wednesday later
Oct. 15th, 2025 08:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summersgate
Helios lens. Taken from the kitchen window as the sun was sending its last light onto the back porch.
wednesday
Oct. 15th, 2025 09:23 amsummersgate
I finished grouting all the mirrors yesterday afternoon and thought that deserved a photo so I got out the helios lens.
Then when I was coming in from putting the chickens to bed last night it looked neat like something dug up from an archeological site in the darkness. I stacked them all up this morning and brought them into the house. It's going to take a while before I get done painting them all.
For Christmas last year Chloe gave me a gift certificate for an hour of Float Therapy at the Mended Willow. I finally got busy yesterday and scheduled my session. I'm going next Tuesday afternoon. Should be interesting. I do like to dream. I had some interesting ones this morning. I didn't have time to write them down before so they are slipping away. Just some little shreds left that I can feel but can't remember.
tuesday update
Oct. 14th, 2025 09:18 amsummersgateThe lady who was training me for the gift shop at the nursing home just called me to say they have covid in the building and she was giving me the choice to stay home today. Which was a handy time to have a good talk with her in private (on the phone) to tell her that I was quitting and why. So it's all settled and I have a free day today! Yay! I'm going to finish grouting the last 15 mirrors. And perhaps take Rainy for a hike too. :-) I'm FREE!
tuesday
Oct. 14th, 2025 07:11 amsummersgate
Rainy in her newest bed. Jules got her the bed last xmas and I had it out in the middle of the living room but she never would use it there. Since I moved it to the closet in the hallway she uses it everyday.
I'm planning on quitting the nursing home volunteer job when I go there today. I'm just not getting that much JOY from it and I'm feeling like I'm missing out on other parts of my life that I do love. Like Rainy I am a shy introvert and being out there and social with many people for so many hours, dedicating nearly a whole day every week to it isn't something I'm really enjoying. I'm not looking forward to telling the lady I've been training with but after I do I know I'll feel much better. I think I'm going to settle down and just be open to following through on other things I can do for (and with) people that I will enjoy more. I've been missing my hiking time in the woods with Jan and time hiking alone with Rainy at 2 Mile. I want to get back to doing more of that now that my heart has settled down and isn't doing weird things anymore. Cold winter is coming and the days when I'll want to hike are growing fewer. I need to grab them while I can.
Folked
Oct. 13th, 2025 10:54 pmmicrobieWe only spent about a day and a half in Richmond this year. The folk festival lineup was underwhelming, and with Brent's unpredictable health and Mosey's neuroses it seemed safer to come back after a couple of nights. The other big change was that we took Amtrak instead of driving. The trip was longer (4 hours instead of closer to 3), but it was considerably less aggravating than driving and trying to find overnight parking in downtown Richmond. The train schedule was another reason we came back on Sunday; today there were only two trains heading to DC from Richmond--one around 6:30 a.m. and another around 6:30 p.m.
We saw four bands on Saturday: Dogo du Togo (West African highlife), No BS! Brass, Son Qba, and The Blackbyrds (jazz, R&B, funk). We discovered No BS! at the folk festival about 10 years ago, and it was very nice to see them again. They only had one set, and it was in an amphitheater that was separate from the rest of the festival. I had to check my bag because it was too large and not clear, and people couldn't bring in food or beverages (though both were for sale past security). It pretty much went against the entire spirit of a folk festival.
We stayed in the neighborhood of Shockhoe Bottom, and like most of downtown it has an interesting mix of new and old. Here's an old-fashioned sign that says "Somewhere" barely hanging onto a boarded-up building:
This building now houses a restaurant called Jew-fro, serving Jewish-African fusion cuisine:
Havana 59 has been around for over 30 years, but the building looks even older.
Sadly, I don't think that there are any hides or furs in this warehouse.
