creatures!

2026-04-30 22:20[personal profile] kaberett
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)

Went into town this afternoon to post some things, and observed Several Creatures. The blue butterfly around the lilac near the top of the hill was very welcome; the Egyptian goslings are starting to look almost grown up, with eye markings and a general reduction in fluff and increase in sleek!

(Elsewise today: SLEEP, post-gym Spatzen, more free electrons and therefore more laundry; both social and solitary wiggles; good therapy; and some Tentatively Positive Communication re Admin: the LRP.)

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Skids Over The Line To Get Something Finished this Month

2026-04-30 19:02[personal profile] glinda
glinda: thunder rolled...it rolled a six (weather)
Beats The Alternative (1180 words) by Glinda
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Project Hail Mary (2026)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Eva Stratt
Additional Tags: Women In Power, Saving the World, Choices, Bittersweet
Summary:

The consensus is, that it would be preferable if they did not die.



Mostly this month, I've been watching ice hockey - I did the other kind of skating this weekend - day-dreaming about train journey's across Canada and watching Chernobyl. (There's a bit in the second episode where they go to a meeting and essentially ask permission to kill three men to save millions. I had a bunch of feelings about that combination of bureaucracy and brutal honesty in that exchange - not something you often see in 'saving the world' scenarios - and apparently I'm processing them via fic about Eva Stratt. I love her, your honour.) My escapism method is interesting I'll say that for it... Choices one might say.
  • ◾ Current Mood: contemplative
  • ◾ Current Music: Harry Styles - Sign of the Times
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some good things!

2026-04-29 22:56[personal profile] kaberett
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
  1. DID make it to the post office and get A Parcel into the post!
  2. DID make it to THE GYM, and was Charmed to notice that one of the other regulars was wearing unexpected-by-me nail varnish.
  3. We brought home many Field Treets and I am continuing to merrily vacuum them up with my horrid little mouth!
  4. Saw the bat! Hello bat. What a good bat you are.
  5. Very much enjoyed the Graun on a photographer who spent a year following the ZSL veterinary team (NB multiple images of post mortems in there).
  6. Negative electricity prices for a while in there today meant: Much More Laundry (most of which is dry), surprise and delight at A running the underfloor heating in the bathroom (WOM FEET); b r e a d; experimental autopyrolitic oven cleaning.
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vital functions (ish)

2026-04-28 22:29[personal profile] kaberett
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)

Last week I:

  • finished weaving in the ends on A's gloves (before we hit site for the first event of the year)
  • read more She's A Beast
  • ate a bunch of food I didn't have to cook (current experiment: do Lichfield brownie bars only taste That Good in a field?)
  • explored Steeplechase LRP Centre when it had PEOPLE on it (and also when it didn't)
  • including seeing a green woodpecker!
  • and SO many birds of prey
  • made a bunch of unilateral decisions about where tents would go directly affecting two other departments in response to external constraints, and redesigned internal tent layout on the fly in response to different external constraints, and... it all worked???
  • rethought several steps in the lost property process and goodness that works way better and is much less stressful

and then today has been about half and half "sleep" and "endless lost property paperwork". And Now: To Bed.

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tada

2026-04-27 22:18[personal profile] kaberett
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)

Headline: hooooooome.

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event: achieved

2026-04-26 23:59[personal profile] kaberett
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)

Still some tidy up to do, but. Did.

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Oh Canada...

2026-04-20 11:01[personal profile] glinda
glinda: Teal'c *indeed* (indeed)
I need some help/advice. (I definitely still know at least a few fannish Canadians right?)

So I’ve been thinking about going on holiday later this year, maybe end of September, beginning of October. Originally I’d planned either coastal Spain or bimbling around the low countries on an inter-rail ticket. (My local airport flies directly to Schipol, trains from there around Europe are easy.) There is - as of like a week ago - an absolute shitshow going on with the new post-Brexit passport controls/biometrics for UK travellers with the current advice being to get to the airport at least 3 hours early. And look, this may all be sorted by September, but I got caught in the post covid/Brexit nonsense on a work trip to France a few years ago - fucking running with a giant rucksack of Camera kit through Charles De Galle airport from passport control to my gate with a gate agent - and I’m not keen to repeat the experience. So between programmes the other day I pulled up seat61 intending to look at fun inter-rail options via Eurostar because, so my internal monologue went if I need to be at the airport that early I better be flying transatlantic at least. And like fuck am I going to the states while Trump’s in office…

…Yeah.

So back in 2008, when I worked in a call centre and used to plan train adventures between calls to keep myself sane, one of my favourite ‘and while I’m dreaming I’d like a pony’ plans was to do the ‘Canadian’, through the Rockies, across the prairies, across a fair chunk of Canada really. I spent way too long looking at pictures taken out the domes of the viewing carriages along that route. It was out of my budget, and oh goodness, I could not cope with the logistical uncertainty - the train shares tracks with freight, which has priority, so when it’s late it’s not minutes it’s hours, even now with the adjusted compensatory timetable they still recommend you don’t book onward travel or flights for at least 24 hours after your expected arrival time. But all these years later, I can afford it - not the fancy ‘prestige’ option, but the tiny individual sleeper cabin? A couple of nights in Toronto and Vancouver at either end to explore those cities and act as a buffer zone? Totally do-able.

