glinda (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
glinda) wrote2025-09-09 09:14 pm
glinda) wrote2025-09-09 09:14 pm
It's Autumn and there are apples. And plums. And hope in the darkness.
I've been doing lots of low key self-care this last week. Stress - or perhaps the absence of it, my shoulders coming down from around my ears - has been taking a toll on my body lately, so I've been putting in the effort of doing the little things to take care of myself. I got a haircut, I went for a massage, when one of my knitting ladies offered me apples and plums I said yes and made jam. (And parsnip and apple soup, and an awful lot of apple sauce, some to freeze, some to make muffins and pies with, some to eat on porridge.) I took advantage of these last few mild but breezy days to air out the house, change the sheets and dry them outside for probably the last time this season.
There's a tideline in my flat, you can see where I've been on a tear, cleaning things. Taking everything off shelves, dusting them and putting them back. My little pumkin fairy lights are up, and I've put fresh batteries in the rest of my fairy lights. I've been writing a lot lately, so I prioritised cleaning and tidying my computer corner, so I have a refuge I can retreat to when the deep clean is getting on top of me. I've been doing lots of the small jobs that I keep forgetting, and a couple of bigger ones that I've been putting off have turned up to be easier than expected to accomplish. I've finished a couple of craft projects - strategically, they were getting on top of me - and started others, and it turns out the jumper I just finished has highlights in the perfect shade to match my new favourite skirt. (Neatly turning it from just a summer skirt into an autumn and spring affair, I can wear it now with thick leggings, boots and the jumper.) I started a new craft kit that's been lurking since some time during the second lockdown. It's a little amigurumi style crab. Round and round I go, my tension is tighter than it ought to be but that's okay, amigurumi need to be densely crocheted. I got a small payrise and treated myself to a new LEGO set as a reward.
Everything feels a lot, but I'm working through my to-do list, making progress and trying to be kind to myself. There's more to do but I'm getting there.
There's so much to be worried about. So much to be angry about. But I can only do what I can do and sometimes all that I can do is take of myself and those around me.
There's a tideline in my flat, you can see where I've been on a tear, cleaning things. Taking everything off shelves, dusting them and putting them back. My little pumkin fairy lights are up, and I've put fresh batteries in the rest of my fairy lights. I've been writing a lot lately, so I prioritised cleaning and tidying my computer corner, so I have a refuge I can retreat to when the deep clean is getting on top of me. I've been doing lots of the small jobs that I keep forgetting, and a couple of bigger ones that I've been putting off have turned up to be easier than expected to accomplish. I've finished a couple of craft projects - strategically, they were getting on top of me - and started others, and it turns out the jumper I just finished has highlights in the perfect shade to match my new favourite skirt. (Neatly turning it from just a summer skirt into an autumn and spring affair, I can wear it now with thick leggings, boots and the jumper.) I started a new craft kit that's been lurking since some time during the second lockdown. It's a little amigurumi style crab. Round and round I go, my tension is tighter than it ought to be but that's okay, amigurumi need to be densely crocheted. I got a small payrise and treated myself to a new LEGO set as a reward.
Everything feels a lot, but I'm working through my to-do list, making progress and trying to be kind to myself. There's more to do but I'm getting there.
There's so much to be worried about. So much to be angry about. But I can only do what I can do and sometimes all that I can do is take of myself and those around me.
yhlee (yhlee) wrote2025-09-09 02:42 pm
yhlee) wrote2025-09-09 02:42 pmEntry tags:
processing alpaca floof, cont'd
I used hand carders after washing, then drying outside. It's extremely fluffy (and probably de facto blended with catten floof). I've never spun alpaca before, so that's next!
trobadora (trobadora) wrote2025-09-09 09:31 pm
trobadora) wrote2025-09-09 09:31 pmwords, counted
Today I finally updated my word count spreadsheet, for the first time since March.
Nothing but alibi sentences for most of that time, now all typed up and word-counted. Turns out (not entirely unexpectedly) July and August this year were my second- and third-worst writing months ever since I started documenting my writing ... Time to get out of that slump NOW.
