cookability

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Books
Economics
Politics
Spirituality
Climate Change
Politics
Birdfeeding
Gardening
Philosophical Questions: Morals
Audio
Entertainment
Birdfeeding
Crafts
Today's Adventures
Wildlife
Moment of Silence: Anthony Head
Birdfeeding
Friday Five
Follow Friday 6-5-26: My Chemical Romance
Nature
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Community Thursdays
Unsold Poems for the June 2, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl
Cyberspace Theory
History
Cyberspace Theory
Birdfeeding
Conservation

Food has 24 comments. Poem: "Walnut Park" has 46 comments. Early Humans has 22 comments. Safety has 85 comments.

"Let's Go on This Journey Together" belongs to Polychrome Heroics. It needs $151 to be complete. Linus struggles to deal with a broken arm.

"No Faster or Firmer Friendships" belongs to Polychrome Heroics and needs $35 to be complete. Josué reads a funny poem to Maria-Vera.

The weather has been hot and humid here. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a pair of cardinals, a mourning dove, and a fox squirrel. Red-winged blackbirds are singing overhead; I guess some are staying in our yard for the summer, which is nice for birdsong. I've seen at least 3 bats swooping around the yard. :D Currently blooming: pansies, violas, sweet alyssum, marigolds, honeysuckle, snapdragons, lantana, million bells, blue lobelia, petunias, portulaca, nemesia, fan flowers, wild chives, mock orange, firecracker plant, pineapple sage, yucca, Asiatic lilies, daylilies. Green fruit: blackberries. Ripe fruit: peas, mulberries, black raspberries.

Current Mood: busy

fred_mouse

Yesterday morning, Youngest reported mould on the wall that their room shares with the bathroom -- mostly behind the door, where I'd entirely missed it, but also a bit along the skirting board (behind the wardrobe we moved).

My first response was approximately 'argh' followed by blue screening, because I could not work out what needed doing. Some time later, after the back of my head had had time to process, it was established that we are going to have to stop using that shower (yay for being a two bathroom household, even if one is the en suite to our bedroom), let the wall dry out, and then do something towards repairing. Probably taking all the tiles out, and resealing the wall, is my current thought. Although it might be that we can seal on top of the tiles, and I should investigate that (having said that, the tiles are original and damaged, and the grout is disgusting. Getting the tiles replaced is on the list of things I would like to have achieved).

But for the short term, we have swapped the study with Youngest's bedroom. Which necessitated partial disassembly of the desk, and near complete disassembly of Youngest's bunk beds. And then swapping the furniture, a lot of vacuuming, and reassembly. Very much appreciate ariaflame helping, especially as the furniture building finger damage was borne by them.

At this point, there are a lot of the storage boxes in the main room; they will go into the new study real soon now, but by the time the contents of the wardrobes were moved, and the wardrobe in Youngest's old room moved (it is the only one without built in robes; the wardrobe was against the problem wall, and now it is not) I had the oomph to move about 10 storage boxes. And emptied one onto a bookshelf, because it is the pile of books labelled 'needs repair' that I think I should go through and maybe decided to throw some of them out, because it has been a decade.

There is bleach in someone's future.

And I'm aware that having the study set up where the mould is is sub-optimal. But it is better than it being the space that is used for sleeping. And I'm thinking that we keep that door mostly closed, so that it isn't getting into the rest of the house, which will have the added advantage of exposing the wall behind the door. I think that the window will have to be cracked for most of the next few months, which is not good as we head into the wet and cold part of the year. Not sure how much rain comes in that window, but I bet it is some

ysabetwordsmith

So far, nobody has bought anything from the June Poetry Fishbowl. :( If you're still shopping, now's the time to make your selections.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Here's a list of some book-related questions...

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Single women are buying more houses. The men they are dating are not responding well.

Female home owners report feeling stuck between men’s contradictory expectations – they are told to be independent, but not assume the breadwinner role.

