FEELING | a little bummed that we won’t have any “grand summer plans” this year, no visitors this summer. I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since my family was here and we went on our road trip (which I still have to partially recap) but I am still looking forward to the summer, morning runs, hanging out (and bbq-ing) in our backyard, and maybe a couple of day/weekend trips.
EATING | Bratkartoffeln (like it’s my job).
BAKING | a new bread recipe with ‘Linus’, my sourdough starter (which I’ve kept alive for 3+ years). I always thought keeping a sourdough starter was so hard, but honestly, if you have a somewhat regular baking routine, it’s really not hard at all.
LOOKING FORWARD TO | visiting the Farmers Market more often again this summer. We live so close to the abundance of vegetables and fruits that are grown in the Central Valley that we really have access to the best produce year-round.
ON THE HUNT | for white asparagus. It’s (white) asparagus season in Germany. Everyone is having asparagus in May/June. I am hoping to find some here.
WORKING ON | a new triangle scarf with gradient yarn that I picked out from my late aunt’s stash when I was back home. We used to love talking about yarn, colorways, and knitting patterns.
STOKED | to be riding my outdoor bike more often. I am trying to find more ‘opportunities’ beyond my commute to the office once a week. I rode my bike to the Farmers Market this month and I know, I could just go for a bike ride, but Jon doesn’t have a bike (yet?) and it’d be more fun to do it together.
EXCITED | about getting my outdoor patio set up for summer and planting my (container) garden. I also added a bird feeder to our yard for the pair of finches nesting under our roof eave.
READING | in bed on weekend mornings. It has become a bit of a treat these last couple of weeks to read a chapter when I wake up with the window open. Remember how I said recently that I don’t make time for reading right now? Well, I am trying to fit it in again where I can.
CELEBRATING | our 17th anniversary with frozen yogurt and mini M&M sprinkles :) It’s a party over here! Jon and I sometimes go out to dinner but are usually low-key about anniversaries. We’re just happy to spend time together – even if it’s at home.
HOPING | to do some “late spring cleaning” in June. I’ve done a little bit, but there’s more to do. I want to sell/donate some stuff and just declutter a few places (e.g. my closet, the shelf next to my work desk).
AMUSED | (and equally annoyed, tbh) by our “kitchen tile saga”. Nicole so eloquently commented the other day “they seem to be doing a lot of work not to do any work”. Yup!
On one hand, it’s kind of ridiculous that we’re doing what we would call an “Eiertanz (egg dance)” in German with our landlords. It’s used as a figure of speech to indicate how someone might “waffle around” or “beat around the bush” as a stalling and/or avoidance tactic in unpleasant situations. On the other hand, it would be nice if we could just get something done. It seems to me that we’ve entered a situation where it’s their responsibility to fix the issue in a timely manner. A cracked tile is not a trip hazard, a moving and uneven floor probably is.
How was your May? What’s currently going on with you?
Kim
May 30, 2023 at 6:17 amHappy Anniversary! You should also celebrate with Jon getting a bike ;)
I am very curious about white asparagus and hope you find some and show it to us!
Your post made me really excited for summer. We don’t have big plans either, but I am just excited for the time outside!
My May was good! Currently I am already feeling tried on the first day of the work week. Ha!
San
June 1, 2023 at 9:37 pmThank you :)
I’ll definitely post about white asparagus if I find some :)
Nicole MacPherson
May 31, 2023 at 3:07 pmHappy anniversary!! That sounds like a nice way to celebrate. We are pretty low-key as well.
I can’t believe it’s been a year since your family visited and you went on your big trip! It feels like that just happened! How the time just flies.
San
June 1, 2023 at 9:37 pmThank you, Nicole. And yes, time just flies. How is it June?
Melissa
June 1, 2023 at 11:20 pmYay for gardening, bike riding and baking. Not yay for the tile saga! Hopefully, they will pull their finger out soon.
Congratulations on your anniversary, frozen yoghurt and M&M sprinkles looks so happy. My May was good, in that we we able to flee the approaching cold weather and go on a road trip north.
