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[personal profile] mistressofmuses
I took too many pictures while we were at Hudson Gardens last week, so had to split up the post a bit.

Here is Part 2: The Critters!

Mostly, I'd been hoping we would see frogs, because there were loads of tadpoles when we were there in the spring, but we were too early for frogs.


We were not too early for frogs this time! This was my favorite bullfrog of the day, who was surprisingly chill about me taking pictures.


Found along the lake shore, a fairly recent shed snake skin! Almost certainly a garter snake.


Seventeen pictures of various critters, lots of frogs and crayfish, plus others:
Over past the beehives, the little holding pond is full of water and plants again! We heard one tell-tale "eep! plop" of a bullfrog, but upon looking closely at the pond, discovered there were also quite a few of the tiniest possible froglets.


What is that between the plants?

Let's look a bit closer...


Hmm...

Eeeeeven closer...


The tiniest frog!!


Another tiny!frog. (Just below the stem of the lily pad in the middle, the one with the curled leaf.)


Two more tiny frogs!

The tiny frogs are far too small to be bullfrogs. I feel like they're even a bit too small to be leopard frogs, based on what I remember of the one I raised from a tadpole when I was a kid. They could be toads like Berry Mad, since I think they do start out very small, or possibly chorus frogs.

The other thing there were a ton of...


Baby crayfish! So many baby crayfish! More baby crayfish than I have ever seen!


Still some big bullfrog tadpoles, too.


Another fun aquatic baby: a damselfly nymph!


A kingfisher!

Then up to the lily pond...


A nice big bullfrog under the lily pads! And such stripey legs.


A much smaller bullfrog.


Another shot of the very big, very chill bullfrog from above the cut.


A nice big crayfish, marching along the water line.


Not as intense as the claws I found up at Pine Valley Ranch, but you can see the blue claws!


Another bullfrog, sitting on the waterfall between levels of the pond.


On a fence post, a cicada husk.


One last big bullfrog, on the muddy bank.


One last bonus picture,
of a black widow at my mom's house:


This is "Esmeralda" or "Esme" for short. She lives in the window well outside of my mom's basement. My mom sent me this picture the same day we went to the gardens: Esme had three big egg sacs! (According to mom, she has since laid a fourth.) She is an attentive mother, rotating the egg sacs and moving them around the web over the course of each day. My mom has been enjoying watching her.

My mom said that her research on black widows and their egg-laying said that they only live about a year once they're fully mature, which makes me feel slightly better about how short a time I had Ophelia... perhaps it really was just her time.
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[personal profile] cimorene
After my first driving lesson with a clutch and an expert instructor, I felt cautiously optimistic and a bit excited. I knew I was going to need a lot of practice for the mechanical habits, but I was having fun.

After the first lesson with the driving simulator I kind of feel like I did terrible. I don't say this is a tone of despair, because I know it's partly the fault of the simulator, among other things, but I did get quite annoyed at myself.

I also felt like I needed more repetition of just starting, slowing and stopping, and shifting gear before I tried combining them too quickly the way the simulator was asking. I'd only driven half an hour before the lesson started and was not ready yet to shift into 3rd, floor it to reach 50 kph as quickly as possible, then immediately shift to 2nd and brake to slow while looking over my shoulder for a left turn. This is supposed to be a driving simulator, not a street chase video game! Of course I forgot the turn signal one time and released the clutch too fast another! Also, why would you ever go to 3rd gear and 50 kph in a dense urban environment for less than a block? Why couldn't you practice those skills in a realistic scenario? Like a highway?

But anyway, the point is: there are a fixed number of driving lessons included in this course, so it might not be possible to practice each skill more before moving on. And I've always been terrible at video games. And sports. And coordination, if you don't mean the kind of fine control used for art. Though in retrospect, I did forget to take my methylphenidate first, and it should statistically make a significant increase in how safely I drive.