Does anyone have tips for restarting? I think I could use some ...
ETA: Specifically, what I'm struggling with is that I've been writing no more than a sentence or three at a go, for much too long, and now I'm out of the habit and can't seem to go beyond that without a major effort. *grumbles*
Nothing but alibi sentences for most of that time, now all typed up and word-counted. Turns out (not entirely unexpectedly) July and August this year were my second- and third-worst writing months ever since I started documenting my writing ... Time to get out of that slump NOW.
Does anyone have tips for restarting? I think I could use some ...
ETA: Specifically, what I'm struggling with is that I've been writing no more than a sentence or three at a go, for much too long, and now I'm out of the habit and can't seem to go beyond that without a major effort. *grumbles*
carenejeans (carenejeans) wrote2025-09-09 12:03 pm
carenejeans) wrote2025-09-09 12:03 pmEntry tags:
Write Every Day September 2025 - Day 9
Quote of the Day:
"Before you become a writer you must first become a reader. Every hour spent reading is an hour spent learning to write."
— Robert Macfarlane, Landmarks (2015)
Today's Writing:
I sat down and wrote 431 words, free-writing, mostly complaining, expecting nothing much. But it actually produced something useful.Maybe I should just complain more. Writing is so weird.
Tally
( Days 1-7 )
Day 8:badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, yasaman, ysilme
Let me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!
"Before you become a writer you must first become a reader. Every hour spent reading is an hour spent learning to write."
— Robert Macfarlane, Landmarks (2015)
Today's Writing:
I sat down and wrote 431 words, free-writing, mostly complaining, expecting nothing much. But it actually produced something useful.
Tally
( Days 1-7 )
Day 8:
badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, yasaman, ysilmeLet me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!
Ysabet (umadoshi) wrote2025-09-09 03:58 pm
umadoshi) wrote2025-09-09 03:58 pmTuesday mishmash: a milestone | weather | tiny tomatoes | impending Lamb
As of last week, we've lived in our current place for sixteen years. (As ever, I selfishly appreciate that one of the people whose wedding we attended the day before we moved always posts about their anniversary, which reminds me of how long it's been.) Just a few more years will make this the place I've lived longest in my life. (My childhood home currently holds the record at eighteen years.)
We've had some more rain, but still not nearly enough, and enough people haven't been getting on board with the water commission's request to conserve water (apparently there's been no noticeable drop in overall usage) that we're now expecting mandatory conservation to roll out sometime this week. (Does anyone know what that'll actually look like? LOL no.) Fun times. Good work [sarcastic], everyone.
Our tiny, tiny tomato plant that we brought home so shortly before hitting official "we're in a drought" status has tiny, tiny tomatoes on it! They are very green, and I have no idea what their odds are of ripening properly, but given that the drought means we've only actually watered the plant once or twice since potting it, I'm surprised to see fruit at all. Good work [sincere], Tiny Tim.
Under the circumstances, I'm just as glad that we didn't actually try to do any gardening in earnest this year, which we might have if we'd gotten our very own hose installed on the back of the house earlier in the season.
Sometime next year, Cult of the Lamb is getting its first paid expansion (not to be confused with the...three? four?...free ones that they've released). Will I touch another game before that comes out? Precedent says no! But I'm very excited about this one.
We've had some more rain, but still not nearly enough, and enough people haven't been getting on board with the water commission's request to conserve water (apparently there's been no noticeable drop in overall usage) that we're now expecting mandatory conservation to roll out sometime this week. (Does anyone know what that'll actually look like? LOL no.) Fun times. Good work [sarcastic], everyone.
Our tiny, tiny tomato plant that we brought home so shortly before hitting official "we're in a drought" status has tiny, tiny tomatoes on it! They are very green, and I have no idea what their odds are of ripening properly, but given that the drought means we've only actually watered the plant once or twice since potting it, I'm surprised to see fruit at all. Good work [sincere], Tiny Tim.
