This year has been a year of in-betweens and soons, of anxiety, waiting, and worry. This year has also been a year of anticipation and hope. Videos were few and far between. Today, I'll fast-forward you through the summer. It's time we catch up a bit.

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For years, we'd talked about getting kayaks. In late June, we finally got to fulfill that dream. In July, we spent every possible minute on the water. I got excited over every animal friend. I have endless hours of footage of pretty water views taken from the kayaks--with and without wildlife. The Peene National Park is stunningly beautiful. The exercise helped my body which was weak from the lack of a garden.

Hoping for a quiet night with beavers, we even paddled to a camp ground. Unfortunately, we were far from alone there. The campground was almost entirely full. We watched the sun set over the river, and Pepper caught mosquitoes from my lap. When a party boat arrived the next morning, we paddled back home. One of the hottest days of the year made it a long paddle. When we got back to the dock we'd started at, unpacking had to wait, so I could watch the nuptial flight of ants.

We took full advantage of the rainless sunny weeks that caused heat waves in much of Germany. Pepper enjoyed the sunshine. It didn't rain for weeks, and we got many opportunities for paddling.

At home, an overwhelmed neighbor had brought me a bird some kids had harassed. The local organizations all didn't have any capacity to help, so I decided to do what I could without experience. At least, someone could help me identify the bird. I'd been handed a swift.

Swifts are really hard to feed, as they only eat flying insects, but we were lucky: the parents helped me. The bird was very weak at first but quickly gained weight. I took it in the first nights, then it just nested outside. If I didn't check on it often enough, it knocked on the window. Cute little bugger. After a few days of care, it flew off and joined the flock.

Other interesting birds showed up outside our window in the city. This green woodpecker was especially exciting, and we watched it dig for ants between the flowers.

I finally got baking under control again. Breads, rolls, and pizza came out reliably good again.

We'd hoped the gifted garden house couch would last through the time here but it started wobbling even under my weight. So, we ordered the bean bags for the patio early and went full student-housing style. The old couch had to go.

We spent more time on the water. And then, I got to see something very exciting. On our way back shortly before sunset one evening, we got to see a beaver. We only had our phones but there is even footage of the encounter. For a good ten minutes, we watched the animal. I knew beavers were big but seeing one up close drove home just how big they are. We'd hoped to see beavers here some day but we expected it would happen on a camping trip. When a motorboat audibly approached the area, it dove down and vanished. It hadn't minded us hanging out quietly. I don't blame it. I strongly dislike the motorboats, as well.

In mid-August, I rented a trailer, and a friend and I took down the greenhouse in the old garden. The garden is overgrown with tall grasses and all kinds of plants in between. It's hard to even see the beds. Leaving the garden felt weird. It helped a lot that I already knew we'd have a new place soon. I haven't heard anything about anyone taking over, so I assume this will stay wilderness for a while.

When we were done that day, only a stack of bricks was left where the greenhouse had been. I picked those up when I drove past two weeks later.

The friend who helped me had also let me harvest these Mirabelle plums from a tree in her garden. I took home many. Oh, so many. Over the next days, I removed the pits and cooked them down into jam. Some were still green, so I left those to ripen. This tool made it a lot easier. I'd gotten it for plums the year before but the plums were cling-stones. The tool hadn't worked well for the plums, and I hadn't had any cherries that year either. But now, it worked well. I made quick progress of the plums. And slowly, the basket got emptier.

I still had a large bowl of green plums that would need some more time but I now had enough to start canning. I used a French recipe without pectin where you place the pits into a cloth and cook that with the jam. Bowl after bowl, I sugared the plums, let that soak, then cooked things down to the right consistency with the pits.

I took Pepper to the vet for his operation a few days later: he finally had that lump removed. Also, eight teeth. Everything healed very well. He's all good.

I made more jam. When the green ones had finished ripening, I cooked and canned those as well. I was so happy. My currant jam hadn't set at all. I'd used store-bought pectin-sugar. Big mistake. I'd been looking for more apple pectin powder but it was no longer as easy to find or really expensive. So, I looked for recipes without pectin, and actually found what I needed. Some encouragement from people online later, I had jam.

We also finally got a chance to test out the milling attachment my mom had given me for my birthday. I milled rye to have a coarse flour for the sourdough. The starter cultures seemed to enjoy their new food.

Another city-dwelling animal friend seemed to enjoy the bird food from the upstairs neighbor.

More time on the water brought more wild animal sightings. We saw the landscape change, as summer turned to fall. First, the water lilies vanished from the water. Then, the duck weed took over everywhere, much to the joy of the swan family we'd watched all summer. They slobbered up endless amounts of the stuff. Their oldest cygnet was turning white.

The vegetation along the banks changed, too. The guelder roses bore fruit, hops started popping up between the reed. Slowly, the water turned green with all the nutrients the decaying plants (well, and agriculture) added.

August turned to September. When we weren't on the water, I was writing my Master's thesis.

The little mouse returned. We think, it moved into one of the planters to enjoy the endless food from above. The shelter of our windowsill planters and the food raining down probably make a good home. As long as it stays outside, we don't mind the visits from this very cute furry friend.

A green goo began to cover part of the Peene. The locals told me it was especially bad this year. It was so dense in places that Pepper tried to jump on top--and took a bath.

Crows are much rarer near the river, but when we get closer to the cities, we see a lot of them. Along the river, there is much more variety in what you see. Crows have competition there. The starlings were migrating through, as well, so many that the trees were humming from long distances away.

Their murmurations in flight are beautiful, the noise was quite, well, loud. I get why people might be disturbed by this. I loved it.

I still enjoyed the quiet when they were out of earshot. Don't mind the towel, I'd been for a swim.

During one of the first visits to our garden, I got to harvest plums from what will soon be our tree. I also harvested a giant bin of peaches, and soon found myself back in the kitchen. When a neighbor brought a giant pumpkin to share, I turned leftover mashed potatoes and pumpkin into gnocchi.

I made a giant batch to freeze some but they were so good, we ate most of them. Mashed potatoes, flour, cooked pumpkin, egg, and some seasonings. Delicious. I made them by feel. When the dough felt right, I cooked them in boiling water for a few minutes. They came out great. This is the state I froze some in. For extra deliciousness, I sauteed some of them. By the way: you can barely taste the pumpkin.

I had so much pumpkin that I canned some of it with sugar and vinegar Someone in the fediverse had recommended I try this, and it turned out great. Now, the shelves are filled, and I am content.

And then, I was given control of the new garden early. While the house was still inhabited, I got to garden. I'm excited to share that chapter with you next time. So long, and thanks for being here.