There are elderberry bushes all along the slopes of the Sierra Nevada, and today I went to one of my favorite picking spots outside Bridgeport to harvest berries for this year’s cordial. I use this recipe from Hank Shaw. You just have to be careful to pick the berries off the stems because the stemsContinue reading “Elderberry Cordial”
Author Archives: mourningdove
Ceramics Saturdays: Jun Ware
In homage to Tiara Thursdays, I thought I would start a series about ceramics, a minor obsession of mine I’ve previously written about here and here. We’re starting with the Five Great Kilns of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE), each of which produced wares that were collected by emperors, scholars, and aristocrats as soon asContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Jun Ware”
Friday Favorites: Vlogs (Calmtainment and Lifestyle)
I became a pretty serious consumer of YouTube vlogs over the course of the pandemic. Naturally there was a strong escapism factor, but I also just appreciated these folks who were going to the emotional effort of sharing their stories and lives with the rest of us who were starved for community. Here are theContinue reading “Friday Favorites: Vlogs (Calmtainment and Lifestyle)”
Shower flowchart: Pandemic edition
My friend Amy and I have a shower flowchart that helps us decide if we need a shower or not. It’s a long story. But when the pandemic hit, we decided it was time for an update.
Letter of Recommendation: Tiara Thursdays
Do not underestimate a tiara: it is really the Platonic ideal of jewelry. Unlike other pieces that can “wear” you rather than you wearing them–necklaces, etc.–a tiara places that issue entirely to the side. Because wearing a tiara is an event in and of itself. The entire raison d’être of a tiara is to dignifyContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Tiara Thursdays”
Breakthrough Moments
Maybe you don’t, but I have days where I just don’t know what I’m doing. I mean, in general–as in, I don’t know why I’m alive and on this planet. I suppose this sense of disorientation is uniquely and also probably universally human. And I suppose most folks don’t resolve it until late in life,Continue reading “Breakthrough Moments”
Unauthorized Uses: Disaster Engineering
I don’t set out to create chaos. I’m actually the sort of person who dislikes chaos. And yet…. As I mentioned in my kintsugi post, I have a wide, wild streak of impatience in my personality that leads to disaster whether I like it or not (and I don’t). I do try. I have tried,Continue reading “Unauthorized Uses: Disaster Engineering”
Mendocino Coast
If I could wave a magic wand, I would live in Mendocino. There’s just something about that stretch of coast—the high, wild cliffs, the secret beaches and coves, the cedars trailing their long, elegant branches through the fog, a sunny morning like a surprise visitor turning everything to gold. I love the old clapboard whalers’Continue reading “Mendocino Coast”
Friday Favorites: Watch These on Netflix Before They’re Gone
I actually had a different list planned for today but then realized after I recommended it last Friday that Monkey Twins had been on Netflix for long enough it might go away soon. So, that prompted me to get this list up. These are the best things I watched on Netflix over the last yearContinue reading “Friday Favorites: Watch These on Netflix Before They’re Gone”
Campfire Fish Tacos
Just got back from a great, quick trip to the Mendocino area to escape the smoke. I’ll sort through my photos and post a trip report tomorrow, but for tonight it’s this quick hit: a serendipitous recipe for fish tacos I came up with on my last coastal camping trip and repeated this time withContinue reading “Campfire Fish Tacos”
The Rookery 