Bluntly put, if a man has a problem with a female homeowner, he is not looking for an equal partner -- he is looking for a long-term prostitute/housekeeper. A female homeowner is unlikely to want that position, so she might as well dump his ass immediately. She can do better.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

kaberett

Reading. Finished Dead Hand Rule, Max Gladstone. Am disgruntled. Might soothe the disgruntlement by rereading the Sequence of adoration past.

Also finished Fight Right, as previously mentioned; I am sort of interested by the range of disagreements I have with them and also by some of the things they omitted (they make no suggestion of exchanging Tokens Of Good Faith when brain is too Bad to talk usefully???); I am kind of sad for them and specifically for Julie that they... are much less good at this than they think they are, based on their reports of their own fights. (Two key examples: including Julie saying "I'm always [negative]" during Model Apologies with zero indication that this is not good practice on multiple axes; the whole lengthy story in which neither of them seem to notice that what she actually wanted was for him to say Hey, You Did A Hard Thing You Struggle With, Good Job and instead got him assuming out loud that she had in fact done the polar opposite of the hard thing and proceeding with the conversation on that basis.)

Casting around for Maybe I Want Some More Non-Fiction, my "maybe read this one day" queue in the library app has yielded: Much Ado About Mothing, James Lowen, which is obviously relevant to several of my interests though I'm prepared to be disappointed by the lack of any meaningful incorporation of My Favourite Shakespeare. I am in chapter three and having a good time.

Listening. Today was Laminate All The Things day, so we have listened to another chunk of Hidden Almanac! Mord's hellebores.

Cooking. Broad bean kuku with the ALLOTMENT SAFFRON. Experimental Kaiserschmarrn with blueberries instead of raisins, and pear and rhubarb compote. Another round of the potato and kale and bean thing.

It turns out that the tiny 2.5kg weights A has for their dumbbells do really well for squishing tofu in a hurry, which would be a more useful fact if A were not considering getting rid of that set of dumbbells given that I have the fancy ones...

(Weights nerds: the 1" spinlock things that are endless faff.)

Eating. SAFFRON from the ALLOTMENT.

Exploring.

Creating.

Making & mending.

Growing. I made it to the plot. I spent very little time there but I made it; cherry tree looking EXTREMELY unhappy about not having been watered but soft fruit all looking promising; should def harvest some broad beans (or maybe just have An Million to do a whole bed full next year).

At home: some TLC to the smaller orchid, which is looking very sad (having successfully sent up a flower spike most of which never opened, sob) because I am having a time trying to get watering it right without moving it into its own saucer that I don't reaaaaaaally have space for on that windowsill. (Am I contemplating going back to the charity shop and Acquiring the pointy teardrop open terrarium situation I saw there yesterday? Yes I am.)

Observing. Baby birds! The teenage foxes continue to yell SO MUCH. Many excellent plants in passing. Gosh it's nice being outside at the moment when it's not, you know, absolutely bucketing it down.

ysabetwordsmith

The State Department is changing its mind about what it calls human rights

Despite decades of precedent, the reports, which are meant to inform congressional decisions on foreign aid allocations and security assistance, will no longer call governments out for such things as denying freedom of movement and peaceful assembly. They won't condemn retaining political prisoners without due process or restrictions on "free and fair elections."

Forcibly returning a refugee or asylum-seeker to a home country where they may face torture or persecution will no longer be highlighted, nor will serious harassment of human rights organizations.

Look at the list of things removed from the report. These are all things the government is doing, intends to do, or approves of other people doing. As I've said before, you don't have rights, you have privileges. Of course, when people don't have rights, they tend not to respect the law or government much, as those don't protect them. So they're much less likely to defend those institutions, and might jump on an alternative if it became available. That shoots your national security in both feet.

TL;DR -- don't trust anything the American government says. Seek reliable news sources.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

DOD Officially Drops 180 Faiths From Military's Recognized Religion List

The reforms mark the first time the list has been officially revised since a memo was issued March 27, 2017, decreasing the total number of faiths from 211 to its new number of 31.

