More signs of spring
Apr. 22nd, 2025 12:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ribirdnerd posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
common_natureI saw my first garter snake and two snapping turtles near my local pond.
The Gabriel Hounds, Chapters 1 and 2
Apr. 21st, 2025 08:33 pmaella_irene posting in girlmeetstroubleAuthor’s Note
We start with the Author’s Note, in which Stewart lays out her literary and historical forebears (Lady Hester Stanhope), and establishes what (and who) exists-- and, more importantly, doesn’t. I encourage people to read more about Lady Hester, though I think everything you need to know for the novel, the novel will tell you.
Chapter One
( And we start by meeting Christy Mansell, running unexpectedly into her cousin Charles! )
Chapter Two
( Christy does some research )
Christy and Charles both seem fairly well read, and share interests-- as well as a friendly relationship and ability to tease each other. Charles speaks some Arabic, and has read the Koran, Christy has just read up on Lady Hester Stanhope, due to a bout of flu while staying at home with Charles’s library. Both of them are described by the other's parents as 'spoilt', which may cause problems later on. For one thing, they're dropping in on Aunt Harriet without warning, just a cheery belief that she'll be fine despite having very little contact.
We start with the Author’s Note, in which Stewart lays out her literary and historical forebears (Lady Hester Stanhope), and establishes what (and who) exists-- and, more importantly, doesn’t. I encourage people to read more about Lady Hester, though I think everything you need to know for the novel, the novel will tell you.
Chapter One
( And we start by meeting Christy Mansell, running unexpectedly into her cousin Charles! )
Chapter Two
( Christy does some research )
Christy and Charles both seem fairly well read, and share interests-- as well as a friendly relationship and ability to tease each other. Charles speaks some Arabic, and has read the Koran, Christy has just read up on Lady Hester Stanhope, due to a bout of flu while staying at home with Charles’s library. Both of them are described by the other's parents as 'spoilt', which may cause problems later on. For one thing, they're dropping in on Aunt Harriet without warning, just a cheery belief that she'll be fine despite having very little contact.
(no subject)
Apr. 21st, 2025 09:46 amboxofdelights posting in wisconWisCon May 23-25 2025, online only
A feminist sci-fi and fantasy convention
$25 or pay what you can
Visit https://wiscon2025.sched.com
Guests of honor: ANDREA HAIRSTON; NAOMI KRITZER
Want to volunteer? Email Personnel@sf3.org
( poster )
A feminist sci-fi and fantasy convention
$25 or pay what you can
Visit https://wiscon2025.sched.com
Guests of honor: ANDREA HAIRSTON; NAOMI KRITZER
Want to volunteer? Email Personnel@sf3.org
( poster )
New Vid: Deadpool & Wolverine "Something Good"
Apr. 21st, 2025 04:07 pmlilly_the_kid posting in viddingTitle: Something Good
Fandom: Deadpool & Wolverine, Deadpool movies
Music: Something Good by Herman's Hermits
Pairing: Deadpool/Wolverine
Summary: something tells me I'm into something good
Warnings: violence, blood
Here on AO3
Fandom: Deadpool & Wolverine, Deadpool movies
Music: Something Good by Herman's Hermits
Pairing: Deadpool/Wolverine
Summary: something tells me I'm into something good
Warnings: violence, blood
Here on AO3
Bunny caught in passing on the lawn.
Apr. 20th, 2025 03:31 pmfull_metal_ox posting in common_natureTaken on 16 July 2023 at 19:27 US Eastern Daylight Savings Time.
Bunnies are of course going to favor weedy green lawns over elegant stone yards punctuated with waxy sculptural ornamentals. This one looks like an Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus); Marsh Rabbits (S. palustris) (1), tend to have shorter ears, and my neighborhood strikes me as a bit too far from the water to attract them during the dry season.
It’s on alert, reacting sensibly to the arrival of a member of the deadliest of the Thousand, and so this was the only shot I was able to get before it went PATWINNNG! under the seagrape bed (the round-leaved shrub at center right, bordered by white river rocks.)
(1) Today I Learned the scientific name of the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvilagus_palustris_hefneri
Yes; that Hugh Hefner funded endangered rabbit research, and was commemorated accordingly.
Bunnies are of course going to favor weedy green lawns over elegant stone yards punctuated with waxy sculptural ornamentals. This one looks like an Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus); Marsh Rabbits (S. palustris) (1), tend to have shorter ears, and my neighborhood strikes me as a bit too far from the water to attract them during the dry season.
It’s on alert, reacting sensibly to the arrival of a member of the deadliest of the Thousand, and so this was the only shot I was able to get before it went PATWINNNG! under the seagrape bed (the round-leaved shrub at center right, bordered by white river rocks.)
(1) Today I Learned the scientific name of the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvilagus_palustris_hefneri
Yes; that Hugh Hefner funded endangered rabbit research, and was commemorated accordingly.
New Vid: Garak/Bashir Fan Video - Across the Universe
Apr. 19th, 2025 05:30 pmbrokenframe posting in viddingThe black swans are already in Tashkent
Apr. 19th, 2025 08:58 pmpilottttt posting in common_natureThey have recently appeared in our city on the pond near the Japanese Garden.
For more information (in Russian), see here.
In the April woods
Apr. 18th, 2025 02:00 pmpuddleshark posting in common_nature
Set off to follow the path through the oak woods in the rain. Only a gentle rain at first, not cold. Not much light this morning, but still the oaks and the birches bright with new leaves, and the woods full of the song of robins, blackbirds and thrushes.
( Come and get rained on )
Remember where you were and what you were doing on 8 April 2024?
