What's Up Wednesday- Aug. 20th


 Island Exploration & Thanksgiving in August


What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what's up.  Should you wish to join, check out Jaime's or Erin's lovely blogs and sign up with the link widget at the bottom of the post.

WHAT I'M READING

Most of my reading this week has been "work-related". I use that phrase loosely these days, as just about anything regarding plants, animals, nature or conservation qualifies as "work". *grin of delight* I love learning about new things: discovering plants with new properties, unusual animal behaviors, and of course the "what the hell is that?" learning curve that happens more frequently than you'd imagine. We might have found a species of invertebrate while snorkeling that hasn't been documented in Florida.

WHAT I'M WRITING

I've been working, albeit rather slowly, on my latest round of edits on ISIS. Real Life is still crazy busy, so I'm trying to budget time where I can. I've also been doing some plotting for shiny new collaborative book, which might be something I get to work on during NaNo. 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO/ WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW
  • One of my trips was canceled due to forest fires. (Boo) So instead we decided to throw a party. Because apparently I don't have enough to do. *facepalm* We decided to have Thanksgiving in August. Because August is lacking in holidays, and I needed an excuse to make tasty vegan food for a bunch of friends and hang twinkle lights everywhere. And despite trying out a couple of new recipes, including a seitan roulade and rosemary sweet potato stackers, everything turned out beautifully. Those in attendance have determined that we should make it an annual event.

Thanksgiving in August: Seitan Roulade from VeganYumYum, Rosemary Sweet Potato Stackers, Braised Asparagus with Chipotle Aioli, & White Chocolate Mousse with Orange Zest (ate it before we remembered pics)


  • We've been exploring new islands in our area. I love finding hidden beaches I've never been to. (like the one above, how pretty is that?) We've been doing wildlife surveys and seagrass surveys in places we haven't visited before. Some of them seem untouched and we feel like the first human explorers to set foot in the sand.

Oh and p.s. thanks so much for all the cool ideas for the Magic Forest last week. I've been trying out all kinds of fun new ideas thanks to you guys. I think I need a bigger fairy lights budget though. *grin*










9 comments:

  1. Thanksgiving in August sounds like a GREAT idea! You're right, August is definitely lacking in holidays.

    And how cool that you potentially discovered an undocumented species in Florida! :) Have a great week Kris!

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  2. Lol! 'I needed an excuse ... to hang twinkle lights everywhere.' I used to keep them in my kitchen window just for fun too. (before we moved)
    Sounds like you're having an amazing time :)

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  3. This looks all YUMMY!!!!! And I love love love the beach picture...good luck with your edits and have a great week!

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  4. That beach is amaaaaaaaazing! :O

    Happy Summer Thanksgiving! BOO to forest fires!

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  5. Wow work sounds like a lot of fun. Discovering an undocumented species is exciting. :) Happy August Thanksgiving!

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  6. I love that you celebrated Thanksgiving in August! We should be thankful all year, so why not? Those rosemary sweet potato stackers look incredible! We like to bake ours with brandy or maple syrup and cranberries. Everyone has been talking about fall coming today in their WUW posts and this is just pushing me over the edge into what Jaime and I like to refer to as "Pumkinpalooza."

    I'm amazed that you guys might have discovered an undocumented species of invertebrate. That's so cool! It just goes to show that there are many, many things yet to learn about our planet.

    As usual, I'm wondering how you find time to write anything, considering all the other activities you've got going on. Keep plugging away at those edits! :)

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  7. Sorry to hear your trip was cancelled, but it sounds like you've been having fun! Good luck with the edits! :)

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  8. I can't wait to hear more about your Magic Forest. It's stuff like that that makes me want to write! Once again, your life sounds like a cross between a vacation and work-a-holicism. It sounds delightful. Have another great one!

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  9. Rosemary sweet potato stackers...those sound SOOO good. I sometimes wonder if I'd get sick of Thanksgiving if I had a giant feast every month, but I don't think I would. As long as I wasn't the one cooking :)

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