Hello world!

There’s always been something a bit weird about the word fecund. The look and feel of the word belie the true meaning of the word. I chose the word this week to express how giving sunflowers are. Beyond the tens of thousands of seeds my garden will yield, my forest of sunflowers has been providing pollen and nectar galore. I’ve seen more American Goldfinches coming around to perch on the sunflowers and enjoy the seeds. I knew that these birds especially enjoyed sunflowers (Henry David Thoreau even observed their love for Helianthus annuus and the bright lemon yellow plumage of the breeding males matches the rays of the sunflowers beautifully.

🔖 My Favorite Stuff from the Internet This Week

🐦‍⬛ Home Assistant and Smart Bird Feeders

I got back into Home Assistant in earnest this week. Beyond simple applications like temperature and humidity sensors, the most exciting thing I set up was my BirdBuddy smart bird feeder. Home Assistant is simple enough that none of this required any particularly difficult or annoying configuration. I can’t wait to see what I can do with effort.

🌱 Gardening

Although many sunflowers have wilted, there are still new blooms daily.

I also harvested a few Kandy Korn Plus pumpkins this week. The can is for scale: I didn’t have any bananas around.

🕹️ Gaming

I was lucky enough to receive a gift copy of Cat Isle on Steam (🎁 thank you, Manu). It’s been a very delightful game. It reminds me of Minami Lane but it’s less stressful, more fun and much cuter. The cat purring sounds in the game are fantastic. Take a peek at Polygon’s Steam’s best new Animal Crossing clone is a perfect way to beat the summer heat article to learn a bit more about this delightful game.

🏆 Steam Achievements

🍿 Movies

Spider-Man: Brand New Day, 2026 (Watched: 2026-08-09)

I firmly believe that Tom Holland is the best actor to play Spider-Man. His portrayal of an older, lonely Peter Parker was more of the quality I have come to expect from him. He pulls this off without suffering from the (many) failings of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire. The ending of the movie was especially sweet despite being a blatant set-up for a never-ending stream of sequels. Jon Bernthal’s performance was awesome.

I posted a bit on Mastodon this week about…

setting up my smart bird feeder with Home Assistant
mixed emotions as sunflowers wilt
I am so happy with all the sunflowers that bloomed this season. Expiring flowers herald the end of summer and promises of autumn.

Thanks!

— Brie

031: Fecund