dreamsheep | Member Posts

...when did I last post that I had to keep standing up to keep my muscles from stiffening so much I couldn't move, because that's how I feel right now. I fell asleep on the couch and couldn't remember what day it was, but did eventually remember that I'd meant to get some food and that would help, so I fed me and the dog and sat back down. With Daphne curled up in my lap or next to it, I usually wait for her to move first, and she just did, so I got up, and immediately I remembered whenever that was because wow, today was such a day.

Apparently it was last weekend? When I cut back the spirea and potted the cannas: that was only last weekend??

This is honestly one of the biggest reasons I'm posting more, because it's so great to have a journal of stuff I did and learned. It's here and gone so fast, and most of it is delightful (admittedly sometimes more so in the remembering, but that's a feature not a bug). It's so nice to be able to look back and go, oh yeah! I'd forgotten that and it was great, or, I remember that and it was worth it, or, I remember that and I just learned it again for the fifth time, ha ha.

(The other reason is that I did almost all of my posting in Chinese last year, and dreamwidth can't be searched in Chinese, which is not ideal. Tags work in Chinese, but they're not alphabetized (or stroke orderized, or organized by any logical system whatsoever as far as I can tell), so not only do I have to correctly guess what tag I might have used I also have to read my entire tag list to find it. This makes it very hard to find my garden notes on a particular plant or garden. I've been able to find basic stuff like what came up first and when, but what I started and how I cared for it, not so much. So this year I have two journals again. And it's great, because my English journal is much more readable. Half the time I have no idea what I was talking about in Chinese.)

Anyway, my point is twofold: one, I transplanted some blueberry bushes today, and also put some threadleaf coreopsis in with them (probably, idk, it's not really growing yet so I think it was coreopsis?) and now I'm very tired. Shoveling! So hard. And I've forgotten the second point, so.

Oh, it snowed while I was digging, so that was funny. (These are semi-established, dormant blueberry plants, not the sprigs I was potting last night, and the coreopsis overwintered in pots outside, so they should all be fine in the snow and the frost.) I guess I should go bring in the houseplants.

Genuinely do not remember what else I was going to say, but that's typical.

( eta houseplant updates and the thing I forgot, which was a mug shaped like an orange )

jamethiel

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

kaberett

Reading. She's A Beast: up to November 2024. (Does it count as book research? Maybe, possibly: I'm having a lot of thoughts about the extent to which exercise reduces versus increases risk of injuries.)

Writing. I've... added another section or, perhaps, done another rearrangement? I continue to make notes on the current special interest that is movement? I am... not managing focussed writing time.

Listening. Hidden Almanac! I had The Realisation that it would be a good thing to play while we were laminating infinite potions! We have Emerged from the Accursed Hole! The paper wasps do architecture!

Cooking. O V E N. Still v excited about this. More Kaiserschmarrn, and I am about to bake some bread, and additionally and furthermore I successfully added protein to noodles.

Eating. A celebratory burger for reaching a nice round number on a lift. I have subsequently achieved said nice round number on a second lift, but that one is being banked for The Future.

More fancy bakery treats. :)

Exploring. On Wednesday A gave me a lift into town, and then rather than getting the bus the rest of the way to the gym I decided I would wander. Thus I encountered the former Enfield Electrical Works, a delightful building, and also had a brief adventure through a park I had not previously met.

Making & mending. Have I woven in the ends on A's glove? HAHAHAHAHA.

Growing. I have managed several short trips to the plot! And the free agapanthus I acquired from a garden post in Salisbury is looking happy with its new living arrangements. There are many things I wish to sow and none that I have got around to.

Observing. MANY BIRDS: a goldfinch on a trip down to the bakery! Ducklings! Multiple families of baby coots! The Egyptian goslings are all now happy to Paddle Industriously!

Plantwise: there is a fascinating tulip in a garden near coots the first that I do not understand at all; it's lily-flowered, with very pointed petals, and it started out all white except for some tiny blotches of red on the very very tips. The surprising (to me) part is that as it has unfurled further the red has gradually spread down the petal edges, and it's now got this bright red rim feathering ever-so-slightly into the still-white main body of the petal. (I do have photos and might even manage to post them, but not tonight.) The wisteria are firmly on their way out; my cherry tree has finally finally flowered; the redcurrant and gooseberry are flowering, and the josta is setting fruit. It's warm. I'm enjoying it so much.

seleneheart

The Party Crasher by Sophia Kinsella

Blurb:

