the crushed violet

The State of the Garden, as the season begins to wind down.

Last week, the library informed me that my hold on an ice cream maker attachment for my mixer was ready for pick-up from their Library of Things. I have literally no recollection of placing a hold on an ice cream maker. But when life hands you an ice cream maker, make a brown sugar peach frozen custard with bourbon maple pecan granola. Apparently.

I've been looking at my old domains from about 2005-2012 on the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive, and I am honestly surprised at how little about me has changed from 20 to 40, even if the years in between were quite a bit different. One of the funniest similarities is just that the first domain was called 'Waxing-Moon' and I hadn't been thinking of that at all when I decided to start updating this blog on the new and full moons. I wouldn't have even considered the moon an interest of…

I've been working with the cozy gaming magazine Cozy Companion for about a year now, and will soon have a few recipes in their dark fantasy/horror cousin Grim Omen as well. I've really enjoyed working with them, and would highly recommend their stuff if you are into either theme. Note: I do not make any money from the sale of the magazine. If you would like to work with me on any recipes, food photography, or any bespoke food-adjacent project, feel free to email me!

I never cut my flowers and bring them in, I think they are fine where they are, alive and growing in the garden. They are for looking out the window and appreciating. But the herbs are going wild and need to be pruned faster than we can eat them, so I've started bringing them in and displaying them in the area I think I should probably start calling an altar after 25 years of always having one. Text from the print, which was a gift from a friend; Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the…

Strawberry Earl Grey for the Full Strawberry Moon Adagio's tea blends that are only available on the day of the full moon feel very specifically targeted to my interests.

A stray brought her kittens to the garden today. Can you spot Mama Cat?

State of the Garden Almost all of the poppies are self-seeded from last year, many starting a few years ago. Last year, I found a yellow pear tomato growing in the flower bed after forgetting to buy a plant at the nursery. (She has a tendency to escape the tomato cage and start climbing the apple tree.) So I had dug it up and planted it in the tomato bed to great success. This year, the yellow pear seedling appeared dead center of the tomato cage and I didn't have the heart to remove it. It's…

Planted the garden today and found a squirrel had planted a single Froot Loop in the herb bed.

brewing: Lao Cong Shui Xian May 2025 (Kong Mountain Tea) cooking: client cookbook recipes romanticizing: my frozen protein waffle breakfast