Happy Saturday!

[st_aurafina]

1. Unexpectedly sunny weather, which was unexpectedly pleasant, especially because work wasn't too busy. At this time of year, Saturdays alternate between frantic and dead, depending on whether the football game is home or away. I did have to make an ointment, though. I hate compounding, and am delighted by the proliferation of compounding pharmacies so I don't have to, but this one was so basic I was too embarrassed to refer the patient on. But I got it all done, and with minimal suffering, despite the utter grossness of lanolin. Ugh, and it's so hard in winter. Like mashing cold butter, only so much stinkier.

2. I've ordered seeds so I can start this year's tomatoes. I got green zebras, because I was depressed about global warming, and then I thought "Well, if it's going to get warmer and warmer, I'll grow tomatoes that need warmer weather, damn it." Green zebras are tasty, if we can get them to ripen. And if I've now jinxed myself into a cold, wet summer? See what I did there? Ha!

The other variety I ordered was called "Camp Joy Cherry" which sounds absurdly rude for no actual reason. I get my seeds from Forget Me Not Heritage Seeds, and they've never let me down.

3. I haven't said much about the casting for the new Doctor, but I'm pretty happy with Peter Capaldi. Like most people, I'd love a woman, I'd love a POC, but I'm happy postponing that hope for a new showrunner. When I heard what Moffat said about the Queen, I thought he was calling for a succession, and entertained a vague daydream where he gets put in the Tower for treason.

4. I've made the bread for lunch tomorrow. That means I can sleep in a bit more, since I don't have to get up and get it going in time. This also means the loaves will have cooled properly before we slice into them, unlike when I grab them hot from the oven. I can never wait - I hack into them when they're far too hot, and they collapse. (It's Honey Sunflower bread again. It makes the nicest toast.

5. Cool things in fandom:

xf_is_love is running the X-Files Love Month: ...a month-long multimedia celebration of X-Files where each participant claims a date and then posts some new X-Files related fanworks (which can be fic, graphics, icons, vids, essays, a memoir of your days in the X-Files fandom, or pretty much anything as long as it's new and original) on that day. You can do as little or as much as you want - the day is yours!

Sign-ups are here, and there are still days free.

havocthecat has a great post on femslash: What do I want from femslash? I'm in it for the characterization.

thekimonogallery for beautiful vintage kimono, and other picspams of Japanese culture.

Comments

[lonelywalker]

When I heard what Moffat said about the Queen, I thought he was calling for a succession, and entertained a vague daydream where he gets put in the Tower for treason.

Now I'm caught in a linguistic puzzle: if the Queen were secretly trans*, would he be the King, even though no one would have declared him King, or would he still be the Queen? As in, could we technically have a male Queen? (Or, indeed, a female King.) I assume it doesn't depend on a declaration, because the instant Elizabeth dies, Charles will be The Monarch (as I understand it). But how is kingliness / queenliness determined? Or is it just the monarch saying, "I wish to be known as King Bob", regardless of any other factor? *ponders*

Damn you, Moffat *shakes fist* This is why gender-neutral terms like President are much less headache-inducing.

[st_aurafina]

Damn you, Moffat! You make us think strange thoughts.

[mossybomb]

You're the second person on my DWlist to talk about tomatoes. Arrr I promised myself a break from tomatoes this summer but hearing you all talk about it is making longings stir. I grew a very successful Black Krim plant last year but it was at the expense of a crop of miniature watermelons *shakes fist at limited veggie garden space*.

What other crops are you planning? Oooh gardening talk before spring hits, fun!

[st_aurafina]

Whee, miniature watermelons! They sound like fun, but we're probably too cold for them. We grew miniature pumpkins but the possums took them all, the bastards. Left them at the bottom of their tree.

We'll probably do zucchini and cucumber again, but I'm going to give up on eggplant, since we never have much luck with them, which is tragic, because I love them and they're not cheap at the greengrocer. Snow peas, green beans. Basil - lots and lots of basil. And marigolds with the tomatoes, because they were great for keeping away the aphids.

So exciting!

[mossybomb]

Eggplant, my old nemesis. Fun story: three houses before this one (but still the same city) I would put eggplant seedlings in the ground, ignore them, and get huge fruit. I've never been able to replicate that success since. Ah well at least I have that beautiful memory to keep me going.

So do the possums not go after the rest of your crops then? It must be heartbreaking to watch the pumpkins grow and then have them be robbed.

I'm interested you can grow cucumber but not watermelons - it's the other way around for me. I find cucumbers need higher ground temperatures than the watermelons. You don't have a tunnelhouse or anything?

[st_aurafina]

Well, actually, I don't know I can't grow watermelons - just that they seemed like they'd need warmer weather. But having researched it, as long as we don't put them out till November, we've got a good chance. I've spent my $2.50 on some seeds for a small variety, called Sugarbaby.

The possums only went for the pumpkins. It's weird! They were Golden Nugget, so small and very eye catching. This year, we're going to try something duller and bigger with a more leathery skin.

And no, we don't have a tunnelhouse, but I dream of one. It seems feasible that we could put it over one of our raised beds. One day. That would be amazing.

[heartequals]

When I heard what Moffat said about the Queen, I thought he was calling for a succession

Me too! I did not think of treason. That's a nicer sentence than what I'd have given him.

[st_aurafina]

I am a benevolent god.

That fucker, seriously.