Bad Cows

Jul. 19th, 2025 02:31 pm
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[personal profile] ranunculus
Yesterday evening I got a call from Marika and Rosemary.  "Do the neighbors have cows?"  No,  they don't.  Once again most of the herd was out. They had forced their way though the very same hole as they had before, breaking all the wire we installed.   I called Kerri, Cody's wife then jumped in the Gator and zipped down to the fence.  I got around a big bunch of cows that were still right near the boundary and pushed them out the gate and back onto our place. 
In the Gator I had a partial roll of barbed wire. While Kerri was coming up the steep driveway to Rudy's, I began rolling out barbed wire.  Three new strands of it across the broken area.  Once that was in place, and the rest of the cows were in, we began weaving more strands of barbed wire vertically. They won't break that stuff!  We worked long after full dark to reinforce the fence with all the cows right there watching us.  As I left Kerri suggested I move the herd up the hill away from that particular spot.  It was hard getting them going but eventually the whole bunch started up the hill.  Chena helped by barking enthusiastically. She clearly was watching me carefully, and after a few minutes she voluntarily trotted back around a slow group and got them moving. I called her off as soon as they moved and told her what a good girl she was.  After a few forays to move various cows, I felt confident enough to send her out to bark, and then call her back to the Gator.  She was SO proud of herself!  I'm delighted to have a dog who has figured out that her job is to help move cows, but ONLY when asked.  There were a couple of times this summer when she tried to move the cows away from the house and got yelled at. It was clear last night that she absolutely understood the difference between working for me, and not chasing stock when she wasn't "working".  I don't think she will ever be more than mildly helpful, but as is often the case I'm awed by what instinct combined with intelligence produces. 
Today I went back down to the fence and continued fixing it up. After a while Kerri showed up and together we got Rudy's whole line fixed up.  We added another strand of barbed wire all the way to the south corner, plus a lot of vertical stays.  The fence needs some more t-posts but it should do for now.

Old

Jul. 19th, 2025 11:31 am
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[personal profile] susandennis
Volleyball was very good today. An excellent number of people and no assholes. Elbow Coffee was pretty good, too. Last night I hit on the idea of using it to unravel sweaters. So I took my sweaters and my vacuum (cause unraveling makes a huge mess of little yarn bits) and unraveled while we coffeed. I thought one or two might want to join in but they did not which was fine. They enjoyed watching me and it was good conversation.

Last night I watched my first Mariner game of the season and it really was fun. When the broadcasters started saying stupid shit, I just hit mute until after the commercial and then turned the sound back on. It worked fine, plus I had closed captioning on anyway. At bedtime, I watched more on my tablet while listening to my book in bed. Glad I spent the $25.

My neighbor across the hall - the Jim who moved in a month after I did - is declining pretty fast. Physically he's fine. Mentally, he's melting. His doctor has told him he cannot drive any more. And he's apparently going to take the advice. He asked me this morning if I'd help him sell his car. He has a Tesla. I just 'chatted' with the local Ford dealership and they will buy it. Yes, I know there are many more ways and he could get lots more money with some of the other ways but... the point is to make the car belong to someone else. That is the only point. So I'm going to suggest the way that is easiest. I may have to end up driving it myself.

Living with old people is a constantly changing environment, that is for absolute sure.

Now I need to go find a remote. I have this wall clock that needs the time changed and taking it down would probably involve wall repair so I need to find the damn remote. It's not in the obvious places so I need to start on the non obvious places. Sigh.

20250719_120357-COLLAGE
cimorene: Illustration from The Cat in the Hat Comes Back showing a pink-frosted layer cake on a plate being cut into with a fork (dessert)
[personal profile] cimorene
Something I read recently - I think a vintage women's magazine from the 20s, but I'm not positive - mentioned "eggs Florentine". I did a quick web search, not having heard of this before, and learned that this, also called a Florentine omelette, is an omelette with cheese (traditionally swiss or gruyere) and spinach filling. Dishes named "Florentine" often have spinach in them, apparently. I found a recipe to try, because I love spinach dishes, and we had it for dinner today with bread rolls. I made the filling with pepper gouda and a bit of parmesan because that's the cheese we had, and it came out great!

Now Wax is baking an almond layer cake with lemon curd buttercream because her favorite aunt is coming to stay on Monday. She asked me what kind of cake, and almond layer cake with vanilla was my suggestion. I subsequently remembered I've been craving carrot cake and she said she'd make one of those too, but we'll have to buy cream cheese first.

Boards: finally stripped!

Jul. 20th, 2025 02:53 am
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[personal profile] tyger

They're DOOOOONE~! I'm so happy.

