A monthly list of good things to do, buy, read, watch, and more.
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Happy June! Growing up in Oregon, June often felt like summer elsewhere while we still had rain, cool temperatures, and gray skies.
This year is different. The western part of Oregon has warmed up earlier than usual. We’ve seen swings from the 60s and 70s into the 80s and even 90s, then back again a few days later.
It’s felt like spring with unpredictable temperatures, but not like spring with so little rain. I’ve been watering regularly and watching new seedlings closely after planting.
Still, I’m glad to be outdoors more and to do things without a mask. Life feels closer to normal than last year, and I’m here for it.
Good Things
Gardening
This past month has been all about gardening: getting the vegetable garden fully planted, harvesting rhubarb, broccoli, and kale, and creating a new “sunken garden” beside the farmhouse.
The veggie garden is always a roller coaster. Ground squirrels ate all the pea seedlings in April and some lettuce in early May, but the tomatoes are thriving and several flowers meant for cutting are sprouting. The berry bushes are in bloom, and it’s encouraging to watch everything come alive.
I plan to do garden walk-throughs several mornings a week on Instagram, so if you’re there, check my stories for updates.
This is the second full season with the garden in its current layout, though it’s year four since we began adding beds. Early on we had no deer fencing, so harvests were limited. Over time we’ve added low-maintenance raised beds, a simple watering system, and wood-chip paths laid over cardboard to help suppress weeds.
The new herb and flower garden—our so-called sunken garden—was excavated when the farmhouse foundation was installed and has been covered in black plastic until now. It’s thrilling to see it finally planted and looking better already.
The garden sits a few steps below the walkway and driveway, so “sunken” felt right. I divided it into four quadrants planted with species that deer tend to avoid. Current plantings include:
- “Green Gem” boxwood—smaller and oval-shaped without heavy pruning.
- Herbs: thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, catnip, lemon verbena, and lots of lavender.
- Perennials: coneflower, black-eyed Susan, salvia, campanula, hardy geranium, coreopsis, and delphinium.
- Annuals: alyssum and zinnia.
I’d like to add chives, iris, and snapdragons. It will be fascinating to see how the space matures and which plants the deer ignore.
A Woman’s Garden Book
My long-awaited copy of A Woman’s Garden by Tanya Anderson finally arrived. It was delayed by the pandemic, so I took my time leafing through it with a cup of tea and planned to dive deeper later.
The book is filled with large, beautiful photos, tours of inspiring real-life gardens, and practical tutorials for making useful things with garden produce. There’s a surprising section on edible flowers and ideas like edible flower ice cubes that make even plain water look elegant.
I found particular inspiration in a North Carolina garden that uses raised beds and wood-chip paths, and I’m eager to try growing more medicinal herbs and experimenting with simple preparations.
It’s not just a pretty coffee-table book; it’s practical too. If your library carries it, consider borrowing a copy, or pick one up for your own collection.
Perfect Light & Airy Desk
I needed a small desk near the kitchen and staircase that wouldn’t block sightlines or crowd the area. I wanted something light, with open legs so the stairs still felt airy, and a flexible surface for occasional extra workspace.
After hunting online and in thrift stores without success, I found the Ikea Ingatorp desk with drop-leaf sides. The design is simple and airy, and the fold-up leaves are surprisingly useful: I keep one side lowered most of the time and raise it when I need more space.
The desk has a modest drawer and a small port for a charging cord. It’s not a heavy-duty piece, but it fits this spot perfectly and keeps the kitchen from feeling cluttered. Delivery was worth the extra cost since the nearest Ikea is a long drive for us.
Robotic Vacuum
We recently added a robotic vacuum to our main-floor cleaning routine. We chose an affordable model, the iRobot Roomba i4, which we picked up at Costco. With a membership discount it felt like a good value compared with traditional vacuums.
Pros:
- Transitions well between hard floors and area rugs.
- Reaches under sofas and chairs easily.
- Picks up small debris and dog hair tufts effectively.
- Runs quietly compared with older models.
- Most importantly: you don’t have to push a vacuum around.
Cons:
- Default cleaning can loop repeatedly in a single room—this is adjustable in the app but not obvious to find.
- Our dog reacts to it, barking and nipping while it runs.
- Not suitable for jute or wool rugs; it pulls fibers and clogs the bin.
- Light-colored floor-length curtains can pick up dirt from the sweeper if left out.
- It can’t reach tight corners, under some furniture, or stairs—so you still need to spot-clean by hand.
If you use a robot vacuum, I’d love to hear what you think of yours.
Vintage Style Glass Drying Rack
I’ve long used a vintage-style metal bottle drying rack for mason jars and narrow-neck bottles. It’s one of the most useful items on our kitchen counter—perfect for drying jars used for leftovers, dressings, and homemade dog food, and indispensable for drying kefir bottles.
When the farmhouse moved in, I pared down counter items to a few essentials; this rack stayed. I keep it on a vintage platter because I often dry jars that still have a bit of water in them. Aside from its usefulness, it adds character to the kitchen and similar reproduction versions are affordable.
May Reads
Make Life Beautiful by Shea & Syd McGee: A fun listen while hemming curtains. The book traces Studio McGee’s early struggles and growth, sharing business lessons and a focus on family and partnership that felt encouraging.
Queens of the Conquest: England’s Medieval Queens (book 1) by Alison Weir: My first Alison Weir read, and I’m glad I started here. The book explores medieval English queens with detail and context—some sections are dense, but the perspective on women of the era and the historical ties to surviving castles and artifacts made it worthwhile. I plan to read book two.
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish: A layered novel set in two time periods, following an aging historian in modern London and a 17th-century transcriber who worked for a blind rabbi. The prose can be scholarly at times, but the historical threads and character arcs became compelling. I listened to this while working in the garden and appreciated the depth, though I wished for a stronger ending.
The Lost Letter by Mimi Matthews: A light, clean Victorian romance that was exactly what I wanted after heavier books. It’s a short reuniting love story centered on a missing letter and delivers a satisfying happily-ever-after.
Long read in progress: Brian and I are halfway through The Neil Gaiman Reader: Fiction, a compilation of 52 short stories and excerpts spanning several decades. It’s a long listen at about 27 hours, so progress is slow but enjoyable.
Watching
TV & Movies:
Shadow and Bone (Netflix): An engaging fantasy series adapted from YA books. Themes of acceptance, family, and prejudice run through a world with a turn-of-the-century feel. We enjoyed it overall, even if the ending felt underwhelming.
Stowaway (Netflix): A film with strong actors and tense moments, but the pacing was slow and the ending disappointing.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (Netflix): An animated family film with heart and humor. We found it a bit flat but still a fun, PG-friendly Saturday night pick.
Synchronic (Netflix): A time-travel–adjacent thriller that didn’t land for us. It jumped around early on and the science-fiction elements felt off, especially at the conclusion.
That’s it for another edition of the Good Things List!
If you’d like to see more of what I’m enjoying, check out past Good Things Lists. I’d love to hear what you think—if you’ve tried any of these items or have recommendations, leave a comment below.
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