Photos: House Yard
Mar. 2nd, 2026 10:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithToday I set up a new label for the Sharpie Oil Paint Pen Extra Fine that I bought recently. I also took some other pictures around the yard.
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( Walk with me ... )
ysabetwordsmith
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Dentistry and ventriloquism
Mar. 2nd, 2026 11:01 pmmtbcBecause I have sensitive teeth (or am a big wuss) my kindly dentist anesthetizes me before the scaling. This leaves my mouth rather numb for quite some time afterward.
This latest time, I noticed that I could still say some words before the anesthetic much wore off even if others remained a challenge. For instance, we don't seem to need our lips at all to say,
Lips remain helpful for drinking such that all the liquid goes down the inside of my neck rather than some trickling down the outside.
This latest time, I noticed that I could still say some words before the anesthetic much wore off even if others remained a challenge. For instance, we don't seem to need our lips at all to say,
succulent delicacy; I surmised that may be an easy utterance in ventriloquism too.
Lips remain helpful for drinking such that all the liquid goes down the inside of my neck rather than some trickling down the outside.
Willow Cuttings
Mar. 2nd, 2026 03:18 pmysabetwordsmithMy willow cuttings have arrived! :D I will need to unpack them and set them up. My plan is to put some in water, which makes willow water, which can be used to root other things. I shall take cuttings from some dogwoods and other things here to see if this works. I also intend to put some willow cuttings in soil to see how that works. Since willows are pretty much the easiest thing to propagate from cuttings, and I have 3 of each color, I figure at least one of each should survive.
Willow is a keystone plant, supporting many other species. Early blooms feed bees. Birds like to nest in willows. Many species of insects, especially butterfly and moth larvae, feed on them. They also make great craft materials and, as mentioned above, spew out rooting hormones.
( Read more... )
Willow is a keystone plant, supporting many other species. Early blooms feed bees. Birds like to nest in willows. Many species of insects, especially butterfly and moth larvae, feed on them. They also make great craft materials and, as mentioned above, spew out rooting hormones.
( Read more... )
Monday Word: Smaragadine
Mar. 2nd, 2026 03:04 pmstonepicnicking_okapi posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
1word1daysmaragdine [sməˈragdə̇n]
adjective
of or relating to emerald
examples
1. On a transverse axis, vision reached from glittering blue across the Sea of Marmora to a mast-crowded Golden Horn and the rich suburbs and smaragdine heights beyond. Two in Time. Paul Anderson, 1970
2. It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that Mohammed Son of the Sultan craved leave to return to his own motherland, when his father-in-law gave him an hundred clusters of the diamantine and smaragdine grapes, after which he farewelled the King and taking his bride fared without the city.
Arabian nights. English. Anonymous. 1855
origin
Latin smaragdinus, from smaragdus emerald + -inus -ine
adjective
of or relating to emerald
examples
1. On a transverse axis, vision reached from glittering blue across the Sea of Marmora to a mast-crowded Golden Horn and the rich suburbs and smaragdine heights beyond. Two in Time. Paul Anderson, 1970
2. It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that Mohammed Son of the Sultan craved leave to return to his own motherland, when his father-in-law gave him an hundred clusters of the diamantine and smaragdine grapes, after which he farewelled the King and taking his bride fared without the city.
Arabian nights. English. Anonymous. 1855
origin
Latin smaragdinus, from smaragdus emerald + -inus -ine
Birdfeeding
Mar. 2nd, 2026 01:51 pmysabetwordsmithToday is cloudy, cold, and damp. Last night it snowed a bit, then sleeted, and seems to have rained later. Now most of the ice has melted off.
I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a male cardinal.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 3/2/26 -- I transplanted snowdrops from the parking lot to the white garden.
EDIT 3/2/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I set up a label with the new Sharpie Oil Paint Pen (Extra Fine) and took pictures.
I saw a squirrel in the trees.
EDIT 3/2/26 -- My red curly willow cuttings arrived, as did my order from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds. I have set up two of the willow cuttings in water, one in potting soil. I also took a cutting from the fishpond mulberry tree and one from a red dogwood, which I added to the water cups to see if the willows will help those root too.
