iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I know the sports families sign all sorts of "I won't sue the school district if I get hurt while playing." Does this also cover agreeing not to sue the school district if players are stolen by the fae? Or do we need to add a special notice for that? Seems like this could be a lot of paperwork

Grassy field with ring of mushrooms in the middle of it.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

We keep planting scarlet runner beans in the garden because they are low maintenance and the flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds. We get like one side-dish's worth of actual beans from them. But I do love getting to where we can start shelling the dried beans. They're just so pretty. 🌱

Scarlet runner beans in dried bean pods next to a small plastic container with some beans that have already been shelled.

The beans are a pretty purple-pink color with black splotches all over.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Apparently the fancy bug-friends get to sit safely on the sidelines to advertise their sponsors. Or at least get to do so until next week. These ones weren't so lucky. What a strange and entertaining event 😂

Three very broken school busses partway through the derby, including #6, which is leaning hard to its left, and potentially missing at least one tire.

Very broken school bus. No idea where its back wheels are, as the body of it is definitely on the ground.

Stray pieces of other busses sit around it on the ground.

The mighty pink bus that kept going far longer than anyone expected with the damage it had, and definitely won over the crowd.

Still pretty sure it would have been good to go if someone had given it a little shove.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

School bus demolition derby night at the fair. I'll be rooting for the fancy bug-friends.

Yellow school bus lined up to await its demolition derby debut. A praying mantis and ladybugs are painted on the side.

Yellow school bus lined up to await its demolition derby debut. Painted on the side is the grim reaper, but with...a hammer?

I guess its sponsored by a roofing company.

Yellow school bus lined up to await its demolition derby debut. There's some sort of lion monster painted on the side.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Kid has a birthday party this weekend, which means it's time for the annual "I know the full recipe is just an unnecessary amount of cake, but how did I adjust it last year...?" Going with 3/4 this time, with plans to have some leftover cupcakes to freeze for emergency cake days. So we'll see.

Printout of King Arthur chocolate stout cake recipe with notes on ingredient adjustments in pencil.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Fighting off imposter syndrome? I wish you the confidence-in-creativity of the 4/5ish year old kid of a friend who drew me some pictures today. A couple minutes later she came back and asked to see them again. "I want to draw smiley faces on them, because I did a REALLY good job."

Two pieces of notebook paper with kid drawings. Back one is partly covered and shows part of a house with a smiley face in the corner. Front page is two rows of alternating "bowties" and sunflowers.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

This guy lives in a gap under bushes in front of a house on our street, and I've always thought him a fun little guy, there to say hello. However, now that we've watched Widow's Bay and @dropout.tv's recent Game Changer episode, he suddenly seems more...unnerving.

Small yard statue of a sailor or fisherman in a yellow raincoat, one hand on a ship's wheel, the other shading his eyes, the better to see you with, my dear, as you walk the sidewalk below. "HELLO" is written across the raincoat in all caps, shouting silently into the void.

I think he's wearing green boots or waders of some sort, but he's buried in the ground up to his knees (trying to escape the grave, perhaps?) so it's hard to tell what's really going on there.

Is very fun and cute for neighborhood children to see as they walk past.

But recent entertainment choices have thrown a bit more of an ominous tone on an innocent (?) New England fisherman statue.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

This counts as prep for my Evolution of Science Fiction Soundtracks WorldCon panel, right? Panel is virtual and starts 6PM PT/9PM ET #LAWorldCon

Screenshot from The Empire Strikes Back, showing Darth Vader in his meditation chamber, about to do some employee hierarchy restructuring.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Haven't been to a (non-youth,) baseball game in...many years. I'd forgotten how fun sports crowd dynamics are, even for my introverted little self. Going to have to make sure I don't wait 15-20 or whatever years before I go again. Go Red Sox! [Just don't tell my Yankee fan family 😬]

Photo of the Boston Red Sox playing the San Francisco Giants at Fenway Park, taken from the seats pretty much behind the center fielder.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I was especially amused by how they deal with the really teeny ones. They go in a tank where the water is just constantly spinning, because it's apparently the best way they've found to keep them all from eating each other with the bonus of helping to aerate the water.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Went to Bar Harbor Oceanarium today and got to learn about their lobster hatchery program Keeping them from eating each other is a challenge, so when they outgrow the baby tank, they get little PVC apartments Looking at photos, couldn't help imagining some lobster rendition of the Cell Block Tango

There are several pieces of pvc pipe in a tank with mesh fastened over the edge.

