Scattered Sundays
It is truly the best time of the year! The weather is gorgeous, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, but it’s not HOT.
I was literally (October baby over here) and figuratively born for Fall/Autumn. My heart is so full.
The days are definitely getting shorter, and I find that I can only dry 1-2 loads of laundry on our clothesline instead of 3-4 in a day. But my goodness, the weather is pure perfection right now.
I had a realization on Wednesday that we are closer to woodstove season than the 4th of July, and I’m here for it! You know who is not here for it? My family.
They are not big fans of my very arbitrary rules around the thermostat and our woodstove. I refuse to turn on the furnace until October 1st, and nobody gets to make a fire until November 1st.
Is there an actual reason behind these dates? No. Do I hold pretty steadfast in upholding this stupidity? Yes. My refrain of “well, if you’re cold, stop wearing shorts and go put some more clothes on” can be heard over and over for the next 6 weeks.
Mid-morning last Sunday, we reached an important milestone in our solar production goals – we produced the yearly amount of kWh that our system is built to produce. That’s freaking cool!
We do not have a battery system for our solar panels; rather we do net metering. We produce kWh during the day and send it to the grid and it is “banked” to our account. At night, we draw from the grid and “spend down” the banked kWh that we have produced.
Our panel array system was designed around not producing more energy than we use. But, 2023 has been a lot sunnier than 2022, and much like Superman, we can draw from the power of the sun. It does make us feel like nerdy superheroes.
On March 31st, any kWh that we have banked and not used is completely wiped clean from our account. Our power company does not pay one single cent for the extra energy that we have produced, which is super duper lame.
A lot of power companies WILL pay for excess energy produced, but ours isn’t one of them. Whomp whomp. But, rather than gifting stingy Puget Sound Energy any free power, we can use the extra for charging our Nissan Leaf.
On a totally dorky note, last week I discovered some beautiful pastel highlighters at Staples when I was waiting on a print job for our soccer board. I had enough highlighters and didn’t need more. But I couldn’t stop thinking about them.
Bennett had a doctor’s appointment on Monday and we got there a bit too early. I needed to get Jack a composition notebook for school, so we darted next door to a Rite Aid.
Their school supplies were cleaned out, but there was ONE composition notebook left on the shelves. And right above it, hanging on the rack was ONE package of the pastel highlighters. Dream big my friends, miracles happen.
In the Garden This Week
This week brought more delicious berry harvesting – blueberry, raspberry, and a few random ever-bearing strawberries.
We don’t have a lot of indoor houseplants, because, male children. But, this week, I took the ones we did have and plopped them outside in the sunshine and fresh air.
A gentle dusting and overwatering from the hose followed and then they got to spend the day outside. I really need to get bigger pots for a few of them, but until Costco brings their giant indoor pots back, that won’t happen. The Costco prices are so much better than anywhere else.
I tried to prep some of the garden boxes for a fall planting of lettuce and kale. Time is a thief and it just didn’t get done thanks to life, soccer, and more soccer. But, our 10-day forecast is looking lovely, and I will Scarlett O’Hara that ish and think about it tomorrow.
What I’m reading this week
So far, 2023 has been a low-yield reading year for me. Life happens and that’s just been the theme of this year. That being said, I did finish The Silent Patient this week and I enjoyed it.
It was recommended by my friend Cassie, and she claimed to not remember plot points as I was texting her with my predictions. Yes, I am the kid who flipped to the end of Choose Your Own Adventure books.
I started a book called Flight, and so far it seems like a speedy whodunit read in the vein of old Patricia Cornwell books before she jumped the shark and started writing about dogs solving crimes. That is when I officially “noped” out of the Scarpetta series.
I finally switched over to the Libby app, after my hand was forced by our library system. I don’t love it, as I only get push notifications to my phone that books are available to download. I need an email. I need something annoying in my inbox reminding me to download books.
If anyone uses the Libby app, and has figured out how to receive reminder emails, please let me know!
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO THIS WEEK
One of my favorite podcast series of all time, The Dream, is back with season three! Season one of The Dream is perfection in your ears.