It's been over two years since Effie's beloved parents got divorced, destroying the image of the happy, loving childhood she thought she had. Since then, she's become estranged from her father and embarked on a feud with his hot (and much younger) girlfriend, Krista. And now, more earth-shattering Greenoaks, the rambling Victorian country house Effie called home her whole life, has been sold. When Krista decides to throw a grand "house cooling" party, Effie is originally left off the guest list-and then receives a last-minute "anti-invitation" (maybe it's because she called Krista a gold-digger, but Krista totally deserved it, and it was mostly a joke anyway). Effie declines, but then remembers a beloved childhood treasure is still hidden in the house. Her only chance to retrieve it is to break into Greenoaks while everyone is busy celebrating. As Effie sneaks around the house, hiding under tables and peeping through trapdoors, she realizes the secrets Greenoaks holds aren't just in the dusty passageways and hidden attics she grew up exploring. Watching how her sister, brother, and dad behave when they think no one is looking, Effie overhears conversations, makes discoveries, and begins to see her family in a new light. Then she runs into Joe-the love of her life, who long ago broke her heart, and who's still as handsome and funny as ever-and even more truths emerge. But will Effie act on these revelations? Will she stay hidden or step out into the party and take her place with her family? And truthfully, what did she really come back to Greenoaks for? Over the course of one blowout party, Effie realizes that she must be honest with herself and confront her past before she'll ever be able to face her future--

I got this book because the library had it tagged as 'humor' and I needed something for the bingo square. Also, I read "Confessions of a Shopaholic" a long, long time ago and enjoyed that. This book didn't seem very funny at first, because the protagonist is NOT OKAY. Her inner monologue is pretty tragic, actually. I think this book would be much better as a movie - the screwball comedy type. However, as the book went on and Effie starts to get over herself, the story became laugh-out-loud funny.

With that, I have my third bingo:

Current Mood: weird
Current Music: Hollerado - Juliette

fred_mouse

I've been struggling both with energy and motivation for exercise. At some point, I opened a browser tab to Darabee and it has sat there since (best guess: since last year).

Today, I'm browsing it and thinking about options. It has programmes for people with very low fitness, and my intention is to start there. I've decided to look at the options in 'monthly' programs, and filtered only to the lowest difficulty, which gives me 8 options. Which is too many, can't do decisions.

Fortunately! Only looking closer, the Recovery: Post Cold, flu or covid option is 15 days while everything else is 30 days, and committing to the bare minimum feels about where I'm at. Also, I find the title reassuring. So that was a 'eh, pick the easiest' kind of decision making. It lists the exercises as being 'yoga, breathing, stretching', which sure, that sounds like a place to start.

Will I stick with it? Historically no. But the exercise I do any of is better than the exercise I do none of. I .. might remember to check back in?

duskpeterson

As you leave the council chamber, you may observe many people entering and leaving a room to your left. This is the palace headquarters of the Emorian subcommander, who has charge over the Emorian army. During the daytime, the subcommander is generally to be found at the home camp of Emor's army, located on the palace grounds. However, most of the army clerks and scribes work in the subcommander's headquarters. Because the chamber contains valuable documents, it may not be entered except by prior invitation.

Further down the corridor, you will pass another door on the left, where palace guards are entering and exiting. Do not travel through this door. It leads to the guardroom. If you are a noble prisoner, you will be brought here and confined until your trial.

When you reach the end of this corridor, turn right. The corridor you are on wraps around the back of the court. You will see on your left the north doors to the court, which I mentioned before. Directly opposite them is another door, unguarded.

Do not enter. This door leads to the dungeon. Anyone who opens this door, who has no business in the dungeon, is assumed to be a spy and is promptly made a "guest" in the dungeon.

If you receive a formal invitation to visit the dungeon, I suggest that you not eat on the morning of the visit. Strong warriors have been known to regurgitate the contents of their morning meal when they witness what takes place in that dungeon. The Chara's dungeon represents Emor at its worst. You may wish to see Emor at its worst, if you are contemplating attacking Emor.

As you continue your journey around the back of the court, you will encounter a heavily guarded door. This leads to the North Wing of the palace, where many council lords and palace officials live. All of the guards will have their backs to you. Anyone who has been granted entrance to the West Wing may enter the North Wing, but upon your return, you will have to undergo the process of having your credentials checked again. Unless you have business in the remainder of the palace, it is best to remain within the East Wing.