Next up is pulling a few nails before sanding (so the sandpaper doesn't, you know, catch and tear up into uselessness), then painting. Might do some tomorrow, not sure yet - I REALLY need to go shopping, I require moar drinks. Also more food, but that's less urgent, the lack of non-water drinks is... resulting in me not drinking much. Which is not great. I have my water glass right here, I just. It cold. And gross. No desire to drink it, though I do make myself when I remember.

In unrelated news, Tortilla has been SO SNUGGLY today omg. Just. I make a vaguely lap-shaped space, I have cat in it. It's very nice! :3 She put her little paws all over my face this morning, too, stretching out while I rubbed her head :x :x :x So soooooft!!!

I did make butter chicken, too! I needed TWO big plates in order to stop feeling hungry, which is telling me I haven't been eating enough again, siiiiigh. At least butter chicken is delicious enough I won't have that problem again until I finish it! Need to get more tortillas and tomatoes etc for wraps, too. Been heating up a couple of chicken nuggets per wrap as the protein, which is actually really good! And warm, which helps in this weather orz.

Anyway, here's to hoping that I fall asleep easily tonight! Haven't the last few nights, though napping during the day is fine. Might be the cold, which is annoying.

mistressofmuses: Image of nebulae in the colors of the bi pride flag: pink, purple, and blue (Default)
[personal profile] mistressofmuses
Tuesday was my last day off from work. We decided to go to Hudson Gardens. We went there a bit earlier in the year, but knew there'd be different stuff blooming, and we hoped for frogs, haha. Success on both counts!

As always, too many pictures, so splitting it into two posts. This one will be for flowers (and insects), and the other one will be for various critters.


Adorable bee-fly!


Bumblebee, quite coordinated with its flower.


Ladybug!


Twenty more pictures of flowers and bugs:

Lovely water lilies.


More!

We were there a little after the peak for the roses, but some were still blooming:


Nice bright yellow.


The candy-stripe ones are always one of my favorites.


They're all so unique, even on the same bush.


More, with a bee butt!


I love this orange one.


The white ones look so soft.


A very flashy candy-stripe one.

Unfortunately a lot of the remaining roses looked like...


...this. The Japanese beetles unfortunately went to town on everything.


More bees!


Obligatory picture through the kaleidoscope.


Another picture of the bee-fly. They're so fluffy looking.


Honeybee!


The beehives.


More really vibrant water lilies.


A bee-mimic fly (not to be confused with the bee-fly, lol.)


More waterlilies.


A different ladybug, and a little mystery bug.


This waterlily was so perfect it looked fake.


It was a really nice day. We did our usual stop at the café for coffee and a snack, and otherwise just had a really nice day walking around.

Second post will be the various critters, which is always the part I'm excited for, haha.

It was a great idea, but...

Jul. 18th, 2025 01:13 pm
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[personal profile] susandennis
When Scott and Julie were here, we were studying the map - the route they were about to take. I noticed that they were skirting Iowa near the teensy little town where my nephew lives. So I said, wouldn't it be fun if you were to pop into his town and deliver him something from me!

Mistake 1 was not studying the map carefully enough. It was three hours out of their way and a very boring three hours. But, once the idea came out of my mouth, they were determined. And nothing I could say would dissuade them.

My brother gave me two wonderful, meaningful jigsaw puzzles. He had them made especially for me. I had solved them both so sending them was perfect. When I need them back, to solve again, I know right where to find them. So into a Chico bag I had on hand and into their car and off to Iowa.

My nephew bought a house a few months ago and moved. I had new new address but, since Google has contact info in about 15 places, I didn't get the change in the right place and gave Scott and Julie the wrong address. They delivered with pictorial proof.

20250718_105453

So I sent my nephew a text with the photo and told him he needs to clean up that crap off his porch.

This is how I found out I'd fucked up the address. ARUGH. His response was, 'no prob, I'll pop over and pick it up now!' followed quickly by 'oh shit, I forgot that I walked to work.' He called the people who live in his old house and they secured it and he picked it up after work.

He liked the puzzles a lot and was delighted at the creativity. And then nothing. I waited as long as I could stand it and finally said

"no questions about how the package got there?????????????????"

"Oh yeah, come to think of it... how?" OMG

He was impressed but he did want to make sure I told them the mess on the porch wasn't his.

kind of a fun goat rodeo.

