I first heard about this book from an Atlas Obscura podcast episode about a heath hen sculpture on Martha's Vineyard. The piece memorialises the last known heath hen to live on earth before they went extinct. It's part of artist Todd McGrain's Lost Bird Project, a set of six site-specific sculptures of bird species that … Continue reading Hope Is The Thing with Feathers →

I made some bread today! First time in a few weeks. It came out great.

I finished this book a few weeks ago, and already I've forgotten so much about it. I really need to write these book synopsis blog posts more promptly; the whole point is to fix the book better in my mind and capture some of the value that it gave. The Actual Star is a beautiful … Continue reading The Actual Star →

It's my first time making it. It came out great. The cheese didn't get all brown and bubbly but it was tasty.

I've had a mission statement on this site for a few years now. I've felt uncomfortable with it almost since I wrote it, and this year I plan to make a revision. What's wrong with the statement? I have a few things that bother me. It doesn't say anything about my family, my friends, and … Continue reading Revising my Mission Statement →

We made dumplings and sesame candy to celebrate Lunar New Year.

I've used different methods for managing my TODO list. For the last few years, I've been using a simple file format called todo.txt that I keep synched between my different devices using my NextCloud server. It lets me add some basic info like priority and due date to simple, one-time tasks. Prioritising, though, is a … Continue reading How I prioritise TODOs →

Since we bought a country house about a year ago, I've become very interested in restoration ecology and planting native plants. Native plants integrate better into the local food web, providing food and shelter for insects and other species they've co-evolved with over tens or hundreds of millions of years. I've really liked the books … Continue reading Native Plants for Urban Montreal →

On the day of our return from Estrie to Montreal, I made Dutch baby pancakes to fortify the team. That's homemade local strawberry jam on top; makes it feel like summer.

I made Monte Cristo sandwiches for supper tonight. In this photo, the count of Monte Cristos is 1. Blended vegetable soup. Pretty much every root vegetable possible, plus several cultivars of Brassica. Turkey stock as the base. Suggested serving.