[Translator's note: A little back tour of the East Wing occurs in Empty Dagger Hand, under increasingly unfortunate circumstances.]

starandrea

We have a lot of dogs around here and they're all great and also sometimes they like to run through the gardens so I fence some of them off. (The gardens, not the dogs.) My neighbor told me about some inexpensive fencing at a big discount store I'd never been to, and that's how I ended up with a backpack to carry my dog in and some new railing planters. Also the reason I was potting bare root blueberries at one in the morning (do those grow? they were in a plastic bag on a shelf and I was like, ima find out) which meant I had everything I needed out so I started my nasturtium seeds too.

This is what happens when I have space for more plants. And also when I don't.

soc_puppet

A monster collecting game where all of the creatures you collect are somehow hidden and/or mimic-style creatures. Some of them are still mimic-style treasure creatures (pulling examples from Pokémon, this would be Voltorb, etc), but some you have to solve puzzles to reveal (Spiritomb), and some appear to literally be part of the scenery until you interact with them, either in general (Stunfisk, both original and Galarian) or in specific ways (watering Sudowoodo in Gold and Silver).

I just think it'd be a neat twist on the idea. (Possibly because, of the two dozen or so fakemon I've come up with, two have been mimic-style 'mon a la Voltorb, which is a bit disproportionate!)

Current Mood: dorky

kaffy_r

Music Meme, Day 26

A song that helps you fall asleep at night:

I've been away from my journal, and the music meme for a while, and part of that was because I was initially stymied by this. I don't use music to help me go to sleep, although there are times I think about how nice it would be to fall asleep to the sounds of one of my favorite ambient stations. I can't do that, not without keeping Bob awake, or wearing my earbuds until they're completely drained.

But back when Andy was quite young, Bob had a job as a doorman down in one of the ritzier condominium buildings in Chicago's Near North neighborhood; not quite the Gold Coast, but as close as makes no difference. He had a night shift, which meant that I went to sleep alone, which was lonely. After I got Andy to bed, and once I was tired, I would put the Discman that Bob got for me, and I'd put the second CD of Kitaro's* two CD album "Silk Road" on. I'd put the headphones on, and I would listen to the album until my eyes were just about ready to close. I would reluctantly take off the headphones, and fall asleep.

I particularly liked two of the pieces: "Eternal Spring" and "Silver Moon." I'm sharing both of them with you now.

Watch on YouTube

Before I forget, here's a link that will help you catch up with my earlier meme posts, should you be interested.

Watch on YouTube

*I discovered Kitaro through an NPR radio show that our local public radio station played either really late at night, or far too early in the morning. At the time, Bob and I were both young and arrogant about the music we liked, and we made fun of a lot of the ambient pieces this show played, but when the host played some pieces from the Silk Road album, I really liked it, and Bob got me the CDs for Christmas or my birthday. He also later got me some more of Kitaro's work. I haven't listened to Kitaro in a while, but in hunting these pieces down I think I may have rekindled my interest in him.

Current Mood: lethargic
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: BTS "Filter"

kaberett

Around the beginning of March (before I started lifting! it's okay, I promise I am monitoring all of this responsibly <3) I had a couple of weeks where I didn't manage to do as much stretching of my hips as usual. Whereupon. my left leg. pitched a tantrum. So I have been grumbling along with sciatic-nerve pain for the last month and a half, and getting on with life around it because, you know, pain, watcha gonna do.

... this morning, on the way to Acquire Breakfast, it blessedly, unpleasantly, emphatically twanged -- and there ensued several whole hours wherein it didn't hurt.

Tragically I then resumed sitting on the sofa in order to poke at computer some more, and despite position shifting......... yep, it retwanged itself.

I Am Doing My Stretches. :|

Some good things nonetheless:

brief respite from The Grumpy Nerve
we arrived at coot nest #1 when it was still in shade, and hung around long enough for the sun to hit it; whereupon the grown-ups Stood Up and the BABIES went on ADVENTURES. at one point a mallard with went by with her four tiny fluffy ducklings! and then subsequently More Coots! and all the Egyptian goslings are happily pootling about in the water, now, and several of them have discovered that they can go ZOOM under said water :)
there is on the way to the coots a very dramatic tulip, which I have been watching with interest: it's lily-flowered, with very pointed petals, and started out almost entirely white with just a tiny splotch of red at the tips of the petals. it's now got red feathering along all the edges of all of the petals and it's delightful.
bakery treats: v pleasant savoury pastry thing, Bred Puddin, cardamom bun. also enjoyed nibbling some of A's ridiculous raspberry brownie cruffin Situation.
we made a trip to the Household Waste Recycling Centre! I did not acquire a weights bench! ... A did acquire a scooter. for scooting. with The Child. therefore: we successfully got multiple things Out of the house, and the thing that has come in is Not My Fault. (and will make the Child very happy!)
... turns out that doing lots of stapling hurts less when I actually activate muscles all the way down my back than if I just sort of mash my joints...

starandrea

Took today off and worked on the patio. The grass is down, the greenhouses are up, and lights have been strung.