EDIT 3/2/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 3/2/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen a male cardinal chasing a female, and a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a male cardinal.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 3/2/26 -- I transplanted snowdrops from the parking lot to the white garden.
EDIT 3/2/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I set up a label with the new Sharpie Oil Paint Pen (Extra Fine) and took pictures.
I saw a squirrel in the trees.
EDIT 3/2/26 -- My red curly willow cuttings arrived, as did my order from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds. I have set up two of the willow cuttings in water, one in potting soil. I also took a cutting from the fishpond mulberry tree and one from a red dogwood, which I added to the water cups to see if the willows will help those root too.
EDIT 3/2/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 3/2/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen a male cardinal chasing a female, and a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.
I am done for the night.
Obtaining old calculators
Mar. 2nd, 2026 06:51 pmmtbcRecently, I stumbled upon an article about Commodore Business Machines' line of calculators. I have owned plenty of Commodore hardware, going back to the PETs that my secondary school retired, but no calculators. I was amused to read that, back in the 1970s, some calculators were marketed as being electronic slide rules. I still have my father's slide rules, he also had a desktop mechanical calculator and, later, one of the first version of the TI-30, with the red glowing digits that would show some thinking going on as it evaluated a trigonometric function.
I determined that I might enjoy occasionally using a decent ancient scientific calculator, ideally with a reverse-Polish interface. However, looking around online now, I don't see any particularly sweet spots in what one can buy of Commodore's calculators. I like how, say, the Commodore SR-4190R even has hyperbolic functions and probability distributions but it's not as if examples in good condition remain abundant and rarer models like the M55 appear indeed to be inconveniently rare.
Rememberingmst3kmoxie's HP 12C, which can calculate some of the financial things that now form part of my day job, I explored the alternative of investigating the older HP and Novus range. However, things like the Novus 4510 don't seem to have existed in the UK and international shipping costs plenty. In dropping the nostalgia and taking a look at modern offerings, I discovered the SwissMicros DM15L which could be fun to play with. They seem to be out of stock right now but, worse, Parcelforce fees for importing one would mean it wasn't worth it.
So, the obstacles are broadly those of availability at all, or of getting the calculator from there to here. Ah well, it's more an idle fancy anyway rather than a pressing need. I seem to be in the wrong place and considerably the wrong time.
I determined that I might enjoy occasionally using a decent ancient scientific calculator, ideally with a reverse-Polish interface. However, looking around online now, I don't see any particularly sweet spots in what one can buy of Commodore's calculators. I like how, say, the Commodore SR-4190R even has hyperbolic functions and probability distributions but it's not as if examples in good condition remain abundant and rarer models like the M55 appear indeed to be inconveniently rare.
Remembering
mst3kmoxie's HP 12C, which can calculate some of the financial things that now form part of my day job, I explored the alternative of investigating the older HP and Novus range. However, things like the Novus 4510 don't seem to have existed in the UK and international shipping costs plenty. In dropping the nostalgia and taking a look at modern offerings, I discovered the SwissMicros DM15L which could be fun to play with. They seem to be out of stock right now but, worse, Parcelforce fees for importing one would mean it wasn't worth it.So, the obstacles are broadly those of availability at all, or of getting the calculator from there to here. Ah well, it's more an idle fancy anyway rather than a pressing need. I seem to be in the wrong place and considerably the wrong time.
spring appears to be happening this year
Mar. 2nd, 2026 07:54 amhudebnikSnow has been melting rapidly for the past few days, although today's temperature isn't expected to get above freezing. The car is basically free of snow, I think, although I haven't actually tried moving it. The front yard and the sub-lawns are still snow-covered, but only a foot or less deep in most places. A week from now it's supposed to be in the 60's °F. I haven't seen any crocuses or snowdrops yet, but I think it's actually happening.