Inside each mesh/pvc apartment is a very small lobster. Because if they weren't separated, they would all eat each other.

Tank lighting is blue-ish and comes from behind them, creating silhouettes within their little homes, making for very dramatic contrast of little lobster shapes in front of the mesh.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Did you know Maine has a peat bog with pitcher plants? I didn't, but we got to go there today, and it was very cool.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I don't often share Tunesday posts here, but Big Walk is one of those games where I've been running around to everyone I know who's ever played a game, going "Gather your friends! You have to play this!" I've had such a fun time playing it and watching other people discover it. Check it out.

Thumbnail of Big Walk game cover art, which has cropped out most of the title, but shows one of the characters (a cute little cartoony ant-person) sitting on a semi-realistic rock overlooking a beach with a mountain in the background.

Text at the bottom says:
Tunesday 8.11.26 -Big Walk OST by aksfx
Tunesdays With Maurer
Patreon.com/christenamaurer

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

The writer's study for the week while I'm up in Maine on vacation with the family. It's a rough life, but it would have been rude not to join them, ya know?

A desk in the corner of a room, with a window on each wall at the corner. Beyond the window, the tops of trees are visible.

View of what's beyond one of the windows next to the desk. A deck overlooks a forest, and water from the harbor is visible in the distance. There are fun picturesque sailboats out there, but you'll have to trust me because my phone camera doesn't zoom well.

View from other part of the deck, still overlooking the forest, with harbor and mountains visible in the distance

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

New Tunesday Chat post is up! This month, I interviewed Travis Taylor, dev and composer of Chronos Trials RPG & founder of Harmonic Harbour, a platform to help audio freelancers find collaborators and projects. If you are or know a composer who'd like to be featured in a future post, let me know!

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

If there's one thing I hate more than having to rush out to the hardware store for a single item mid-house-project, it's having to do so twice in one day. Fortunately, the hardware store cats showed up (and/or snuggled in) to support me in my time of grief.

Brown and black cat sitting on hardware store floor, wondering if we were going to pick up one of its toys to play with it or just stand there doing nothing useful all day.

Gray, black, and white cat in loaf position on hardware store floor, being scritched a little behind the ears. A rare moment, indeed, as this one is usually hiding back on one of the employees' desks.

Same brown and black cat as before, this time curled up sleeping in a cozy cat bed, front paws extended to best display toe beans.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Green bean season had a rough start in the garden this year, but it's getting into gear now. Cute but unhelpful bunnies didn't leave enough plants for us to be able to toss bags at passersby just to get rid of them like we have in the past, but we should have plenty for us and some sharing. 🌱

Cattle panel arbor with green beans hanging from it.

Pinkish-purple flower of rattlesnake bean plant against a backdrop of the greenery (and more pretty purple on some stems) of the elderberry plant.

Plastic container containing standard "green" green beans and rattlesnake beans (same size, but have some purple/brown stripey patterns)

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

It's also handy for supplying all the local birds with nesting materials when he's shedding his winter coat. We get Baltimore orioles that nest around the yard every year, and I think it's partly because of the Appa fluff.

Big white fluffy dog sitting on a shaded grassy hill in front of a porch, carefully watching the neighborhood. Said hill is covered with a whole bunch of little fluff piles from blowdrying his coat after his recent bath.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

We have one, and it helps 90% of the time. Ours would love to be somewhere where it ever gets over 70F, so when he starts getting too warm, "normal speed" ends up being too fast. So summer is a lot of making portions smaller and trying to get him to drink more water than he seems to think he needs.

