jaala

My nursing friend texted me this morning, did I want to meet up for coffee? But I was in one of my 'let's stay in bed all day' moods and had to decline. Eventually I did get up and found myself not quite as achy as yesterday: but once I was out of the bedroom and its air purifier, my sinuses filled and I sneezed mightily and coughed spasmodically and had all the symptoms of a really bad allergy day. Which may have been why I hadn't wanted to get out of bed. Nonetheless I intended to sweep up the carpet of seedlings out front, but my back at once had conniptions. So I heated up the beanbag wrap and took a bunch of muscle relaxants, not thinking how those might interact with the histamines in my system. Yeah, so I was a zombie the rest of the day and didn't go out at all. At least managed to swifter the kitchen floor but that was it. Stayed on the couch and read. Or doomscrolled, whichever.

DW tells me that the Kai story in vol.28 defeated me completely back in 2020, but with the help of my tablet and the Internet I've wrangled a bunch of vocabulary into comprehensibility. You'd think the wordtank might have the words for real estate (宅健) or lock (施錠) or come in handy (重宝する). I mean, they do, but not those phrases. We won't start on the slang meaning of float. It's still hack hack hack through some very ambiguous language and events. Oh, and カルト is a cult, not a cart, which explains how there could be a number of bodies found in a place: but why didn't the wordtank have that? Sheesh.

kaberett

(by which I mean, A very bravely ventured back to B&Q again, this time DID get The Goods, aaaaaaaand then discovered that even cut down they didn't fit in the car so they still needed to be attached to the roof rack with ratchet straps--)

we have achieved PROOF that the windows CLOSE when they have ratchet straps slung around both TOP and BOTTOM

we have a house at 26.7°C and an outside world at 26.1°C and it's time to go to bed

[Gru's plan goes here]

-- but hey, maybe at least we'll manage to discourage it from getting significantly warmer in here? and maybe I'll wake up early enough to open the house up usefully while we're still below 20°C tomorrow morning?

ribirdnerd posting in

birdfeeding

Lots of on and off steady rain showers today and yesterday too. This should help with our drought conditions.

Quite a few Woodpeckers and House Sparrows eating suet and seed plus a few Catbirds and Mourning Doves cleaning up the crumbs.

The damp ground makes it easy to pull out some weeds between rain showers.

Current Location: rhode island

the_siobhan

Got down another 250 words last night and the story is finished. I'm going to give it a couple of days of rest then I'll go in and look for the usual grammar errors, perspective shifts, and repeated words.

Tonight is movie night with the GF so I may not get any words down but we'll see. Sometimes I can't go to bed right away after walking in the door. (But heaven help me if I open a bottle of wine. 2000 words later and I'm thinking, well if I go to bed now I can get four hours of sleep before my next meeting tomorrow...)

Day 7 Tally

ysilme

Day 6 Tally

sanguinity

badly_knitted

sylvanwitch

trobadora

cornerofmadness

dswdiane

shippen_stand

ysilme

the_siobhan

( past tallies )

Let me know if I have missed your name at any point. And don't forget you can jump in (or out) at any time.

ysabetwordsmith posting in

birdfeeding

Today is cloudy and warm. We got a little rain yesterday.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/7/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen a gray catbird splashing in the big red birdbath.

EDIT 7/7/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/7/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

Sparrows and house finches are eating from the hopper feeder.

EDIT 7/7/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I also walked around the yard a bit. Cosmos are blooming in the east-west strip of the prairie garden. Sunflowers are up in several places but not blooming yet. There are some zinnias too. :D

EDIT 7/7/26 -- I cracked 6 apricot pits and got 4 usable seeds, which I bagged in damp sand to cold-stratify in the refrigerator.

Fireflies are out. Cicadas are singing. I saw 2 bats swooping over the house yard.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

petra

This survey is run by the person who runs the Gender Census. It is looking for information about what first names nonbinary (defined very broadly) people use.

If this describes you, go get represented!

Current Mood: nonbinarie
Current Music: Why is it so lonely in between a boy and a girl

flemmings

Yeah, so it's supposedly cooler for certain values of cool which are not my values. Keep reminding myself that I wasn't out last week to observe what a really deadly humidex can do. But today was an 'ache in every joint' day, plus I somehow racked up my right shoulder that panged at me all through my erranding. BoM for small bills, libray for hold, Palmerston grocer for avocadoes (their avocados have the virtue of always being ripe, unlike either supermarket) and raspberries and Quebec strawberries and hell why not sliced mangoes. Better than a whole mango that I will eat in one sitting thereby doing awful things to my blood sugar, no doubt. I think my unsettled digestion is owing to magnesium which I've had to up because suddenly the dose that got me through the winter no longer stops the morning leg cramps, but it could as easily be due to eating more fruit than I'm used to.