Under the circumstances, I'm just as glad that we didn't actually try to do any gardening in earnest this year, which we might have if we'd gotten our very own hose installed on the back of the house earlier in the season.
Sometime next year, Cult of the Lamb is getting its first paid expansion (not to be confused with the...three? four?...free ones that they've released). Will I touch another game before that comes out? Precedent says no! But I'm very excited about this one.
kay_brooke (kay_brooke) wrote2025-09-09 01:36 pm
kay_brooke) wrote2025-09-09 01:36 pmEntry tags:
August 2025 Books
I read 9 books in August, as well as reaching my original goal of 60 books this year. I increased the goal to 75.
Previous books posts:
Books 1-9 (January)
Books 10-15 (February)
Books 16-24 (March)
Books 25-33 (April)
Books 34-41 (May)
Books 42-49 (June)
Books 50-58 (July)
( 59. The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman - 4.5 stars )
( 60. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - 3.5 stars )
( 61. Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America by Pekka Hämäläinen - 4 stars )
( 62. Relics by Tim Lebbon - 2.5 stars )
( 63. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon - 3 stars )
( 64. The Glory of the Empress by Sean Danker - 3.5 stars )
( 65. The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman - 3 stars )
( 66. Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine - 2 stars )
( 67. Desperation by Stephen King - 2 stars )
Previous books posts:
Books 1-9 (January)
Books 10-15 (February)
Books 16-24 (March)
Books 25-33 (April)
Books 34-41 (May)
Books 42-49 (June)
Books 50-58 (July)
( 59. The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman - 4.5 stars )
( 60. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - 3.5 stars )
( 61. Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America by Pekka Hämäläinen - 4 stars )
( 62. Relics by Tim Lebbon - 2.5 stars )
( 63. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon - 3 stars )
( 64. The Glory of the Empress by Sean Danker - 3.5 stars )
( 65. The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman - 3 stars )
( 66. Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine - 2 stars )
( 67. Desperation by Stephen King - 2 stars )
rachelmanija (rachelmanija) wrote2025-09-09 09:53 am
rachelmanija) wrote2025-09-09 09:53 amEntry tags:
We Live Here Now, by Sarah Pinborough
This novel appears to be a well-written and enjoyable but conventional haunted house story; it turns out to have a twist on that theme which I've never encountered before. I very much enjoyed discovering that for myself, so if you think you might too, don't read the spoilers.
A young couple, Emily and Freddie, move from London to Larkin Lodge, an old house in Dartmoor, while Emily's recovering from a serious accident. After she fell off a cliff, her heart stopped and one leg was permanently damaged. Doctors warned her and Freddie that she might suffer from post-sepsis mental complications, so when she starts perceiving weird things involving Larkin Lodge, both she and Freddie think it's probably her, not the house. Emily and Freddie's marriage is not the greatest, but is that something that was previously going on, or is it cracking under stress, or is the house having a bad effect on them?
Emily and Freddie are not the best people, but that really works for the story. I thought it was a lot of fun.
Spoilers! ( Read more... )
Content notes: Not even slightly gory or gross. Mention of a miscarriage (off-page, not described). Some violence, not graphic. No on-page animal harm, but the body of a dead raven is found.
the_shoshanna (the_shoshanna) wrote2025-09-09 04:31 pm
the_shoshanna) wrote2025-09-09 04:31 pmThis is GOOD
We have completed our day's hike with only a little bit of rain at the end, had lovely showers, and are ensconced in the pub; Geoff is just having coffee but I have a quarter-liter of red wine and -- for the very first time even though I've watched all of GBBO -- a Victoria Slice. The music is eighties hits, when we walked in it was Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
This is good.