Apr. 18th, 2025 01:16 amfull_metal_ox posting in common_natureI sure do!
I’m something of an astronomy nerd; you have to understand that the great solar eclipse of 8 April 2024 was something I’d been counting down to my whole life. In my native Dayton, Ohio, I’d gotten to witness the strange begrimed 40-watt sunlight (1) and dappled crescent shadows of the partial solar eclipses of 10 May 1994 and 21 August 2017, after having gotten a fleeting confirmatory glance through SolarShields under welder’s goggles: the exercise was a bit like hunting basilisks or Medusa.
Another point is that I’m acutely homesick for the seasonal markers of the place where I spent 90+% of my life: the violets and wild chives and flowering crabapples, and the two equinoctial yellows of Moraine honeylocusts: neon chartreuse foliage in the spring, and in the fall flaming saffron—turning to orange piles of cornflake crunch beneath the feet. Even the lawn weeds here are unfamiliar.
Until a couple years in advance—by which time it was too late—I had not anticipated that, by the time the total solar eclipse at long last came to Dayton, I would be gone; behold the southern Gulf Coast of Florida’s experience of the Grand Portentuous Celestial Event.
( Continue. )
I’m something of an astronomy nerd; you have to understand that the great solar eclipse of 8 April 2024 was something I’d been counting down to my whole life. In my native Dayton, Ohio, I’d gotten to witness the strange begrimed 40-watt sunlight (1) and dappled crescent shadows of the partial solar eclipses of 10 May 1994 and 21 August 2017, after having gotten a fleeting confirmatory glance through SolarShields under welder’s goggles: the exercise was a bit like hunting basilisks or Medusa.
Another point is that I’m acutely homesick for the seasonal markers of the place where I spent 90+% of my life: the violets and wild chives and flowering crabapples, and the two equinoctial yellows of Moraine honeylocusts: neon chartreuse foliage in the spring, and in the fall flaming saffron—turning to orange piles of cornflake crunch beneath the feet. Even the lawn weeds here are unfamiliar.
Until a couple years in advance—by which time it was too late—I had not anticipated that, by the time the total solar eclipse at long last came to Dayton, I would be gone; behold the southern Gulf Coast of Florida’s experience of the Grand Portentuous Celestial Event.
( Continue. )
Next Book: The Gabriel Hounds
Apr. 15th, 2025 09:45 pmaella_irene posting in girlmeetstroubleHello all! I meant to start this today, but then forgot to tell anyone, so...
Our next book is The Gabriel Hounds, by Mary Stewart! We will start on Tuesday 22nd April, posts will go up twice a week, and, at the rate of two chapters a post, we will end on the 22nd May.
I'm aware that there are differences between the US and UK editions. I will mark the main one I'm aware of, but please sing out if you think something is different.
See you next Tuesday!
Our next book is The Gabriel Hounds, by Mary Stewart! We will start on Tuesday 22nd April, posts will go up twice a week, and, at the rate of two chapters a post, we will end on the 22nd May.
I'm aware that there are differences between the US and UK editions. I will mark the main one I'm aware of, but please sing out if you think something is different.
See you next Tuesday!
A walk in the Nant Gwernol valley
Apr. 14th, 2025 09:07 pmcmcmck posting in common_natureAcross the footbridge into a landscape of water and rock in the Welsh hills.
Nant Gwernol in Welsh means Gwernol Stream and it's a pretty spectacular stream!
( More pics! )
Nant Gwernol in Welsh means Gwernol Stream and it's a pretty spectacular stream!
( More pics! )
Saturday Night Moon
Apr. 14th, 2025 02:51 pmyourlibrarian posting in common_nature
Wonderful color on the moon last Saturday. Several photos came out like the one below, just a bright ball of light. But we did get a few pics of the color, and I like the way the branches framed it.
( Read more... )
Spring in Northern Germany
Apr. 12th, 2025 09:03 pmrodo posting in common_natureI finally got a new camera - just in time for spring to hit. Most of the trees around here don't have any leaves yet, but a lot have started to blossom. Here's a couple of closeups from the last couple of days and weeks, as well as two pictures that show off how good my new camera is at making things look a bit moody:
First up, Purple-leaf plum blossoms:
( More under the cut )
First up, Purple-leaf plum blossoms:
( More under the cut )
A walk to Tonfanau
Apr. 11th, 2025 01:10 pmcmcmck posting in common_natureWe had a trip to north Wales last week to the coastal town of Tywyn (pronounced 'tow' as in truck- win)
Our first full day in Tywyn was a bit mirky although mild enough.
We set out for a walk on the northern coastal side of the town to the hamlet of Tonfanau.
Mist over the hills:
( See more: )
Our first full day in Tywyn was a bit mirky although mild enough.
We set out for a walk on the northern coastal side of the town to the hamlet of Tonfanau.
Mist over the hills:
( See more: )
Photos: House Yard
Apr. 10th, 2025 10:01 pmysabetwordsmith posting in common_natureI took some pictures around the yard today. These show the house yard. See the House Yard, South Lot, Savanna and Prairie Garden, and Back Toward the House.
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
yellow pheasant's eyes
Apr. 9th, 2025 06:44 pmturlough posting in common_natureIt's definitely spring here now and on my walk this afternoon I spotted these stunningly bright yellow flowers huddling in the (dry) grass of a neglected front garden. They're Pheasant's Eyes (Adonis vernalis) and this garden is the only place I've ever seen it. It's a very rare plant in the wild here in Sweden but there's supposed to be cultivars around even though I've never seen any myself.
Click to enlarge:
( one more photo... )
Click to enlarge:
( one more photo... )