If you haven’t listened to this series yet, time to binge! Start with season one, then season two, and get caught up on season three.
READER SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK
Angela left this five-star review on our Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce {Pin this recipe}:
This is such a wonderful way to use up those fresh tomatoes! I also used my own fresh basil from my garden. It made me feel so proud to make some of our own food for winter. This is a delicious sauce, and so versatile!
ON SUSTAINABLE COOKS THIS WEEK
No Boil Smashed Fingerling Potatoes – You’ll love these crispy Smashed Fingerling Potatoes for a tasty and easy side dish. These oven-roasted potatoes skip the stovetop boiling method to make your life easier. {Pin this recipe}
Canning Apple Butter – this reader favorite got itself a glow-up with user-friendly processing charts, more detailed instructions, and even more helpful tips. It remains low-sugar and absolutely delicious.
Oh, and this recipe is broken down into two parts: 1) making the apple butter and 2) canning it. If you don’t want to can it, you’ll find instructions in the post on how to freeze it. {Pin this recipe}
MEAL PLAN
Monday:: Testing another new recipe for your adorable faces.
Tuesday:: Troy is making dinner and we’ll be excited to eat it.
Wednesday:: Testing yet another recipe!
Thursday:: Breakfast for dinner. Easy and it sits ok in Jack’s stomach before soccer practice.
Friday:: Popcorn, leftovers, and movie night.
Saturday:: TBD. We’re supposed to have a soccer game in Seattle but the other team has not yet confirmed a time or place. Lovely!
Sunday:: According to our family calendar app, it looks like Troy planned some people coming over for dinner. So, I’ll likely have him make his burgers.
What are you having this week?
I returned yesterday from 5 days in your neck of the woods. I don’t have many impressions to offer on Seattle, because my time was spent helping Grad Student Daughter settle into her flat in Wallingford. Parking my rental car in a non-zoned neighborhood was a nightmare; that I can write.
During my time off for good behavior I did treat myself to the Chihuly Museum, and the $35 entry ticket made me realize how fortunate I am to have the Smithsonians in my proverbial backyard!
It is now Thursday. Dinner this evening is “Ants Climbing a Tree,” a fun Sichuan dish. The “ants” (spicy ground pork) cling to the “tree” glass noodles (sweet potato noodles). A super easy meal because I am feeling otherwise too lazy to cook.
Heading into the weekend, our area is expecting quite a bit of rain and cool temperatures, so that can only mean Texas Red Chili in the slow cooker for College Football Saturday; and likely an apple cider braised pork shoulder in the Le Creuset for Sunday while I lounge on the screened porch catching up on my reading. Maybe I’ll be able to get Darling Husband to start a fire in the fireplace, too.
I hope she is settled in nicely and has a great year! I remember when we moved to LA, the idea of street cleaning was so foreign to us (we grew up in the burbs and not the city) and the second day after the move, we got a $100 ticket. It was horrid!
Ants Climbing a Tree sounds amazing; YUM!
I promise you I didn’t remember 😂😂 those pastel highlighters are so dreamy. I want some even though I haven’t highlighted anything in at least a decade.
Sure, sure… 🙂
Who wrote Flight? Went on Libby to see if I could borrow it and it looks like there are a few books by that title.
Live reading about your week – always look forward to seeing the highlights.
Have a great week 🙂
Laura Griffin. It looks like it is part of a series, but I haven’t read book 1 and am not sure if I’m missing much of a backstory.
I did a “blind date with a book” and got Flight. It was a super quick read and I thought overall enjoyable.
This is also my favorite season, the crisp morning air, a big pile of wood to stack, and no one looks at me funny when I want soup. A truly blessed time.
What a fun concept for choosing new books!
Yep, Fall is just the best. Stacking wood is truly one of my favorite activities. Instant gratification.
I use the lobby app and do get emails when my books are available from the library. In the app, go to settings and choose “Manage notifications”. Once in that, you will see your options and can choose email.
Thank you!
The early Scarpetta novels were the best! I still read the newer ones, out of habit at this point.