Joseph F. Radosevich

 Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year. It is the day I plant tomato seeds.  Opening that file is like seeing old friends. They have come from friends, acquaintances, breeders, and catalogs. I've carried them between states, saved some from years past, and renamed a few that got confusing. They come in all sizes (large, medium, and small) and colors (pink, purple, brown, green, yellow, orange, striped).  They will grow indoors until Memorial Day weekend.   The best day of the year.  "for me each seedling that sprouted was its own kindness, its own obedience to Christ's command to come forth from the grave." The God of the Garden , 117 Andrew Peterson

 I've been working on a couple of furniture projects this winter. I didn't plan on it being a theme, but it is. Project #1: I (along with a friend) stripped the inside of a piano out, refinished the outside, modified it a bit, and turned it into a modern keyboard rig. This is for our church. Project #2: I bought a large oak table that needed refinishing and fixing. I fixed the gears, and then have prepped and painted it. We need a large table and I wanted one where the wood would be stable. An older oak table fit the bill, and this is also extendable beyond what we need.  I'm not sure my wife will like the way it turned out, but I told her that if she doesn't like it, then I can strip it an start again. Hopefully, it doesn't come to that. (Update: She did like it!) I'm trying to get my physical projects out of the way before spring hits and I start yard and garden work.

What I would change about being a trainer If I were a personal trainer again, I would plan in more variety in my clients' workouts.  Just like variety in reading, I've found that variety in my workouts helps me to stay motivated and on track even if I'm not feeling my normal workout. I have found that sometimes I don't feel like doing the very best workout. Sometimes, all I can handle is some time on the Airdyne bike and some stretching. I imagine my clients sometimes felt that. Since my goals now have to do with getting in good workouts rather than lifting a certain amount, it doesn't matter if the workout is strength training or cardio on the bike.  Variety means that there is always something smart that I can do.

We always start our year planning the gardening. That means that my spreadsheet is what is growing this time of year (and all my scratch paper). I use spreadsheets for most things these days. I had already started a file with all the preferred seeds and vendors from the last year. I tend to forget details from the last year, so writing things down helps me. My most helpful file from last year was a spreadsheet that was my journal and included gardening notes, rain amounts, along with my reading and other events. A spreadsheet journal works way better for me than any other kind. *I got the idea from an article I read on a tech website, but I can't remember where. First, I narrowed down the list of plants to just what I wanted to grow. This was a hard but freeing exercise this year. Usually, we add more plants and more varieties. We cut away at things that are hard to grow or that aren't worth the effort this year. For example, our kids don't care for my homegrown carrots bec...

 Here are my goals for 2023: I plan on posting updates on my progress. Health Workout 200 Times (This is 16x a month) 54/200 Do 5 pull-ups FINISHED 3 Power Wheel roll-outs (I've been working on roll-outs for 2 years. They are hard.)  Learn Learn to make Chicken Biryani (Last year was Tikka Masala.) FINISHED Read 36 books (6 audiobooks) 4/6 Personal Finish edits on my Family Dictionary of Theology (This is the 3rd round of edits.) FINISHED Draft 2 other book ideas Write 26 times on blog Have 20 fires in firepit with my family (This is so that I slow down and enjoy time at home without a to-do list.) Visit 5 historic sites with my family in our area

 If you are reading my blog and care about reading recommendations, you might like my discussion with Emma about what we read last year. We've done video and audio versions of this for at least 5 years now.  Enjoy: https://anchor.fm/raiseemrad/episodes/Our-2022-Reading-Recap-e1svo0f

These are my favorite books of the year. I tried to narrow it to 5 but couldn't get past 6. The Life of Martyn Lloyd-Jones , Iain Murray The Reason for God , Tim Keller Gregor the Overlander , Suzanne Collins All Things Bright and Beautiful , James Herriot The Case of the Missing Servant , Tarquin Hall Mansfield Park , Jane Austen I reread The Reason for God and The Case of the Missing Servant . This year, I decided that if a book is really good, then maybe it will be just as good the second time. Both of these were.  I planned on reading more literature and more biographies. Austen and Murray were my favorites.  Gregor  was such a surprise, but I fell in love with it from the first time I picked it up while we were on vacation. Some lines from the book are family favorites now.

 A friend asked me, "what is the best way to deal with weeds?" I've tried lots of different things. Newspaper, mulch, raised beds, in-ground beds, tilling, hoeing, etc. My advice was pretty short: Make the garden small enough that you can weed it. If the garden is too large, then I have not found a way to weed it back. Once the garden gets out of control, it will stay out of control. You can use methods like a thick layer of mulch on top of cardboard (that works!), hoeing weekly (that works too!), and raised beds (that really works!). Gardens have weeds though. There is no way around it. All you can do is manage your planning and have a garden that is the right size for your life. If you have a job, kids, dog, hobbies, or health issues, then you have to plan for what you can manage. Last year, I grew my in-ground garden where I grow watermelon, corn, okra, dry beans, pumpkins, and squash. I only had enough time to weed one half of it. That half stayed clear. Every time, I...