We saw four bands on Saturday: Dogo du Togo (West African highlife), No BS! Brass, Son Qba, and The Blackbyrds (jazz, R&B, funk). We discovered No BS! at the folk festival about 10 years ago, and it was very nice to see them again. They only had one set, and it was in an amphitheater that was separate from the rest of the festival. I had to check my bag because it was too large and not clear, and people couldn't bring in food or beverages (though both were for sale past security). It pretty much went against the entire spirit of a folk festival.
We stayed in the neighborhood of Shockhoe Bottom, and like most of downtown it has an interesting mix of new and old. Here's an old-fashioned sign that says "Somewhere" barely hanging onto a boarded-up building:
This building now houses a restaurant called Jew-fro, serving Jewish-African fusion cuisine:
Havana 59 has been around for over 30 years, but the building looks even older.
Sadly, I don't think that there are any hides or furs in this warehouse.
(evening writing)
Oct. 13th, 2025 09:51 pmelainegreyHa, i figured out the book. I read it through "The 2025 Pride Bundle - Curated by Catherine Lundoff and Melissa Scott" via StoryBundle. It was The Map and the Territory by A.M. Tuomala. Really, quite a good book.
I am OK. Some depression. Some avoiding of communications. Today i Did All The Things until 17:00 at which point i couldn't beat it and ate peanuts, candy corn and read a novel. I am STOPPING, putting the book down, and gonna Do The Last Things. More or less.
Bruno is staying very careful, either in the little felt cave, in the tube of the cat tree, or on top of the cat tree. We have bought a second one hoping to create some additional territory for him. I have also bought a pee revealing UV flashlight. Christine is finding it a little hard, i think, to not feel like we are locking him out of the rest of the house when we give him a quiet space away from Marlowe. Keep going slow with him.
Given some insecurities i am feeling about work and the need to communicate with people fairly new to me, i have bought new tech so that i can have a white board experience. An iPad, the Apple Pencil Pro, and the "Rock Paper Scissors" -- textured writing experience that makes it easier to control writing for this person raised on paper. I think it will be very helpful to be able to explain with pictures on demand and to do so without having to remember various the various nouns that describe components of UML diagrams while talking to someone about something else. Big splurge. I hope i get to use it for a few more years.
The reductions in force that began in July have finally unfolded in Germany where worker's rights are ... well, they have many more. So another colleague gone. And a very respected colleague who was impacted in a different way by the June layoffs is leaving. And i meet with my manager to talk about goals this year and... sigh.
Happy Halloween: 2022 stats on US attitudes towards Horror Films: https://today.yougov.com/entertainment/articles/44107-no-film-genre-divides-americans-like-horror-does
monday
Oct. 13th, 2025 08:12 amsummersgate
This morning. I got the first 4 (those ones on top) grouted yesterday afternoon. I only had an hour available and set a timer. It only took 45 minutes to do the 4 so that is encouraging. If I have a 2 hour stretch of time I could definitely do 8, maybe 12. I have 40 in all to do and need to get it done while we still have some relatively warm days to work on the back porch. It's 48F right now (8:30 am) and will be 58F by 11. I think I will go out then and start for the day and see how much I can get done today. They don't look that great with the black grout right now but will look a lot better after I paint the grout and frames with metallic paints. That will be the exciting part.
I also got some more ideas of how to proceed with the soap making class. I found it takes less than a half hour to chill the soap enough to be released from the molds in a regular fridge. My cooler can accommodate all the molds I have, along with ice which I can layer between the molds. I'll cover the soap filled molds with aluminum foil so they won't get wet from the ice condensation and I'll put the ice in gallon size zip lock bags so it can be layered. I want to do another test run here at home using the cooler and ice and then I think I'll feel ready to present the class.
