1. Five Plant Updates

• The eggshells seem to have helped? Earlier this month, I’d begun sprinkling eggshells around my coleus plants and hydrangeas, in the hopes of deterring the slugs that seem to have been ripping them to shreds. The coleus is definitely thriving. This could, of course, be due to a break in our ungodly heat, but I’m going to credit the eggshells.

• My zucchini plants have begun bearing fruit! Well, one of them has, at least. I have already eaten one zucchini and there are two more in varying stages of readiness. It’s not a Nicole-level haul, by any means, but it’s something.

• I finally set up the grow lights for my indoor plants. I don’t know that the plants are doing any better than before, but perhaps these things take time. Also, I am terrible at watering them, just, really dreadful.

• Last year, we redid a bunch of our landscaping. I kind of hate it. I am trying to be patient, because things take time. We did plant young plants and shrubs, so they will probably require a few years before they look as envisioned. But I’m not sure I’ll like it even then. There are just too many discrete little bundles of growth all over. It looks fussy and overly ornate and I do not care for it. Of course, I can do NOTHING about this, except spend $$$$ to redo what I’ve already spent $$$$ to do.

• Looks like my mystery plant is a weed. So disappointing! I was hoping for a big gorgeous phlox, but – Suz, you called it! – it seems to be some kind of willowherb. If its flowers were more impressive, I might consider keeping it, but I don’t love the way it looks. Plus, it sounds like it can take over pretty quickly/easily, so I’m getting rid of it.

2. Five Pleasing Purchases

• Battery Operated Clip-On Fan: We got this little guy for Carla to take to camp and I am quite impressed with it. Unlike pretty much every other option available, this fan is truly battery operated. It does not require being plugged in to anything, which was important during camp when Carla had no access to an outlet. Plus, it produces quite a decent breeze for such a small fan.

• Three Piece (Swim)Suit: Carla got a new bathing suit earlier this summer and I loved it so much, I bought one for myself. It has shorts, which I prefer to bikini bottoms. It has a bikini top, which feels daring and fun. And it has a tank top that goes over everything. ALL of it is swimwear, so I can wear all three pieces at once, or I can jettison the tank top if I feel brave or overhot. It strikes me as more sporty than sexy, which I like both for myself and my teen. And it comes in a wide array of colors, which kind of makes me want to get another one.

• Great Gift for Puzzle Lovers: My husband got some pretty unsurprising gifts for Father’s Day, but they were things he’d expressly asked for (car wash coupons, new perfume), so I dutifully got him the unsurprising gifts. Then I came across this book of puzzles and thought he would enjoy them, so I added it in as a little bonus. He’s a fan of logic puzzles and a fan of number puzzles (Sudoku, Kakuro, KenKen), and this is a mix of both. Turns out that he loves it. Definitely the sleeper hit from Father’s Day.

• Shower Hair Catcher: I mentioned that I was thinking about getting this for one of the members of my household. I did, and it’s amazing.

• Cat Brushing Tool: My beautiful medium-haired kitty sheds constantly, despite regular brushing. I ordered this grooming glove to see if it would make a difference, and, while it doesn’t seem to reduce the amount of fur on our floors by one tiny tumbleweed, Lenny loves it. And it really does collect a disturbing amount of fur, each time I use it. I’m about as good at brushing the kitty as I am about watering the plants, though, so let’s keep that in mind.

3. Five Recent Reads

• The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin: (bookshop.org link / amazon link) This book was fast-paced and well written. It reminded me, in some ways, of Heartwood and Gray After Dark with a soupcon of The Return of Ellie Black. (I loved all but the latter, although I think I was in the minority on disliking that one.) 

• Helpless by Jessica Knoll: (bookshop.org link / amazon link) I don’t even know how to describe this book. Maybe The Three Lives of Cate Kay meets Fifty Shades of Grey? It was predictable, outlandish, steamy, disturbing, and I loved every minute of it.

• Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead: (bookshop.org link / amazon link) I love Ashley Winstead, but this was not my favorite of her books. The concept is fun – a group of prominent Hollywood women start avenging other women’s poor treatment – but it was a little silly and overly convoluted for me. I still gobbled it down, though.

• The Neighbors Are Watching by Aggie Blum Thompson: (bookshop.org link / amazon link) I love a juicy story about neighbors behaving badly, and this did not disappoint.

• The Keeper by Tana French: (bookshop.org link / amazon link) I have been savoring this, the latest (and last) in Tana French’s Cal Hooper trilogy. Savoring mainly because I am reading it in hardcover and I tend to fall asleep when I’m reading a physical book. She is such a master at atmosphere, at threading a mystery into the landscape, at revealing deep-seated truths that I’ve never heard voiced. This reminds me, in some ways, of my favorite of her Dublin Murder Squad books, Broken Harbor; it identifies an insidious aspect of society that is growing, unstoppably, beneath the foundations people build their lives on. It’s so good and I’m going to miss Cal and Lena and Trey.

4. Five Meals I’d Make Again:

• Beef Stroganoff: I’m kinda sorta off chicken right now, which makes me feel like my meal preferences are wildly unbalanced. As though there’s a spectrum and Veggies Only are on one end and Beef is on the other end, and I keep careening from one end to the other. I realize it doesn’t work like that, and yet it still feels weird. Anyway: this recipe is excellent and I always double the mushrooms.

• Cold Peanut Ginger Noodles: I made this a few weeks ago, in the heart of the heat wave, and it was delicious and lasted for days. The weird ingredient here is candied ginger, which I dutifully chopped and added. Despite my skepticism, it really did meld into the dish in a way that was delicious and unexpected.

• Salmon Crunch Bowls: This recipe is from What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking; I have yet to try anything from this cookbook that isn’t delicious, and this is no exception. My husband doesn’t like salmon, but he quite liked this dish. I like how customizable it is, too.

• Chickpeas al Limone with Burrata: This is exactly my kind of dish: lemony, cheesy, easy. The last time I made it, I stir fried some zucchini at the very beginning of the cooking and added that to the chickpea mixture. Like a bunch of the comments suggested, I didn’t bother with a separate bowl for the lemon juice and parmesan; I just added that straight to the chickpeas in the pot. Also, my husband and I are divided about the inclusion of burrata. I felt it was superfluous. He loved the burrata and felt that the parmesan could have been excluded.  

• Crunchwrap: I owe Birchie big time for introducing me to the crunchwrap as a concept I could make at home. They are easy, delicious, and very customizable. My husband uses ground beef taco meat in his; I use black beans as my protein; Carla sticks with cheese. I cannot abide the thought of warm lettuce, and you know how I feel about tomatoes, so this is a recipe perfect for our current ongoing state of lettuce aversion.

5. Five Occasions of Quintessential Cute Catness

• Hunting a Moth: The expert predator stalks his prey.

• Enduring Enrichment: Carla and I built this enrichment activity for Lenny – he has to navigate a series of strings to retrieve his treats – and he was mostly unimpressed.

• Investigating an Unknown Space: Carla and I were cleaning her bathroom and Lenny climbed into one cabinet and into a drawer so he could help us organize the other cabinet.

• Testing Out New Spots: Carla found a couple of carpet squares and put them down in the basement. Lenny obligingly sat on each of them.

• Hugging a Toy: Lenny wore himself out by hiding in this tiny perfectly sized box and leaping onto a tennis ball. But sleepy as he was, he refused to relinquish the tennis ball.