Monday Update 3-2-26
Mar. 2nd, 2026 12:04 amysabetwordsmithThese are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Clothes
National Crafting Month Bingo Card 3-1-26
Birdfeeding
Emotional Neglect
Today's Adventures
Bingo
Books
Food
Birdfeeding
New Year's Resolutions Check In
Philosophical Questions: Government
Books
Space Exploration
Moment of Silence: Neil Sedaka
Pinetree Garden Seeds Order
Follow Friday 2-20-26: Active Communities on Dreamwidth Winter 2025-2026 J-Z
Birdfeeding
Recipe: African Spice Cookies
Photos: Water Garden
Photos: Worm Bin
Photos: House Yard
Crafts
Vocabulary: Proforestation
Birdfeeding
Willow Cuttings
Community Thursdays
Vocabulary: Bossage
Linguistics
Birdfeeding
Cuddle Party
Safety has 50 comments. Food has 53 comments. Wildlife has 40 comments. Food has 67 comments. Robotics has 147 comments.
There will be a Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, March 3 with a theme of "World Cuisine." I hope to see you then!
marchmetamatterschallenge is running this month. See my tracking post and the first check-in post.
"The Struggle Against Overwhelming Odds" belongs to Not Quite Kansas and needs $34.50 to be complete. Raymond and Gideon get attacked on the way home from research.
The weather has been warmish here, though it got colder today. Yesterday it rained a bit. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large flock of sparrows, several starlings, a pair of house finches courting plus an extra male, two male cardinals, a mourning dove, and a fox squirrel. I saw a downy woodpecker in the trees. Red-winged blackbirds have been singing overhead. Honeybees are out, and finally found the flowers. Currently blooming: crocuses, snowdrops.
Clothes
National Crafting Month Bingo Card 3-1-26
Birdfeeding
Emotional Neglect
Today's Adventures
Bingo
Books
Food
Birdfeeding
New Year's Resolutions Check In
Philosophical Questions: Government
Books
Space Exploration
Moment of Silence: Neil Sedaka
Pinetree Garden Seeds Order
Follow Friday 2-20-26: Active Communities on Dreamwidth Winter 2025-2026 J-Z
Birdfeeding
Recipe: African Spice Cookies
Photos: Water Garden
Photos: Worm Bin
Photos: House Yard
Crafts
Vocabulary: Proforestation
Birdfeeding
Willow Cuttings
Community Thursdays
Vocabulary: Bossage
Linguistics
Birdfeeding
Cuddle Party
Safety has 50 comments. Food has 53 comments. Wildlife has 40 comments. Food has 67 comments. Robotics has 147 comments.
There will be a Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, March 3 with a theme of "World Cuisine." I hope to see you then!
marchmetamatterschallenge is running this month. See my tracking post and the first check-in post."The Struggle Against Overwhelming Odds" belongs to Not Quite Kansas and needs $34.50 to be complete. Raymond and Gideon get attacked on the way home from research.
The weather has been warmish here, though it got colder today. Yesterday it rained a bit. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large flock of sparrows, several starlings, a pair of house finches courting plus an extra male, two male cardinals, a mourning dove, and a fox squirrel. I saw a downy woodpecker in the trees. Red-winged blackbirds have been singing overhead. Honeybees are out, and finally found the flowers. Currently blooming: crocuses, snowdrops.
Clothes
Mar. 1st, 2026 10:28 pmysabetwordsmithDonating clothes to charity has an unfortunate dark side
Here’s what actually happens when you donate clothes. First, they go to charity shops and collectors who sort through everything. The nicest pieces might be sold at the local thrift store.
But there’s a catch: these organizations receive far more clothing than they can sell. We’re talking about mountains of fabric that no one locally wants to buy.
So what happens to the rest? Some items are thrown away. But a huge portion gets packed into bales and shipped overseas.
There are lots of ways to address this issue. First, understand the problem...
( Read more... )
Here’s what actually happens when you donate clothes. First, they go to charity shops and collectors who sort through everything. The nicest pieces might be sold at the local thrift store.
But there’s a catch: these organizations receive far more clothing than they can sell. We’re talking about mountains of fabric that no one locally wants to buy.
So what happens to the rest? Some items are thrown away. But a huge portion gets packed into bales and shipped overseas.
There are lots of ways to address this issue. First, understand the problem...
( Read more... )
March Meta Matters
Mar. 1st, 2026 06:09 pmysabetwordsmithThe March Meta Matters challenge is now active over on marchmetamatterschallenge. See the first check-in post here for introductions. Read the FAQ list, as there may have been some changes from previous years. See my entries from 2023, 2024, and 2025. Here are my How To list and my Meta list from 2024.
