It's a bone chilling 73 degrees outside which means the doors are open and the sweet summer air is rolling in along with the birds and their chirpy ways.
I'm here typing, listening to The White Album while sipping on some iced coffee ("THEY SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY...IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TOOOO"). I've already vacuumed and cleaned the bathroom.
Life is good.
Perhaps, you exclaim,
"But you're up at 5am! How could that be good?"
Well, it certainly helps when you fall asleep at 7pm the night before after an exhausting and productive week of work. I got some lab work done, went up to Coweeta for THE. LAST. MONTHLY. SAMPLING. TRIP. EVER. Well, at least for this project anyhow.
Here is Mick taking his final core:
Anyhow, I then went out with Kate to go electroshocking in the boat for some fish for her project yesterday. Using a boat for field work is fun, but can be exhausting! Thankfully another researcher comes out with us to man the boat while Kate and I electroshock and net fish.
I am very rusty with my general boat skills ("boat engines need oil mixed with gas, oh yeah..I think I remember that"), my boat ramp etiquette ("So when I back up and I want the trailer to go left I turn my steering wheel which way?? Let's just try different things while other boaters are watching and chuckling at me...DON'T JUDGE ME!"), and my boat trailering skills (hitch locked on, chains on, lights plugged in, straps tightened, OMG you are so needy Mr. Boat!!). It's been a long time since the boating class I took at NOAA back in Seattle. Oh that was so fun (remember that??)...Getting everything ready in 90 degree heat with 98% humidity probably doesn't help me brain...I'll blame it on the heat...yes...the heat.
So, with a week like that I came home to a shower, flipped on the AC, and CHECKED OUT for the night. It was fabulous. So here I am, catching up on the blog, and getting over a little summer cold - just occasional dry hacking now, I'm a real delight to sit by right now.
Here are some photos from the last couple of weeks...included are a FEW videos of Hannah playing with her new toy (consider yourselves warned). We finally got some nice rain last night so the rain barrel is full again and ready to nourish my plants for the week. I'm about a week away from my first tomato harvest I think...SO excited...
Been enjoying summer vegetables from the Farmer's market and cooking up some things from the pantry as well. I was hankering for some lentils and had a sweet potato sitting on the shelf for like 2 months at least. This lead to a web search for curried sweet potato lentils and I came up with this recipe from smitten kitchen (it's VEGAN even!). It was delicious, but as always, since I have to adapt recipes dependent on what the pantry dictates, I tweaked it a bit. I cooked as directed, used only water instead of veggie broth, upped the spices, then added a can of coconut milk toward the end of cooking, didn't have chard so put in spinach and turned off the heat to let the spinach melt into the curry. I felt it still needed a little acid (I had no limes - gasp!!), so I threw in a can of diced tomatoes and let it sit. I also had no cilantro or green onions or tamari almonds. OH MY LORD. This was so satisfying. I'm glad I made a big pot of it - I got to enjoy it for the whole week and I am sad to see it gone after today. It was good cold, it was good hot, I ate it plain without any rice as I'm cutting down on carbs as the summer heat suppresses those cravings for me. It was good with a fried egg on top for a more substantial dinner. I love putting fried eggs on top of certain meals and having the oozy yolk spill all over and add that silky texture that I find so satisfying.
Oh yes, and this is another reason why life is good - After I post this I'm going back to bed, just as the sun is about to rise...happiness is a cool bed.
xo
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