Oh hey it's Friday again

Jul. 19th, 2025 03:59 am
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[personal profile] tyger

So Sibling did come over today! The edge sanding has been done! Despite the machine being called an edge sander, though, it doesn't do corners. For. Reasons. Extremely poorly designed reasons, by all reports, it's apparently a hellish contraption of exceptionally stupid construction. Sibling couldn't find a different type to use, though, alas. :/

So sanding will continue next week, almost definitely on Monday, so there's that to look forward to. 2-3 weeks for the whole job seemed like a pipe dream to me, and hey look I WAS RIGHT. Gonna be at LEAST four weeks, maybe longer. Annoying! Hopefully my room can be opened up again sometime next week, though. Ugh, I need shoes.

As far as my stuff goes, I didn't quite get the last board done, but it's mostly there. Maybe a quarter left, at most? So I'll definitely finish that tomorrow.

Didn't end up cooking curry tonight, though, for the extremely stupid reason of I was too hungry/tired. Like. What the hell, evolution, why is this a thing? But no, you get too hungry and tired and coordination goes away and I definitely could not trust myself with knives and fire and hot oil. :| So that'll be tomorrow too! As soon as I finish the paint stripping, I think. Even if it's only like 2pm, doesn't matter, curry time!

Not Wednesday

Jul. 18th, 2025 07:02 am
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[personal profile] susandennis
Today I have nothing. No volleyball so I could sleep in. Nothing on the calendar. No promises to anybody. Luxury. And baseball starts again. Double bonus.

Last night's picnic was fine. The fried chicken company did not bring the ordered potato salad or coleslaw and the woman in charge of ordering it all was flummoxed. After most everyone was served the chicken and beans they did have, she came over to me and wanted me to order potato salad and coleslaw from them and have it delivered by Uber Eats. The place is a good 20 minutes away and it was still rush hour. I assured her that it would not get here until after everyone had gone home. Plus, who cared. She got on the mic and asked and turned out, no one cared. It was fine.

My job was Gail. I had to go over to the nursing wing and check her out. She was all ready but a bit confused about where we were going and why. But, she was up for it so we went. Turned out she was the perfect dinner companion. We sat with a table of not very obnoxious people and then after the eating was done, we just sat and watched everyone. I asked her a couple of times if she was ready to go back and she said she would love to stay if I didn't mind.

She's very bright and with it in the moment. She kept saying 'have I told you this before?' which she had not and it was fun. We were over at the edge and so could see everyone (and her eyesight and hearing are great) so we talked about outfits and who was married to whom and what they were doing. We had lots of good laughs. It was way better than trying to make smalltalk with some of those randos. Plus, it meant I didn't have to do any of the prep or any of the clean up. So win win win. When we got back to her area, the nightly movie had just started and she was excited to watch it so I signed her back in and came home.

There's a winter 3rd floor social but I dodged that last year - can't remember how - and plan to this year, too.

The guy is coming to unhang and rehang the shade next Thursday. No clue who's going to pay for it but I have a sneaking suspicion I will get the bill.

Yesterday I was downstairs at lunch time picking up a package and when I got home, I put the cart into the closet. About mid afternoon, I was aware of Julio making constant meowing noises. And then I heard Biggie. And I figured they were having a conversation. But, it did not stop so finally I got up to look and Julio was laid out next to the closet door telling me that Biggie was in the closet. Sure, enough, I opened the door and the two of them went off to commiserate. Well done, Julio!

20250718_073113-COLLAGE

(no subject)

Jul. 17th, 2025 09:16 pm
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[personal profile] ranunculus
The chain saw sharpener is now up with an extension cord run through the carport rafters to power it.  Tomorrow I'll do my best to figure out how to actually use the darn thing.  I have one chain that is so dull that it is a perfect practice piece.  Anything I do to it should help.  Once I get it figured out there is a big stack of dull chains to do, at least 10. 

Yesterday the Gator got half a bath.  The entire front got washed, the windshield was carefully washed and removed for the rest of the summer.   The plexiglass windshield is so prone to scratches that I really can't clean it regularly.  In the winter the windshield makes a huge difference, it is SO much warmer. In the summer it is completely unnecessary.  I need to find a sheet to wrap it in so it doesn't get dirty or scratched...