Emily
June 2, 2023 at 9:43 amHappy belated anniversary! We’re also low-key when celebrating our anniversary. I’ve been wanting to bake homemade bread for a really long time. Do you have a favorite recipe?
Elisabeth
June 2, 2023 at 10:53 amHappy Anniversary. We are also low-key with anniversary (and birthday) celebrations. I’m 100% okay with that. Mostly we focus on having favourite foods, typically homemade.
The tile saga continues and I am so sorry! Ugh. It would be so nice to take this off your mind and to have a fixed floor!! It shouldn’t be taking this long…and I really, really hope it’s done – and done WELL – very soon.
Love the bike ride and Farmer’s Market. What lovely outdoor activities that are so satisfying and joyful in the summer.
May was pretty good. We were visiting family for a few weeks and I had laser eye surgery – so it felt like a big (expensive month). Today I’m just feeling really tired and ready to get back to routine and to have these darn eyes get to 20/20!
coco
June 3, 2023 at 9:47 pmhappy anniversary! 17 years!!! that’s a long time and it seems that it just get better over time, isn’t it? we are going for the 9th year and honestly I’m happier now than first year.
reading in the morning sounds like luxury, I’ll be able to do that soon once the family leaves next week. need to get back into reading too.
Daria
June 11, 2023 at 4:33 pmA few observations.
1. Gimme ALL the potatoes, any shape or form. I love potatoes!!
2. Happy anniversary! It’s our 11 year on June 23rd- also very low-key, usually go out to dinner. This year, babysitter is not available so we will be dragging our two kids to a ncie restaurant. Figured we’ll try it.
3. Reading in the morning-yes x100! I do that, too, my Golden hour.
4. Summer sounds wonderful albeit you say you don;t have grand plans. An introspective summer can be so nice.
3.
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
June 16, 2023 at 7:48 amIt’s mid-June here when I read this, thanks to your annoying RSS challenges!! May was a good month, I think? It’s hard to remember much from it to be honest… I continued to be busy with work and went to Denver for work in the 2nd week of the month. The highlight was celebrating my grandma’s 100th and we celebrated our anniversary, too. We should have gotten ice cream or froyo!!!
Anne
July 1, 2023 at 4:21 pmAugh! I read this on June 30 thanks to Feedly. Grrr…. Anyway! Your May sounds like it was delightful and that you are truly preparing for summer. I’m so sorry that you don’t have a big trip planned… but perhaps you can get away for a weekend? So happy you’re getting to ride your bike to work, and the market, too. Yet another thing I can no longer do. Sigh. I mean, I do ride the stationary bike but an outside bike is a complete no-go for me, unfortunately.
Also, can you please clear something up for me? I swear that I heard someone call white asparagus (which, yum) something like “Spargle”. Is that correct? made up? Am I misremembering something? Thank you in advance, my friend. :)
San
July 2, 2023 at 5:12 pmYes, we call it “Spargel” in German! :) I am surprised someone knows that word. How random!
Anne
July 3, 2023 at 3:56 amIt was something I learned from a friend whose parents (American) lived for many years in Mannheim. He worked as a contractor for the Army. I visited them with my friend a long time ago in the very early spring, so I do not think that it was Spargel season yet, but my friend and her parents talked about it a lot! Wow. I’d forgotten about that trip! Thanks for nudging my memories!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
July 2, 2023 at 9:01 amYou backyard looks so inviting and I am looking forward seeing what your little garden will sprout this year.
I have no words for your tile story. I personally would have probably just have it done myself. The energy lost on the topic would be worth it. Could you handle it? Like get a quite and organize and the just pay it? You would do their job but at least you know it gets done?
Happy (belated) anniversary to you and Jon. Spending time together is so important and I love being at home too so I don’t think it’s a bad thing.
San
July 2, 2023 at 5:15 pmI am not sure we’d be “allowed” to just replace the floor ourselves in a rented apartment. Maybe the landlords would be ok with it, if we asked to “handle it”… but I don’t know if I want to do that.