I know my period is coming because I just hoofed my way through two family-sized bags of ready sated crisps. Not just any crisps, the bougie olive oil ones from Marks and Spencers.
Challenge 197 The new theme is... Flower Power 2 🌻 🌺 🌼 🥀 🌷
For this challenge we can create icons that show flowers or have floral designs and decorations. The one is a do over of challenge 108 - which was the final challenge directed by the original admin before they let me adopt this community in 2019. For easier entering and inspiration, I supplied some screen caps below (album link), mostly from animated movies. A few of them may also be good to crop into backgrounds to use if you don't have any other floral icon textures.
The plumber and the digger have left after tamping the dirt back down and pouring some new gravel where the car parks! The septic tanks have been removed and the separate rainwater drainage is in place!
The sewers from the tenant side do not empty into the tank under the garage anymore (that's still there though, but it shouldn't be able to give us any trouble unless we get like a month of flooding rains and a leak)!
It's all brown dirt and gray gravel again now, but here's a few pictures Wax took of the excavation earlier.
We have lost a few bushes and possibly some hostas, as well as a little flat cement pad that we didn't want, to the piles of dirt and digging. We will need to buy a few baby bushes (rhododendron maybe?) and a bunch of clover seed which hopefully might manage to outcompete the grass. And set the cement paver path back in place. All that has to be done during the autumn, before the frost, so... here's hoping. Also a city tree on the corner of the lot had a lot of its roots cut off and unfortunately a lot more on the other side last winter when the city dug up the street to fix the pipes. It's probably not gonna survive that, I guess.
I have been feeling full of anxiety and suspense when actually a lot of things are going well. This stupid open septic tank issue has been oppressing and terrifying us for a year. Monday and Tuesday are my last driving lessons and then I take the test (tons of anxiety) but my teacher and I agreed I've been doing pretty well. Wax and I have managed to cook together a bit more often, even.
This was a no-shopping day!! But I did get in a walk around the park while I was downtown. I also visited my aunt, hand-washed dishes, went for a walk with Pip and the dogs, put a chuck roast in the crock pot, and took mom to a dr. appt.
I finished the Duncan Kincaid book, read some fanfic, and watched some HGTV programs.
Temps started out at 45.1(F) and reached 78.4. I was not brave enough to wear shorts first thing in the morning, but I did change into them mid-morning! It was still only 64 degrees at that time, but much better than 45! I was glad later on that I had.
Mom Update:
Mom was doing pretty well in the morning, but she was exhausted by the time we got home from her doctor appointment. ( more back here )
You should stop whatever you're doing and listen to Wizards & Spaceships' latest, "The Science Bros Answer Your Science Questions Part 2." There's a lot of explaining physics (and the problems with time travel, but also how mutable the immutable laws of the universe might be), and more slagging off the idea of Mars colonization. But most importantly there's a bit about dragon evolution that is rad as hell. It will make your day.
Fun conversation with a friend on whatsapp this morning. She was showing off the vintage crystal goblets she thrifted and said something about using them to drink out of and I said, “how vintage?” as in, does this vintage crystal have lead in it?
And she said her mother in law told her lead poisoning is a myth to force the agenda of modern consumerism, so now I’m presenting a TED talk via the whatsapp groupchat because no, absolutely the fuck not.
What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.
I am currently locked out of my Ko-Fi account so I can’t reply to messages just now, but thank you to the persons who sent me donations and lovely messages over the last few days.
Rest assured, a dehumidifier and an air purifier will be bought and I will indeed get myself a little treat. And by treat I mean I’m going to buy the ingredients to make honeycomb. Maybe some white chocolate too if I can find any without soya. Make myself an MCAS-friendly crunchy bar….
Actually, that sounds cracking. Right. New goal unlocked. I’m on a mission now.
2nd day of trying caffeine again and seeing how my heart does. Dear god I missed tea made with Scottish water.
yay!
… wait what is special about scottish water
should we worry o_o
It’s soft water vs hard water. The minerals in Scottish water (soft water) make it very good for making tea and coffee taste better.
The hard water I have in the US leaves a bitter aftertaste.
Sometimes I go to the city and sample the fancy teas in the tea shop made with nice filtered water and buy some and bring them home and make them with tap water and wonder “why do they taste gross now? They didn’t taste gross before!”
And then I remember that I live on a limestone aquifer.
