Author Archives: makielb

This is what we did in early September 2018 – zucchini pickles, pickles jalapeños, giardiniera, and tomato sauce. Notice that the majority of canned goods were pickled. Quite different from this year. No zucchini pickles or pickled jalapeños yet. I am making the giardiniera fresh and storing in the refrigerator every few weeks. But todayContinue reading “A day in the kitchen”

The blueberry pie that Susan made yesterday is excellent. We will be enjoying it for a couple of days. Some of the hot peppers that I am currently drying. I imagine that they will be dried by Monday. Then I will put them into a container waiting to be turned into chili powder later thisContinue reading “Food and nature”

Susan sorting blueberries that we picked around our cabin before coming back to Ann Arbor. Cherry tomatoes before I went and picked more from the garden, and after I did. Looks like a lot for dinner tonight. Tomatoes for sandwiches and some headed into sauce. This is about two days worth. My first try atContinue reading “More from the garden”

The joy of getting back to Ann Arbor is finding that the garden did well, and is ready for picking. Yesterday I picked over 12 pounds of tomatoes. The hot peppers are thriving. I have 15-20 now drying so they will be ready to ground into a chili powder. Flat beans will be harvested forContinue reading “The urban gardener”

Well now, there’s a new one for me. But Bizarro makes great use of puns and similar stuff. You’ll never catch me in a shark cage. Nope, no, never. The shark cartoon reminded me of megalodon, an ancient species. I’ve collected some fossil teeth from them. This is an artists rendering of one hunting smallContinue reading “Travel day comics”

For Jepordy fans who might be reading this. Picked blueberries behind the cabin. Never went further than 5 m. Looks like something made with blueberries in the future. Recent reading. They are not the most recent editions, but still relevant to understanding viruses. More tomorrow…

This is the situation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It hasn’t been in the news as much as months ago, but it is still raging. It seems that with some foreign assistance Ukrainian forces might be retaking some territories previous occupied by Russians. In Australia there are some efforts to revive the Tasmanian tiger.Continue reading “Six months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine”

Spent part of the day at Vermilion Point where we had a lot of insects and plants. One of our target plants was Cases Ladies’-tresses. We managed to find some 24 of these. We also found close to 30 Nodding Ladies’-tresses. There might also be some Sphinx Ladies’-tresses mixed in with these. I have aContinue reading “Another day with orchids”

Leave it to Woodstock to turn work into fun. T-Rex would have probably eaten everything in. this comic strip. Now on to the Anvian influenza. This year many birdwatchers were encouraged to take down their bird feeders due to a hight contagious strain of avian influenza. I know that we followed the recommendation to doContinue reading “It’s all about birds”

My day started reaching the Michigan Audubon newsletter which included the above report about Piping Plovers. What a great way to start the day. We spent part of the day visiting the new Helstrom Nature Preserve. It’s an interesting place, but lacks any trails. Therefore you have to bushwhack you own path from Whitefish PointContinue reading “Visiting a new preserve”