The Little Deer from Jules' house is coming over here to reach her head into the chicken coop and eat up all the chicken food in the afternoon when I let the chickens out for the day. I haven't seen it happen yet but I'm pretty sure that's what's going on. At night when I go out to shut the chicken's doors the feeders are empty, licked clean. Last night Jules and I took field corn over and dumped a bunch where she likes to hang out in back of Jules' house - maybe that will fill her up and she will leave my chicken food alone - I hope. We got close to her last night when I brought the corn over and she looks small and short for a grown up deer but doesn't look like a fawn anymore.
Jules took this pic yesterday from his back door window. Her fur looks rough and she stops to lick herself a lot. I hope it's not from ticks. This is the season for them. We got 4 off Andy last night.
Rocknerd Explorations and The Thing
Oct. 13th, 2025 11:46 pmtcpipIt's been several months since I've written anything for Rocknerd, and over the past weekend, I put together three reviews that have been sitting on the back burner for too long. The first is a bleak review of Bleak Squad's debut performance at the Queenscliff Town Hall. The second, a review of John Schumann and The Vagabond Crew performing songs of Redgum at the Darwin Ski Club, a thoroughly enjoyable concert, and the third, the charm of Guy Blackman's album launch at the Northcote Social Club. One can also add this to the few hundred words I penned on "Command-Line CD Extraction and Formatting", which uses some delightfully old utilities and is helping me put together a selection from my own vast collection in the most efficient manner.
It all adds to what was already a bit of a rocknerd weekend, starting on Thursday night, where I caught up with Adam F., at The Retreat Hotel to see a very competent instrumental funk band, "Buttered Loaf", ply their sounds. I've never had a bad time at The Retreat, and I do enjoy a good funk band, so this was quite a delightful evening. The following night I had arranged a small posse (Kate, Liza, Tony, Declan, Carla, myself) to go to The Grace Darling and see "Cold Regards", a 1980s coldwave guitar-synth duo (Marc and Jaimee) whom I've heard a lot about for more than a year. It was really my type of music, as were the other acts, "No Statues", and "Human Intrusion". The latter group was using the night for an EP launch which they distributed, in retro-cyberpunk style, on floppy disks (with oversized floppy-disc props on stage). Said performers may all find themselves subject to me putting finger to keyboard in their name in the future.
One of the nice touches of "Human Intrusion" was their backdrop with various 1980s science fiction clips, which included part of John Carpenter's "The Thing". Unpopular at the time, it has since gone on to become the cult hit that it always was going to be. Somewhat unfamiliar with movies of this suspense-horror-gore genre, I decided that Kate R., needed to view this classic in preparation for our Antarctica trip, where it's an annual screening at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The gory special effects are more clever than terrifying these days, and the theme of in-group paranoia stands up well, especially with the ambiguous ending.
It all adds to what was already a bit of a rocknerd weekend, starting on Thursday night, where I caught up with Adam F., at The Retreat Hotel to see a very competent instrumental funk band, "Buttered Loaf", ply their sounds. I've never had a bad time at The Retreat, and I do enjoy a good funk band, so this was quite a delightful evening. The following night I had arranged a small posse (Kate, Liza, Tony, Declan, Carla, myself) to go to The Grace Darling and see "Cold Regards", a 1980s coldwave guitar-synth duo (Marc and Jaimee) whom I've heard a lot about for more than a year. It was really my type of music, as were the other acts, "No Statues", and "Human Intrusion". The latter group was using the night for an EP launch which they distributed, in retro-cyberpunk style, on floppy disks (with oversized floppy-disc props on stage). Said performers may all find themselves subject to me putting finger to keyboard in their name in the future.
One of the nice touches of "Human Intrusion" was their backdrop with various 1980s science fiction clips, which included part of John Carpenter's "The Thing". Unpopular at the time, it has since gone on to become the cult hit that it always was going to be. Somewhat unfamiliar with movies of this suspense-horror-gore genre, I decided that Kate R., needed to view this classic in preparation for our Antarctica trip, where it's an annual screening at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The gory special effects are more clever than terrifying these days, and the theme of in-group paranoia stands up well, especially with the ambiguous ending.