Hard water is absolutely disgusting compared to soft water
although it’s probably indeed better for cooking and drinking and such, I find soft water very scary to shower with. Soft water makes a… film? slime? thing? reaction with the soap, and no matter how much I wash it feels like it won’t leave. Evil feeling. My beautiful home water that is 90% rocks would never do that to me
…….. Very soft water absolutely does not do that, what the hell
I think, as some other people in the notes have pointed out, it’s the difference between naturally soft water and softened water when you add a system into your house and it does adds salts or whatever to pull the minerals out.
And yeah , actually, while I have never experienced the above with naturally soft water, now that I think about it, showering at my inlaws where they have a system can make my hair feel a bit like there’s a film on it.
Which I just assumed at the time meant their system needed changed, but now I’m comparing the sensation, it wasn’t the same weird brittle residue left over by hard water.
So I think that might be what people are complaining about.
I can confirm! I’m used to various ranges of hard water, the worst being in Bumfuck Nowhere, Oregon. You let a cup of water sit more than a minute and there will be stuff sinking and settling again the body. We lived outside that town for a few years, and up in the mountains we got our water from a private shared well. That water was silk and the town water was like a fishbowl. The well water gave made my showers soooo nice, and my eczema loved it. Everything i cooked and baked tasted better, and most especially tea.
I have also experienced installed soft water. It was weird how unclean I felt after showering. Everyone in the house (my parents and sisters) had the same opinion. Water tasted great, felt horrific. My oily hair never felt right. They had the thing adjusted so it would only impact the kitchen faucet. Immediate improvement. It’s been over 20 years, and I can still remember how gross I felt. I was genuinely worried I would be dealing with this when we learned about the well. It was explained by our then-landlady that installed systems use chemicals or something to sorta pull the minerals from the water. It leaves something behind, though, which is what we feel. Naturally soft? Bliss.
The closest I’ll get to soft water is my house is with one of those filtered water pitchers. We had one, and used it religiously when in Bumfuck Nowhere because the water was so terrible. Any water appliances, like a dishwasher, needed specialized cleaning due to mineral (namely calcium) buildup. That pitcher made it possible to cook without a funky aftertaste and tea tasted right.
UK had a variation of soft/hard water. Welsh water is beautifully soft and makes excellent tea. (and as such Birmingham England, that gets the majority of it’s water from the reservoirs in the Elan valley)
Southern English water is hard as fuck, smells like chlorine at first and you HAVE to use filters to prevent it fucking up all your washing machines, dishwashers, kettles, showers, etc from limescale buildup.
We have a mineral filter attached to our shower which i always know is running low when a film of lime appears when the shower dries and my hair does not get clean properly. That’s not the filter, it’s what’s getting past the filter again.
Worst cup of tea in my life was in London because of the water. I had a friend who didn’t bother to use filters and the cup of tea she handed me had a chalky film floating on the top.
I remember opening the kettle and thinking I’d need a pickaxe to descale it.
Lorne: Well, I figured since you all managed to destroy my club - twice - that I wouldn't be imposing if I hit you up for a place to stay. (Sees the mess in the lobby) On second thought, maybe I should reconsider that standing offer I have from a marginally attractive Mulix demon.
My mother is so funny. Everytime I put my ear cuffs on she’s always like, “I’m not sure I like that,” and she has no idea how to handle me cheerfully replying, “I do, that’s why I wear them 🥰”
So when that failed she was like, “what does @mothman-etd think about them?”
Like I’m sorry, you mean the man who hypes me up so much you can see his adoration of my very existence from space? The man who calls me his sun to his cryptid moth? That man? You think you can use that man to make me feel bad about myself?
Lol, lmao, even.
Anyway. The horrors persist but I’m feelin’ cute so ✌️
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.
Thinking about that book brings back the feeling of awe and stillness and gratitude I had when reading it. It’s so peaceful and kind. I almost miss it (which is fixable because I can re read).
Hugo Award-winner Becky Chambers’s delightful new series gives us hope for the future.
It’s been centuries since the robots of Earth gained self-awareness and laid down their tools.
Centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again.
Centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.
One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered.
But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.
They’re going to need to ask it a lot.
Becky Chambers’ new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?
The Long Game by Elena Armas is $2.99! This is part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals. I remember this being a highly anticipated release given the popularity of Armas’s other books.
A disgraced soccer exec reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children’s team in this smalltown love story in the vein of Ted Lasso and It Happened One Summer — from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception.
Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine: wake up at dawn, drive to the Miami Flames FC offices, try her hardest to leave a mark, go home, and repeat.
But her routine is disrupted when a video of her in an altercation with the team’s mascot goes viral. Rather than fire her, the team’s owner—who happens to be her father—sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she’s tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team, the Green Warriors, as a way to redeem herself. Her plans crumble upon discovering that the players wear tutus to practice (impractical), keep pet goats (messy), and are terrified of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-old kids.
