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Reading: I am still slowly working through Braiding Sweetgrass, which is well suited to a gradual reading of one chapter at a time. I've also started in on The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible. And I started reading Diary of a Keen Gardener (Mary Keen), but I think I'm bouncing off it after a chapter; no slight to the book itself, but so far I don't think it's my thing.

I finished reading To Ride a Rising Storm and now have to wait for however long for the next book. (Ah, for that window of childhood when I was quite young and ransacking the adult SFF section of the library and thus completed series were in epic supply. OTOH, it was all by definition books from the '80s or earlier, so.) I'm currently reading Eden Robins' Remember You Will Die, which is really neat so far.

And my copy of the new Yotsuba&! (vol. 16) arrived and I devoured it almost immediately. It remains the one manga series that gets read AT ONCE whenever there's a new release. It remains impossibly charming. It's also not a series I would ever have imagined making me rear back in surprise--the scope of the story is incredibly small! It's a slice-of-life about a five-year-old!--but this volume did that. Amazing.

Watching: A bit more Justice in the Dark (we're now one episode shy of halfway through) and a bit more Witch Hat Atelier. (I have now confirmed via Goodreads that I only ever read vol. 1 of the Witch Hat Atelier manga, back in 2020. The timing may explain why I remembered essentially nothing about it.)

conuly

but judging by the stubby little tail and the scoop claws, this poor little dead animal on my sidewalk was a mole, not a mouse as I first guessed.

Not a mark on it, either - you'd think it just crawled up out of its nest and died right there in front of my house.

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( Read more... )

conuly

Watch on YouTube

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( Read more... )

poliphilo

Picture Diary 132

1. Sizeable object

2. I'll take the high road

3. I have raised strangers

4. Home planet

5. Cottingley 2026

6. Mem'ries

sartorias

Some of you might have heard about the chemical tank that is about to explode or leak gallons of toxic goo. Well, the cut-off is about four blocks from us. Some neighbors have bailed, but most of us are indoors, windows shut. We have filters going and masks at hand in case the thing blows--the air is fine otherwise, so I open up the house and stand in the doorway to air things out every so often. Being closed in, no walks, means I'm getting a lot of stuff done.

I lost my sweet little dog a few days ago. I am missing her every time I turn around and she is not a shadow at my heels, or pressing her warm little body against my side or nudging me for scratches or to fill her puzzles so she can work them.

Getting ready to travel east in a few days, trying to wrangle hotel res being one of my chores.

Much reading and writing.

Closing comments--send any good wishes by mental telepathy!

james_davis_nicoll

Another foray into a long cancelled, fondly remembered magazine of my teen years.

Spring 1980 Destinies (Destinies, volume 7) edited by Jim Baen

conuly

but you shouldn't ignore somebody who's outside at 11:30pm, sobbing on the ground in the rain.

And indeed I did not ignore her, but everybody else was studiously looking the other way. (She declared that she was fine and did not need me to call anybody. I don't know if I believe that she was fine, but she got up and walked to the bus stop and didn't stagger as she did so, so okay. Also, I saw as she stood that her phone was clearly working, so she really didn't need me to call anybody.)

luzula

As always happens lately,

sanguinity and I matched. Not that this is in any way a hardship! I wrote a Flight of the Heron fic which was very obviously by me--I scarcely bothered to pretend. I was quite occupied at the time with sowing and pre-cultivating various crops, which of course is something that might also happen at Ardroy. Seeds are light and can go in the mail, which is how I got the idea to include them in an epistolary exchange, but also, I liked the similarities with a long-distance relationship, the way you plan and anticipate and care for your seedling to come to fruition. Thus, artichokes, which take a lot of nourishment. I also learned the delightful word "melonry" in an 18th century gardening handbook. (Also, I see we are not even bothering any more to put "Character Death Fix" on fics in this fandom...)

Worth Waiting For (1466 words) by Luzula
Fandom: The Jacobite Trilogy | The Flight of the Heron Series - D. K. Broster
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ewen Cameron/Alison Grant/Keith Windham
Characters: Ewen Cameron, Keith Windham, Alison Grant (Jacobite Trilogy)
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Domestic, Long-Distance Relationship, Post-Canon, Gardens & Gardening, Established Relationship

sanguinity made more of an effort to be sneaky, writing in a new fandom! I nevertheless guessed it was her, partly from the likelihood that we would match, but also from the style and the one nautical metaphor she no doubt couldn't help put in it. But I really appreciated it--I didn't think that request would be filled, let alone with such a lovely story! I haven't been reading much lately, and it's been a while since I felt such sheer enjoyment in it. Do go read it! Also, there is now a bonus prequel.

Another Opinion to Set Beside One's Own (4146 words) by sanguinity
Fandom: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Fitzwilliam Darcy/Colonel Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy
Characters: Colonel Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth Bennet, Fitzwilliam Darcy
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Missing Scenes, Canon Divergence, Polyamory, metamours
Series: Part 2 of A Message Will Bring Me
Summary: If there is one comfort in all this, it is that you never had the opportunity to propose your arrangement to her. What a disaster it would have been if you could have had her but for your attachment to me…

Colonel Fitzwilliam's correspondence with Miss Bennet and his cousin Darcy.

cjwatson

My choir is holding a concert in Cambridge on the afternoon of Sunday 14 June, as part of Jewish Culture Month 2026, raising funds for Arthur Rank Hospice: we'll be singing a combination of traditional and modern(-ish) pieces, including some musical theatre numbers with British Jewish composers and lyricists. I'll be doing a solo (Abraham Saqui's gorgeous setting of Yigdal). We'd be delighted if you could come!