Of surviving 31, 22 of them -- about 2/3 -- are Christian. Everyone else is an afterthought.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

‘Happiness is not just about GDP’: ambitious plan or utopia?

Some will question its credibility. But the alternative future to the one imagined in the World Justice Report is far more bleak.

Academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival.

It's good to lay out a detailed plan. It gives people something to talk about, even if the actual path turns out differently. Having several plans to compare is better, so this is a useful addition.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Council of the EU begins official preparations for start of talks on Ukraine’s accession

"Today the Cyprus Presidency initiated the preparation for the formal opening of Cluster one in the accession negotiations of Ukraine and Moldova," the post says.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is partly sunny, humid, and hot.

I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/7/26 -- I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/7/26 -- I spread a bag of potting soil over the telephone pole garden.

My partner Doug has mowed paths around the yard, so we walked to see those. Progress.

EDIT 6/7/26 -- I sowed black hollyhock and 'Indian Spring Mixed Colors' hollyhock in the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 6/7/26 -- I sowed 'Hopi Landrace' and 'Autumn Beauty' sunflowers in the telephone pole garden.

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

I've seen a pair of cardinals and a mourning dove in the forest garden.

EDIT 6/7/26 -- I sowed my developing 'Summer of Love Landrace' and 'Evening Sun Mixed Colors' sunflowers in the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 6/7/26 -- I sowed 'State Fair Mix' zinnias and Charleston Food Forest zinnias in the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 6/7/26 -- I sowed my developing 'Shirley' zinnias, 'Mammoth Excelsior Mix' stocks, scarlet sage, and 'Knee High Fragrant Mix' sweet peas in the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 6/7/26 -- I sowed 'Bloody Mary' nasturtium, 'Tall Mix' centaurea, 'Stars and Stripes' mirabilis, and 'Select Superbissima Mix' painted tongue in the telephone pole garden. That's the end of the rows. I still want to sow Shithouse Marigolds around the edges, and it needs to be watered.

EDIT 6/7/26 -- I sowed Shithouse Marigolds around the edges of the telephone pole garden, then watered the whole thing.

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

EDIT 6/7/26 -- I watered plants in the new picnic table garden.

I did more work around the patio.

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

Fireflies are coming out.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

mdlbear

Bad week. I mean, really not a good week. It had its bright points -- most bad weeks do -- a common thread of love, friendship, and care. And grief is lessened by being shared. It was still a bad week.

Thursday our dear old-lady-cat Ticia crossed the Rainbow Bridge. There will be a full post in a day or three. Meanwhile if you're triggered by such things you'll want to skip over 0611Th. And maybe Wednesday and Friday.

Not a totally lost week, though; I got in five walks (missing Wednesday and Thursday -- see above), and wrote a Songs for Saturday post, along with my usual Thankful Thursday.

Linkies: Ukraine and Moldova on course to start formal EU membership talks in June Sailing Alone Around the World, by Joshua Slocum - Standard Ebooks Disordered, Deficient, Dehumanized: How the Language of Aphantasia Research Shapes What We Think About It (more on Friday),

‘Happiness is not just about GDP’: ambitious plan or utopia? (More, including the whole report, on Saturday. Up to you to decide how it compares as Utopian fiction to The World As it Ought To Be, by Naomi Rivkis, which is the subject of a Goodreads ebook giveaway, and also on sale for $2.99 until the end of this month.)

Rage-inducing: DOD Officially Drops 180 Faiths From Military's Recognized Religion List

See you later this week.

( Notes & links, as usual. CW: pet death )

Current Mood: not depressed, but something like that
Current Location: Schildhaven in Den Haag
Current Music: from the demoscene

ysabetwordsmith

Britain’s First Furniture Orchard Grows Chairs Right on the Trees

A British couple has spent 20 years perfecting the practice of sculpting trees to grow into the shapes of ready-made seats designed with living branches. Alice and Gavin Munro began creating the ‘furniture orchard’ on a two-acre English farm in 2006, but the harvesting typically takes between 6-9 years per chair. The process involves pruning young tree branches as they grow over a special metal frame to form the shape. Each item is dried for a year after being chopped, and are then sold to customers as artworks valued at tens of thousands of dollars.