To make things worse, also in town is Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. Cam is the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but after one very unfortunate first encounter involving a rooster, Cam’s leg, and Adalyn’s bumper, he’s also set on running her out of town. But banishment is not an option for Adalyn. Not again. Helping this ragtag children’s team is her road to redemption, and she is playing the long game. With or without Cam’s help.
Must Love Scones and Secrets by Maisy Magill is 99c! This is book one in the Moonshine Hollow series and is described as a cozy, fantasy romance with medium spice. I bought it out of curioisty.
He’s a prince longing for freedom.
She’s a baker yearning for the ultimate love story.
Together, they’ll discover that sometimes the sweetest magic lies in unexpected places.
Rosalyn’s enchanted scones bring magic to every bite at The Sconery and Teashop. With a glitter-sneezing caticorn and a thriving business, all Rosalyn needs is a romance as sweet as her baking. When a mysterious Rune Elf strides into Moonshine Hollow, bringing secrets and devastating charm, her perfectly-measured life crumbles faster than a day-old scone.
Bjorn is no ordinary elf. A secret prince looking for an escape, he’s determined to forge his own path far from the expectations of his royal family. When he’s tasked with helping a wild unicorn herd suffering from chaotic magic, he’s relieved to focus on creatures instead of people. That is, until a certain insistently-friendly baker and her pet crash into his carefully guarded solitude.
As Rosalyn and Bjorn work together to uncover the source of the magical imbalance in horned creatures, sparks fly in more ways than one. Her warmth and charm start to melt his icy walls, but Bjorn’s secret could shatter their fragile connection. Rosalyn dreams of the kind of love bards sing about, but will this gruff and guarded prince sweep her off her feet before it’s too late?
Must Love Scones and Secrets is a spicy cozy fantasy romance full of enchanted pastries, mischievous caticorns, and a love story that will warm your heart.
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling is $1.99! This is a light paranormal romance with some witchy elements. This one was…sweeter? More twee? than I had thought it’d be. I hope you get what I’m trying to say here.
New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins, writing as Erin Sterling, casts a spell with a spine-tingling romance full of wishes, witches, and hexes gone wrong.
Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would: vodka, weepy music, bubble baths…and a curse on the horrible boyfriend. Sure, Vivi knows she shouldn’t use her magic this way, but with only an “orchard hayride” scented candle on hand, she isn’t worried it will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two.
That is until Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, breaker of hearts, and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was, returns to Graves Glen, Georgia. What should be a quick trip to recharge the town’s ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong. With one calamity after another striking Rhys, Vivi realizes her silly little Ex Hex may not have been so harmless after all.
Suddenly, Graves Glen is under attack from murderous wind-up toys, a pissed off ghost, and a talking cat with some interesting things to say. Vivi and Rhys have to ignore their off the charts chemistry to work together to save the town and find a way to break the break-up curse before it’s too late.
I got home about an hour earlier today and slightly less disgusting. It got back up in the 90s F today with humidity to spare, but about time work as winding down, some wind blew in what was supposed to be rain but which was a temperature drop of about 10F in an hour, though that still left it in a more comfortable but still quite warm 80s range.
Managed to clean my dishes that had been sitting for two days. Was going to try to cook something but realized the eggplant from the mail had started to go bad, so screw it, I'll wait for the weekend. I have to work this Saturday but only a half day and I get to sleep in.
I'm still just feeling so brain-cooked and frustrated. I want to be creative, but I always just feel like I'm in trouble for not doing enough to entertain the friends I have who care what I do.
I got a little notebook in the mail. Plan to use it for prayer journaling due to the whole brain-is-too-slippery-and-overheated feeling.
I also wrote in my little Japanese study notebook I started before I moved here in 2024 for the first time since. Something about my old boss's approach to "encouraging" me to learn Japanese just made me pissed off for over a year. At least I am doing something, but I want to do things that don't just feel practical without being too tired to function.
I had a chiropractic appointment this morning. I hit Price Chopper and the Pharmacy while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park.
I did two loads of laundry (both washed, dried AND folded!), hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and shaved. I grilled Italian sausage for Pip’s supper.
I read more in Duncan Kincaid.
Temps started out at 46.0(F) and reached 74.3. I did not wear shorts this morning because the temps were only supposed to be about 70, but tomorrow it will be high 70s, so I anticipate shorts again!
Mom Update:
Mom was tired today, but she still went out to sit on the porch. ( more back here )
This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at @thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next good freelance job.