Media Post
Oct. 12th, 2025 10:36 aminchoatewordsMovies: None.
Television/Streaming: this week's episodes of Taskmaster and Peacemaker. YouTube stuff. Two episodes of Farscape, Season 2: "Taking the Stone" (the one with the stoner-like folks who live under the graves on the cemetery planet and "take the stone" - jumping into a pit and potentially being saved by the sonic net) and "Crackers Don't Matter" (with the alien T'raltixx coming on board and everyone starts acting a bit wild and out of character). Crichton says some REALLY shitty things during the experience, damn. I did laugh at his imagining Scorpius in Hawaiian shirts and talking about margaritas, though.
Books: I gave up on Dark Shadows, for reasons described in a locked entry here. I'm currently reading The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski, which apparently has its own controversies, but I think I probably will finish it first before I talk about that.
Video Games: Stardew, obviously! I finished the Community Center and now I am working on some of the other side "quests" and making better friends with some of the villagers I have neglected a bit. My bro was a big help doing co-op to get this all done in Year 3, I think.
Television/Streaming: this week's episodes of Taskmaster and Peacemaker. YouTube stuff. Two episodes of Farscape, Season 2: "Taking the Stone" (the one with the stoner-like folks who live under the graves on the cemetery planet and "take the stone" - jumping into a pit and potentially being saved by the sonic net) and "Crackers Don't Matter" (with the alien T'raltixx coming on board and everyone starts acting a bit wild and out of character). Crichton says some REALLY shitty things during the experience, damn. I did laugh at his imagining Scorpius in Hawaiian shirts and talking about margaritas, though.
Books: I gave up on Dark Shadows, for reasons described in a locked entry here. I'm currently reading The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski, which apparently has its own controversies, but I think I probably will finish it first before I talk about that.
Video Games: Stardew, obviously! I finished the Community Center and now I am working on some of the other side "quests" and making better friends with some of the villagers I have neglected a bit. My bro was a big help doing co-op to get this all done in Year 3, I think.
elainegreyThis English language e-book didn't seem to be a YA fantasy, although I know nothing about young adults. I believe i read it this year, but it could have been any time since 2023. I read it either via Overdrive or Amazon. I think it was fairly recent, having some qualities in common with hope punk and solar punk.
( Read more... )
saturday
Oct. 11th, 2025 08:27 amsummersgateDuring the week last week we had a couple good get-togethers with the California Cousins. I was a little worried that there might be clashes politically but everything was good. When they left I only had good feelings towards them and a rekindling of good memories. Yesterday Dave and I drove over to the courthouse in Ridgway, in Elk County. The Big Woods. We took the dogs and went for a 3.5 mile hike on one of the Allegheny National Forest trails.
Here's some pictures from the last few days. We've had a very dry fall and the autumn colors are a bit disappointing: ( Read more... )
*****
Chloe asked me to help her out by teaching a craft session making soap in Clarion with her ARC people. So I've been deep into thinking about how to efficiently (and quickly) do that. The class has to be wrapped up and done in 2 hours and you need time for the soap to firm up (cool) in the molds before you can take the soap out. Chloe has a mini fridge available but I don't think that will be big enough. Thinking of ideas for cooling - maybe bring a couple coolers and use ice. There could be as many as ten people with 30 molds that will need to be accommodated. So I've put myself into "worry mode". I think I'll make some practice soaps tomorrow and time the process.
Here's some pictures from the last few days. We've had a very dry fall and the autumn colors are a bit disappointing: ( Read more... )
*****
Chloe asked me to help her out by teaching a craft session making soap in Clarion with her ARC people. So I've been deep into thinking about how to efficiently (and quickly) do that. The class has to be wrapped up and done in 2 hours and you need time for the soap to firm up (cool) in the molds before you can take the soap out. Chloe has a mini fridge available but I don't think that will be big enough. Thinking of ideas for cooling - maybe bring a couple coolers and use ice. There could be as many as ten people with 30 molds that will need to be accommodated. So I've put myself into "worry mode". I think I'll make some practice soaps tomorrow and time the process.
