The annual pet blessing today was windy, but wonderful. Lots of doggy friends.

We are in a freeze watch for tomorrow night. So, today we started pulling out the garden. Here is some of the strawberry popcorn we grew. I love it so much! #gardening

We harvested the giant sunflower today. It was at least 12-13 feet tall after it started drooping. This is a Hopi purple dye sunflower. I want to try dyeing something with it. What should I make?

This chocolate beauty pepper is gorgeous! #gardening

It’s that time of year when my glasses fog up the second I go inside.

It’s been a busy baking day. One kid requested pumpkin banana bread. I had no idea that was a thing, but I found a recipe and made that. Jeff requested sharp cheddar and bell pepper bread. It got a little explode-y in the oven, but it smells great.

Pretty sure this headache was caused by barometric pressure changes. The moment it started raining = relief.

One of the best parts of making homemade cabbage pockets (runzas/bierocks) is making homemade cinnamon rolls with the rest of the dough. #homemade

Just a little grasshopper chilling out on his zinnia. #gardening

It’s the time of year when the garden harvest is hanging and drying all over the house.

I don’t think my phone has a hold on me until I hear my ringtone on someone else’s phone and instinctively start searching frantically for my phone.

It’s sermon writing time this morning, but my brain is broken. So, I guess I’ll just sit in the coffee shop, sipping my turmeric tea, and stare at the wall for a while. This is part of the process, right?

A person to me yesterday: “Would you like some peaches from my tree? They have some bad spots, and the pits aren’t cling-free?” I take the peaches home and I start to realize that beautiful things often show up with seeming rough spots and requiring effort to see them. May I have eyes to see today.

B. Dylan Hollis’s recipe for Georgia peach cobbler is sooooo good.

Waiting room crochet #crochet

I harvested this cabbage today, and it is just so beautiful. #gardening

The world, for all its dumpster fiery-ness still has beautiful things. And many of those beautiful things are producing seeds right now for the future. Harvesting seeds for next spring feels like an act of resistance.

Friendly reminder that Dr. Oz is linked to leucovorin.

Feeling concerned that this Tylenol announcement could be a way of getting people to post online about neurodivergence in their families. Feeling a little conspiracy theorist-y, but this is the bad place, so…

Tylenol, huh? Good thing acetaminophen is still ok.

How ironic to be catcalled on my way to a youth group session on healthy and unhealthy behaviors in relationships.

The rapture is not a biblical concept. It comes from Left Behind and it’s used to control people with fear.

The vagus nerve is such a fascinating thing. Excited to read this book from the library.

I love making tomato powder this time of year. I keep the tomato skins after I blanch and chop tomatoes to freeze. Then, I dry the skins in the oven grind them with my molcajete. The powder can be used in soups, with eggs, or in anything you want to have deeper flavor. #gardening

I think this kohlrabi is so beautiful #gardening

Super excited to teach about Rhoda tomorrow night at the last Women of the Bible, volume 4 master class.

A moment of beauty from today

Do you know what happens when you drop a full, Culligan water jug? I do. For this reason among others, yesterday was not my day.

I guess it’s the season for sandburs. 😭

6 cups of cherry tomatoes = this much homemade ketchup 😆 #gardening

Whenever someone recognizes what I’m doing as crocheting, I know that either they are a crocheter or they know someone who is. Everyone else says, “Whatcha knitting?”

If this uniquely American kind of violence is a mental health issue, then fund the heck out of mental health programs. Otherwise, “it’s not a gun problem, it’s a mental health problem” is a whole lot of words that mean “I don’t care about kids, and I’m not going to do anything to protect them.”

People shouting “it’s a mental health issue” while also defunding mental health care.

We stick to our talking points because we are afraid that if we ever start weeping, we will never be able to stop.

There are no words of grief deep enough in a world in which children suffer.

A couple of years ago I started using Duolingo because I wanted to learn Spanish. Then I took a couple of online classes to gain some conversation skills. Yesterday, someone called my church and asked for someone who speaks Spanish. I was terrified, but said I would try. 1/2

Remember that coconut I bought? I ended up making coconut milk with it, and then couldn’t bring myself to waste the pulp. Now I’m drying it for coconut flour. If only 18 year old me could have known how edgy 44 year old me would become.

I’m not saying it’s fall already, but I’m crocheting with a pumpkin oatmilk steamer at the coffee shop, so maybe it’s fall. #crochet

Our pepper plants are loaded. I’m going to roast this pan of peppers to freeze and use through the winter.

My word-a-day calendar coming in with a sentence I can actually use.

Chokecherry sorbet is a gorgeous color!

I believe following the law is important. I also believe that no human being deserves to be kept in inhumane conditions and abused. No human being deserves to be locked away without due process. If due process finds the person to be a criminal, that person still has basic human rights.

I don’t know why, but I decided I needed an actual coconut today. I know how to live it up here in the heartland.

I’ve been fighting bindweed along my fence for years. It’s been a losing battle. This year, I decided to focus on one little area. I decided it would become a chaotic flower garden. I can’t conquer all the bindweed at once, but I did this. New things are possible.

Atticus would like your attention. It is Black Cat Appreciation Day. He would like some treats and pets.

These Pippin’s golden honey peppers are wild! The flowers are purple, then the peppers are purple. They ripen to yellow, and the next step is orange. I harvested a yellow one today because I couldn’t wait. We left a bunch on the plant to turn orange.

Gardening pics

The colors on this sunflower 😍

Growing up, I heard folks say women shouldn’t vote because they would just “double their husband’s vote.” The true reason for suppressing women’s votes: a woman who can speak her mind is a woman who can’t be controlled.

An ant swarm. First picture and second picture were taken about an hour apart.