Big white fluffy dog in the hole he's been digging under the porch to keep cool this summer.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Appa doesnt always get to go on long car rides with us, but when he does, he basically gets to sleep the whole time while being within convenient reach of scritches.

Big white fluffy dog sleeping with face all scrunched up, as seen looking back between driver and passenger seats.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Strawberries are nearing the end of their harvest for this year, but black raspberries are eager to jump in to fill the spot for the next bunch of weeks.

On left, plastic Tupperware half full of ripe black raspberries. On right, Tupperware full of ripe strawberries.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Three weeks after the last strawberry update, and they're still going strong in the garden We've made jam, syrup (for strawberry cardamom iced tea and strawberry lemonade), the amazing Serious Eats strawberry ice cream (link below), and now strawberry shortcake. And have frozen a ton. 🍓 success.

White bowl containing shortcake biscuit topped with strawberries and whipped cream.

Garden photo. Hand is holding aside some leaves and presenting a bunch of eight strawberries at various stages of ripeness. Some vivid red, some still small and green.

8 jars of strawberry jam set on a cutting board to cool.

Plastic dish full of bright red strawberries.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

So begins the 2026 season of trying to get as many strawberries as possible before the robins and catbirds grab the fruit tax they claim for eating all the garden bugs.

Nearly-ripe strawberry bright red against a background of bright green leaves

Unripe strawberry that some sort of garden critter has been snacking on.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Free spoon has been acquired! It's a fun spoon. Certainly worth trying weird pizza soup for. The pizza soup is...not an abomination? Without the weird pepperoni chunks, it would be an entirely acceptable pre-packaged tomato soup. If we were more of a soup household, I'd try their other flavors 🤷‍♀️

Soup spoon held over a bowl of pizza soup. The spoon has "happy spoon * happy you" etched into the spoon-bowl around a smiling spoon.

Spoons within spoons within spoons.

The convex side of the spoon bowl, which has a smiley face etched in the metal. Behind it is the same bowl as the other photo, now empty of soup

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

9 y.o. seems to find it physically painful to leave a store with a single dollar of spending money left in his pocket, so we don't go to Target except in emergencies. Like forgetting about a friend's birthday party that is tomorrow I think I know where all his savings will be going this year...

Shadow the Hedgehog Batmobile from DC/Sonic crossover series.

DC/Sonic crossover series toys: Cyborg Tails on left. Shadow the Bat-Hedgehog in center. Super Knuckles on right.

Action figures from DC/Sonic crossover series.
From left to right:
Sonic-Flash, Flash, Wonder-Amy, Wonder Woman, Silver Lantern, Green Lantern

Action figures from DC/Sonic crossover series.
From left to right:
Sonic-Flash, Shadow the Bat-Hedgehog, Silver Lantern

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Purchased this abomination at Aldi, partly because I was intrigued by the offer of a free spoon with purchase. Turns out they're pretty nice spoons. But it requires a Walmart receipt for the offer 😭 I have sent them a sad email, so we will see what happens.

Pouch of "Pizza Soup" with a picture of a slice of pizza on the front. Advertises "pepperoni, tomato, and cheese" and "11g protein" and has a "craveable creations" sticker on it.

I have many questions.

And I want the spoon they promised me.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I always forget how fun aquarium visits are. 🐙🐧🐢🦭

Reddish pink octopus in front of bluish-brown rocks with two tentacles lifted up in front of it, showing suction-cups on their undersides.

Two African penguins on rocks in aquarium exhibit. The one in front is standing facing the camera. The one behind it is sort of perched on its stomach having a little snooze

Sea turtle in big aquarium tank looking at the camera.