By then I ached so atrociously I could see no way of getting home, so good intentions notwithstanding I went to Pour Boy for a Cosmopolitan and some grilled salmon and veg. And rice, alas again, but at least followed by a ten minute walk home. And lots of water, of course.

Bro came by to see me later to talk about this and that and had I called Waddingtons about selling the Franck. Not yet, but will. Find I will have to pay capital gains if I do, which may be considerable given that it's the difference between the assessed value in 1985 and its present valuation. However, a problem for a later, cooler time. Bro also was in 'ache in every sinew' mode-- glutes and hip for him-- but my s-i-l wanted rollmops-- that's herring by any other name-- and only Fiesta has them.

Did a laundry which is hanging in front of the downstairs fan and to my mind/ nose smelling strongly perfumey. This is a side effect of allergies since it's the same detergent I've used all year. Swept the linden seedlings from the sidewalk and front path, which my shoulder hated. And cancelled my dentist appointment this month both because the allergies are so bad that I don't want to be supine at all, and because my July dentist appointments always call in monsoon downpours and I'm just not up for it.

Have started Hyakki Yakki 28 and despair. Neither the wordtank nor the paper dictionary have half the vocabulary there, and it's compounded by the pov character speaking a demotic Japanese I don't know. I mean, he's in Tokyo and I can make out male Tokyo-ben well enough usually, but this defeats me. And as it has Uncle Kai just beginning work at the company he was already very happily employed at in the end of vol 26, I have no idea why we've gone back in time. Maybe when it's cooler...

med_cat posting in

greatpoetry

Я недавно беседу имел с котом,
Так как кот в настроении был как раз.
Он сказал, что нет никакого «потом» —
Лишь «сейчас и здесь», только «здесь и сейчас».

I recently had a conversation with a cat,
Because the cat happened to feel like talking.
He said that there is no "afterwards",
There's only "now and here", only "here and now".

Что коты эту мудрость знают давно:
Если ты спокоен, весь мир — эскорт,
Что прекрасно просто смотреть в окно,
Что в коробках тайна, а в миске корм.

He said that cats have known this wisdom for a long time:
If you're calm, the entire world is your escort,
That it's fine to simply look out the window,
That there's mystery in boxes, and food in the bowl.

Хочешь есть — поешь. Хочешь спать — ложись.
Одолеют мысли — лицо умой.
А девятая жизнь — лишь девятая жизнь,
Что-то вроде пятой или седьмой.

If you're hungry, eat. If you're sleepy, go to bed.
If thoughts are plaguing you, wash your face.
And the ninth life is simply the ninth life,
Rather similar to a fifth or a seventh life.

— Но потом — я воскликнул — потом-то смерть!..
Кот зевнул, небрежно махнул хвостом,
И сказал, живота умывая мех:
Ты забыл, что нет никакого «потом».

"But afterwards," I exclaimed, "afterwards--there'll be death!..."
The cat yawned, negligently waved his tail,
And said, washing the fur on his belly,
"You've forgotten that there's no such thing as 'afterwards'."

Сергей Плотов

Sergey Plotov

(cross-posting from my DW)

ysabetwordsmith posting in

birdfeeding

Today is mostly cloudy and warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I watered the new picnic table garden. I picked the first tomatoes, 2 red cherries and 1 yellow pear.

I saw a tiger swallowtail butterfly. :D

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I watered the telephone pole garden.

I've seen a male cardinal and a starling in the forest garden.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I watered plants in the house yard.

I've seen a mourning dove in the forest garden.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I went out to a local permaculture club meeting, which was lots of fun. :D

On the way home, we saw a heron at the drainage ditch. There were puddles in the road, so we got at least a little rain. That's means I don't need to water plants tomorrow during the Poetry Fishbowl. \o/

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I cracked open a bunch of cherry pits to expose the seeds.

EDIT 7/6/26 -- I bagged up the black cherry seeds in damp sand to cold-stratify in the refrigerator. I think the ones that had been air-drying longer were smaller than the plump ones from today's batch. I'll have to try cracking more sooner and see if that holds true.

Fireflies are coming out. I've seen at least one bat above the house yard.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

the_siobhan

The only productive thing I managed to get accomplished yesterday was a load of laundry and trip to the grocery store. Oh, and I guess day job counts. Does day job count?

Another 250 words on the old story. I am so close to wrapping up this one. So close.

(If I'm making a fuss about this, it's because I am so bad at finishing anything I write. I think I've actually managed to do it twice before so being able to do it a third time feels like I've crossed a skill level.)