…
Kristina Forest’s contemporary romances have that fun, unique sparkle to them that heavily build upon the slow-burning chemistry between her leads. The Love Lyric is no exception to that rule and it proves to be a fine novel, though not an outstanding one. But while it’s not Squee material, it definitely comes recommended and is an enjoyable, sweet-natured novel.
Angel Harrison recently moved from Georgia to Los Angeles, where he knows no one and absolutely doesn’t feel at home. At an anti-wedding party thrown by his stylist, Violet Greene, he meets Violet’s sister Lily, who introduces him to another of their sisters, Iris Greene. Angel is instantly captivated by the talented Iris, but after the party, they won’t see each other again for three whole years.
Iris is the classic older sister, forever in charge of cleaning up the messes her siblings have left behind. She is responsible, controlled, and always there for everyone in her life. When she meets Angel again, he’s a rising music star and she is director of partnerships at Save Face Beauty. They’ve both been living full lives; Iris got married and pregnant before she met Angel, but lost her husband in a car accident, leaving her a single mom raising her six-year-old daughter, Calla, alone.
Angel is enjoying the spoils of fame, but while he’s been dating pretty famous women in the meantime, he’s never quite forgotten Iris. Angel is also caught between his strong Christian faith and his very secular career as a soul singer. It’s clear from the very first that they have great chemistry, but they have to keep things cool – Angel is now Save Face’s new brand ambassador.
Angel and Iris depart on a publicity campaign for Save Face, which keeps throwing them together and into romantic situations. But can Iris ever relax and see Angel as a romantic prospect — and can Angel ever reconcile his newfound fame with his faith?
The Love Lyric is a pleasant experience, though it’s not as outstanding as The Neighbor Favor, which opened the Greene Sisters Trilogy. Poor Iris definitely deserves play time and definitely deserves a nice, flirtatious, kind guy like Angel in her life. Angel’s a great, supportive hero who clearly loves and believes in her.
Uneven writing is my big problem with this one. There are scenes where Iris and Angel pop out as interesting, complex characters – and the occasional credulity stretch where they feel like toys of the plot. Iris’ daughter and her sisters in particular feel underwritten and underused; while the focus understandably stays on the tour and the romance between Iris and Angel, I could’ve used more time with Calla especially.
Who doesn’t feel underused? Angel’s mother, a woman of faith who knows which end is up. I definitely enjoyed her presence. A worthy note – while this isn’t marketed as an inspy, there’s definitely a ton of talk about faith and God in here, so your enjoyment of the book may be stymied or enhanced by this part of the plot.
The book also does quite a good job depicting Iris’ anger and sadness in the wake of her husband’s death. She likes Angel but is afraid about supplanting her memories. Naturally, she slowly but surely comes to realize that she won’t lose those memories if she ends up with Angel, but it’s quite a well-done struggle in the meantime.
It’s easy to enjoy The Love Lyric – well-meaning, sweet-tempered, and smooth as butter. It doesn’t reach greatness, but it’s a perfectly decent way to wind up the summer in an agreeable fashion.
2nd day of trying caffeine again and seeing how my heart does. Dear god I missed tea made with Scottish water.
yay!
… wait what is special about scottish water
should we worry o_o
It’s soft water vs hard water. The minerals in Scottish water (soft water) make it very good for making tea and coffee taste better.
The hard water I have in the US leaves a bitter aftertaste.
Sometimes I go to the city and sample the fancy teas in the tea shop made with nice filtered water and buy some and bring them home and make them with tap water and wonder “why do they taste gross now? They didn’t taste gross before!”
And then I remember that I live on a limestone aquifer.
Hard water is absolutely disgusting compared to soft water
although it’s probably indeed better for cooking and drinking and such, I find soft water very scary to shower with. Soft water makes a… film? slime? thing? reaction with the soap, and no matter how much I wash it feels like it won’t leave. Evil feeling. My beautiful home water that is 90% rocks would never do that to me
…….. Very soft water absolutely does not do that, what the hell
I think, as some other people in the notes have pointed out, it’s the difference between naturally soft water and softened water when you add a system into your house and it does adds salts or whatever to pull the minerals out.
And yeah , actually, while I have never experienced the above with naturally soft water, now that I think about it, showering at my inlaws where they have a system can make my hair feel a bit like there’s a film on it.
Which I just assumed at the time meant their system needed changed, but now I’m comparing the sensation, it wasn’t the same weird brittle residue left over by hard water.
So I think that might be what people are complaining about.
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It’s the 90s so the Ads and Features from the August 1996 issue of Romantic Times are a treasure trove of confusion. We’ve got:
