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everykindofcraft2025-09-17 05:07 pmHello!
I don't usually post here. I usually live at Blogspot or Substack. And I don't usually post photos.
I do, however, knit, and if I took digital photos to ost, they'd be of knitted work.
Meanwhile it's fun to see what others are makng.
summersgate) wrote2025-09-17 04:31 pmwednesday
Swimming. I didn't get to swim in Kathy's pool yet today. I don't know if I will. It's been raining. A thunderstorm rumbled through this afternoon and we enjoyed just sitting on the back porch watching.
Kathy had gathered up palm flower stalks earlier and we opened one. This was what was inside, crinkly strands that had super tiny flowers all along them in groups of 5, 6 or 7.
Here it is all opened up.
Closeup of the little flower buds. They look like caterpillars to me.
It's been a stay at home day today. Lazy.
ranunculus) wrote2025-09-17 09:33 amWater Update
greghousesgf) wrote2025-09-17 10:51 am(no subject)
maju) wrote2025-09-17 01:19 pm365 Questions 2025
15. What is the one primary quality you look for in a significant other? Intelligence and sense of humour.
16. What do you admire most about your mother and father? They both had an excellent work ethic.
17. What is the best advice you have ever received? I can't think of one specific example but I've been encouraged to realise that people are never paying as much attention to me as I think they are.
maju) wrote2025-09-17 01:02 pm(no subject)
While I was out walking this morning I passed a pharmacy that looks like it's in the middle of nowhere, just perched in its own parking lot surrounded by houses, but actually it's right at the back of a fairly large mall that's hidden by trees. Anyway, as I was passing I was thinking of going in and asking me if they'd give me a flu shot there and then, but I didn't because I wasn't carrying any form of ID (I don't carry my wallet when I'm walking because it's too bulky for my pocket) and I didn't know if they'd need that or not. Instead, I've set up an appointment for the flu shot at Kaiser in a week's time when I'm home again. I also plan to get a Covid shot at Kaiser, but not on the same day as the flu shot because I only want one sore arm at a time.
andrewducker) wrote2025-09-17 05:36 pmWhining about online t-shirt purchases.
Except no, it's £24 plus £6 tax plus £7 shipping *that takes up to 6 weeks*.
And this for an item that's print on demand. Which means, theoretically, they could print it in the UK in the first place and not have to presumably ship it to me by alpaca from Kazakhstan!
Shame, really, it's a nice t-shirt. But not £37 nice.
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smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-09-17 03:30 pmA Thriller, F/F Romance, & More
Libro.fm’s buy-one-get-one sale is happening from Sept 16-19, and you can get two audiobooks for one credit. And if you’ve been thinking of joining Libro.fm, you can get three audiobooks for the price of one if you’re a new member buying a one credit per month plan. This means if you use code SWITCH, you could end up with six audiobooks for three credits you receive on sign up.
Once Smitten, Twice Shy
Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Chloe Liese is $1.99! Fingers crossed this sale is still valid! This is book three in The Wilmot Sisters series. The description mentions it’s a retelling of Twelfth Night.
Star-crossed lovers learn that practicing romance leads to the perfect happy ending in this steamy reimagining of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
Since heartbreak entered the scene, Juliet Wilmot, once a hopeless romantic, has sworn off love. But when she’s presented with the chance to revisit romance—purely for practice—with the gorgeous, off-limits guy she keeps serendipitously running into, it feels like a sign from the universe.
Quiet, shy Will Orsino knows happily-ever-after isn’t on his horizon. Problem is, for the sake of the family business, marriage is. Resigned to the inevitable, but with no confidence he can woo a wife, he can hardly say no when fate hands him the alluring, unattainable woman he keeps crossing paths with, offering to help him learn the ropes of romance.
Neither of them looking for love, Jules and Will agree they’re the perfect pair to practice romance. Except that practicing to perfection leads to an irresistible attraction. Their once smitten hearts, though still twice shy, might have happily-ever-after written in the stars for them, after all.
When Women Were Dragons
RECOMMENDED: When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill is $1.99! Carrie read this one and gave it an A:
I adored this book. This was an astonishing, gripping, and inspiring read that I will return to again and again.
Learn about the Mass Dragoning of 1955 in which 300,000 women spontaneously transform into dragons…and change the world.
Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours. But this version of 1950’s America is characterized by a significant event: The Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales and talons, left a trail of fiery destruction in their path, and took to the skies. Seemingly for good. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved Aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of, even more so than her crush on Sonja, her schoolmate.
Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of dragons: a mother more protective than ever; a father growing increasingly distant; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and a new “sister” obsessed with dragons far beyond propriety. Through loss, rage, and self-discovery, this story follows Alex’s journey as she deals with the events leading up to and beyond the Mass Dragoning, and her connection with the phenomenon itself.
Discovering Nicola
Discovering Nicola by Clare Ashton is 99c! This is book three in Oxford Romance series. This is a f/f romance where the leads are divorcees.
Sparks fly between Nicola Albright KC and Geeta Sachdeva, but not the good kind. They’re the sort that leave small fires, devastation, and everyone peeping between their fingers at arrogant lawyer, Nicola, on one side, and everyone’s favourite mum, Geeta, on the other.
Yet when both are divorced and at a new stage in life, they find themselves living within glowering distance of each other, in beautiful Iffley Village, Oxford. Reluctantly they call a truce and try to make friends. It’s tricky though, when there’s more than one reason they’ve circled and snapped for years.
For a start, Geeta’s lawyer daughter, Olivia, idolises the eminent King’s Counsel barrister, to eye rolls from Geeta. And to Nicola’s annoyance, her own daughter, Charlotte, has always turned to perfect mama Geeta for comfort and understanding. Animosity between the two is a given.
Until they force themselves to be nice to each other, that is, and then they’re compelled to question everything…
The Villa
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is $2.99! This is a Gothic thriller, which is all sorts of Elyse catnip. It was also mentioned in a previous Hide Your Wallet. Have you read any of Hawkins’ thrillers?
From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.
Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.
As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.
Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.
Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.
kevin_standlee) wrote2025-09-17 05:58 am
Getting Lisa Home
( SFO Security and What the Heck is Happening in the Bay Area )
We got Lisa into her cave (the travel trailer) and she worked on getting things running again and trying to get to bed ASAP. I had to stop and have something to eat, as my earlier plan to eat at the airport while waiting for Lisa was scuppered by the travel kerfuffle.
So everything worked out in the end, but I guess it's a good think she had such a long layover at SFO or else that too would have failed and she would have spend the night sitting by luggage carousel 9 waiting for met to come and rescue her.
james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-17 09:00 amThe Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike
The Central Plaza Mansion tower offers palatial 900 square foot apartments for a mere ¥35,000,000. It is a deal too good for the Kano family to turn down... although they should have.
The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike
poliphilo) wrote2025-09-17 12:59 pmPicture Diary 103
1. Elixir
2. Sundancers
3. Happy Horse
4. Keep to the Path
5. Going, going.....
6. City on the Hill
andrewducker) wrote2025-09-17 09:43 amLife with two kids: International Demon-Hunter Shipping
8th - Taken from warehouse in Shenzhen (China) and handed to massive chinese shipment company SF Express.
8th - Driven an hour up the road to Dongguan shipment centre.
11th - Transported (presumably by road) 1,100 km to Ezhou (SF Express hub airport, also China))
12th - Flown to Liège Airport (Belgium), stopping over in Almaty International Airport (Kazakhstan)
14th - Flew in to Heathrow
14th - Then arrived in Stansted for customs
15th - Then handed to Hermes in London
16th - Who got it to me in Edinburgh the next day
Total cost, including shipping: £24 (£12 per top).
I am both impressed and somewhat aghast.
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-09-17 08:00 amLinks: Llamas, Celine Dion, & More
Welcome back! You’re getting some hot and fresh links this morning.
Vacation kicks off today and all I can say is hell yeah. It’s been desperately needed the past few weeks. I’ve downloaded a bunch of short Chinese dramas for the plane. I usually stock up on videos and books, but then I just fall asleep.
Are you a plane sleeper? The white noise just puts me right out.
…
Word on the street is that Celia Lake will be offering a series bundle sale for her 50th birthday from September 19-23. There will be 50% off from her store. (Link most likely won’t be live until the 19th.)
…
Enjoy some llamas and their handlers in costumes. Do you have a favorite?