The same two calves that got out on Wachs place, got into my horse pasture this late afternoon.  They had been there before.  I was puzzled because in other places they are pretty respectful of the electric fence, but not that one.  I tightened up a wire and was checking one last thing when I found the problem.  Last winter while I was working on the fence I hooked two gate handles, not into the plate that transfers power to the line, but into the plastic insulator that holds that plate. That left the fence tape tight, but not electrified, which is great when you are working on the fence. It is also nice to turn off the fence once the cows are gone and the horse is in another pasture.   In my pre-cow fence check somehow I remembered to move the top wire, but missed moving the lower handle.  Oops.  Hopefully that will encourage those two calves to stay on the correct side of the fence. 

The Phone Rang

Jul. 17th, 2025 02:08 pm
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[personal profile] ranunculus
The phone rang at 7am yesterday morning.   It was our neighbor Mr Wachs (pronounced "wax"), reporting that the cows were out. I called Cody.  A few minutes later Cody called me and asked if I would come down and open the wire gate that leads into Rudy's place.  Rudy is Wach's neighbor to the south.  It wasn't just one or two cows that were out, it was pretty much the whole herd.  Cody thinks that one of the calves, closely followed by his buddy in trouble, a slightly younger calf; got out onto Wach's place. These aren't little calves, the bigger one probably weighs 350 lb, and is clearly a teenager with a big attitude. The first calf's  mamma, who is a good cow mamma, couldn't get through the same place, but did push through Rudy's fence in order to stay with her calf.  The rest of the herd followed. 
Cody pushed the herd back to Rudy's fenceline where none of the cows walked the extra 30 feet to the gate, they all climbed back through the fence.  I knew I'd seen two calves on the Wach's property but by the time the rest of the herd was through I could only see one, who I hazed back through the fence.  Cody and I stapled up the old, old fence to old, old redwood posts.  There was field fencing below topped with two strands of what had once been barbed wire.  The barbs are now so rusted that they are little more than nubs on the wire. There were some new  t-posts that had been installed the wrong way around, making them almost useless.   We then added two or three vertical wires between each post, a lot, considering that the line posts were only about 8 feet apart.  The vertical wires help tie everything together and make it hard for a cow to get their head between the wires.  Once a cow can put their head through the wire they will use their weight to push on through, so stopping the head is important. 
Cody has some fairly serious medical stuff going on and was headed for UCSF in San Francisco for further testing. 
I got another phone call last night around 8pm.  It was Mr Wachs reporting that the last calf had shown up and was safely back through the fence.  With that in mind, this morning, a lovely cool foggy morning (pretty much unheard of in July), I took the chainsaw down, cut up one of the PG&E trees and went on to the Wach fence.  If those calves hadn't been trouble-making teens they wouldn't have challenged that fence, but it was -just- decrepit enough to let them through.  I added staples and lots of verticals.  It should be good for a few more years. 
Now I need to mount the chain saw sharpener. 

Doing it right this time

Jul. 17th, 2025 10:33 am
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[personal profile] susandennis
I went to check on Hazel and John. John is home from the hospital but not in good shape at all. He's not in pain and is alert but has no energy and is swollen up like a whale. They are still doing tests and have no clue so no fix in sight.

We have a system here of meal delivery for those who need it. I explained to them how it worked. They just call and order up dinner or lunch and it's brought up to them. They said they would use it. Hazel can get around but does not want to leave him alone which is smart.

Then I went down to the Health Center and got them signed up so they can get that delivery and also asked that someone from the Health Center check on them. The receptionist, who is new, did the sign up while I stood there and then also went into the director's office and told her and the social worker who was in there, that the Clements need help. Nice. I have been underwhelmed and frustrated with that whole department but this was encouraging.

Bonny wasn't home but I sent her the details in a text. She thanked me the other day for keeping her posted and I explained that I was just keeping her complicit. She got it.
tyger: Marluxia's Avatar Kingdom chibi. Text: Marluxia (Marluxia - chibi)
[personal profile] tyger

Sibling did NOT come over today! Apparently it's "been a week", which. Fair! Anyway, should be around tomorrow, but if not that's okay too.

I DID finish stripping the board I was working on! I didn't get any of the next one done, though, because I came inside for a break and realised I really, really needed a nap. So I had that instead.

Unfortunately, brain is still Absolutely Refusing to eat my goddamn soup - I made myself heat up a bowl, and then I just. Left it there. Until it went cold and Sushi decided to drink all the broth. SIGH. I can give the non-broth bits to the chooks tomorrow so it won't be entirely wasted but still. Ugh.

