Yeah, I know spring is basically over. But I recently updated and reorganized all my blog bookmarks, ditching the ones that I don’t enjoy so much, or even the ones that take forever to load, and adding a few new must-reads. I shared with you some of my favorites a few weeks ago, and I thought I would add a few more.

In the mommyblog realm, I have become a fan of Lifenut, who I think I found through ClubMom. Check out her clever suggestion of a source for baby names.

Overwhelmed with Joy! is a new bookmark for me. She participates in a number of weekly theme blogs, and she is big with the linky love, so I’m happy to share some back (did I just write that slangy sentence? Egads, how blogging has changed me.).

Owlhaven is one of those moms who I am amazed can blog at all: she has eight children. And before you make assumptions about what that means, check out her blog. She’s a hoot, as I used to say when I lived in Alabama.

And if you have or have had or will have a toddler, read Phantom Scribbler’s latest.

In the international world of blogging, I have been reading Italian Trivia by Jennifer, an American married to an Italian, living in Italy. I think she made me a regular reader with this post about housecleaning, which made me grateful to be married to an American and (lest Jennifer get in trouble for this) certain that her husband must be a wonderful man to be worth that aggravation.

I have also been enjoying Food and Family from Kit in South Africa. I intend to try her pasta sauce soon.

And while it’s not strictly a separate nation, it is a separate continent, and I must occasionally peruse the pictures of Antarctica from Julius’ Travels in the South. I feel cold merely looking at them.

I regularly read a few booklover blogs. Semicolon’s book reviews are informative, but check out her list of suggestions for bored children this summer. Excellent. It makes me wish I had time to be bored.

The Bookworm is another mom who reads and blogs, and I think if we met in person we would either be kindred spirits or have riproaring arguments. I’m okay with either.

On my sidebar there’s a link to Calvesgarden Calendar, a blog from a man in Denmark who writes about his garden and the books he is currently reading. His prose is lovely, and gets downright intimidating when you realize that he is writing in English as an acquired language. Some of his metaphors have a startling clarity, like when he compares his wind-tossed garden to a riotous dance floor. If you are someone who would enjoy sipping tea in an arboretum while reading Charles Lamb, this is your guy. Give him a try.

I recently added two enthralling cop blogs. If you have police officers in your family, or if you just have a little healthy gratitude for our women and men in blue, check out LAPD Wife and Life of a Cop in a Cop’s World. They don’t need any more introduction than that. You’ll get hooked.

And in the miscellaneous category, I have two to include. The Blog Antagonist, who some of you already read, is daringly refreshing. And I am a newish fan of The Ice Floe by PeripateticPolarBear. This post made me laugh harder than any other blog ever has.

And now, mingle. I hope I’ve introduced you to a few new friends.

I am watching the DVD of Firefly, the Joss Whedon scifi show cancelled a few years ago. A woman is in active labor and her friend playing midwife says:

“Petalline, look at me. This is just a moment in time. Step aside and let it happen.”

Oh, the things I would let happen.

I tell myself that I won’t go back. This is the last time. Never again. I deserve better than this.

But then I start to remember the good times. How perfect it could be. We were so great together. And I go back.

But this time is different. It’s over. Really. No don’t look at me that way. I don’t care if you’re sorry. I’m moving on.

What? There’s ice cream, too? Oh in that case…

(’cause Phantom Scribbler’s not the only one)

My mom-in-law is an unfailingly courteous southern woman. She enthuses over every gift she recives, spending five minutes describing how wonderful it is. Every meal someone cooks for her is praised as though it were her mother’s own recipe. She is always an example of graciousness. I, on the other hand, get a migraine merely thinking the words “thank you notes.” Mom-in-law is the sit-sweetly-in-the-garden-and-read grandma. She loves nothing more than to buy the girls matching dresses. Sometimes handmade. With hats. My mom-in-law is two inches taller than I am, and sometimes I still feel large, clumsy and boorish next to her.

And so it is part of her charm that among her many fine qualities is a quirk or two. In particular, she has a fondness for unusual toys. She is the only adult I know who actually laughs - real, drawn-out giggles - over those animatronic dolls that move to music. You know, like the mounted fish that moves its tail and sings to a Tom Jones song. She has several of these things, and still thinks they are funny after having them for years.

We spent the last week with my in-laws, and among the many, many gifts they gave our girls was an unusual stuffed animal (not animatronic, thank goodness) that she found at Cracker Barrel. JellyBean spent most of the week hugging it, dragging it by the tail, or wrapping it in a blanket and pretending it was baby Jesus.

JellyBean likes to names her toys according to a strict ritual. During idle moments, the husband and I will ask her, “Is its name Robin? Is its name Sammy?” After each name she will smile primly and say, “Nooooooo.” When we finally hit the name she approves, she repeats it with joy and that is the toy’s name ever afterwards. That is how her dolls became Sarah, Hannah and Hildegard. Sometimes we start to run out of names. The longer the naming ritual takes, the weirder the names get. Naming her new toy from grandma took three days. But when we said the name she wanted, her face lit up with a seraphic smile, and she proclaimed, “Kwee-duss! Kwee-duss!” And we fell back, awed and amazed at the perfection of her choice.

So allow me to introduce (though without a picture because my OS is too outdated) the newest addition to our family, JellyBean’s special friend, everybody’s favorite North American marsupial:

Cletus the Possum.

Overwhelmed over at Overwhelmed with Joy has started Five Ingredients Friday, and I thought I would contribute my favorite buttermilk pancakes. But then I realized that my pancakes have more than five ingredients. So I hope you will forgive my memory lapse, or my nonconformity, or whatever it should be called. These are still pretty simple.

Apologies to any readers using metric or scales. American cooking is strictly by volume measurements on the antiquated gallon system. If I ever move overseas, I will have to pack my measuring cups, or I won’t know how to cook.

Makes about ten 4-inch pancakes

1 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 Tablespoons oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
blueberries (optional)

The most important thing about making pancakes is the temperature of your pan or griddle. I cook with cast iron on a cheap electric stove, so my pans take a while to heat up. I turn the heat up to 3 on the burner before I even start making the batter. This gives it lots of time to reach a consistent temperature.

Mix all the ingredients together except blueberries. Stir until the lumps disappear. It should be a little thicker than cake batter. If it looks too thick, add a little water. Pour into pan 1/4 cup at a time. (If you want blueberry pancakes, press 4 or 5 blueberries into the pancake now. If you use frozen blueberries, you don’t need to thaw them; just rinse them well in warm water and use.) Cook until the center of the pancake gets small bubbles in it and the top starts to lose its shine. Flip pancake. Cook another minute or two. (I’m so sorry. I have never timed it exactly). Serve.

When we make the blueberry version, we serve the pancakes with whipped cream instead of syrup.

It’s a big hit at our house, with kids and husband. It earns me the coveted, “Ooooh, pancakes! You must love me.” Good luck to you.