Farm share, week 18
Oct. 7th, 2026 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magid- 2 pounds of carrots
- 2 pounds of beets
- 2 pounds of purple-skinned (but white inside) potatoes
- 2 pounds of purple-topped turnips
- 4 small heads of garlic
- 2 medium butternut squash
- 1.5 pounds of spinach
- 1 pound of mixed salad greens
- 8 cauliflower/broccoli (small heads for the former, small stalks for the latter; I went all cauliflower)
- take-what-you-want hot peppers (I took some habaneros to start another batch of hot honey) and herbs (sage, parsley, holy basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, etc.; I took none)
First thoughts: saute all the spinach with garlic. Roasted cauliflower. Pizza-like object with butternut squash (or soup, but I'm running out of freezer space).
Car
Oct. 2nd, 2026 09:26 amrmc28I've had Kara for just over four weeks, I've put about a thousand miles on her, and taken her to five ice rinks (Cambridge, Alexandra Palace, Basingstoke, Lee Valley, Peterborough) with a sixth up tomorrow as Kodiaks 2 play Coventry Phoenix tomorrow evening.
The Octopus "smart charging" is not smart enough to tell the difference between mains, house battery, and solar panels. A couple of times it has drained my house battery into Kara when I would have preferred it didn't, but I think I've figured out how to stop that now.
I am very much enjoying being able to offer lifts rather than having to ask for them, and I'm also (mostly) enjoying the driving itself.
Eleven years
Oct. 1st, 2026 09:29 pmrmc28It's the first of October, it's the start of a new academic year, and I am still alive, eleven years after the care teams at Addenbrookes stopped cancer from killing me.
I am profoundly grateful to be alive, and to have built a good life: family, friendships, ice hockey, reading, swimming ... and a job I'm good at and enjoy doing that pays for it all.
To-read pile, 2026, September
Oct. 1st, 2026 08:54 pmrmc28Books on pre-order:
- Call Me Traitor by Everina Maxwell (1 Dec)
- Unrivaled (Game Changers 7) by Rachel Reid (1 Jun 2027)
Books acquired in September:
- and unread:
- Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes [3]
- The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood [3]
- Abbie Offsides by Anna McCallie
- and previously read:
- Steadfast (True North 2) by Sarina Bowen
Borrowed books read in September:
- Odyssey by Stephen Fry [2]
- Pandora's Jar by Natalie Haynes
- Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti
Rereads in September:
- The Demigod Files (Percy Jackson) by Rick Riordan
- The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians 5) by Rick Riordan
I am just about keeping up with my library loans, and grateful for the "suspend hold" option so I can release the ebooks and eaudios in a controlled manner. I've made a steady two-books-a-month progress the Percy Jackson readalong with the back catalogue of The Newest Olympian, but the podcast is about to go into a stretch covering the two movies and the first season of the TV show. I am definitely not rewatching the films and I don't think I want to rewatch the show, but that's quite a lot of episodes before we get back to the books. Will I get through them all this month? Let's find out. I am cycling less, driving more, and also napping more (which often involves podcast/audiobook on a timer).
I was tempted by the Greg Bear and Timothy Zahn HumbleBundles but in the end left them unbought, as I haven't read anything bought in September or August, and still have lingering unreads from July, June and April.
The new Everina Maxwell is only two months away now. Excitement!
[2] Audiobook
[3] Physical book
The First Jew in Canada: a Trans Tale
Sep. 30th, 2026 07:11 pmmagidIt's an enjoyable show, with some emotional moments. Bear notes how having role models can make a huge difference, as does language to describe things (read: "trans" wasn't an available word in the early 1700s). And his knowledge of how hard it can be to live as one's authentic self brings Jacques' story alive.
This is the second time I've seen it, and I think there was an addition this time about how had the governor thought to consult with local Native tribes (he named them specifically), he would have learned that all of them have understanding that folks can be outside the known binary, but as a colonizer he never would have done that.
And there's one nit I'd pick: it's not true that Jews never name after living folks; Ashkenazim don't, but Sefaradim do/can. That's a tiny piece, though; if you get a chance to see it, well worth going.
Farm share, week 17
Sep. 30th, 2026 06:22 pmmagid- 2 pounds of carrots
- 2 pounds of beets
- 2 pounds of gorgeous Purple Viking potatoes
- 4 pounds of sweet potatoes (grown by Next Barn Over in Hadley MA)
- 2 small stalks of broccoli
- 2 very small heads of cauliflower
- 4 heads of garlic
- 12 slender leeks
- 2 big bunches of green curly kale
- 1.5 pounds of spinach
- 1 pound of mixed spicy salad greens
- take-what-you-want hot peppers and herbs (I took some sprigs of thyme, oregano, sage, parsley, and shiso)
First thoughts: mixed-herb salt. Roasted brassicas. Sauted kale, leeks, and sweet potatoes with Impossible sausages. Gifting half the salad greens, the beets, and spinach (once sauted).
Quote: personality
Sep. 29th, 2026 12:40 ammagidPersonality doesn't describe the kind of person you are; it describes the kinds of choices you tend to make, and therefore the kinds of experiences you tend to have and the habits you tend to form.