Friday Five: August 8, 2025

Happy Friday! I'm reflecting on a week that's been full of creative energy, garden progress, and the joy of sharing something you love with someone who's experiencing it for the first time. Here are five things that have been on my mind:

1. This is my husband's first full Minnesota summer, and watching him experience it has been like rediscovering my own home state. We spent last weekend at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, and I got to see the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture through someone else's eyes for the first time in years.

   
   

   

   
   

   It's wonderful being a tour guide in your own life, sharing the things you've maybe taken for granted with someone who's seeing them with fresh eyes. We were delighted by the way the sculptures looked against the skyline and the unexpected whimsy of the giant blue rooster.

   
   

   Now I'm already planning our State Fair adventure, which feels like the ultimate Minnesota summer initiation. I've been making lists of all the foods we have to try, obviously including cheese curds and Sweet Martha's cookies. It's fun having an excuse to slow down and really notice the place you live, experiencing it through the eyes of someone who chose to make it home alongside you. It's made me appreciate not just Minnesota, but the life we're building here together.

   
   

2. I've been putting in long days at work lately, but I'm not complaining. We've been working on the kind of creative projects that make time slip away without you noticing, where you look up and realize it's somehow the end of the day and you've been completely absorbed in problem-solving and bringing ideas to life.

   
   

   I've been thinking about how rare this feeling is and how important it is to notice it when it happens. Work-life balance is crucial, but there's something to be said for the times when work feels less like something you have to balance and more like a natural extension of who you are and what you love doing.

   
   

3. My garden is teaching me about boundaries this summer. The cucumbers have been attempting a hostile takeover of the pepper plants. I planted them too close together, unsure if either would survive when they were tiny, but they have both been thriving.

   
   

   The cucumber vines are constantly creeping toward the pepper plants and I'm spending time playing garden mediator, gently untangling tendrils and trying to give everyone enough space to thrive. It's fascinating to watch, this silent plant drama happening in slow motion.

   
   

   

   
   

   And then there is the raspberry bush, which continues to be the garden's biggest mystery. Lush, green, healthy-looking, and completely fruit-free. Gardening teaches that we can do our best, follow all the advice, and still end up with chaos and disappointment. Somehow, that's part of the joy: the unpredictability, the way life has its own agenda that doesn't always align with our plans.

   
   

4. My husband's grandmother gave us the Crockpot Dutch oven from our wedding registry. This week we gave it a try, I made a pot roast with carrots and potatoes that can only be described as transcendent. It's a meal that feels so nostalgic to us and we both loved how much it reminded us of our childhood.

   
   

   

   
   

   Pot Roast Recipe

   
   

   There's something deeply satisfying about this kind of cooking that requires patience but rewards you with minimal effort. You do the prep work early, trust the process, and come home to something that tastes like you've been tending it all day. It feels like a small act of faith, and maybe that's part of what makes it so good.

   
   

5. All of the remaining chickens at the farm are still accounted for (I'm knocking on wood as I type this). After the incident a couple of weeks ago, we've been on high alert, but we are cautiously optimistic that whatever creature was causing problems has moved on.

   
   

   Farm life has taught me so much about the balance between doing everything you can to protect something you love, and acknowledging that some things are ultimately beyond your control.

As I finish writing this, I am noticing the sun is starting to set earlier. August always carries this bittersweet awareness that summer is not infinite and these long, warm evenings won't stretch on forever. To me that makes them more precious, knowing they're borrowed time before the seasons change again.

This week has been a good reminder that the best life isn't necessarily the easiest one, but the one where you're paying attention, and you're engaged with your work and your garden and the people you love.