Harbor seal in tank floating almost entirely vertically with just its head sticking out of the water, and generally looking very dignified.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Was going to crochet a gift for a friend's new little girl, but remembered the scraps of pink/purple/teal dino fabric I had in the fabric stash. So, I dug out the sewing machine and went back to the patchwork pillow tradition Now, to start thinking about quilts for another friend who's due soon

Patchwork pillow in an assortment of pink, teal, purple, and navy fabrics in the shape of a four-legged animal (usually assumed to be a dog. Some recipients have insisted it's a horse. One proudly claims it's a llama. I like to leave the options open).

It's facing to the right.

Opposite side of the same patchwork pillow in an assortment of pink, teal, purple, and navy fabrics in the shape of a four-legged animal (usually assumed to be a dog. Some recipients have insisted it's a horse. One proudly claims it's a llama. I like to leave the options open.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Temperatures were slightly above freezing, so we went to see what was going on at the beach. (Got to see many dogs out for walkies, which is always nice) Winter coastlines are quite something.

Photo along the beach with ice shards marking where high tide hit.

Lighthouse surrounded by snow on a rocky island. There's a narrow sliver of clear bluish-pink sky in the distance between dramatic gray clouds above and dark water below.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Meanwhile, Appa is outside quite literally just chilling. (To be fair, it is now above 0)

Great pyrenees (big fluffy white doggo) relaxing in a snowy yard in unnecessarily cold temperatures.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Our tree has become a "How many bluebirds can you find?" puzzle while the little puffballs wait for me to refresh the mealworm supply.

Six Eastern Bluebirds perched among the bare limbs of a tree.

The same six Eastern bluebirds in the branches of a tree, but circled in blue on the photo.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

As a chronic overthinker, honestly this could be a shift in a helpful direction 😂

Merriam-Webster "Your 2026 Word" screenshot meme.

It selected "slapdash"

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

No cheating, reskeet with the most recent photo of your pet. Most animals when its 18*F out: "Nope." Appa: living his best life.

White fluffy dog flopped down on his back in a snowy yard with legs all splayed out in all directions.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

He's not sleeping. He's just resting his eyes.

Big white fluffy dog (Great Pyrenees) on couch next to blanket covered human, his head resting against the back of the couch and eyes shut, with front paw on human for convenient swatting in case scritches pause for too long.

Totally not napping. Very alert.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

And another photo, because my phone wouldn't let me put them both in the same post for reasons unknown.

Photo of yard next to driveway with a brown and black cat sitting in the driveway carefully watching the brush in the yard for anything worth hunting.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

I get to celebrate Caturday this week, as we had one of the neighborhood wanderers stop by to scope out the small rodent situation in our upper yard. The dog was...not pleased, so I went out to shoo the kitty away, only to have him/her rub against my legs and flop down for scritches. #caturday

Brown and black cat with white belly and green eyes rolled over onto its back to "request belly scritches"

I may not be a cat person, but I have seen enough memes to know this is a trap.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

Traditional Halloween Eldritch Horror game was delayed a week because of kid activities, but snacks and tea have been served, and it's time to watch the world fall into chaos. But the board game version, so it's fun Lovecraftian chaos.

Eldritch Horror game board set to play, with a mug of tea and plate of cheese, salami, and crackers next to it.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Appa says that it is time for scritches, not naps.

Big white fluffy dog (great pyrenees) on the other end of the couch, already squashing my feet under a blanket and staring me down, with intentions to paw at me until he gets some scritches.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

A plus of living in an old New England town is that the mill buildings house all sorts of fun businesses and workspaces. Like the women's club/co-work/makerspace I got around to joining so that I can write without laundry threatening from the next room. 10/10 Autumn sky through old window views.

View of bright blue sky with picturesque clouds as seen through a big ol' paned window from inside an old repurposed textile mill building.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

My wind ensemble does a costumed fall concert every year, which I love because I *usually* go with slightly obscure nerdy costumes, and they're more likely to recognize them in that crowd. I don't think that will be an issue this year. This year we're gonna be ✨️Golden✨️ 💃🎶

Right side view of costume jacket for KPop Demon Hunters Rumi costume on a dress form.

Black cropped jacket with ALL the gold trim and gold pauldron (with MORE trim) on right shoulder.