Harvest Celebrations
Oct. 10th, 2025 04:55 pmtcpipThis week was the Moon Festival, mid-autumn in the northern hemisphere, a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture and among its aficionados for about 3000 years. Due to the use of the lunisolar calendar, the event can be anywhere from mid-September to early October when a full moon is present. Last year it was around the former, this year the latter. The weather permitting, it is often held outside with friends and family, which is meant to coincide with the harvest gathering. Making and sharing mooncakes is one of the hallmark traditions of this festival; last year I made some, a fairly complex process, this year I received some from the Consulate, which I took to Anthony and Robin's where, joined with Matthew, we had a little festival of our own and imbibed several glasses of Maotai; at 53% that stuff is like rocket fuel, but doesn't have bad effects the following day. The following evening, I had a second Moon Festival with Kate, where we engaged in the dice game of Bo Bing, one of the many games of celebration held at such festivities.
There are several additional parts of the tradition that I find particularly charming. One is the reflection on distant friends who, although not present, will be gazing at the same moon at the same time as you are. Another is the opportunity for especially close friends to express their fondest desires and greatest dreams to each other, although one imagines that sometimes that can result in a bitter harvest, so to speak. But perhaps my favourite is reciting one of the variations of the story of the goddess Chang'e, whom the festival is named after. The version I tell recites how she drank an elixir of immortality and flew to the moon, becoming the moon goddess. Her heroic but still mortal partner, the archer Hou Yi, made mooncakes to show how much he missed her; talk about shooting for the moon. Chang'e would later be joined by a rabbit who had been exiled by the Jade Emperor for surrendering the elixir of immortality to the Queen of the West.
I did take the opportunity this year to reflect on distant and absent friends and on the new harvest from the last celebration. Despite some significant disappointments, I am more than satisfied with how this year has progressed so far. I also have my eye on an even more involved and interesting twelve months in the future, which involves a fairly significant life change. It is not something that I am prepared to discuss publicly, but those whom I have told know of its importance. I have already observed some sadness among you with the realisation of what this change will entail, but remember that no matter where we are this time next year, we will be gazing at the same moon and in celebration.
There are several additional parts of the tradition that I find particularly charming. One is the reflection on distant friends who, although not present, will be gazing at the same moon at the same time as you are. Another is the opportunity for especially close friends to express their fondest desires and greatest dreams to each other, although one imagines that sometimes that can result in a bitter harvest, so to speak. But perhaps my favourite is reciting one of the variations of the story of the goddess Chang'e, whom the festival is named after. The version I tell recites how she drank an elixir of immortality and flew to the moon, becoming the moon goddess. Her heroic but still mortal partner, the archer Hou Yi, made mooncakes to show how much he missed her; talk about shooting for the moon. Chang'e would later be joined by a rabbit who had been exiled by the Jade Emperor for surrendering the elixir of immortality to the Queen of the West.
I did take the opportunity this year to reflect on distant and absent friends and on the new harvest from the last celebration. Despite some significant disappointments, I am more than satisfied with how this year has progressed so far. I also have my eye on an even more involved and interesting twelve months in the future, which involves a fairly significant life change. It is not something that I am prepared to discuss publicly, but those whom I have told know of its importance. I have already observed some sadness among you with the realisation of what this change will entail, but remember that no matter where we are this time next year, we will be gazing at the same moon and in celebration.
Door
Oct. 6th, 2025 08:08 pmranunculusI began building a door for the woodshed today. A year ago when they reroofed the shop there were two sheets of plywood that were rotten along one edge. More than half the sheets were still good, though the quality of the plywood never was very good. I cut out a rectangle of good plywood. I think I'll paint the plywood just to give it better water resistance. Tomorrow I'll go down to the Red Barn and retrieve a couple of planks of cedar siding that are stored there. My plan is to cut 1x4 and 1x5 strips to frame the outer edge of the plywood. Then I'll do diagonal strips to cover the rest of the plywood. The plywood should hold the door square and the cedar will give some strength and look nice. Here is the door at Echo which gave me the idea to make this one.