This is good.
yhlee (yhlee) wrote2025-09-09 09:50 am
yhlee) wrote2025-09-09 09:50 amEntry tags:
further adventures in handspun + weaving
Wrapping up this tiny DIY loom + handspun (the yarns and the silk thread) for eller. :) Mainly bobbin-end leftovers from plying yarns that went to their furever homes. :)
eller. :) Mainly bobbin-end leftovers from plying yarns that went to their furever homes. :)
the_shoshanna (the_shoshanna) wrote2025-09-09 08:47 am
the_shoshanna) wrote2025-09-09 08:47 amEntry tags:
(no subject)
Yesterday's hike wasn't supposed to be as hard, and the forecast was for sunny and cool, with a brief chance of rain around three.
The morning was lovely, especially since I've now figured out how to combine the paper directions (which are sometimes quite confusing; I remember them being much better on the hikes we did years ago!) with the company's shiny new GPS phone app, which is great and shows the trail on a topographic map and a little dot showing where we are and even sounds an alarm if we stray more than fifty meters from the path, but of course checking it all the time burns battery. (We've never come close to running out, and I have a battery backup charger, but even so I prefer not to be constantly checking it. But sometimes I have to!
We met a lot more hikers that morning, coming the other way, than we had the day before, and exchanged cheerful words with them (and often their dogs). That was nice; I enjoy cheerful exchanges with strangers! It was one of the things I really missed during the most isolated COVID years.
Around 1:45 we were about to begin the hardest section of the day's hike, a long and extremely steep ascent up a narrow muddy/rocky trail. At the top, though, we were promised a beautiful, mostly level walk a couple of kilometers along the top of the line of hills, getting glorious views of the countryside. Before embarking on the climb we stopped for a snack, and the sky looked a bit forbidding, with the wind increasing and the temperature decreasing, so we decided to put on raingear (and I put back on the Merino wool midlayer I'd been too warm for an hour before) and cover our packs. I mean, for whatever good it might do me, but after yesterday's debacle I had packed pretty much everything in plastic bags inside the pack. As I got my rain pants on over my trousers, it did indeed start spitting a bit, nothing major.
Well, as we clambered laboriously upward, the rain got harder. And harder. Finally, halfway up the hillside, we started hearing a little thunder, so we stopped and took what shelter we could under a tree. After about maybe fifteen minutes Geoff looked upwind and said, "I think the worst of the storm has passed us by, though it will definitely keep raining; shall we start hiking again?" Whereupon it began thundering much nearer, the wind speed doubled, and it began vigorously hailing. Sideways.
But, I mean, our only choices were to continue the hike or to go all the way back down and backtrack along our trail to pound on the door of one of the few houses we'd passed and hope someone was home whom we could ask for shelter. And the thunder and lightning did finally move away, at least, and it's easier and safer going up a slope like that in bad weather than going down. So once the t&l had moved away, maybe another fifteen minutes? I have no sense of time, but anyway we struck out again, climbing slowly and with infinite care (and liberal use of our hiking poles) until we reached the top and could start along the high path.
Where, of course, we were completely unprotected from the wind and whatever it decided to throw at us: sometimes hail, sometimes rain. We weren't at too much risk of getting dangerously chilled because of our raingear and because we were able to move quickly and keep our warmth up that way (and before, the effort of struggling up the steep ascent had kept us warm enough), but it officially Was Not Fun. Or at least, it was type 3 fun! My rain pants eventually soaked through. Geoff had water in his boots again. The only view we had was of solid grey, no scenery distinguishable.
We struggled through that for...maybe half an hour? I sure wasn't pulling my phone out to check the time (or, with a few exceptions, to navigate; thankfully we were following a well-marked walking route at that point). It finally started clearing up around the time we finally started descending again, and by the time we were on the last gentle green walk into our next town, it was sunny and cheerful and blithely denying it would ever have done such a thing to us!
As we entered town we also crossed the official boundary, leaving England and entering into Wales. The town has set up a photo op station, and Geoff got a picture of me with one foot on each side of the Official Line.
And when we finally staggered into our next hotel room, we were desperately grateful to find that the en suite included a big bathtub; I don't think we've ever done this before, but we immediately ran a really hot bath and got in together, just soaking all the chill out of our bones. (We'd actually wanted to do it the day before, but that hotel only had a shower stall, and it wasn't a very good shower, either 😥) It was absolutely lovely and sweet, just how we wanted to relax for a while.