This challenge involves locating and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation. The fest recommends SquidgeWorld. There will be some prompts for creating new meta. Participants can post their goals for saving old meta and/or creating new meta. You can also collect, recommend, and save meta created by other people if it's not something you make yourself or yours is already up to date and saved.
Some canon-specific or author-specific websites have a section especially for meta about their fandom(s) to help new fans learn the canon(s), explore fandom in general, and to inspire fanworks. In particular, it used to be common for people to make fanifestos about a canon, its ships, major fanworks, etc. as guides to newcomers in hopes of growing the fandom; reviving this custom would be very helpful. Here on Dreamwidth, check outshipmanifestos. Another great type of meta is reviews; see communities such as books and book_love for those. If you know of more such resources, March is a good time to post about them so more folks can find them and make sure that meta is backed up.
An increasing issue of archiving is the decline of archival websites. Ghost barely works anymore. The Archive.fo cluster is iffy at best, and when one of its sites glitches, you can't even use your old links anymore. That was the site that used to have the best ability to archive almost anything, except PDF files. Wayback, formerly the most reliable, and the only one I found that would safe PDFs, has become increasingly slow and prone to outages. It never saved quite as wide a range as Archive.fo but now saves a lot less. It's maddening. Because every page that can't be archived is work that will be wasted when linkrot eventually kills the original.
On the bright side, Dreamwidth remains a great place to crosspost your content from other platforms as a form of archiving by duplication. This is increasingly a good idea at a time when many platforms are collapsing due to misbehavior, locking everything to members only, or disappearing altogether.goals_on_dw has a post for Full Content on Dreamwidth if this is your approach to sharing and archiving your work.
( Read more... )
marchmetamatterschallenge. See the first check-in post here for introductions. Read the FAQ list, as there may have been some changes from previous years. See my entries from 2023, 2024, and 2025. Here are my How To list and my Meta list from 2024.This challenge involves locating and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation. The fest recommends SquidgeWorld. There will be some prompts for creating new meta. Participants can post their goals for saving old meta and/or creating new meta. You can also collect, recommend, and save meta created by other people if it's not something you make yourself or yours is already up to date and saved.
Some canon-specific or author-specific websites have a section especially for meta about their fandom(s) to help new fans learn the canon(s), explore fandom in general, and to inspire fanworks. In particular, it used to be common for people to make fanifestos about a canon, its ships, major fanworks, etc. as guides to newcomers in hopes of growing the fandom; reviving this custom would be very helpful. Here on Dreamwidth, check out
shipmanifestos. Another great type of meta is reviews; see communities such as books and book_love for those. If you know of more such resources, March is a good time to post about them so more folks can find them and make sure that meta is backed up. An increasing issue of archiving is the decline of archival websites. Ghost barely works anymore. The Archive.fo cluster is iffy at best, and when one of its sites glitches, you can't even use your old links anymore. That was the site that used to have the best ability to archive almost anything, except PDF files. Wayback, formerly the most reliable, and the only one I found that would safe PDFs, has become increasingly slow and prone to outages. It never saved quite as wide a range as Archive.fo but now saves a lot less. It's maddening. Because every page that can't be archived is work that will be wasted when linkrot eventually kills the original.
On the bright side, Dreamwidth remains a great place to crosspost your content from other platforms as a form of archiving by duplication. This is increasingly a good idea at a time when many platforms are collapsing due to misbehavior, locking everything to members only, or disappearing altogether.
goals_on_dw has a post for Full Content on Dreamwidth if this is your approach to sharing and archiving your work.( Read more... )
Tags:
vital functions
Mar. 1st, 2026 11:45 pmkaberett... is a placeholder; apparently getting the bus to a hospital appointment today ate my entire brain, and I need to be up early tomorrow morning for a different medical appointment for a different body part in a different place. (Why am I being sent to get an ultrasound four stops down the Piccadilly line instead of five minutes up the road? A MYSTERY.)
( Read more... )
National Crafting Month Bingo Card 3-1-26
Mar. 1st, 2026 02:43 pmysabetwordsmithHere is my card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest over in allbingo. The fest runs from March 1-30. (See all my 2026 bingo cards.)
If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.
Underlined prompts have been filled.
