A Happy Little Distraction

In which I try to distract you from The Horrors with a garden update, plus my Weekly What

Jun 14, 2025

Everything is awful. How about a little garden update to provide a happy little distraction? I know I enjoy looking at my garden way more than the news.

Last month I shared an update after I planted for summer. Here’s how things looked mid-May:

Spring seeds were finally sprouting in that top left bed, new plantlings and seeds were tucked into summer beds.

Just about a month later and here’s where we are:

I was able to harvest some lettuce, a few sugar snap peas, and a single radish this week. (My first round of radish seeds did not do well, but my second round seems to be yielding some radishes.) I’ve got a few baby kale growing and some promising carrot tops! I sure hope there are some carrots hiding below the soil. I have never been able to successfully grow carrots before—even this amount of green above ground is something.

All the baby plantlings have have grown to respectable adolescents. Green bean and cucumber seeds have turned into seedlings reaching for trellis. I’ve got okra popping up alongside plenty of flowers (those big plants are sunflowers) in the front beds, including some morning glory which has just started its climb up the arch.

I harvested several rounds and pounds of strawberries from my old garden beds. I was all set to get rid of those beds before these plants tried to convince me otherwise. I’m hoping the everbearing strawberries I potted are able to keep me on plan—we’ll see.

Tell me:

Are you gardening this summer? How’s it growing?

Leave a comment

Reading

Sleep by Honor Jones.
Every parent exists inside of two families simultaneously – the one she was born into, and the one she has made.
A well-crafted literary novel of a woman caught between motherhood and daughterhood exploring dysfunctional family dynamics and childhood trauma as it reverberates over time.
Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley. An entertaining caper about a couple’s anniversary dinner interrupted by a heist which uncannily follows the wife’s, erm… deeply under the radar debut novel. A cover blurb describes this as Date Night meets The Menu and I think that’s a great approximation. The excellent premise tires after a while in the latter half, but overall this is a fun read with some insightful tidbits about long term relationships and authorship.
Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson. Complimentary copy provided by publisher. Road trip meets found family novel except the found family in this case is actual family. Four newly united half siblings take a cross country road trip to confront their estranged father who left them each behind to repeatedly begin a new life. I found the plot thin in this ~250 page story but Kevin Wilson shines at creating quirky characters I enjoyed spending time with them as they interacted with one another. I hybrid read this and I might go as far to say the audiobook, narrated by Marin Ireland, might just be my preferred format (this is a bold statement coming from me.) Ireland really brings the characters to life and performs the smartly crafted dialog for full impact.

Listening

Alive Day by Karie Fugett. A moving, intimate, eye-opening memoir of a young military wife navigating the fallout after her marine husband is gravely injured while deployed in Iraq.

Watching

Mad Men, Season 5 (DVD!) We are early in season 5 in our rewatch.
They Called Him Mostly Harmless (Max). Documentary film (not series) about an mysterious hiker found dead in the Florida wilderness and the internet sleuths who helped identify him. There’s mystery! There’s internet drama! I watched on recommendation from Hannah of Book Talk, Etc. podcast and it did not disappoint.

Eating & Drinking

Another round of salad, by request, with Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken. This time featuring some lettuce from our garden! I had berries, blue cheese, avocado, and pecans on my salad with balsamic dressing (I like Marzetti Simply Dressed.)
My first time making Firecracker Chicken. This recipe is easy and comes together very quickly. It reminded me of something like Sweet and Sour Chicken with a little kick. I cut the sugar to 2/3 c. and served it with rice and steamed veggies.
These Crispy Beef and Bean Wraps are a quick crowd pleaser for “Taco Tuesday”. I like to top mine with a little sour cream and salsa.
And these Teriyaki Turkey Burgers are a frequent flyer on our summer menu. I like mine topped with grilled pineapple, lettuce, swiss cheese, and Kroger’s 1883 Sauce (the superior version of Heinz 57.) This recipe easily makes 8 good sized burgers—leftovers are delicious or cut the recipe in half. I like to serve these with Sweet Potato “Fries”.

Links + Loves

Winners of the 2025 Women’s Prizes Are Revealed (Kirkus)
TIME’s 14 Best Books of the Year So Far. I’ve read 9/14—not too shabby!
Meet Addy: The Story of the First Black American Girl Doll (Lit Hub)
Non-fiction is always part of my reading rotation, but it definitely gets less attention as far as summer reading guides go. Book Riot has helpfully compiled All the Non-Fiction Summer Reading Lists.
Publisher’s Weekly Summer Reads 2025 is out.
More Than 50% of Americans Have Listened to An Audiobook: Latest Data on Audiobook Trends. (Book Riot) Audiobooks are increasingly popular! Some interesting data to peruse 🤓
G2G, The Book House (a local gem!) is calling! ([614] NOW)

That Bookish Life {Stacked}

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