Gold chain belt around "waist" of dress form waiting to go over the rest of the costume.

Left-side view of costume jacket for KPop Demon Hunters Rumi costume on a dress form.

Black cropped jacket with ALL the gold trim and gold pauldron (with MORE trim) on right shoulder.

Gold chain belt around "waist" of dress form waiting to go over the rest of the costume.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Anyone want to purchase my handmade version, which I have been developing for years to best meet the needs of modern individuals, and didn’t throw together in 30sec? Classic, intuitive checkmark system! 2-sided cards for flexibility! Color-coded to assign tasks to categories! On sale $89.98

A bunch of brightly colored 3×5 notecards propped up in a plastic container on a desk with notebooks on the shelves behind it.

Front card is pink, with "Things to do" written at the top and a numbered list below with question marks by each number except 1. Idea ✔️, 6. Tea ✔️ 9. Profit

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Garden green beans are still going strong, but kiddo is pretty tired of them Today's strategy: turn "green bean/ground beef tart" (GBx2 plus onion, cheese, herbs on puff pastry on sheet pan) into a "pizza pocket" (same things but folded up in pizza dough, then dip in marinara) Bets on how it goes?

Four green bean and ground beef "pizza pockets" on a pizza stone after getting pulled out of the oven.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

9 y.o. got a birthday gift from a friend. The parents apologized, but I don't know any better forms of harmless, mildly annoying entertainment that will only survive a week anyway He hasn't gotten the "prank" part, but there's been a lot of joyful running around yelling "Here comes Mr. Fartyman!" 💨

Classic pink whoopee cushion.

Text on it reads "Whoopee Cushion The Classic Prank"

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Starting to shell some of the scarlet runner beans as the pods dry out, and I can't get over how pretty they are. 🌱

At left, unshelled greenish-brown scarlet runner beans pods. At center, a scarlet runner bean pod where half of the pod has been removed to reveal large beans, which have a little pink showing through dark blue and black splotches. At right, blue bowl with shelled beans

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Kiddo got a new board game for his birthday. So it will be race cars 24/7 in our house for a while.

Picture of race track game board from the game Heat. Yellow car piece is out in front of the pack, with silver, black, green, blue, and red cars several spaces back.

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

Better be the best salsa ever, because now the oven is giving us error codes and I don't know what trying to roast a bunch of tomatoes did to cause that trouble Probably a bunch of steam at a reasonably high temperature. But still. Anyway, that's another 5+ pounds of garden tomatoes dealt with.

Two sheet pans and one pyrex dish on oven racks. They're full of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and jalapeños waiting for roasting.

Two sheet pans and one pyrex dish on the stove top, cooling. They're full of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and jalapeños, with some nice tasty charred spots

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Sometimes the Garden Guardian keeps an eye on the neighborhood from the porch while I harvest things. Other times he follows me around demanding the Bean Tax. Could anyone refuse such a floof when he asks so nicely for just a few cronchy beans?

Big white fluffy dog (great pyrenees) sitting nicely next to a wire fence covered in green bean vines, licking his chops in anticipation of being given a green bean.

Big white fluffy dog (great pyrenees) sitting nicely next to a wire fence covered in green bean vines, snuffling the green bean I'm holding out to him to ensure quality control. (It was deemed acceptable and carried off for snacking)

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

So. Gardensky (is that what we call that social corner?). What does someone do with...just far too many elderberries. Already made some jam. Still have these and more to be picked. Plus two other plants that aren't ripe yet. We do not currently have winemaking supplies, unfortunately. 🌱

Plastic container containing 2 quarts of small dark purple berries (with some green ones and stems I still need to remove)

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Busy couple of days in the garden. Guess it's time to make more salsa. 🌱

Garden harvest set out on glass stove top, featuring a plastic container heaped over with red and yellow tomatoes and a big red mixing bowl full of green beans, with a small pile of yardlong beans (not actually a yard long, but some are probably 18-20 inches) set out in front of them

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