I've seen reference to several such farms. It's a cool concept.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

How important are morals in a healthy society? What are the most important morals for citizens to have?

( Read more... )

Current Mood: busy

msilverstar

Last year in Northern Europe, I discovered the Aperol Spritz. Ed bought some Aperol for our anniversary (41) and I am enjoying it very much.

kaberett

We engaged in what is now our Brunch Date tradition, in that we visited the fancy bakery and then we bimbled around the aqueduct looking at baby birds while slowly consuming our spoils.

Baby birds the first were at coot nest #1; we spotted the mallard sitting merrily on top of it to start with, and then I went HOLD ON THAT'S A TINY FLUFFY DUCKLING. ... THREE DUCKLINGS. The coots (a) are not shy about chasing ducks off and (b) tend to move gradually down the not-exactly-a-river with successive clutches, so we are not too concerned about them.

There were also: another clutch of (rather larger) ducklings, with no supervising adult; some extremely teenage coots; some extremely baby coots going WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK at the tops of their tiny lungs; yet another coot nest containing one (1) adult, two (2) teenagers, and three (3) tiny fluffy cheeplets, the teenagers being actually in the nest and variously sitting on top of and preening the cheeplets. The Egyptian goslings meanwhile are very nearly all the way grown up, but continue to spend most of their time clustered together.

I am not entirely sure why I had decided baby season was probably over, but I think we can definitively say that It Is Not!

ysabetwordsmith

Our Favorite Queer Audiobooks for Audiobook Appreciation Month

June is Audiobook Appreciation Month! While we talk a lot on our blogs about all the books we read, we haven’t talked much about how often we don’t “read” those books so much as listen to them! A lot of our rec list reccers love audiobooks and rely on them for various reasons. Thus, we wanted to celebrate by highlighting some of the great books that have audiobook versions we loved.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Masters of the Universe (2026) no-spoiler reaction (TLDR: It's fun!)

I saw Masters of the Universe (2006) at the theater light night. I had a lot of fun! I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I did not expect what they made, which is a joyous campy subtly-clever romp that got me smiling soon, and smiling more and more the longer it continued. Children and adults who never knew this IP can have a fun time fully as much as those of us '80s children who somehow still know, say, Queen Marlena's origin, or who Teela's mother is, or the name of every action figure in our brothers' and cousins' and neighbors' toyboxes.

Never has watching a movie felt so much like playing with action figures.

I have seen the trailer, and very much look forward to watching this movie.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Today is mostly cloudy and quite warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen several sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/6/26 -- I started weeding the center of the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 6/6/26 -- I did more weeding the center of the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 6/6/26 -- I did more weeding the center of the telephone pole garden. I am past the halfway point. Yay.

EDIT 6/6/26 -- I did more weeding the center of the telephone pole garden. I am near the far end.

EDIT 6/6/26 -- I finished weeding the center of the telephone pole garden. \o/

EDIT 6/6/26 -- I planted 15 'Lucifer' crocosmia in the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 6/6/26 -- I planted the last 20 'Lucifer' crocosmia in the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 6/6/26 -- I planted 20 'Blaze Mix' gladioli in the telephone pole garden.

EDIT 6/6/26 -- I spread the bag of Black Kow composted manure over the telephone pole garden, then tacked down the net that discourages critters from digging in it. I still need to spread topsoil over that and sow the seeds, but that's for tomorrow.

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

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

Gert’s quilt exhibition

My friend Gert (who used to be on LJ back when!), who is an avid quilter, is showing some of his work at the Bartholomeus Gasthuis in Utrecht, together with Maria, his former boss from when he worked in a quilt fabric store. We went to the opening, and after cutting the ribbon, Gert showed every quilt to us and explained some things about the fabric and techniques used, but also what he wanted to express with that quilt.

Current Mood: busy

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Accessible Cooking

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Monday Update 6-8-26

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