Given the state of the world right now, neither Japan or Australia feel entirely feasible right now - I was never going to be willing to fly via Dubai, it was always going to be via Singapore, nonetheless - the logistics are just beyond me right now. But Canada. I could do Canada. And I’ve wanted to do that specific train journey for a very long time. I’d half planned to get my other bathroom re-done, but the thought of taking that money and turning it into a new bathroom suite when there’s so many places I’ve never been and things I’ve never done, just feels so pointless. I want to knock a destination off my life-list.

So Canadians - or just folks who’ve spent time in Canada - what’s your advice? What am I missing/not taking into consideration? Which direction do I go: East to West (with a detour to Vancouver island) or West to East (with a detour to Montreal?) What time of year? (I was thinking Autumn colour but I’m persuadable. However, I remember Chicago in February, and my friend C’s other bridesmaid flew in to meet us from Manitoba, and nothing she said made me want to do Winnipeg in winter…Would Spring be a better choice?) Should I stop off along the way? If so, where? Have I, in fact, lost my damn mind?
  • ◾ Current Mood: curious
  • ◾ Current Music: Alanis Morisette - Head Over Feet
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vital functions

2026-04-19 20:17[personal profile] kaberett
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)

Reading. She's A Beast: up to November 2024. (Does it count as book research? Maybe, possibly: I'm having a lot of thoughts about the extent to which exercise reduces versus increases risk of injuries.)

Writing. I've... added another section or, perhaps, done another rearrangement? I continue to make notes on the current special interest that is movement? I am... not managing focussed writing time.

Listening. Hidden Almanac! I had The Realisation that it would be a good thing to play while we were laminating infinite potions! We have Emerged from the Accursed Hole! The paper wasps do architecture!

Cooking. O V E N. Still v excited about this. More Kaiserschmarrn, and I am about to bake some bread, and additionally and furthermore I successfully added protein to noodles.

Eating. A celebratory burger for reaching a nice round number on a lift. I have subsequently achieved said nice round number on a second lift, but that one is being banked for The Future.

More fancy bakery treats. :)

Exploring. On Wednesday A gave me a lift into town, and then rather than getting the bus the rest of the way to the gym I decided I would wander. Thus I encountered the former Enfield Electrical Works, a delightful building, and also had a brief adventure through a park I had not previously met.

Making & mending. Have I woven in the ends on A's glove? HAHAHAHAHA.

Growing. I have managed several short trips to the plot! And the free agapanthus I acquired from a garden post in Salisbury is looking happy with its new living arrangements. There are many things I wish to sow and none that I have got around to.

Observing. MANY BIRDS: a goldfinch on a trip down to the bakery! Ducklings! Multiple families of baby coots! The Egyptian goslings are all now happy to Paddle Industriously!

Plantwise: there is a fascinating tulip in a garden near coots the first that I do not understand at all; it's lily-flowered, with very pointed petals, and it started out all white except for some tiny blotches of red on the very very tips. The surprising (to me) part is that as it has unfurled further the red has gradually spread down the petal edges, and it's now got this bright red rim feathering ever-so-slightly into the still-white main body of the petal. (I do have photos and might even manage to post them, but not tonight.) The wisteria are firmly on their way out; my cherry tree has finally finally flowered; the redcurrant and gooseberry are flowering, and the josta is setting fruit. It's warm. I'm enjoying it so much.

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sciatic nerves were a mistake

2026-04-18 23:55[personal profile] kaberett
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)

Around the beginning of March (before I started lifting! it's okay, I promise I am monitoring all of this responsibly <3) I had a couple of weeks where I didn't manage to do as much stretching of my hips as usual. Whereupon. my left leg. pitched a tantrum. So I have been grumbling along with sciatic-nerve pain for the last month and a half, and getting on with life around it because, you know, pain, watcha gonna do.

... this morning, on the way to Acquire Breakfast, it blessedly, unpleasantly, emphatically twanged -- and there ensued several whole hours wherein it didn't hurt.

Tragically I then resumed sitting on the sofa in order to poke at computer some more, and despite position shifting......... yep, it retwanged itself.

I Am Doing My Stretches. :|

Some good things nonetheless:

  1. brief respite from The Grumpy Nerve
  2. we arrived at coot nest #1 when it was still in shade, and hung around long enough for the sun to hit it; whereupon the grown-ups Stood Up and the BABIES went on ADVENTURES. at one point a mallard with went by with her four tiny fluffy ducklings! and then subsequently More Coots! and all the Egyptian goslings are happily pootling about in the water, now, and several of them have discovered that they can go ZOOM under said water :)
  3. there is on the way to the coots a very dramatic tulip, which I have been watching with interest: it's lily-flowered, with very pointed petals, and started out almost entirely white with just a tiny splotch of red at the tips of the petals. it's now got red feathering along all the edges of all of the petals and it's delightful.
  4. bakery treats: v pleasant savoury pastry thing, Bred Puddin, cardamom bun. also enjoyed nibbling some of A's ridiculous raspberry brownie cruffin Situation.
  5. we made a trip to the Household Waste Recycling Centre! I did not acquire a weights bench! ... A did acquire a scooter. for scooting. with The Child. therefore: we successfully got multiple things Out of the house, and the thing that has come in is Not My Fault. (and will make the Child very happy!)
  6. ... turns out that doing lots of stapling hurts less when I actually activate muscles all the way down my back than if I just sort of mash my joints...
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[movement] and another milestone

2026-04-17 23:19[personal profile] kaberett
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
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