Day 6 Tally

Day 5 Tally

badly_knitted

trobadora

sylvanwitch

dswdiane

cornerofmadness

dswdiane

sanguinity

the_siobhan

( past tallies )

Let me know if I have missed your name at any point. And don't forget you can jump in (or out) at any time.

petra

Send me an anonymous (or signed) summary of the fic you wish I would write. Maybe I will write a tidbit.

Maybe, if you're lucky, I'll get my UK on and write you a titbit.

Current Mood: silly
Current Music: Throw back the curtain

brithistorian

Tonight A., L., and I watched the live-action Cells at Work movie. It was surprisingly good — much better than it had any right to be. If you're not familiar with the Cells at Work! manga that it's based on, the basic idea is that it's an explanation of human anatomy (particularly in the bloodstream) using anthropomorphic cells. We follow a red blood cell and a white blood cell over the course of their lives, meet other types of cells (both body cells and invading germs) that they interact with, and see how the body works from the inside. There's also a subplot where we see what happens to the people whose bodies we're inside of, but most of the action takes place inside the body. I cannot believe how highly I am recommending this film!

kaberett

Reading. I have... restarted... Polysecure (Jessica Fern), this time having set up some space in my notebook to Take Notes, because oof. I am still at Baby's First Introduction To Attachment Theory, and I am having Thoughts.

(I am Noticing that I procrastinated on actually picking it up until it was in the final days of the loan, with enough of a hold queue that if I don't finish it in the next 36 hours I will either be buying my own copy or sulking a bunch. This is definitely a reversion to employing Deadline Panic to get a thing done.)

Playing. Puzzle! We have COMPLETED the pond and the various rivers are beginning to coalesce. I am definitely having Thoughts about design, on which more soon/later maybe.

Cooking. We wound up with a paucity of broad beans and an excess of broccoli, so I dumped a bunch of broccol in the broad bean kuku and that worked pretty well.

I have managed to process Some of the redcurrants. There are So Many redcurrants. I really need to go and harvest more raspberries so I can make the jam, and am gently cursing myself for not having achieved this before the next round of heat wave arrived...

Eating. So many strawberries. Also we had an excellent date night dinner sat outside at Wagamama, where it turns out I do in fact really enjoy the gochujang tamarind corn ribs.

Making & mending. ALAS FOR US we have not Made The Window Covers, because our local B&Q had the appropriate plywood but a broken industrial saw for cutting it to size, and the next closest B&Q, which we called to confirm did have a working saw, despite its inventory claims did not have the appropriate plywood. Ergo this week we will be once again resorting to the space blankets.

Growing. I... repotted the pineapple thereby discovering that despite Remaining Alive it was NOT Happily Growing Roots in the medium it was in? So. We will see if it survives the relocation.

Observing. A Jersey Tiger!

Yesterday we wandered down via the bakery to the river (dropping off a bike with the local nice bikes autistic en route) and spent a while watching the various waterfowl: a gaggle of awkward teenage ducks; a separate gaggle of awkward teenage coots, still all trying to pile onto the one nest; a bundle of tiny flufflings all following mama duck, one of whom was consistently making a noise exactly like the PLIMK of a water drop in a space that amplifies the sound; and Six Quiet Orbs on the nest down the river, still with one (1) teenage coot tucked into the side of it. It was a very good walk for waterfowl.

flemmings

In spite of heat-induced couch potatodom these last four days, drinking water and not drinking alcohol and I suppose not having cream-heavy iced coffee continues to lose me weight, though with all deliberate speed. Today was slightly cooler and a lot dryer than it has been so I went up to Farm Boy for the sourdough seedy bread which my touchy summer tum insists on, also bananas and soy and like that. Spoke to another human being for the first time in days. I would make a good eremite, I think. But oh dear god I want sugar so badly. Passed up FB's cookies and cakes and pies, but had a cake pop at Starbucks because cake! Sugar! Frosting! such happiness, such bien-être! and that was lunch. If I could go low carb my weight would drop like a lead balloon, as I know from experience, but in summer that's not possible. Fiber will have to substitute instead. Another two kilos and *maybe* my ankles will unswell. Or maybe not. My physio's acupuncture is good for many things like unhappy knees (as I can tell from not seeing her for ten days) but she's not a patch on my old acupuncturist for debloating the body.