I took before and after pictures but it took all day, so the after picture is literally the patio in the dark.

fred_mouse

last update was 25th March and I'm not going to attempt to remember everything done.

Healing: nipple is still very sore, still using the rubber (teething) rings inside my bra to keep the fabric off it (it is still noticeably swollen compared to the other). The rest of the skin has healed, and I think I've finally finished peeling. Most of my armpit is bald, which as a texture experience feels different from having shaved. I continue to have reasonable and exhausted days and have not correctly balanced how much I can get away with doing.

study: I've got lots of good books that meet my criteria, and I've been poking through them. Other parts of the project are going slower. I am frustrated by my inability to buckle down on one, but I am also aware that I'm working through the tasks that I said I was going to need to do to do it properly. I got an email from the ethics board about corrections, so that will be Monday's task.

weather: there has been a startling amount of rain. There was a cyclone that didn't get this far south, but did push a front through. Jandakot recorded 77.4mm on one day, which is a 51 year maximum for March*, and a total of 87.6mm in the five days of rain. Plus we got 16.2mm to 9amm Wednesday, and 6.8 mm to 9am this morning.

music: I missed the last rehearsals of term for the Monday night group, and that goes back this coming week. I have not practiced anything, not least because bowing was painful for a while. I have made it to two of the Wednesday night rehearsals - one to discover it was the end of term open practice / concert, and one where it was a greatest hits and I didn't get access to the music before the rehearsal, and so sight read everything (I did try a practice on the night before). I failed to go to the sunday recorder group last weekend because apparently when I updated my calendar to the new alternating fortnight I didn't do it right, and I'd been successfully doing it from memory up until now.

con: we are at not enough week's before the con. I have been dropping the ball more than I like and I have to find a solution. I have one I would like, but I don't know whether anyone will take it on. We have some fabulous guests. Plus we have both GUFF and DUFF winners attending. I know Farah Mendelsohn is one, but I can't pull the name of the other out of my head. I'm presenting in the academic stream, and at this point I don't have enough to say. argh.

*I use an aggregator site for my rain information, rather than the BOM, so they are going off their data set; they claim this as 'probably a record maximum'. They report 17.0mm as the March average (1973-2026), the previous monthly maximum as 83.6mm in 1992, and the previous daily maximum as 37.8mm, also in 1992. At the opposite end, 2011 had no rain in March -- that would be the year of the big hail storm, if I remember correctly.

kaberett

( exercise; numbers )

seleneheart

Before the playoffs get started tonight, here are my thoughts on the various matchups:

Western Conference:

Avalanche v. Kings: I'm glad Anze Kopitar gets one last playoff series. However, I feel like this years' Avs are pretty similar to the 2013 Blackhawks - a runaway train. Good luck with that.

Stars v. Wild: This is where Bettman's current playoff scheme really sucks. Both Dallas and Minnesota have more points than any team in the Pacific Division and it's not even close. Dallas should be playing Utah and Minnesota should be playing the Ducks. I'm hoping Dallas gets through, obviously.

Golden Knights v. Mammoth: A playoff matchup that has never happened in the history of the NHL, even if you count the Mammoth previously being the Coyotes. Hard to call this one - Vegas just changed coaches a week or two ago, which is really weird because they were in the playoffs at the time. They have since won the Pacific, so idk.

Oilers v. Ducks: At least this is a new matchup - these teams have not met in the playoffs in recent memory. Connor McDavid versus Joel Quenneville. I think the Oilers will get through.

Eastern Conference:
First a caveat - I know a lot less about this conference (I had to look up the pairings), but it has some interesting matchups.

Hurricanes v. Senators: Ottawa is in the playoffs for the first time in a while, maybe since the COVID cup. Carolina won the conference, and I expect them to have no issues with Ottawa.