 I heard an interview recently where the hosts and guest talked about goals (The podcast was My First Million . I don't know anything about them. I was curious about the thoughts of interviewee Steph Smith).  One of their throw away lines was that you shouldn't hit all your goals every year; if you do, then they were too low. I'm going to hit about half my goals for 2022. Health issues came up twice to interrupt my physical goals, but I made really good progress on them. I met my reading goal and half of my cooking and writing goals. 8 Pull-ups/3 Kneeling Roll-outs Define 250 terms for book Publish 4 Articles Republish Book Read 36 Books (Finish Jane Austen's 6 books) Learn to cook Butter Chicken , Chicken Biryani , and Tikki Masala Try Sushi I'm not going to feel bad about not hitting all my goals. I'll probably make them higher than otherwise too.

  How can you read more in 2023? Maybe you admire those who read 1 book per day like D.A. Carson and Al Mohler. Maybe you have a stack of books that you want to read and it never gets shorter. Maybe you just want to go from reading 10 books a year to 25. How can you read more without just pure effort? Here’s my strategy: Pick 4-6 books and read 25-50 pages per day between them all. You might read 3-5 pages in some books and 20 in another. If your schedule allows, find different times of day to read in each. One book you might read along with your devotions. Another couple you might read before bed for fun. This makes the reading load lighter. If you read 50 pages per day, you will finish around 4-5 books a month and 60 in a year. If you read 25 pages per day, you will finish 30 books in a year. (This is different from skim reading that some people do to stay up on all the latest books. This strategy is for slower reading for knowledge and pleasure.) Here are some of the advantages ...

I'm not the only person googling for a fresh ham recipe, but most of the recipes I found don't turn out like a smoked ham. I learned the hard way that you have to smoke the ham if you want it to taste like something for Sunday dinner. I ordered our ham from the butcher and thought fresh was fine. It was not fine. Fresh hams and fresh ham steaks are nothing like what we know. If you cook a fresh ham steak in the oven, it turns out white and tough. Don't do it. This is what I do: Ingredients 1 Cup of non-iodized salt (I think I've used iodized salt in a pinch). 1 cup of sugar (brown sugar is good for this too) 1 Gallon of water You want to make enough brine to submerge the ham. You might need two gallons of brine. Instructions Combine ingredients in a saucepan, and cook on low until sugar and salt are dissolved. Let it cool. Pour brine over ham until brine covers it. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 days. Smoke the ham on a grill with the temperature a...

We got a whole hog from a nearby farmer this summer. We have loved it, but I made a mistake when I told the butcher how I wanted it cut. I got the ham steak fresh, not cured and smoked (I also got the hams fresh and that's a different post). Because I had such a hard time figuring out what to do to get the ham steaks usable, I thought I would share what I've done and what I've liked. I'm not the only person googling for a fresh ham steak recipe, but most of the recipes I found don't turn out like a smoked ham steak.  My wife's main direction was to make it taste like a normal ham steak so she can use it in a recipe like ham and potatoes. This is what I do: Ingredients 1/4 Cup of non-iodized salt (I think I've used iodized salt in a pinch). 1/4 cup of sugar (brown sugar is good for this too) 1 quart of water Instructions Combine ingredients in a saucepan, and cook on low until sugar and salt are dissolved. Let it cool. Pour brine over ham steak until brine co...

     Summary This is a book about engaging with God's world with discernment. She uses Philippians 4:8 as the lens to look through. Her writing style is engaging and smooth. Why I read it I wanted an easy-to-read book after finishing a big theology book. I tend to read theology after my Bible reading before my family wakes up. I wanted something serious, but not 500 pages. I also have been trying to read books my wife enjoys and books written by women. This fit all of the requirements. Quotes Discernment helps us see the world for what it was made to be and believe that God is powerful enough to restore it to its intended purpose. 42-43   So too, with eyes of faith, we can look at the world around us and discern enough of its original beauty to know that it is good and worth our engagement. 43 But more than drawing us to themselves, beautiful things draw us beyond themselves to a reality greater than either of us. 128   Key Takeaways As good as the book was, it ...

This is the entry I wrote for my book list:  896. Portrait of an Unknown Woman , Daniel Silva. 8/13/22 * * * * (In some ways, this is the most fun Silva book in a while. It’s also the most sensual that I can remember--not explicit, just sensual. For that reason, I won’t be keeping it in the house with our kids around. One thing I really liked was that the fate of the world was not at stake. It was an art heist book, and the book was fun with those lower stakes. Silva says that these art heist-type books are where he plans to take the series, and I am glad for that.) *I'm updating my book list and plan to republish it soon.

    Summary I love this series. Gregor , book 2 in The Underland Chronicles, is an epic for young adults--probably the same audience as Narnia , Wingfeather , and Green Ember . It is a fast-paced, heart-tugging adventure story that takes place deep underground. This book has brains and heart. Like everything I’ve read by Collins, there isn’t a word in the wrong place. Nothing is wasted or confusing or missing. Why I read it I read and loved the first book in the series while we were on vacation. After reading several more serious books since then, I wanted a break to read a lighter book. I can't believe I waited so long to read this series since I loved Hunger Games . I've never heard anyone mention this book. f Quotes Gregor realized that the journey filled with squids and whirlpools and mites and serpents and loss, great loss, had change them. It had made the oath they had sworn in front of that furious crowd in Regalia real. 210   "Run like the River, Ripred," said...