods from Nod's cousin in Missouri. I guess I'll freeze them over the winter and plant the seeds out next spring. Nod harvested the big daddy orange tomato and it is in the center of our kitchen counter, beaming, right now. He announced that he's going to move that planter box north on our lawn by a foot or two before next growing season. To get more sun. His cherry toms have been big winners this year.  

I see rain in the future forecast for Oregon and I hope the rainy season is begun for that part of the world. Both for myself - my trip in October to central Washington state - and for the general relief in that area. That's enough fire for now. There, there.