Melissa Wiley's Blog, page 193

Pink and Orange

This is not an ordinary week. My big kids are off adventuring with their grandparents and cousin. The little ones and I are keeping busy at home—really at home because Scott's car engine blew out on his way home Monday. He's got the minivan for the week.

We've got this.

Sometimes I really think the backyard is the nicest place to be.

Twitterlog 2009-06-29

I could kiss the guy who invented the rotisserie chicken. Except he was probably some hairy, unwashed caveman fella, so, um, maybe not. #Um, but, but, WHY??? http://bit.ly/SfBvx #Matthew Lickona's ALPHONSE may be the creepiest thing I've ever read. I mean that as a compliment. http://www.alphonsecomic.com #Baby is singing to me. OK, maybe it's more like gargling. But still adorable. #Yup, she's my kid all right: "Mommy, I want some pizza crustses." #Boy, these farming games sure are good for mat

Links for June 27, 2009

Prairie dogs return to Md. Zoo - baltimoresun.com - "It took just 10 minutes for a dozen prairie dogs to outwit the creators of the Maryland Zoo's new $500,000 habitat."Jezebel - Little Women : The Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves - little women - As websites go, Jezebel is not my cuppa. But I do like Lizzie Skurnick's FINE LINES column about the novels that made an impression on her as a kid. This week's column is on Little Women, and while I disagree with the bit about Meg "fading to domest

Guernsey Literary Society Open Thread

Why didn’t I think of this before?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows. Have you read it? Let’s discuss!

If you haven’t read it yet, be warned: there may be plot spoilers in the comments below. Hurry up and read it so you can come chat with us here!

All those marvelous personalities. Who was your favorite?

And Also? I Like Pie.

Well, June’s just whizzing past, isn’t it? I must have picked about thirty tomatoes this afternoon. And that’s not counting the ones I harvested at Farm Town.

A moment to hold: standing in the kitchen with Rose, eating sunwarmed tomatoes with fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, while Rilla practiced snipping stray basil leaves.

A book I really enjoyed: the one Scott stole from me the other day, Shannon Hale’s The Actor and the Housewife. He finished it quickly and I got my turn. It’s a

Twitterlog 2009-06-22

OK. We are climbing out of this virus at last. Not better yet, but getting there. The upswing is a much better place to be. #Reading Chocolate Unwrapped by Rowan Jacobsen. Am committing to eating a serving of dark chocolate every day. For health reasons, you know. #Tip: If you drive a white car with your auto-detailing business info on the rear window, you should remove all those huge splotches of mud. #Colum’s CHILDREN’S HOMER was a hit w/ Rose. She’s now moved on to GINGER PYE. Beanie’s book o

Mid-Bounce

Gazing adoringly at his daddy, of course.

Booknapped

Scott walked past in time to catch me giggling over the opening chapter of Shannon Hale’s new novel (for grownups), The Actor and the Housewife. He raised amused eyebrows at me.

“Here,” I said, thrusting the book at him, because that is what we do. “You have to read the first ten pages of this. It’s delightful.”

Ten minutes later, he’s the one reading and chuckling.

“How far are you?”

“Page thirteen. Did you get that far?”

“No, I was on eleven when I handed it to you.”

“Well, thirteen is the funniest

Hello, Chocolate, My Old Friend

We’ve been hearing about the health benefits of dark chocolate for a couple of years now—woowoo antioxidants, right? But have you read up on the subject? I hadn’t, until Jane insisted I order a copy of Rowan Jacobsen’s Chocolate Unwrapped: The Surprising Health Benefits of America’s Favorite Passion. Rowan, you recall, is the author of Fruitless Fall, the book on bee colony collapse I wrote so much about last month.

His chocolate book proved just as interesting and illuminating.

Published in 2003

Gone to Seed

This virus has really knocked the stuffing out of me. We had to bail on almost all our planned activities this week, including (to my dismay), the extra Shakespeare rehearsals we’d planned. And I’ve ignored my garden dreadfully. All my herbs went to seed.

I would be sorry, but—

Who knew cilantro made such a lovely flowering plant?

That’s shot lettuce above it, the weedy yellow flowers.

Our nasturtiums have grown into huge bush-sized clumps, a tangle of red and yellow and orange flower cups that the