The Echo door has held up for 100 years now. Hopefully my woodshed door will last for a decade or three.
The Echo door has held up for 100 years now. Hopefully my woodshed door will last for a decade or three.
With Great Reluctance
Oct. 6th, 2025 07:39 pmranunculusYesterday noon I had one person signed up for my weekend events. One more person was signed up for a single event. I knew of a third person who said they were coming. But three people isn't enough for an event. So I pulled the plug and canceled. There is just too much going on next weekend. A big event in Santa Rosa, about 50 miles away. Another huge event at U.C. Davis which is about 85 miles away. A third not far from Davis. Of course since I canceled, two or three people have contacted me about signing up, but I really need a base of at least 10 or 12 to break even. I'll just wait till April and do another one.
Instead of doing a competition I'm going to do a fun day. I've invited everyone who was going to compete, and all the judges, to come, do some obstacles and then go for a trail ride. I'll judge the obstacles and then give immediate feedback. Completely informal.
Instead of doing a competition I'm going to do a fun day. I've invited everyone who was going to compete, and all the judges, to come, do some obstacles and then go for a trail ride. I'll judge the obstacles and then give immediate feedback. Completely informal.
on Guards
Oct. 6th, 2025 10:29 pmmicrobieToday was the first time in months that I didn't see any National Guards on my way to or from work. [I did see some military police coming out of the subway station after my psychology appointment.] I honestly didn't think Trump/Miller would let them leave. I guess they have fights on their hands in other places, most notably Chicago.
I didn't throw a sandwich at them or otherwise engage with/provoke them. I mostly tried to pretend that they weren't there, but of course I tried to be extra cautious. If I was jogging in the hopes of getting the train pulling up to the platform, I'd slow down to a walk so that they wouldn't think I was attacking. I worried about how to get my farecard out of my pocket such that it was clear I wasn't reaching for a gun.
I didn't see any point in confronting National Guards or any other law enforcement, all of whom looked extremely bored. I wouldn't quite say that I felt sorry for them, but after hearing reports about where extra law enforcement were housed I decided to take the risk. [ETA: I have no idea what I was trying to say here. Thanks, Benadryl!]
Speaking of the military-industrial complex, one of the downtown Metro stations has had a series of defense technology ads from people looking to grab their share. They always have the company names in all capital letters, and the names are vaguely ominous. Most of the summer, the ads were for MANTECH. Despite seeing those ads, I don't have any idea what the company does. Another one is RAFT (definitely ominous). Today they expanded to multi-word names.
I didn't throw a sandwich at them or otherwise engage with/provoke them. I mostly tried to pretend that they weren't there, but of course I tried to be extra cautious. If I was jogging in the hopes of getting the train pulling up to the platform, I'd slow down to a walk so that they wouldn't think I was attacking. I worried about how to get my farecard out of my pocket such that it was clear I wasn't reaching for a gun.
I didn't see any point in confronting National Guards or any other law enforcement, all of whom looked extremely bored. I wouldn't quite say that I felt sorry for them, but after hearing reports about where extra law enforcement were housed I decided to take the risk. [ETA: I have no idea what I was trying to say here. Thanks, Benadryl!]
Speaking of the military-industrial complex, one of the downtown Metro stations has had a series of defense technology ads from people looking to grab their share. They always have the company names in all capital letters, and the names are vaguely ominous. Most of the summer, the ads were for MANTECH. Despite seeing those ads, I don't have any idea what the company does. Another one is RAFT (definitely ominous). Today they expanded to multi-word names.