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This link was sent in by frequent commenter and previous podcast guest FashionablyEvil. Apparently being a buff centaur is what women look for most in a partner.
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Enjoy this lovely rendition of “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” by Celine Dion at The Barbershop Harmony Society’s quartet semifinals.
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A last-minute addition from Sarah:
Marilyn Hagerty, the writer of the famous Olive Garden review for the Grand Forks, North Dakota location went very viral, has died at age 99. Cheers to a long life, and condolences to her family.
Her Olive Garden review went very viral and was mocked endlessly, though Hagerty was defended by Anthony Bourdain himself (I hope they’re having a really big drink together) who later published a book of her reviews.
If you can’t find a copy of the review, a Redditor has posted it.
As a reviewer, in my opinion, this is art. Not only did people mistake it for inane or simple, but they missed the entire point: she barely says 10 words about the food.
She mentions what’s present in the salad, how many breadsticks she received (2), and says the entree was “warm and comforting on a cold day,” and describes the portion as “generous.” But she doesn’t say whether the food was good; she describes temperature and amount. She then goes on to describe the decor, the clothing of the staff, the seating near the entrance, and the readability of the menu.
Many people will argue with me that Pittsburgh, where I am from, is not in the midwest. That is true; it’s in a mid-Atlantic state. But the culture of Pittsburgh is quite Midwestern, and this review is truly my personal pinnacle of “Midwestern Nice.” This was a scathing review without saying a negative word. She might as well have called that chicken Alfredo “interesting.”
That review is art. I am deeply fortunate to have been alive to witness this review, and to have lived at the same time as the woman who wrote it. Cheers, Mrs. Hagerty. I hope the food is perfect, wherever you go.
-SW
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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
smokingboot) wrote2025-09-17 08:15 amHeadach, Ghost, Butterfly
I used to get cluster migraines with aura. Now they don't cluster, in fact they hardly come at all. I don't think I get more than 3/4 a year. But when they arrive...
Last night was one such and onset was so rapid all I could do was go to bed. The migraine went away eventually and there was a man at the end of my bed. I was awake and I was screaming, R rushed in and held me, and for a while I couldn't stop.
The man had long hair, so long in fact that it might have been some sort of Louis XIV wig, only much lighter and less voluminous. I didn't see his clothes, I barely saw him before screaming. Pfff, when I would give so much to see the spirit of our dear boy Ralik I get some 17th century random. He was raising his hand.
The ghost can't be house related, this place is less than 30 years old, half that possibly, and before that it was pastureland. I said 17th century, might have been 18th, I'd have more info if I had been able to hold back my shock. So much for that.
When I was better R went away, I told him to turn off the light because... I don't know why. The room was very cold and I kept hearing creaks. but the room wasn't so cold. I was so cold.
Then I started to burn up and I went to find R, asked him to get me a drink of water. Noticed a butterfly down in the corner close to the floor. Checked with R, it was really there. I was disturbed because how would it feed there? Wouldn't it die?
Went back to bed and dreamed now, of nuclear man and his wife, how we seemed to be in this strange strained situation where everyone was trying to act normally. Then a glimpse of the proper ex trying a combover. I laughed, cos there was no need for such effort. He was always handsome, might as well let lack of hair show off his features.
Then I woke properly with the smallest remnants of a headache but there's nothing ominous to it. Still, no caffeine today, very little screen time, and I might well have to postpone my calorie burning walk.
The butterfly was there this morning, so I moved it with some flowering mint. I placed that on a sunflower facing the outside so it can go when it wants, but it's a small tortoiseshell and they hibernate in sheltered places. How long is that for, and where can I put it that's dark enough and safe from the cleaner?
The peace symbol was entirely accidental. But it's a cute moment.
P.S. I heard a stern fluttering at the patio doors. Butterfly was awake and ready to fly off, after all that, not hibernating, just asleep. I hope its dreams were better than mine!
poliphilo) wrote2025-09-17 07:45 amCity On The Hill
girlgenius_main_feed) wrote2025-09-17 04:00 amGirl Genius for Wednesday, September 17, 2025
ranunculus) wrote2025-09-16 09:58 pmWater. Sigh
Went to a lovely talk about Irish Birds this evening. Was modestly inspired to consider going to the north end of Ireland someday.