We have had really nice conversations with other walkers on the paths and in the hotels/pubs. The scenery, when visible, is beautiful. Despite everything, we are enjoying ourselves!
But we've booked a ride to shorten today's hike, and will do so for tomorrow's as well, because oh my aching feet. Even the short version of today's hike has a cumulative uphill of 600 meters -- yesterday's was 750, I think? The regular version of today's would have 800. Tomorrow's, our last hike day, would be 830, which, HELL NO, it will be shortened to 510.
Guess what happened. Just guess.
The morning was lovely, especially since I've now figured out how to combine the paper directions (which are sometimes quite confusing; I remember them being much better on the hikes we did years ago!) with the company's shiny new GPS phone app, which is great and shows the trail on a topographic map and a little dot showing where we are and even sounds an alarm if we stray more than fifty meters from the path, but of course checking it all the time burns battery. (We've never come close to running out, and I have a battery backup charger, but even so I prefer not to be constantly checking it. But sometimes I have to!
We met a lot more hikers that morning, coming the other way, than we had the day before, and exchanged cheerful words with them (and often their dogs). That was nice; I enjoy cheerful exchanges with strangers! It was one of the things I really missed during the most isolated COVID years.
Around 1:45 we were about to begin the hardest section of the day's hike, a long and extremely steep ascent up a narrow muddy/rocky trail. At the top, though, we were promised a beautiful, mostly level walk a couple of kilometers along the top of the line of hills, getting glorious views of the countryside. Before embarking on the climb we stopped for a snack, and the sky looked a bit forbidding, with the wind increasing and the temperature decreasing, so we decided to put on raingear (and I put back on the Merino wool midlayer I'd been too warm for an hour before) and cover our packs. I mean, for whatever good it might do me, but after yesterday's debacle I had packed pretty much everything in plastic bags inside the pack. As I got my rain pants on over my trousers, it did indeed start spitting a bit, nothing major.
Well, as we clambered laboriously upward, the rain got harder. And harder. Finally, halfway up the hillside, we started hearing a little thunder, so we stopped and took what shelter we could under a tree. After about maybe fifteen minutes Geoff looked upwind and said, "I think the worst of the storm has passed us by, though it will definitely keep raining; shall we start hiking again?" Whereupon it began thundering much nearer, the wind speed doubled, and it began vigorously hailing. Sideways.
But, I mean, our only choices were to continue the hike or to go all the way back down and backtrack along our trail to pound on the door of one of the few houses we'd passed and hope someone was home whom we could ask for shelter. And the thunder and lightning did finally move away, at least, and it's easier and safer going up a slope like that in bad weather than going down. So once the t&l had moved away, maybe another fifteen minutes? I have no sense of time, but anyway we struck out again, climbing slowly and with infinite care (and liberal use of our hiking poles) until we reached the top and could start along the high path.
Where, of course, we were completely unprotected from the wind and whatever it decided to throw at us: sometimes hail, sometimes rain. We weren't at too much risk of getting dangerously chilled because of our raingear and because we were able to move quickly and keep our warmth up that way (and before, the effort of struggling up the steep ascent had kept us warm enough), but it officially Was Not Fun. Or at least, it was type 3 fun! My rain pants eventually soaked through. Geoff had water in his boots again. The only view we had was of solid grey, no scenery distinguishable.
We struggled through that for...maybe half an hour? I sure wasn't pulling my phone out to check the time (or, with a few exceptions, to navigate; thankfully we were following a well-marked walking route at that point). It finally started clearing up around the time we finally started descending again, and by the time we were on the last gentle green walk into our next town, it was sunny and cheerful and blithely denying it would ever have done such a thing to us!
As we entered town we also crossed the official boundary, leaving England and entering into Wales. The town has set up a photo op station, and Geoff got a picture of me with one foot on each side of the Official Line.