(cats, harvest, anger)
Oct. 5th, 2025 08:15 pmelainegreyReading the current talking points from Republicans, here in the form of a question -- "Do you support shutting down the federal government to provide illegal immigrants taxpayer-subsidized health care?' -- makes me so angry. I am acknowledging the feeling. Hi anger! And part of the anger is that i believe that there is an abundance in this world and we should be able to provide health care to all. I don't think there are any elected congress critters trying to make that happen.
Yesterday was the first day my hands got cold outside while sitting on the deck before work. (Saturday morning i spent with inside with Bruno, as he hid under the bed. Sunday was complicated.)
I think the remaining chestnuts on the tree are poorly pollinated burrs. So, that was a quick abundance that came in but it's done. The figs' abundance seems over, and i seem unmotivated to hunt the late ripening fruit. Next harvests, lemongrass and persimmons.
Don't know what to do with the lemongrass. For Saturday's lunch i harvested some and some of my walking onions (which are related to shallots), both are very small compared to commercial things. Both have the same challenge of peeling back the less tender bits and trying to not peel back too much. Since they aren't large, it just feels like so much work for not so much food. I fried in butter, added some old white wine, and then left over rice. Yummy!
I think one thing: maybe instead of harvesting the biggest stalks, pot them up and give them another year. If i can remember to use the other stalks in broths, just flavor like bay leaves, that might be the easiest way to enjoy them. I think i've dried leaves in the past but i don't drink enough herbal teas to really use it up yet.
Today (Sunday) we had some good socialization time with Bruno with a variety of interactions. Carrie is a very good dog and has behaved well. I recalled how she used to try to keep Marlowe and Edward from fighting and had a wave of missing Edward. I am much more optimistic about how the three will get along, but Bruno does seem so very skittish and needs safe places.
sunday
Oct. 5th, 2025 01:35 pmsummersgate
The fall colors (on the trees) are terrible this year. The maple leaves are just turning brown on the trees and falling off. Lots of nice dry leaves to shuffle through but no good color. The best color around here is from these mums on the front porch.
Here's a close up.
I finished the earrings for Berdella just now.
Trying to keep focused on cleaning and redding up. My two cousins and their spouses from California are coming to town on Monday and we invited them for a cookout on Wednesday. The weather will be turning cold before then so we'll probably be inside a lot of the time. Their mom and dad spent their honeymoon in the cottage that was once down back by the creek. I'm sure they'll like seeing that spot again. The foundation of the cottage is still there. Besides cleaning for that I have the regular Sunday dinner for the grandkids and Jules later today. I've been hearing people talk about broccoli salad a lot lately so thought I'd make that and a casserole of noodles, vegan mushroom soup, peas and grilled fake chicken. Dave wants to make real chicken on the grill for the meat eaters.
Tags:
Media Post
Oct. 5th, 2025 11:12 aminchoatewordsMovies: Suicide Squad (the 2021, James Gunn one). We're watching season 2 of Peacemaker, and Scott asked me if I had ever seen the movie, and of course, I hadn't. So we watched that this weekend. I thought it was pretty good; it was interesting to see a slightly different side of Peacemaker's character versus the show. And some of the scenes in the movie helped me make better sense of the show. Also, I love Idris Elba and I'll watch him in almost anything.
Television/Streaming: we watched this week's episodes of Taskmaster and Peacemaker (the latter of which I've been neglecting to mention in these posts). And our usual spate of YouTube videos (Smosh; I think there was a Drew Gooden one, but that could have been last week; etc). Also watched some Buffy, Season 2 (we just met Spike and Drusilla for the first time) and Farscape, Season 2 (the last one we watched was where D'Argo is supposed to help one of his own pass on, and instead she pulls energy from Moya via him and nearly kills everyone).
Books: I finished She Is a Haunting, and it was okay. I think there were too many things thrown into this book and it could have done with some tighter editing. The main character was annoying, but she is a teenage girl, so I tried to give some benefit of the doubt . . .until the last bits. Too many insects as part of the creepy, haunted-house bits. The angle regarding colonialism and such was interesting and could have been explored more, I think. The cover of this book is very evocative and I'll probably remember that, but not much else about this book, ha.