Details and booking.

oursin

Happy birthday,

catlinyemaker,

heleninwales and

ruudboy!

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/05/24/charlie-met-a-skunk/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=60814

It did not go well for her.

Nor, it must be said, did it go particularly well for us, since Charlie has now swamped the entire house with a gassy, onion-y skunk smell. Currently all the windows are open and the fans are running. It’s working questionably well.

To Charlie’s credit, as soon as she came into the house she ran upstairs and toward the bathroom. She was well aware she needed a bath. She got one. She will be getting another one soon.

Poor puppy. Poor us.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/05/24/charlie-met-a-skunk/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=60814

sholio

I have read book 8 (the new one) and loved it, but I haven't posted about it for reasons of general mental overwhelm as mentioned in the last post. (There was a lot in that book!) I decided to reread the first few chapters of book 1 for the early character intros, and uhhhhh I've now reread my way through to fairly late in book 3.

Random thoughts about these early books below, including potential spoilers for the whole series here and in comments.

( In no particular order )

poliphilo

I gather Pope Leo is going after Vatican corruption- and three Cardinals are under investigation. They thought he'd back down or consent to a cover-up as other Popes have done, but he's a toughie.

The Pentagon has released more info on UFOs. They're holding back the good stuff but letting us know they know. Call it a softening-up exercise. Others are following suit- the Japanese for instance- and the moment is fast approaching when a world leader gets up on a podium and says, "Me and my guys have got something to tell you.... " History knocks on the door- like Jesus in that horrid Victorian painting- the Light of the World- and it's a question who will get there first and shoot back the bolt. Could the current US President bear it if Putin or Xi or Pope Leo beat him to it? I doubt it. Future generations may forget everything else about our era but they'll remember the name of the person who made that particular paradigm-changing announcement.

castiron

I have just spent the whole evening reading Saving Grace, a bookverse retelling of Project Hail Mary (bookverse) from Rocky's POV. It's well done, especially in how it shows Grace as an alien species. Heartily recommend.

flareonfury posting in

fandomcalendar

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

sholio

The first half of this month was A Lot - mostly family stuff, mostly not bad stuff, just A Lot - and I kept thinking I was going to summarize things, but in the end, I was too tired, and there was too much. (Basically a number of relatives were in town, some staying with me, and I was so peopled out past a certain point that I just sort of collapsed when everyone left.)

Things are much better now! I do have in-laws to deal with this upcoming week, but I'm looking forward to having more time to be online and more mental bandwidth.

So naturally I tripped and signed up for an exchange.

Outside POV Flash. This is a flash exchange - 300 wd minimum, 1 week writing period, 1 fandom request/offer minimum. Signups close tomorrow.

Yes, this is a shameless attempt to lure in more fandom-compatible people. It's only a week! It's only 300 wds! Maybe someone might want a warm-up for IPQ, you never know ...

Other things currently ongoing -

summerofhorrorexchange is in signups! This exchange has slightly unique rules so see post here. (I don't think I can do this one this summer, because I also have assignments in both Whumpex and IPQ, but I've really enjoyed it all the times I've done it!)

It's finally spring here, and I'm so ready. Except for the sudden but inevitable pollen.

senmut

Tell me a favorite trope you have, and I will tell you if I embrace it, reject it, or subvert it... and possibly why.

conuly

The washing machine at work is broken for real again :(

I got the towels done last night, but this involved hand-wringing them because the spin cycle wasn't really spinning. And then three times around in the dryer, yay!

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conuly

Owl small be enough

The child for all his feathers was a cold.

Oh wow the owl.

The poem the vowels

The owl, look its vowels

That branch for you

Owl, are you an armature vector

And a large step for mankind?

Owl astronaut burgeoning owl is a gift

You give to me give to you

Terrible other things happen.

We stay on our branch.

A hundred eyes

Two will do

************

Link

conuly

Modern (by which I mean within my lifetime, + about ten years?), popular or popular-adjacent, good beat to allow dancing, no profanity or slurs, or at least, clean versions available.

Please and thankies!

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S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

my baby's in the white fluffy clouds

xe's miles above the desert, xe drops Shaymins down

Weekly proof of life: mostly reading

I'm not great at comparative rodent anatomy

This is great to watch on loop....

Picture Diary 132

Situation not Normal . . .

Spring 1980 Destinies (Destinies, volume 7) edited by Jim Baen

Maybe it's just me

Reveal: Unsent Letters Exchange

Choir concert: "Thank you for the Music"

(no subject)

Charlie Met a Skunk

Dungeon Crawler Carl reread

Stuff That should Be Headline News But Isn't

fic rec: Saving Grace

Supergirl Summer 2026 > Prompts Needed!!

Too much, but maybe some exchanges will help

meme time!

My fix on the dishwasher seems to be working, yay me!

An Owl (in Memory of Gil) by David Shapiro

I need some music recs

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