And though it's cooler this week, it's still not going to be cool enough at night to use the window fan. 20C/ 68F at 6 a.m. is too warm, so AC it will be, probably for the rest of this month. Also I continue to have the mild dizziness that goes with hot weather, caused no doubt by tree pollen that is currently coating the front steps and walkway. Do not want to garden with the world gently turning round, but garden I must.

ysabetwordsmith posting in

birdfeeding

Ancient bees turned tooth sockets into tiny nurseries 20,000 years ago

A stunning fossil discovery shows that ancient bees used the empty tooth sockets of mammal bones as tiny nests after owls scattered the bones across a cave floor 20,000 years ago. It's the first known evidence of bees nesting inside animal bones, revealing an astonishingly creative survival strategy.

Fascinating. It seems to be a unique but likely extinct species of bee which nested in bones, but without any actual bee remains, this cannot be proven. The cave-dwelling owls sound cool too.

They're from the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, though so feel free to toss them into Peculiar Obligations as a prompt.

Current Mood: busy

petra

5 valid reasons not to send Ryland Grace to space + 1 nigh-canonical asspull (600 words) by Petra
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Project Hail Mary (2026)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Carl/Ryland Grace, Ryland Grace & Eva Stratt
Characters: Ryland Grace, Carl (Project Hail Mary 2026), Eva Stratt
Additional Tags: Trans Ryland Grace, Trans Mpreg | Trans Male Pregnancy, Eva Stratt Doesn't Respect Bodily Autonomy, single parent, Margaret Thatcher Milk Snatcher Got Nothin' On Stratt, Drabble Sequence
Summary:

Ryland Grace thinks with his heart. Eva Stratt makes ruthless decisions. Everyone, including Carl and Ryland, lives with the consequences.

*****

Specially commissioned for the Petrova Project (100 words) by Petra
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ryland Grace & Eva Stratt
Characters: Ryland Grace, Eva Stratt
Additional Tags: Ryland Grace's A+ Pedagogy, Education, positive reinforcement
Summary:

Ryland Grace gets a delivery.

Current Mood: silly
Current Music: I was a one once but now I'm a we

ysabetwordsmith posting in

birdfeeding

Today is cloudy, humid, and not but not quite as bad as yesterday.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/5/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/5/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've heard bobwhite quail calls. :D

EDIT 7/5/26 -- I started work on a repair job outdoors.

EDIT 7/5/26 -- I did more work on a repair job outdoors.

EDIT 7/5/26 -- I did more work on a repair job outdoors.

EDIT 7/5/26 -- I did more work on a repair job outdoors.

EDIT 7/5/26 -- I did more work on a repair job outdoors.

I've seen a male cardinal and a robin in the forest garden.

EDIT 7/5/26 -- I did more work on a repair job outdoors.

EDIT 7/5/26 -- I did more work on a repair job outdoors.

EDIT 7/5/26 -- I finished the repair job outdoors. *goflopnow*

Fireflies are coming out. Cicadas are singing.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

the_siobhan

It only occurred to me today that I should have used the Jean Chretien icon for July 1st and the Jimmy Carter one for July 4. What the hell was I thinking?

Anyway. Yesterday was a job day so that was pretty much all I did. (Today is also job day.)

Back in the Before Times I used to do all my reading on the bus to and from work. I still read in transit but now I also have made it a habit that after dinner I spend an hour sitting on my couch reading. (This has the added benefit that the cat can sit on me so he actually stops screaming for a whole 60 minutes. My cat is very broken.)

Right now I'm reading Emma. Lately the gf and I have been on an Austin kick, watching all the movies that aren't Pride & Prejudice. Our last two movies were the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma (1996) and the Anya-Taylor Joy Emma (2020). They were pretty different so I started re-reading the book to see which one I think is more accurate.

( this is just me nattering about Emma )

Did another 600-ish words on the old fic. I figured out a penulimate scene that makes the final scene work better and I'm about two-thirds finished with it.

Day 5 Tally

Day 4 Tally

badly_knitted

goddess47

sanguinity

sylvanwitch

trobadora

cornerofmadness

the_siobhan

( past tallies )

Let me know if I have missed your name at any point. And don't forget you can jump in (or out) at any time.

petra

Hey, friend, do you want a movie in which Roger Allam and Sir Ian McKellen are adorable?

Frank and Percy looks over-the-top great, with that cast.

Promo picture, which I saw go by on Tumblr and had a moment of, "Wait, is that Roger Allam in shorts and adorable boots? Am I really that lucky?"

Yes, we all are.

*

For anyone who has not in fact listened to Cabin Pressure, let me share my favorite Douglas Richardson bit from the Ipswich episode, starring Roger Allam, and, not, for the record, including any Benedict Cumberbatch.

In this clip, First Officer Douglas Richardson of MJN Air does professional development with all the other first officers from MJN Air and one beleaguered trainer.

Current Mood: queer as in fuck yeah
Current Music: Hey, Chief, I might be wrong, but