tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49178888923606849802024-02-07T01:18:38.402-08:00Plain Living and High ThinkingSonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-60128714450566100332014-01-25T08:21:00.000-08:002014-01-25T08:21:28.089-08:00new blogHey all. With the idea that I will someday be a famous (or at least published) writer who will need an "author platform," I have started a website under my new name: http://sonyamirus.com/ I am still writing about homesteading/nature stuff, but I am also writing about art and writing. I'm still working on getting stuff set up, but I've got a blog going with a few entries. Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-18154782945138782192013-08-15T19:58:00.000-07:002013-08-15T19:58:47.828-07:00mid-August bird reportTonight I was watering the garden and watched a chipping sparrow pluck cabbage moth larvae off my kale. He spooked when I got too close, but came back for seconds after I'd gone inside. I've noticed for years now that if I keep my bird feeders semi-regularly filled throughout the summer, I have noticeably fewer insect pests in the garden. Unfortunately this also means that I Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-69532193709764342792013-05-18T15:06:00.000-07:002013-05-18T15:06:24.309-07:00vanity chicksI am maybe anthropomorphizing them, and I realize they are very simple creatures, but I don't want the chicks to get bored in their brooder. All they had in there was feeder, waterer, one roost, the thermometer we use to monitor the temp, and the sand we're using for bedding. I tried offering them a box of pine shavings to snuggle in, because I thought maybe the sand wasn't cozy Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-25708811124045943862013-05-13T18:04:00.000-07:002013-05-13T18:04:58.461-07:00Picking up ChicksIf I was a good blogger--or a good/obsessive chicken mom for that matter--I should have been posting every day, because just like with any other baby, baby chicks grow SO FAST and there are SO MANY developmental milestones and little quirks to fuss over. They're eating out of my hand! They can balance on the roost! Their wing feathers are growing in! They're flying a Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-25945961014048592932013-04-18T16:49:00.000-07:002013-04-18T16:50:23.312-07:00all snow and no spring makes Sonya something something
Zelda is unconcerned with the latest snowstorm (which is predicted to dump another eight inches by tomorrow). She's got a heated blankie; it can snow through July for all she cares.
Last year at this time I was transplanting strawberries, and a week later I'd be planting peas, spinach, lettuce, carrots, radishes, beets and onions. By the end of April I was seeing red admiral Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-25389498463944910832013-03-20T13:38:00.001-07:002013-04-18T16:51:37.758-07:00marriage proposal cookiesMarriage Proposal Cookies
(adapted from various chocolate sugar cookies recipes online)
1 1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup cocoa
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together baking powder, salt, cocoa and flour and slowly add to wet mixSonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-81230485607942464272013-02-22T10:44:00.001-08:002013-04-18T16:51:17.838-07:00boreal and great grayIt's an irruption year for owls, which means that they're running out of food up in their normal range in Canada, so they venture south to Duluth looking for food. It's a great opportunity for people to see birds they might not otherwise get the chance to, but it's kind of sad for the poor hungry owls.
All the same, last Sunday me and George drove up the shore to see what we could see. &Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-13950886990631877052013-02-07T16:16:00.000-08:002013-04-18T16:52:32.389-07:00Christmas tree stowaway
We got a permit to harvest a Christmas tree from Superior National Forest, so we drove up to Isabella, MN, and cut down a beauty. About a week later I found a bug in the house, not exactly a very common occurrence in December in Duluth, so I captured him and looked him up: a Western Conifer Seed Bug. I'm guessing he must've come in with the tree. According to my book, they eatSonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-14786281736839764832013-01-09T14:00:00.000-08:002013-01-09T14:00:45.134-08:00hello againIt's not really true to say that I am "not working" right now, I'm just not bringing in any income. But I am spending a couple hours every day working on my novel (which I've been working on sporadically for years, which now in the editing phase needs so much work because I did work on it so sporadically while writing the first draft) and I have been making some small strides in artmaking Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-2443636354514268162010-08-23T09:24:00.000-07:002010-08-23T10:44:36.281-07:00nature observations in the garden, plus moreEarlier this summer I stopped filling the birdfeeders for a while. The birds don't really need it in the summer time, and I was mostly only getting piggy starlings and grackles that would fling the seed at the feeders hither and yon, and pigeons on the ground to clean up after the grackles. When I did refill the feeders, I first used pure millet, then switched to "dove mix," millet, milo, Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-89806343225322364242010-08-11T17:07:00.001-07:002010-08-11T17:29:11.363-07:00caterpillar explosionLast week I was remarking to some friends how odd it seemed that I only got two swallowtail caterpillars this year, when I have so much dill and parsley and carrots in my garden. Then Sunday night around 9 p.m. I went outside to pick some dill for my dinner, and when I came inside I realized I had brought in one caterpillar and one egg. I went back outside to pick some longer-stemmed dill for Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-7487823348397940212010-08-05T15:48:00.000-07:002010-08-05T16:10:19.963-07:00it's a boy!On Tuesday night the swallowtail chrysalid on the carrot was looking darker, although not yet transparent, but by the time I got up at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning the blessed event had already occurred and the butterfly was emerged, flexing his wings, and crawling up the stick and over the cheescloth covering on the jar, so I assumed that he had been out for some time already and was ready to fly. Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-37839988681094124782010-07-24T19:04:00.000-07:002010-07-24T19:50:43.619-07:00pupation in action!The carrot swallowtail had been in the "sling" position for almost 24 hours and I was starting to worry; I couldn't remember how long it normally took for them to pupate after them slung themselves up, but I don't remember it taking that long.I was checking on her one more time tonight, and just happened to catch the very beginning of pupation--I've never actually been able to watch it happen Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-27734508333529897152010-07-19T16:24:00.000-07:002010-07-19T16:51:07.441-07:00butterfliesLast summer was a sadly swallowtail-less; I think I just got my parsley out too late. But this year I have babies again. Or rather, I have one newborn and one teenager.On Friday, my friend C. found two tiny eggs on my dill (although one of them is a dud--you can see right though it) and I found a big, fat third instar caterpillar on my carrots. The caterpillar molted into forth instar that Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-24311771540734186192010-06-25T12:49:00.001-07:002010-06-25T12:57:38.855-07:00fussy lunchThis was my I-have-work-to-do-but-I'm-trying-to-avoid-it-so-let's-make-something-fussy lunch today:Salad with Forellenschluss lettuce from the garden, kiwi, bleu cheese, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and fresh ground pepper, and a quiche with a homemade crust, local eggs, baby kale from the garden, onion, sweet potato, smoked cheddar and bleu cheese. YUM. Kiwi, bleu cheese Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-85393681432239895652010-06-22T19:37:00.000-07:002010-06-22T20:35:23.147-07:00foraging fail and winFirst the fail: Rhubarb season is coming to a close, and here in Duluth it grows everywhere: vacant lots, alleyways, in overgrown hedges, everywhere. I figured that the neglected rhubarb with long, skinny, green stalks would be more tart than maintained rhubarb, but I thought I could simply add more sugar to compensate, so on my way home from the farmer's market the other day I picked a bunch ofSonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-89527273243741128202010-06-18T17:26:00.000-07:002010-06-18T17:49:36.773-07:00beautiful saladThis was part of my dinner tonight:Forellenschluss lettuce, baby beet greens, baby kale, baby chard, and the last of the spinach, with dried apricots, raw walnuts, raw garlic sliced paper thin, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. If I had some good crumbly cheese on hand, I would have tossed that it, too.I've never grown my own greens before this year, so it is a Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-51442155023076137382010-06-08T18:50:00.000-07:002010-06-08T19:26:29.573-07:00shoots and leavesThe Three Sister garden was a total fail. Out of a packet of 75 corn seeds, I have exactly two (count 'em, two) corn sprouts. I did plant them a touch early, and some of them could have rotted in the ground, but I still suspect squirrels or starlings ransacking the plot, since the next day my mounds were rather flattened and there was a large amount of bean seeds tossed aside. So the beans Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-33932704211283131142010-06-06T14:53:00.000-07:002010-06-06T15:00:04.070-07:00hillside representI was too shy to actually go to the planting yesterday (crowds of friendly people? oh, how terrifying.) but my neighbors did something awesome and deserve recognition:Orchard Vision Blossoms on Duluth's HillsideSonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-26039634441408706112010-05-24T11:18:00.000-07:002010-05-24T12:35:41.360-07:00headlong into the gardenIs it crazy to plant a Three Sisters garden in a climate that is not especially hospitable to two of the three elements? Is it crazy to put out frost-tender plants before June 1 in Duluth? Perhaps, but what fun is a garden if you can't be a little crazy, and besides, I figure that if there are volunteer squash sprouting in the compost pile, that it is officially warm enough to plant squash (andSonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-1667678140452108692010-05-03T16:57:00.000-07:002010-05-03T17:47:20.248-07:00garden updateThe broccoli was up to nine sprouts, but then the next day it was down to four, and the zinnias still had one sprout, but it was a different sprout than the day before. I had deer mice in my mudroom last fall/winter, and had hoped that as the weather warmed up that they had moved on to greener lands, but apparently not.So the whole sprouting set up had to move to western windows of the front Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-91860845729169533652010-04-18T15:20:00.000-07:002010-04-18T15:26:13.055-07:00broccoli FTW!In the sprouting race going on in the mudroom, Calabrese broccoli is currently in first place with a whopping nine sprouts (the first ones poked up on the 16th, five days after planting). In second place is Bright Jewel zinnias with one sprout that just came up today, and everything else is tied for third place with zero so far.Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-11550630782266302842010-04-13T17:19:00.000-07:002010-04-13T17:32:05.268-07:00seedstravaganzaI wasn't planning on starting seeds indoors this year. I don't have grow lights or a heat mat or even a suitable place to set them up, so I was just going to buy transplants of long-season crops and direct sow everything else. But then when my seed order came from Baker's Creek, then sent along a free sample pack of tomato seeds, and I can't not plant them, but in Duluth tomatoes need to be Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-72657969363110478272010-03-20T15:48:00.000-07:002010-03-20T16:20:13.818-07:00announcementsIf you, gosh darn it, just can't get enough of me, stuff that I write can currently be found in a few more places:1.) I've been writing a regular outdoors column for Zenith City News. The paper comes out every three-ish weeks, and for the time being my column appears on a rotating basis with a couple other columns, so it's kind of sporadic, but there it is. Here's a direct link to my most Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4917888892360684980.post-8159884542298783852010-03-18T16:16:00.000-07:002010-03-18T16:19:42.237-07:00future pieThe rhubarb is coming up.It doesn't quite look like something I would want to eat yet.Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426854940221973070noreply@blogger.com0