Also my bread went moldy overnight - I've been eating toast for breakfast every! Day! I didn't think it'd go bad when I've been steadily getting through it, but apparently I needed to put it in the fridge even with how cold it's been - so basically two meals of the day got turned into rice with stuff on top. Which isn't bad but it is annoying since I was expecting to eat other things.

I did take chicken out of the freezer, though, so tomorrow I'll make the butter chicken I got the ingredients for. And then I'll really need to shop again, sigh. Hopefully I'll get the last board stripped tomorrow, though; I think showering will be less of a brainfuck if I'm not going to get back into the gross and stinky clothes I've been doing that in. Hopefully. (Also they really need a wash, but given how long drying anything takes at the moment I'm waiting until this stage is done hahaha. Hopefully the stuff on the clothes horse will be dry by then... Keeps raining, so outside isn't really an option at the moment :/)

New Zealand slang needed please 🙏

Jul. 17th, 2025 05:50 pm
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[personal profile] kitarella_imagines posting in [community profile] little_details
I write RPF and due to sheer stupidity thought a guy (L) was Australian but he's from New Zealand 🤦‍♀️ Is there anyone who could translate these Australianisms (which I really love and got from Home & Away and Neighbours) into New Zealandisms? I don't watch any NZ soaps.#

JUST TO ADD: this is a fun, fluffy story, nothing gritty, angsty or serious. It is only just in the T rating, mainly because of a few dodgy comments. It could pass as G probably but better safe than sorry. It is not about football of any type, L isn't a footballer, he is just bouncing a ball in one short scene, which he was doing on Instagram.

