Overdue...

I’ve been busy acting as what I like to call a ‘suburban homesteader’. On a fixed income, seeing prices skyrocket across the board, my husband and I are determined to thrive. Increasingly over the past two years I tried to learn something new such as a recipe or household technique. My latest, most stringent efforts have gone toward a cleaner and tidier home. ~rolls eyes~ He does the research, buys me cool and useful items, even lending a hand when needed. Yesterday he stirred a simmering South Korean style sauce while I cut and sautéed vegetables, fried eggs, and prepared noodles.

My New Favorite Cookbook

My rice paper skills are improving, as have my homemade bagels. Now I’m attempting to root a Thai basil stem. It elevates my spring rolls to a taste level beyond what mint leaves provide. The windowsill might be too cold but why not try?

Veggy, Rice Noodle, & Peanut Sauce
Spring Rolls - Yum

Last Night I Made Bagels...

... for Our Homemade Lox

Still Looking Good for Now, Perhaps
Using an Old Cat Treat Cannister
Added Some Protection (?)

We also have enjoyed outings here and there. Between Christmas and New Year’s we visited a local brewery based on 18th century technology. The food was not really worth the cost but our two different beers tasted amazing. I’m just a little disappointed their decorations weren’t better, even if understatement fit the period. I expected a big elaborate Christmas tree with all the available space. Oh, well.

A Banquet Room, I Think - Lots of
seating below my angle from
the 2nd floor mezzanine

Our Modern Day Brewers Use Gravity

I Liked this Old Timey Touch...

Before the big freeze hit I took a drive, then a walk. Some folks have the cutest inflatable decorations. I delighted one homeowner by asking to take a photo and discovered an old Boy Scout park called Camp Hook. A rare owl sighting delighted me no end.

Look at this Spaceship and Hot Cocoa
Complete with Marshmallows

‘Whooo Goes There?’
Sorry about the Contrast

Complete with Fishing Dock,
Lake George is tiny,
 more like a pond.

Have you ever seen an owl in its natural setting? Have you ever been member of a youth scout troop?

-

Two Pot Post

It’s another beautiful day, so I’m sitting outdoors as I type and found this beautiful katydid when I stepped inside our garage. My video skills are lacking but I hope you enjoy this more than the creature not wishing to pose.

 As for pots, one involves an ‘inspirational’ message I drew on our bathroom mirror. It’s a not so subtle reminder to not linger in the bathroom or lounge in the bedroom, regardless of kitties present, and get on with a more constructive day. My husband was amused.

I’m sure you can guess the word above…

The second pertains to food. I’m a huge fan of Korean style food, dol sot bibimbop being a favorite dish. Since our favorite restaurant closed and no other establishment I’ve found prepares the dish as well, I discovered that it can be made at home. I thank my husband for buying some Korean ingredients online. Gochujang is a sweet/savory/spicy fermented soybean/chili paste.

Sorry this is blurry.
The mung bean sprouts and
other savory/meaty/vegetable elements
were awesome, especially for my first try!

 

Do you like bean sprouts? If so, do you enjoy them on salads?

-

Wabi Sabi – Revering Nature’s Unconventional Beauty

Wabi sabi is a Japanese world view emphasizing acceptance and reverence of the imperfect, incomplete, impermanent, even desolate. A comprehensive article on the website Tofugu addresses this complicated concept, exploring each of the two standalone words and their connection to Buddhism.

Societal shifts and mainland exchanges influenced approaches toward wabi sabi, and this perspective trickled throughout national consciousness over the ages. Contemporary groups, for example, honor this tradition with parties celebrating the ephemeral beauty of cherry blossoms. Wabi sabi’s traditional origin linked to tea ceremony, that history is considered an excellent study resource.

As for me, I am guilty of the common Western, rather exclusive focus upon imagery, sabi, the aesthetic. The philosophy of wabi permeates deeper within Japanese culture, and their very language. That said, I used my camera during a recent hike to literally focus upon what I considered visual portrayals, however inaccurate or pretentious.

I wish my Greek influenced opinions of beauty were kinder to the aging human body. ~sigh~ There is a reason I prefer being behind the camera lens.

Do you find the appearance of fading vegetation interesting?

-

Another Use for Cheap, Plastic Peach Ribbon - A Darla Discovery

In response to all the great suggestions for how to use a huge amount of ribbon remaining from my wedding, I have to admit to not being very crafty. I don’t even have a Pinterest account because the last thing I need is another time sink. ~grin~ That admission aside, let me get to the point of this.

In the Outer Banks last autumn I found a local artist whose depiction of cherry blossoms caught my eye. It’s surreal like so much of the art on my walls.

Unfortunately, the double sided tape used to mount the piece in an area seafood restaurant got ruined upon removal from the wall. It had been therefore leaning against my bedroom wall atop a little table, which didn’t do it justice.The other day I took another look and decided that, due to the light weight, the small square canvas could be hung with a loop of ribbon stuck to the back using rubber cement.

I Let It Dry for an Hour

It worked! Sad to say, this is about as close to a cherry blossom I'm likely to get this spring. Our neighborhoods are infested with invasive Bradford pear trees.

This Really Brightens the End of Our Hall

Does your area boast any cherry trees?

-

The Zen of Writing

I have found rewriting and polishing the fifth story in my Blood Moon series slowing to a crawl the last few days. There seems to be some minor change in every single paragraph. Sometimes one edit informs another, earlier in the story, and I find myself going back and forth.

It’s not tedious, though. Rather, I feel like I’m shaping bonsai. I make a careful trim here, move a shaping wire a millimeter there, step back to take a look, and ease in for another snip.

By the time I got halfway through the novelette I removed over one thousand, one hundreds words, the storytelling tighter as a result. And with rewrites continuing in this Zen manner I expect to finish today and either move on to book six or resume the intensive revamping of book fifteen. We shall see.

However physically industrious or whimsically intellectual, is there a particular project absorbing you these days? Let me know in the comments. Meanwhile I’m off to read chapter eleven!

-