Field Notes 6/16/25

Hey friends! We’re back with another weekly round up. I am going to skip the categories this time and see how it goes. I feel like they’re not the correct ones yet but I am running out of time to get this post done so we’ll see how this works until I get a moment to recreate them. I kind of think that the things I am sharing with you are not fitting into the correct categories and until I figure out how to categorize the information I might as well not use them.

Anyway. Where should we start? How about with all the yummy food I’ve been making lately! I made shrimp and veggie tacos and topped them with cabbage slaw and chimcurri. I used corn tortillas for the taco shell. And friends, let me just say I wish I could eat these tacos every night! I didn’t even have any side dishes. Just tacos. One night I stood in front of the TV and ate them while watching season 3 of Ginny & Georgia. It was a good night. LOL. I also made a quick avocado, tomato, cucumber salad with chickpeas and parsley! YUM.

I did made a spinach pie of sorts. It was bland so I will recreate it and then share the recipe with you. There’s something there, but it just didn’t feel complete yet. I also made waffles for my TV segment on WATE Living East Tennessee last week. I’d taken a hiatus from anything Chicken Librarian, including the TV show. But we are back at it now! I even went in today and taped two segments for the Fourth of July! Stay tuned! I did a dessert charcuterie board for one segment and then used is as a centerpiece for a table scape. You can watch the segment here (for some reason I can’t embed this video so you’ll have to click and watch on their site!).

Daenel and I have decided on July’s pie! You will be so happy to hear it’s more of a traditional pie, with a twist. Stay tuned for that as well. You can see last month’s pie here.

I got so much done around the house this past week. I power washed the entire back side of the house. I’d started that project a few weeks ago and got the garage side of the back of the house done. But I needed to move everything off the back porch in order to get that portion done. I got home from work one afternoon and got to it! I even mowed and weed whacked the entire yard. It was a nice feeling. I power washed a lot of the rugs as well. I allowed everything to dry and then vacuumed the back porch and put everything back together. And before you say ‘vacuumed the back porch!?’ it is screened in and so sweeping it doesn’t do much good. Vacuuming does. LOL.

I haven’t done much in the way of trail running. Mostly I have been working. And it’s been raining a lot here so dodging rain drops has been key. I’ve been helping my friend/cousin out at her kennels and last week was training week. I will be there to help out as needed. It’s a good reprieve from driving circles around Knoxville. I’ve met some really fun dogs and had the best time playing with them!

I started reading The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s really good! I’ll give you an update once I am done.

What else? Mostly I am doing okay. I think about the future and what I want and how to get there. Some days it is harder than others. The past couple of days I’ve been overthinking things. A lot. I am in a loop where I don’t see the future or a way out of my current situation. The theory is that anxiety is living in the future and I would totally agree with that. I’ve been taking some much needed time to figure out my current situation and now I am starting to worry about the future. It’s not a bad thing. I think the universe is gently nudging me to start taking some leaps soon. I sort of know what those leaps will be but I haven’t made any moves to put anything into action. And I think that is what is causing the anxiety. I know what I want to do but I am still a little hesitant to make it happen.

In the meantime I am going to continue to try to enjoy this period of my life. I have been afforded the opportunity to work on myself. To make major changes. To say “I can go anywhere and do anything”. And with that comes freedom. Freedom from having to settle. Freedom from having to decide to take the well traveled road. I get to take the path less traveled. I can decide to go anywhere at any point. That used to scare me. And sometimes it still does, but I know that is my primitive brain telling me that there is danger because what I am deciding to do is different than what I’ve always done.

I think there is something to this Chicken Librarian business, but I am not in any hurry to make it into something else. We’re doing good to get a blog post or two done per week. I keep meaning to take photos of everything and share it with you. I will get better about that, I promise. It’s just that I put everything down for so long that I have to relearn how to pick the camera up again and take photos. I was looking back at my blog looking for a specific photos and I was reminded of how I used to just take photos. What the heck! Just snapping away! I will get back there. I’ve really missed being creative. I said this on the TV segment today-I think about being creative all the time. I see things as I’m driving and I think ‘gosh, that would make a great photo’. Or I make something and think “I should get a photo of this!”. And I will. It’s all muscle memory. I have enough down time now in between delivering groceries that I can use it to edit photos. It’s actually the best use of my time in between orders. And it helps alleviate that pressure to sit down and edit photos at night.

Speaking of delivering groceries. I don’t take any time off during the actual work day. No lunch break. I barely stop for gas or to use the bathroom. That needs to change. I need to get better about taking breaks and making that a priority. I’ve talked about it for a while now. I think the next couple of weeks I really need to dig into setting a good routine and schedule. That will help me as I move forward in life, no matter what direction I take.

Hmm. What else? I have been so busy in the kitchen lately that I think that’s all I do anymore-clean the kitchen! It’s nonstop, but it’s a lot of fun getting in there and creating something yummy. I still have a big to-do list but I am managing to get things done. I am in the process of planning my big birthday bash. I will get that taken care of next so I can start getting the invitations sent out.

Oh! Did I mention that I’ve started playing tennis again? Well. It’s not exactly playing. It’s more like getting reacquainted with it. I am a member of a FaceBook group here in Knoxville (Fun with Friends) and someone mentioned that they wanted to start playing tennis again and I immediately signed up! We’ve met up a couple of times now. He is much better than I am but he is patient and allows me to miss the ball all the time. I wish I had more time to play. So far we are trying for once per week with our respective schedules. Last week was rained out. But today’s session was good. I am getting slightly better each time. I am channeling my inner tennis star.

And one final update. I have been thrifting a little more for new-to-me clothes lately. I’m finding some good deals at Goodwill! I think I mentioned it in last week’s post but it’s worth mentioning again. I don’t like the KARM thrift stores here in Knoxville. They are so expensive, but y’all know how I love to thrift for my clothes! So I started hitting up the Goodwill stores. You have to really look through and try things on, but I have found some really great pieces lately. I found a Zara dress and it was 50% off so I only paid $3.50 for it! I also found a JCrew blazer. It was 50% last week but I didn’t buy it so I ended up paying $9 for it today. That’s okay. It’s still a good deal!

I think we’ll wrap this up here. I am sure I will think of a million things to tell you once I hit publish, but I will make note of it and try to remember to share it with you next week. Oh. I think I promised you some photos of the front porch but everything got really we with this rain we’ve been having lately. i had to take the rug off the porch and dry it. I’ve taken the tablecloth off the table. Once I get everything put back together, I will share the completed porch with you! Stay tuned. I’m always saying that, I know.

‘til next time
-k
xoxo