sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

June 29, 2020


final weekending of june
posted by soe 1:06 am

Sunday Sunset

The weekend sped by, as it always does.

I took a basic barre class over Zoom, which made me realize it legitimately has been 35 years since I last did any ballet.

I went to the farmers market, where I swear I left some fruit for other people to buy. But I also came away with stone fruit and a ton of berries.

I made Rudi watch the start to The Matrix, “because I really liked that reboot they made with the girl.” Usually this is enough detail for Rudi to know what I’m talking about, but this time it wasn’t enough for him to know that I meant Men in Black International. (Even a day later, there was no way I could have told you Tessa Thompson, but if I’d said Thor was in it, Rudi might have caught on faster.) It took me half an hour to realize that at no point was Keanu Reeves going to switch sides and work with the suits, but half an hour was long enough for me to decide that way too many white guys had watched The Matrix and this is what has led to so many crackpot conspiracy theorists. I was never so glad to realize I was watching the wrong movie and that we could stop.

We worked on cleaning up the kitchen, since our fridge seems likely to die in the next couple weeks and we’d like our landlord to be able to send someone in to do something about that.

I did take the butter out of the freezer (thanks, Kare!), but failed to make it materialize into either baked goods or blueberry pancakes. We were successful at converting ingredients into strawberry daiquiris and Arnold Palmers (made with hibiscus raspberry currant tea).

I finished the book I was reading and started a new one.

And we enjoyed this most splendiferous sunset from the park.

Category: life -- uncategorized. There is/are Comments Off on final weekending of june.

June 28, 2020


phascinating florals
posted by soe 1:11 am

Hydrangea

I find hydrangea the most fascinating example of chemistry. For one type of this flowering bush, what color flowers you end up with depends entirely on the pH levels of your soil. Acidic soil gets you blue flowers; basic soil gives you pink. However, if your soil is in a rather narrow band of neutral pH, you get flowers that are purple or have a tie-dye effect. Some people will go so far as to put metal into their hydrangea bed in the hopes that as the nail oxidizes, it will cause the soil to become more acidic.

Isn’t that cool?

Category: life -- uncategorized. There is/are Comments Off on phascinating florals.

June 27, 2020


final june weekend planning
posted by soe 1:57 am

Rose Park

It’s the last weekend of June, before a short workweek.

  • Paint my nails. I’m thinking seasonal colors.
  • Bake. I have both sweet and sour cherries (but not sweet-and-sour cherries; that would not be delicious), so I’m thinking some iteration of a pie. Remind me to take a box of butter out of the freezer before I go to bed.
  • Plant beans and potatoes in the garden.
  • Find the safe place I put my tax forms.
  • Catch up on my email and snail mail correspondence.
  • Attend a ballet class over Zoom.
  • Make strawberry daiquiris and herbal tea (the latter to mix with lemonade for Arnold Palmers, the former not to mix with rum because that ruins them for me)
  • Write an Into the Stacks post. (I think we’re ready for March.)
  • Knit the heel of a sock or a zig zag on my lightning shawl.

What are you hoping to this thiiw weekend?

Category: life -- uncategorized. There is/are 1 Comment.

June 24, 2020


midweek music: ‘sunrays and saturdays’
posted by soe 1:25 am

“Sunrays and Saturdays” is an early Vertical Horizons song off their second album, Running on Ice (1995). While it’s technically about a couple breaking up, the song reverberates down through the ages (read: in the decades since college) for me because of good things the singer wishes for his ex because he “still feel[s] love for you.”

After all, who doesn’t wish all these things for the people that we love:

Sunrays and Saturdays
Perfect starry nights
Sweet dreams and moonbeams
And a love that’s warm and bright …
Friendship strong and true
Oceans of blue and a room with a view
To live the life you … choose.

I wish all those things — and more — for us all.

Category: life -- uncategorized. There is/are Comments Off on midweek music: ‘sunrays and saturdays’.

June 22, 2020


solstice weekending
posted by soe 1:05 am

Echinacea

The weekend was too short, as always, but it included a number of good things, including strawberry daiquiris, singing along to music, and an afternoon nap while it was raining. We did a video chat with my family, spent time in the reading in the park and planting in the garden, and bought a flat of strawberries at the farmers market (as well as the season’s first raspberries and blueberries).

How was your weekend?

Category: life -- uncategorized. There is/are 1 Comment.

June 20, 2020


happy last night of spring!
posted by soe 1:19 am

Summer arrives on Saturday evening. Ways I’m hoping to celebrate this weekend:

  • Chatting with my dad on Sunday.
  • Planting some seedlings Rudi picked up from a friend.
  • Finishing a book or two.
  • Sending some mail.
  • Buying fruit. (It looks like peaches, blueberries, and raspberries (and maybe tart cherries) will all arrive at the market this weekend.)
  • Baking.
  • Turning the heel of my sock.
  • Hanging new fairy lights.
  • Sorting through our cookbooks.
  • Enjoying the new cds Dad sent me.

How about you? What’s your weekend looking like?

Category: life -- uncategorized. There is/are Comments Off on happy last night of spring!.