Also, do New Zealanders play keepy uppy? When you bounce a football on your knee and see how many times you can do that without dropping it. A well known British game but maybe it's called something different in New Zealand?

~~~

“G’day mate,” said the Australian. “Sorry, we're playing keepy uppy and the ball got away from us.” He was smirking as he picked up the football.


“Don't be such a flaming galah.” L threw the ball at N.


“Strewth mate, that’s 50 already.”


“Here we are,” said L. “Enjoy, you pair of hoons.”

Wednesday

Jul. 17th, 2025 08:52 am
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[personal profile] susandennis
[edit: My attempt to make this a two Wednesday week has not gone undetected by NC Wayne. Plus, I just learned tomorrow is Friday. Sorry, Thursday, I didn't mean to dis you.]


Last night's dinner was canceled. The air conditioning in the dining room was out so they closed it. Bonny pivoted to drinks in the elbow with Jackie and added Jan and Dick.

I think there might be issues with Jackie. She seems to resent other people talking and I've already heard repeats of her life story and I've maybe only spent 2 hours with her. Plus she does not approve of animals as pets and Bonny thinks she heard her say that Timber Ridge 'sure has a lot of Jews'. Now that last bit is a showstopper for sure and I'm assuming Bonny heard wrong but after spending an hour with Jackie last night, I'm wondering if maybe she hear correctly.

So we're having dinner on the 30th and she added Dick and Jan so we will be 5 in an already loud dining room with everyone talking at once and Jackie trying to talk over everyone. Oh Goody.

Maybe the apocalypse will happen before then.

Today's excitement is the 3rd floor picnic. My job is to go over to the nursing unit and guide Gail down. Gail lived here on this floor until her husband died last winter. She comes to Saturday coffee sometimes and someone made arrangements for her to come to the picnic but she can't come on her own. So my job is to go to the front desk there in that unit and "check her out" and then return her before she turns into a pumpkin. She's always so bright and cheery and enjoys everything. She has zero short term memory but is very present and happy to be where ever she is.

I hit a major network glitch yesterday with my TV. Half of the apps said there was no internet. The other half were happy to stream whatever I wanted. It was so weird. Finally, I sucked Gemini into the issue. It worked really well. I was able to describe the problem and list my troubleshooting attempts and so Gemini quickly zoomed in on the issues - DNS. Swapped that out and BOOM! All the apps were happy. Interesting to see which TV apps really dig into your own personal connection DNA. Netflix and MLB and YouTube - they rest probably check the IP address and call it good.

No pre-picnic requirements of me so I can just enjoy the day and I plan to!

20250717_092028-COLLAGE

History Is Like Gravity

Jul. 17th, 2025 08:17 am
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[personal profile] mallorys_camera
Finished Heat and Light.

Such an ambitious novel!

Has at least 15 POV characters who are rotated through the novel in 10-page bursts, giving the reader a multi-dimensional view of a dying town. None of the views are particularly sympathetic.

The town was modeled after the author's hometown of Barnesboro.

Barnesboro is a prime example of one of those places that if you end up in it (somehow), you think, Why is this here?

It's the fundamental question in economic geography.

Well. It's here because of its history. History is like gravity: You can't see it, you're mostly unaware of it, but it glues people to particular places. When they're young, they want to leave. But then they forget why they want to leave, and they stay.

###

Other than that, I did very little, though I did tromp—early in the morning, but not early enough to beat the heat. It's 80° here by 8 a.m. and very, very humid. This quashes any interest I might have in vacating the air-conditioned, kiska-and-plant-filled Patrizia-torium. (And let's not forget the Italian masks! Woo-woo!)

I'm still trying to come up with some kind of plot for the Neversink story.

But today, I really must Remunerate.

Monday, July 07: Pine Valley Ranch

Jul. 16th, 2025 09:01 pm
mistressofmuses: Image of nebulae in the colors of the bi pride flag: pink, purple, and blue (Default)
[personal profile] mistressofmuses
On Monday of last week, we went up to Pine Valley Ranch, another of the mountain open space parks.


It's a very pretty area.


A slightly different flower than I'm used to seeing. I think it's a type of Jacob's ladder.


A butterfly I managed to get close enough to get a picture of!


17 more pictures (flowers, insects, deer, one spider):

This thistle was taller than either of us, ha. But quite a hit with the bees.

The lakeshore was kind of disappointing. Usually we see lots of critters: fish, crayfish, frogs, snakes, etc. This time there wasn't much of anything. There were a few small fish and a couple crayfish, but we saw more dead crayfish than live ones, plus a couple dead fish. I did hear one frog or toad hopping away into the underbrush, but I didn't get a real look at it.

Last year was when I was very excited to see leopard frogs there, but I checked and last year's trip was at the end of July, so it's possible we were just a little too early for the things I'd hoped to see this year.


While a live one would have been cooler, the claws from this (probably eaten) crayfish were astoundingly blue. The weird little scrap of black and yellow turned out to be a torn piece of a swallowtail wing.


A swallowtail! We've seen a lot of them this year, but they never sit still long enough for a picture. Obviously I had to take this one from a distance, ha.


More bees on flowers? Always. (Adorable little antennae.)


Down at the end of the lake, in a sort of marshy area, a deer had stepped out for a moment. A moment later she stepped into the willows and she was completely gone from sight. (I wonder how often there are deer or other animals *right there* that we just can't see.)

We paused up at some picnic tables to get Bella some water and snacks (and for us too.)

A few minutes later, a pair of fawns came out from the trees down by where we'd just been.


The first little fawn, bounding up the path until it dodged over to the willows where we'd seen the adult.


The second one ran down the path, and then back up. It also started bleating, which is the saddest but cutest sound, but eventually also headed into the willows, so I assume it found where it needed to be.


A cool beetle.


I love how perfectly sized these flowers are, so that bumblebees fit completely inside except for their little butts, lol.


The river.


Daisies!


A tiny little blue spruce!


Paintbrush flowers.


Down at the base of the tree, another deer!

Bella did actually see this one, and she was very interested. We used to watch a wildlife channel to sleep to, and Bella was very interested in one of the wildlife rehab shows. Her favorite animals to watch were seals, but her second favorites were deer, haha.

We did go sit in the little pagoda by the river for a little bit before we headed out.


It's Bella!


A tussock moth caterpillar! They're very cool looking, though unfortunately can be pretty destructive.


And a neat crab spider.


Someday I'm going to get caught up, I swear. Eventually.

*flomp*

Jul. 17th, 2025 04:22 am
tyger: Vexen's Avatar Kingdom chibi. Text: Vexen (Vexen - chibi)
[personal profile] tyger

Yeaaaah so I slept most of the day again orz orz orz

I DID however cook a proper dinner, so I'm pretty pleased with that. (I was THINKING I'd just have leftover soup, but my brain is bouncing off it pretty hard right now. Because. Of course it is. SIGH.)

Sibling should be here tomorrow, so we'll see how things go! Hopefully most of the sanding will get finished!

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