NATIONAL CRAFTING MONTH BINGO CARD
Here is my entry for the National Crafting Month Meet and Greet post...
( Read more... )
allbingo. The fest runs from March 1-30. (See all my 2026 bingo cards.) If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.
Underlined prompts have been filled.
NATIONAL CRAFTING MONTH BINGO CARD
| Smudges | Ink Pens | Crocheting | Tangles | Food |
| Mended Clothes | Thread | Time | Stone | Woodworking |
| Artisan | Tension | WILD CARD | Yarn | Colors |
| Writing | Upcycling | Sewing | Tape | Garden Crafts |
| Rag Rugs | Lacking Storage | Small Spaces | Ribbon | Poetry |
Here is my entry for the National Crafting Month Meet and Greet post...
( Read more... )
Tags:
Birdfeeding
Mar. 1st, 2026 02:23 pmysabetwordsmithToday is cloudy and chilly. It rained yesterday afternoon and evening.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- I pulled dead stems from some containers in the old picnic table garden and the new picnic table garden.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- We hauled the 5 new rocks to the purple-and-white garden. We hauled the huge bag of potting mix into the foyer.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a large flock of sparrows, a male cardinal, and a starling. I heard a squirrel barking in the trees but didn't see it.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- I dug up some snowdrops from the parking lot and moved them to the log garden and the purple-and-white garden. There are still a lot left.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- I dug up some snowdrops from the parking lot and moved them to the savanna.
I saw a woodpecker drumming high in a tree, probably a downy woodpecker.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen a squirrel in the trees.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- I pulled dead stems from some containers in the old picnic table garden and the new picnic table garden.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- We hauled the 5 new rocks to the purple-and-white garden. We hauled the huge bag of potting mix into the foyer.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a large flock of sparrows, a male cardinal, and a starling. I heard a squirrel barking in the trees but didn't see it.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- I dug up some snowdrops from the parking lot and moved them to the log garden and the purple-and-white garden. There are still a lot left.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- I dug up some snowdrops from the parking lot and moved them to the savanna.
I saw a woodpecker drumming high in a tree, probably a downy woodpecker.
EDIT 3/1/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen a squirrel in the trees.
I am done for the night.
Emotional Neglect
Mar. 1st, 2026 01:48 amysabetwordsmithcosmolinguist wrote a long, detailed discussion of emotional neglect that I suspect will resonate with many of my readers. Sunday Word: Deadfall
Mar. 1st, 2026 04:01 pmsallymn posting in 1word1daydeadfall [ded-fawl]
noun:
1 a trap so constructed that a weight (such as a heavy log) falls on an animal and kills or disables it
2 a mass of brush and fallen fall trees
(click to enlarge)
Examples:
Deadfall is a particularly thorny problem, and the club’s latter-day lumberjacks head out with chain saws in tow to remove trees upward of 4 feet in diameter. (Gregory Scruggs, 'Labor of love' motivates scrappy nordic ski club in North Cascades, The Seattle Times, December 2023)
The three sticks should be perfectly straight, and about the same diameter and length. Finger-thick and one-foot long will work for most deadfall triggers. (Tim MacWelch, A Guide to the 15 Best Survival Traps of All Time, Outdoor Life, October 2019)
If you happen to wander off trail on a hike, navigating over and under the debris, known as deadfall, proves to be a challenge in daylight, but imagine facing that challenge in the dark. (Meagan Thompson, Treasure hunter is rescued in the mountains south of Butte, KXLF, November 2025)
Winding roads diving deep between steep hillsides littered with jagged deadfall and boulder-size talus, towns few and far between. (C C Weiss, Review: Micro-camping the Idaho wilds in Escapod's monocoque teardrop, New Atlas, December 2024)
Then, a video demonstrating an ancient deadfall trap received over a million views. (Oliver Whang, Is There an Ethical Way to Kill Rats? Should We Even Ask?, New York Times, February 2023)
We hauled some deadfall from these woods to the center of the meadow where we built up around our camp a sort of circular fence. (David Zindell, The Lightstone)
Origin:
The earliest known use of the noun deadfall is in the late 1500s. OED's earliest evidence for deadfall is from before 1589, in the writing of Leonard Mascall, translator and author. (Oxford English Dictionary)