Oh! You pretty things

Ack, what a terrible AI-generated ebook version of D K Broster's The Wounded Name. : ( The cover looks like it's...something out of some 20th century war? And according to the summary, "The story likely follows the fortunes of a Scottish clan and its members as they become embroiled in the political and military conflicts of the time." WTF. Why must the internet fill up with crap?

Alas, Eva has disappeared today and was probably taken by a fox. : (( Her ducklings are all grown up and I do not think they miss her. I shed some tears, but actually more for Egon than for her, because he keeps looking around for her and not finding her. : ( They always stuck together. But I'm actually glad they're not in monogamous pairs like geese, because the other partner can sometimes die of grief when one of them dies. We have also lost a very good brooder. Why can't the fox take males instead, if it has to take our ducks?? But I'm not surprised it took Eva, because she was the one always wandering off from the rest of the flock, with Egon following after. She was also blind on one eye.

ETA: OMG, EVA IS BACK!!! Where on earth has she been?? She was gone for like five hours, which never happens. Whatever she was doing, I am VERY glad to have her back. <3 <3

I did not sign up for Yuletide, sigh. I am just so busy right now, and it felt like too much pressure. Perhaps I will treat. But I did sign up for the Get Your Words Out challenge to write 15 days in November and 15 in December. I WILL finish that longfic.

I roasted the following in the oven with olive oil and salt: parsnips, parsley root, potatoes, carrots, yellow beets, acorn squash. To go with that, I took the baby summer squash and baby butternuts and put them in an oven pan, covered with a mix of bread crumbs, butter, basil, hazelnuts run in a blender, and grated parmesan cheese (I almost, but not quite, reinvented pesto there...). On the side, there was baba ganoush, and also fresh shelled beans in butter, chopped parsley, salt, and juice from flowering quince (which I use as a lemon replacement). Can recommend!

There were four vegetables from the garden in this meal that we tasted for the first time:
- Parsnips (I generally like parsnips, but hmm, ours were not top notch somehow. They were also a bit small and skinny, so perhaps a little more manure for them next year.)
- Parsley root (I had never had this before--it does taste of parsley, but also a bit earthy and mealy. I wasn't a huge fan, and as it also didn't sprout well, we might not grow this again.)
- Acorn squash (Yes! I loved the rich and nutty taste, and this was one I picked because I thought it didn't look quite mature, and it was still delicious. Will grow again, and more of it.)
- Greek Gigantes runner beans (Yum! Huge white beans, creamy and buttery and tasty. I thought at first that they hadn't been that productive, which is true in terms of number of beans, but they're so huge that if you go by weight they were still cropping well.)

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That is only one representative of the large quantity of white pattypan squash we have left! They do keep quite well though. Alas, the butternut squashes did not have time to fully ripen. Nor did the acorn squashes on the table, but there were five mature ones we already harvested, so I'll get to taste them how they properly should be, at least (I've never had acorn squash before!). Still in the garden is the frost-hardy stuff: leeks, parsnips, swedes, salsify, brussel sprouts, kale, etc. ALTHOUGH I just thought to double-check how frost-hardy swedes are, and hmm, not actually so much, so this post was interrupted by going out to put fabric over them. I suppose we should harvest them tomorrow.