I'm currently reading Dark Shadows by Jana Petken. I've had this on my kindle for a long time, one of those first-in-a-series freebies that they were doing fairly regularly years ago (when Amazon had a top 50 free e-books or whatever; I don't think that they do that anymore). This only has a sequel, so not as bad as some of the other books where there are so many in the series at this point, as I was collecting as many of the free books as I could and then forgetting about them for literal years. (My TBR is 1k or close to it, at least on Goodreads; I usually sort on random - or the random assortment that lands on the main page on Storygraph - and I've been a bit harsher lately with removing things I no longer care about. But I'm the type of person that will raid a bibliography of a nonfiction book for more of the same, that sort of thing).
Anyway, this came up and it's kind of a historical romance, so already a bit trope-y because the one guy is so immediately taken with our protagonist, but there is some suspense prior to this and I'm compelled to read further right now, so we'll see. It's not a genre where I've read a lot in this time period (pre-Civil War, but in England as well as America), so we'll see what the author does with it.
Video Games: Stardew Valley, of course! I am taking advantage of having all the leisure time right now to play it. Which is why I haven't been reading as much, because I can take a book anywhere, but not the game. I'm in Year 3, Spring. Emily is my wife now and I've just been improving the farm as much as possible and expanding the barns and coops and such, working on the rest of the Community Center (another season of crops and I should be able to open the Greenhouse, which I'm excited by).
Television/Streaming: we watched this week's episodes of Taskmaster and Peacemaker (the latter of which I've been neglecting to mention in these posts). And our usual spate of YouTube videos (Smosh; I think there was a Drew Gooden one, but that could have been last week; etc). Also watched some Buffy, Season 2 (we just met Spike and Drusilla for the first time) and Farscape, Season 2 (the last one we watched was where D'Argo is supposed to help one of his own pass on, and instead she pulls energy from Moya via him and nearly kills everyone).
Books: I finished She Is a Haunting, and it was okay. I think there were too many things thrown into this book and it could have done with some tighter editing. The main character was annoying, but she is a teenage girl, so I tried to give some benefit of the doubt . . .until the last bits. Too many insects as part of the creepy, haunted-house bits. The angle regarding colonialism and such was interesting and could have been explored more, I think. The cover of this book is very evocative and I'll probably remember that, but not much else about this book, ha.
I'm currently reading Dark Shadows by Jana Petken. I've had this on my kindle for a long time, one of those first-in-a-series freebies that they were doing fairly regularly years ago (when Amazon had a top 50 free e-books or whatever; I don't think that they do that anymore). This only has a sequel, so not as bad as some of the other books where there are so many in the series at this point, as I was collecting as many of the free books as I could and then forgetting about them for literal years. (My TBR is 1k or close to it, at least on Goodreads; I usually sort on random - or the random assortment that lands on the main page on Storygraph - and I've been a bit harsher lately with removing things I no longer care about. But I'm the type of person that will raid a bibliography of a nonfiction book for more of the same, that sort of thing).
Anyway, this came up and it's kind of a historical romance, so already a bit trope-y because the one guy is so immediately taken with our protagonist, but there is some suspense prior to this and I'm compelled to read further right now, so we'll see. It's not a genre where I've read a lot in this time period (pre-Civil War, but in England as well as America), so we'll see what the author does with it.
Video Games: Stardew Valley, of course! I am taking advantage of having all the leisure time right now to play it. Which is why I haven't been reading as much, because I can take a book anywhere, but not the game. I'm in Year 3, Spring. Emily is my wife now and I've just been improving the farm as much as possible and expanding the barns and coops and such, working on the rest of the Community Center (another season of crops and I should be able to open the Greenhouse, which I'm excited by).