Behind the LashScenes

Reading. I continue to make slow progress with both What An Owl Knows (Jennifer Ackerman) and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke).

Writing. Grumpy e-mails to Labour, mostly? Grumpy e-mails to Labour. Oh, and separately to the DWP courtesy of My UC Journal.

Playing. I have tripped and fallen back into 2048. I do not know why I have tripped and fallen thus. There are other things I would rather be doing. Brain whyyy.

I Love Hue current status: just started The Alchemy/Knowledge/12.

Cooking. Two new-to-us recipes from East: caramelised fennel and carrot salad with mung beans and herbs, of which I am a fan but about which A is a bit meh; and Amritsari pomegranate chickpeas, with the decaf English Breakfast I bought the other week, which I also quite liked but A was mildly dubious of.

Today has featured a different Welsh cake recipe, from one of the charity-shop books I acquired for the purposes of the special interest in EYB indexing. This one includes honey and ground mixed spice; I am decidedly disconcerted by how much they taste like Wrong Texture Mince Pies when cool.

Eating. ... yeah it's been A Migrainey Week, and has consequently contained two rounds of Wagamama. TRAGICALLY I decided on the first of these to branch out and try Not My Usual. Not My Usual turned out to contain The Dread Mayonnaise (I had been lulled into a false sense of security by the number of things called "slaw" I had recently encountered that did not contain mayo). It was mostly salvageable...

Exploring. ADVENTURES in VAN HIRE for the purposes of moving SHED. This involved heading out to Hatfield, because the one fifteen minutes up the road was already Thoroughly Booked. We got to observe MORE FLOWERS and lo they were good.

... I think that's it? I think that's it. (A also went on another adventure to acquire roof box and appropriate rack, but I stayed at home for that one.)

Making & mending. I have not, technically, actually resumed A's pair of gloves, BUT I have now got the information from A I need in order to do so! So that's a progress.

... there has also been. Event prep. So much event prep. The meal ticket booklets for crew are all done; the potions are all sliced and folded ready for laminating (except for the one that needed someone to actually finish writing what it did); ... progress?

Growing. SO MANY SQUASH. Not all of the ones I sowed, but... a lot... have come up.

Somewhat irritated that somebody found my Bravest Dwarf Pea, which had actually managed to find and attach itself to the pea sticks, and severed the stem a little below said attachment. :|

Main infrastructural progress this week was getting all the railway sleepers and shed bits up to the plot (with significant and indispensable help from A). I've not done anything with them yet but they are there, I have plans, necessary hardware is en route, etc.

What else what else? First of the beans are in the ground. I was feeling decidedly surly about my redcurrant but this turns out to have been premature and unfair -- since last weekend it's unfurled a little more and is looking much more promising in terms of potential harvest. The raspberries also seem to be very much enjoying the mulch + semi-regular watering, which is pleasing.

Observing. I totally forgot to mention in last week's section on this topic that on the ride back from Anglesey Abbey we observed Many Cowslips, including at least one that was red!

Tulips continue fantastic. Irises are getting into the swing of things at this point. The bindweed is definitely waking up...

Okay. SO.

Via THE GATE APPRECIATION SOCIETY on Facebook, earlier today I became aware of the Ginkgo Gates at the Adelaide Botanical Gardens. I took one look at the short sections and went I WANT TO KNIT IT.

Ergo lireavue went and poked Ravelry with sticks, and... this shawl fell out.

There Was Shrieking.

And then the shrieking Intensified because all of a sudden the outline of a possible character for the game that Admin: the LRP supports Arrived All At Once. Namely, one of the nations of the Empire is Navarr (summary of influences: "wood elves"). From the look and feel page for Navarr:

The Navarr look draws heavily on the forests for its inspiration. The colours are primarily greens and browns with occasional splashes of dark autumnal red or yellow. Materials are practical, primarily those that come from hunting - leather and fur. [...] Rather than rich materials or unusual colours the Navarr personalise their appearance by adorning their costume with embroidery, beads, feathers, fetishes, and other accessories. It is also common to weave such items into the hair. [...] Layers of well-worn, practical wool and leather in natural shades often serve as the foundation of Navarr costume.

Also relevant context: the existence of magical items that grant you Additional Tricks. Like, for example, mage robes, where I am raising particular eyebrows at the part where the information for Volhov's Robe notes that even the Navarr "see great value in a skilled individual being able to help an established coven".

Additional and further relevant context: there are four events a year. In-game, these events take place during the Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, and Autumn Equinox.

It Is Also The Case That: a particularly distinctive piece of kit can get very strongly associated with The Specific Character Who Wears It in the general cultural wossname.

... I abruptly very badly want to make myself a set of three shawls identical except in colour: spring green, summer green, autumn blazing yellow. Obviously the conceit is that it is not three shawls, It Is One Single Magic Shawl. It Changes With The Seasons. Do I know anything about this potential character other than "Navarri, magician, magic shawl"? NOPE. Have I ever actually LRPed? NOPE. Am I nonetheless actually kind of tempted? ...

Allotment: railway sleepers now ALL AT THE PLOT. Shed bits: not. Questionable contemplations include "dolly?" and "... Tramper?"

Partway through this particular Adventure, there was Rain. Accompanied by Thunder. I am very amused by how muddy the front of my clothes wound up compared with the basically pristine back.

EYB: decided I was going to start adding personal recipes and did that, along with sending in several Messages about Errors and/or Links. In the process of failing to find Waitrose Food Magazine recipes online in any useful format, tripped and fell into Highgate Hill Kitchen, and promptly indexed... most of the cakes? and. some of the salads.

The discover/rerealisation that I can in fact do a combo of indexing misc recipes from The Internet and Actually Making The Personal Recipes Go as a way to scratch the Indexing itch while waiting for things to be Approved is both welcome and Potentially Dangerous.

1. Saw a red-legged partridge??? Had never consciously seen one before??? Went That's A Weird Hard Shoulder Bird?????
2. A worked out how to fit my bike into the car. (This means I did not get to swing by University Cycles on my way to my parents' and spuriously buy a second whole entire bike, but hey.)
3. A also brought me tribute from Borough Market, of pastel de nata and Interesting Olives.
4. BATS. Went on a walk! Saw bats! Hurrah finding bats in places I didn't know there were bats!
5. I am enjoying all the ridiculous tulips SO MUCH. Probably tomorrow while it is light I should attempt to get some photos of my current favourites.
6. First of the most recent batch of books arrived! I am really enjoying my current But What If I Got... All The Unindexed National Trust Cookbooks? (I did not get all of them. One of them did not minmax conveniently. If I have not lost interest in the indexing project by the time I've finished the ones I actually want to keep, I might continue down this particular rabbit hole. I'm mildly annoyed that I am become more discerning since the first large order, but on the other hand I am also enjoying gloating over my enormous pile of cookbooks...)
7. ASPARAGUS.
8. New site for Admin: the LRP has been really truly and properly announced! It's the old Cottenham racecourse! I'm enjoying daydreaming about this totally unobtainable house! (For future reference: a 4-bed on the High Street. Pre-installed wisteria and possibly raised beds??? Kitchen.)
9. FIRST SLOW WORM OF THE SEASON. So I suppose I'm not going to bring that particular bed all the way into service just yet after all...

Downside: I had forgotten how much I dislike the autoinjectors (and this was a loading dose, so I was reminded by the first and then didn't have a chance to forget again at all before we applied the second).

Upside: medicated again. Fingers crossed for improvement Soonest.