The lupines are beginning to bloom. I noticed one flower a week ago. Today that one flower had become a patch of purple. “Spring has sprung” is fun to say but “spring is springing” more accurately describes the situation, as more and more plants will push forth, spring up, and unfurl their beauty. As I … Continue reading The Lupine Lady
Reading: Jan-Feb 2024
FICTION Amazing Grace Adams by Fran LittlewoodMy rating: 5 of 5 starsEmotionally intelligent & entertaining novel about a woman having a significant mid-life crisis on her daughter's 16th birthday. It is ironic, & the book says so toward the end, that a woman who can speak five languages can't communicate with her loved ones, & … Continue reading Reading: Jan-Feb 2024
Meatless Monday: Game Day Snacks
I don't Super Bowl (beyond commercials & half-time). I don't football (when the NFL takes concussions seriously instead of putting players in danger, I'll reconsider). Yet I am the MVP of veg-forward game day snacks that make a meal. I cook while they cheer & all is well. Yesterday's menu: Deviled potatoes Sheet pan nachos … Continue reading Meatless Monday: Game Day Snacks
I met author Michael Cunningham
I met Michael Cunningham, the PEN/Faulkner and Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Hours, subsequently made into a movie starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Julianne Moore. He was at Book Passage, an independent bookstore in Corte Madera, CA, to promote his new book, Day. As he signed our books, we chatted casually about the … Continue reading I met author Michael Cunningham
Do you have ANTs?
Hi, I’m Siv (“See-v”) and I struggle with negative thinking. That might seem like a vulnerable thing to write, but I suspect I’m not alone. I won’t ask for a show of hands, but I wonder if you relate. I snapped this selfie before a special occasion. I deleted it the next day when my … Continue reading Do you have ANTs?
Observing MLK Jr. Day with New Appreciation
I have a new appreciation for MLK Jr. Day this year. The week before New Year’s, Dave and I traveled to Georgia and Alabama, places I’d never been. The destination was a wedding in Montgomery, AL, but if we can when we travel, we add extra time. To take the journey at a more comfortable … Continue reading Observing MLK Jr. Day with New Appreciation
Barbara Kingsolver: “Novels are True…”
Dave and I heard author Barbara Kingsolver speak at Dominican University last week. Her latest novel, Demon Copperhead, won the Pulitzer Prize. I haven’t read it yet, but I will now that I’ve heard her talk about its inspiration in Dickens’s David Copperfield and her intention to write “the great Appalachian novel” as a window … Continue reading Barbara Kingsolver: “Novels are True…”
Meatless Monday – Stuffed Shells
By the time I graduated college, I could feed myself the basics: veggies and salad, pasta, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, pancakes and brownies from a box, anything easy. My roommate, however, could cook. She often made stuffed shells and I watched to learn from her. Fast-forward many years to Q expressing his delight in stuffed shells. … Continue reading Meatless Monday – Stuffed Shells
No Real Recipe Vegetarian Tortellini Soup
It rained, briefly, almost imperceptibly, because Hurricane Hilary “hit” the West Coast of California. The sky has been gray & breezy all day, humid, but from where I sat with a fan blowing (no AC), it almost looked like fall. So I made soup. This is a good clean-out-the-fridge non-recipe. Throw in all the veg, … Continue reading No Real Recipe Vegetarian Tortellini Soup
A Ladybug Migration
Have you ever noticed that you tend to see one ladybug at a time? It will land on you, or near you, and you might put out a finger to let it crawl on you for a while before kindly depositing it on a plant. Recently, I witnessed a ladybug migration. I went outside for … Continue reading A Ladybug Migration