And when we finally staggered into our next hotel room, we were desperately grateful to find that the en suite included a big bathtub; I don't think we've ever done this before, but we immediately ran a really hot bath and got in together, just soaking all the chill out of our bones. (We'd actually wanted to do it the day before, but that hotel only had a shower stall, and it wasn't a very good shower, either 😥) It was absolutely lovely and sweet, just how we wanted to relax for a while.
We have had really nice conversations with other walkers on the paths and in the hotels/pubs. The scenery, when visible, is beautiful. Despite everything, we are enjoying ourselves!
But we've booked a ride to shorten today's hike, and will do so for tomorrow's as well, because oh my aching feet. Even the short version of today's hike has a cumulative uphill of 600 meters -- yesterday's was 750, I think? The regular version of today's would have 800. Tomorrow's, our last hike day, would be 830, which, HELL NO, it will be shortened to 510.
yhlee (yhlee) wrote2025-09-08 06:15 pm
yhlee) wrote2025-09-08 06:15 pmalpaca processing: the adventure begins!
The adventure begins. :)
(Alternately, I have misidentified the bag and it's really mohair?!)
(Alternately, I have misidentified the bag and it's really mohair?!)
carenejeans (carenejeans) wrote2025-09-08 02:29 pm
carenejeans) wrote2025-09-08 02:29 pmEntry tags:
Write Every Day September 2025 - Day 8
Quote of the Day:
"Notes aren’t a record of my thinking process. They are my thinking process."
--Richard Feynman, from an anecdote in Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick (1992)
Today's Writing:
A lot of staring a the screen, and an alibi sentence. 8-/
Tally
( Days 1-6 )
Day 7:badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, yasaman, ysilme
Day 8:china_shop
Let me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!
"Notes aren’t a record of my thinking process. They are my thinking process."
--Richard Feynman, from an anecdote in Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick (1992)
Today's Writing:
A lot of staring a the screen, and an alibi sentence. 8-/
Tally
( Days 1-6 )
Day 7:
badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, yasaman, ysilmeDay 8:
china_shopLet me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!
twistedchick (twistedchick) wrote2025-09-08 05:06 pm
twistedchick) wrote2025-09-08 05:06 pm(no subject)
Is it possible for FB to choose specific accounts and slooooooooooow them down? If so, I'm a target. My FB constantly reloads, eats posts, and runs slower than when I used a 300-baud modem, back in the 90s.
sigh
... back to working on my list of nominations for Yuletide.
sigh
... back to working on my list of nominations for Yuletide.
Ysabet (umadoshi) wrote2025-09-08 05:20 pm
umadoshi) wrote2025-09-08 05:20 pm
Entry tags:
Quick and rather perfunctory reading catchup from last week
No proof-of-life post happened over the weekend, but I did get some reading done last week.
scruloose and I have started listening to Exit Strategy (Murderbot 4).
Fiction: I finished and enjoyed The Future of Another Timeline (Annalee Newitz) and now I'm reading Saint Death's Daughter (C.S.E. Cooney), and am maybe halfway through? This one has a lot of detail going on on the worldbuilding front, and after reading the first chapter or two one night and then not getting back to it for a couple of days, I had to go re-skim right from the beginning before carrying on, which is unusual. (A glance or two back, sure. Actually rereading the whole beginning? Not so much.)
Non-fiction: I finished Goblin Mode (McKayla Coyle) and can't say I got much out of it; I'm still reading Daniel Sherrell's Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World.
scruloose and I have started listening to Exit Strategy (Murderbot 4).Fiction: I finished and enjoyed The Future of Another Timeline (Annalee Newitz) and now I'm reading Saint Death's Daughter (C.S.E. Cooney), and am maybe halfway through? This one has a lot of detail going on on the worldbuilding front, and after reading the first chapter or two one night and then not getting back to it for a couple of days, I had to go re-skim right from the beginning before carrying on, which is unusual. (A glance or two back, sure. Actually rereading the whole beginning? Not so much.)
Non-fiction: I finished Goblin Mode (McKayla Coyle) and can't say I got much out of it; I'm still reading Daniel Sherrell's Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World.