Penguins v. Flyers: The Battle of Pennsylvania rekindled once again. Another ride for Sid and Geno. Hard to say who will prevail, but Crosby & Co have buckets of playoff experience compared to the baby Flyers - that will probably be important.

Sabres v. Bruins: No one saw this coming. The way Buffalo is playing - it might be a slaughter. I'm certainly rooting for them because they deserve nice things.

Lightning v. Canadiens: This one is a total coin flip. I have no idea. I give the slight edge to Tampa for the same reason I give it to Pittsburgh - playoff experience.

There you have it!

What is the saying - NHL playoffs are like snorting cocaine and then riding a motorcycle out of a helicopter?

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Kill Hannah - Lips Like Morphine

starandrea

Chihuahua! ♥

Daphne's DNA test results came back just a day shy of two weeks after the swab went in the mail. Embark was able to identify DNA from 8 specific breeds (very auspicious), with five of them being at least 10% and the greatest being 40%.

(The remaining three were grouped into "15% supermutt" and included GERMAN SHEPHERD, so fair, the only thing funnier would have been husky.)

So according to Embark, Daphne is about 40% chihuahua. No cairn genes detected, nor border terrier nor brussels griffon. In fact the single terrier-type gene they identified was 15% yorkie (second largest gene contribution after chihuahua), although the distinction seems to be partly one of size. (Her genes are almost entirely from toy breeds, even though her size tips her out of the toy category.)

40% chihuahua
15% yorkie
15% supermutt (mini poodle, german shepherd, lhasa apso)
10% pomeranian
10% pekingese
10% shih tzu

Plausible ♥

kaberett

( Read more... )

starandrea

You know what we need, are some flower pictures.

( spring bulbs and treathounds )

So I was going to do some stuff for the plants today, and I did move the dahlias and receive the greenhouses, which are in boxes on the living room floor. I even put together my new rake and opened the box that has the replacement tire for the garden cart in it. And I watered. Some things. But mostly I was tired and decided, maybe tomorrow.

There's a reason I have flowers instead of children.

starandrea

Found the scilla; it's under the pine tree, like right under it, in a little huddle of dark blue bells. V cute.

It's a bit warm and only flirting with freezing next Sunday and Monday nights, so I kicked out the two least fragile plants (agapanthus and some kind of dracaena, I forget but it's definitely survived being snowed on before) plus the two biggest geraniums and lo, there is space again.

So then Marci was like why don't you move the dahlias there, and I was all, oh and put them on a tray so they could be carried in and out to harden off ahead off frost free?? I love it. But the schefflera trees by the back door have scale, which doesn't kill them but could do in tender dahlia babies, so I pushed the littler trees outside too even though I'm pretty sure they're the ones I accused of being overly dramatic about temps below 50F last fall. We'll see in the morning, because even though I ordered them their own mini greenhouse for tomorrow I didn't bring them back in tonight.

And Marci was like what if you got a popup canopy, would that keep things warm, and I was like I don't know but I could put the big tree in it and attack the scale with mint while also keeping the dahlias away from it. But I don't want to move the big tree out until I put the fake grass on the patio for the summer, and that means moving everything already on the patio, plus sweeping, and also hauling rolls of artificial turf from the garage. Sounds hard.

So maybe that will be tomorrow's project, or not. Meanwhile there's a big empty space near the back door with a dahlia table built out of partially assembled wire crates and a boot tray. The dahlias are still in the utility closet.

But the lungwort is blooming in the front garden next to the bridge and its little pink and purple flowers are delightful.

deird1

For some reason, I felt moved to write femslash pirate dubcon smut. Not sure where that came from.

Title: And a Bottle of Rum
Rating: R
Word Count: 1536

Summary: Seriously, guys, this is just smut.

( yo ho ho )

kaberett

( Read more... )

For sheep that dream of Dreamwidth.

"if I knew what I was doing, I'd be doing it right now"

I have a clean house!

vital functions

Book Bingo: 04 | Humour | The Party Crasher

Exercise

FIC: From the council chamber to the courtyard (Tempestuous Tours)

like you do

Concept

Dept. of Memes

sciatic nerves were a mistake

tomorrow, compost for the fence gardens. or groceries. both would be good.

minimal update

[movement] and another milestone

NHL Playoffs

"when I think about angels, I think about you" (jamie o'neal)

[ankle] no surgery for meeeeee!!!!

"keep your face to the sunshine and you'll never see the shadows"

"if you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a glass of milk"

And a Bottle of Rum - fic

[movement] in which I am surprised

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