Netherlands Study Abroad - Summer 2023 (videos)

 

Netherlands Study Abroad - Summer 2023 (photos)

 

The Simpleton Manifesto

 

On keeping a singular vision

 

Pretend singly, William James

 

Comminuted fracture of the proximal humerus neck

In December 2023, I slipped on ice and broke my left humerus. A comminuted fracture of the proximal humerus neck. In other words, I broke my upper arm bone just below the ball that fits into the shoulder socket, and it broke into several pieces. There was some displacement of the humerus, but the displaced bone >mostly< went back into place due to gravity while my arm was positioned in the sling. There is still some impingement in my shoulder, but I have returned to swimming and can do most of what I could do before. It has been a slog, but I have a good physical therapist, a good massage therapist, and tai chi has helped a lot too.

December 26, 2022

April 16, 2023

Dehydrator for the garden

I've had it a year now. I dehydrated a lot of herbs, peppers, and tomatoes from my garden last summer. This dehydrator was well work the investment. I still have several jars this size of basil, tomatoes, and parsley in June 2023. I'm scaling back some of my tomato plantings this year, but I intend to restock the oregano and parsley, my most used cooking spices.

Berries in my yard

I have three elderberry shrubs, although only one is producing copious amounts of berries. This one sits by itself in my side yard. The other two in my backyard are just growing tall and spindly with lots of blossoms - and very little fruit. I plan to remove one of these two in my backyard and plant another variety of elderberry in its place. I didn't know this, but cross-pollination among varieties increases fruit production. The variety in my side yard must either self-pollinate efficiently or is benefiting from the presence of my two backyard varieties.

The aronia berries are very tart but when cooked down with a sweetener make a very rich blueberry-like syrup. I have three aronia berry bushes and all are producing abundantly even though the bushes are still small, only a few feet high.

My currant bush produced a pint of fruit, but I wasn't in town to enjoy them. The shrub is still small and next year should see the first sizeable harvest.

Gooseberries, aronia berries, and currant are my more dependable producers. Elderberry and cherry less so. Both of my dwarf tart cherry trees had lots of blossoms this summer but not an iota of fruit, which may have been due to the hard freeze in late spring when the blossoms had already started. I'm still waiting on the dwarf mulberry to produce flowers or fruit two years in. It died back to the ground this year.

The larger of my two hazelnut shrubs has several small fruits on it. It's hard to say if they will turn into a nut.

My blackberry is making more berries in my shady side yard where it grows untended than it did when I was carefully pruning and watering it in my garden.

Elderberries

Aronia berry, or chokecherry

How my zucchetta is changing

I am in my third generation of seeds for zucchetta, or tromboncino. I've been letting some of the fruits remain on the vine and grow large rather than eating them all when they are young and tender. I store the winter zucchetta in my basement and eat them over the entire winter and this year, well into the spring. I typically have ten or so plants that climb along a narrow strip of soil that runs along my back fence. This third generation of seeds produced a deeper orange flesh and a better taste. It is closer in flavor to a butternut or winter squash than a yellow squash or zucchini. I've also been selecting for size and taking the last of the individuals to select for storage. As of May of 2023, I still have several large winter squash like the one in the photo below. The long seed-free neck is easily cut into medallions for roasting.

Extracurricular reading from 2022? 2023?

 I may have missed listing of few of the books I've read over the past year and half or more. There's barely enough time to read, so adding them to my blog is not a priority. This was my third reading of Moby Dick. The novel is not what you think it is. Nor is Uncle Tom's Cabin the book you think it is.