Natural hot springs today (Renova Hot Springs) outside of Whitehall, MT. They're literally little ponds along the river with silt bottoms. They'll occasionally bubble a little as hot water comes up and it does smell like sulphur. It was like 30*F out, so the perfect temperature to enjoy them.

The big storm is going to miss Montana. This has been an unusual year for them as they usually get more snow at all elevations, although they're not hurting as bad as the Northwest and the Rockies. Montana has really only gotten snow at high altitudes.

Ohoho. It's US only afaik tho 😅 really good series ngl

We're going to see if we can't see the lights tonight since Montana is well within the zone.

Drove through Teton Pass to get to Jackson, Wyoming (and then back again lol). It's apparently a fairly popular back country skiing location, as there are places to pull off along the pass. Leaving grand Targhee, the bushes and trees were covered in hoarfrost.

Gonna be honest, the Wyoming/Idaho/Montana region is a microcosm of America. Like you'd think it's white as hell, but there's Mexicans, Indians/nepalis, Thai, etc and yeah some of it is catering towards the elite that travel and live here, but they're also running gas stations and hotels

3 states yesterday- Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. It's a lot of scrubby land between stunning mountains. Idaho and Wyoming meet around Targhee National Forest and you can see Grand Teton as you approach over the flatlands.

🪐📚 Reading The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross, and while the reader purposefully gets what's happening before the MC, the slow realization that they're acting out a popular action franchise is a really cool use of world building. Middling spoilers below 1/

If you recall this post, I've managed to bring it back from the brink. I chucked it in a bag with a chunk of my jujube shoumei because if things went terribly wrong it wouldn't be an expensive mistake.I think it helped introduce back in some of the fruity flavors and tone down the bitterness. 1/

📚🪐/litrpg This was adorable. Shrubley is a soul shrub, which is an animate shrub monster race. Unlike most monsters, however, Shrubley is sentient and was raised by a druid to be a hero. Things don't go as smoothly as he might've hoped however and he gets caught up in bigger events. 1/

There's a couple of pattern sellers on Etsy that I know are legit, but outside of them I wouldn't bother. I know wearing history makes good patterns and I've had my eyes on the hollyhock romper, but just searching for a sewing pattern now is a minefield.

🩸📚🪐 I don't buy a lot of books because I've got an awesome library system, but this bundle is tempting. There's so much good stuff, as well as new to me stuff in here

Hey, if you use discord and you don't want them to infect it with LLM nonsense, you should probably fill this out.

He who fights with monsters 10 has the most heinous cliffhanger I've come across in quite a while. I'm not sure why the person ahead of me hadn't checked 11 out yet, but I checked it and 12 out and no one can stop me (except, you know, I have to pack and stuff)

I work from home and Pikmin bloom gets me out of the house everyday... So many steps even if the app sometimes doesn't like the cold and doesn't seem to track as well. (I am absolutely one of those nuts people who are out walking when it's snowing, windy, and freezing)

First up - tea is hard. I get why you guys like scales for gaiwans now. Half a bitterleaf tea coin was too little while I felt a full dragonball was too much. Granted I'm making tea for myself, so it matters less that it's a little lean. Second - I didn't tell you that when I got my gaiwan, 1/

I've discovered the joy of crocheting hats. Like everybody got a hat - cousin, her husband, his father, me, and my brother's getting 2. It's an easy way to use up some odds and ends. The wool ones grow A LOT when wet, so I might've freaked when the first ones I blocked were comically big on me 😅

man the video is circulating so settings > content & media > uncheck auto-play video & gifs

Would you guys be interested in: 1. Vacation trip pics from Montana/Wyoming (this month, so snowy mountains and shit) 2. Dog show pics, particularly unusual breeds (I might do a particularly large or silly group of more common breeds, but mostly the weird ones) 3. Both?

Hey hey hey, want some fun asian dragon descendants mostly going straight and finding their path through the web of family expectations/tradition/needs? The romance is like a subplot at best, so if you're looking for a lot of action, this isn't it. But the way this unfurls in the following books 1/

📚🪐/LitRPG This is exactly what you'd expect in the best way possible. A big rig trucker trying to get home during the rpg apocalypse takes on a pair of brothers (also trying to get home) and they fight their way across a large swathe of Montana. Monster attacks, small towns, and big fucking guns 1/

I've been sticking this #tea in a steeper mug for skiing as it has no astringency and can sit. It's got nice roasty, cocoa vibes which are on theme. I use different mugs for different types of tea (smoked, earl grey, etc) as I've found the flavors can stick and make off flavors over time 1/

Broke out my fancy pot and mug this morning. I've got a nice Ceylon green tea from 2024. Really nice citrus aroma and exactly what I'd expect out of a decent green tea. Don't let anyone tell you to steep green tea for 3 minutes. 30 seconds tland the water temp should be like 70C for the first steep

1. I checked out ~400 books, but I DNFed a lot. I usually estimate ~200 per year, but could be more or less. 2. Scholomance by Naomi Novik, he who fights monsters, and dungeon crawler Carl 3. DNFed the house lost at sea by rj Blaine which is saying something. Very meh on the drowned lesbian pirates

Seconding this recommendation with the addition of the MC is an older gentleman who was married, had kids, and is now trying to deal with possibly being cursed. And dimensional incursions or whatever. Read for fancy inks, fountain pens, and locally produced gins.

... I had goals and then I got he who fights monsters vol 9, which I've had a hold on for a week and been VERY impatient about. It's honestly better when I forget I have something on hold and get a surprise. We'll still give it a try Goals - make bread (1/3) - clear surfaces - new years cleaning?

Embarrassingly old tea stitch. This is a kabusecha or covered green tea that was purchased when I was in Uji around 2018. I only opened the package once I was ready to drink it and keep it in a tightly sealed tin. I've honestly abused this tea as it's just kind of been stored wherever. 1/

📚💙 Got a question on what hoopla is- basically it's an extra collection/service libraries can purchase to supplement their own digital collections on Libby,etc. Its layout is most similar to a streaming platform with different recommendation categories, etc. But it's got a lot more formats. 1/

I'm slowly figuring out hoopla as it's tagging/cataloging is both more and less obtuse than Libby. It's definitely easier to browse Libby and find things using genre and other filters. Hoopla seems to offer more litrpg/cultivation/light novels and they're sometimes tagged as such... 1/

📚🪐 It feels important to be clear- I borrowed this from the library and this review is in no way sponsored by the author. Now that that's out of the way, I did sort of read this out of order and it has some spoilers for the Apocalypse Parenting series. That said, it can be read as a standalone.1/

Can I interest you in a cute little romance freebie with lots of hot chocolate and baking competition between neighbors? I will also be breaking my usual rule about not reading romantasy and trying her novel silver and blood when it comes out. It's not the same as an unknown romantasy writer, right?

I've trapped these two owl figurines in the mouse teacup to use as teapets. I dropped the cup and the glaze cracked, so now it's a waste bowl since it's probably not food safe. RIP The owls were freebies from a potter when I was studying abroad and are so cute ❤️ They do not have names 😅

🪐📚 Set before service model, what happens when you're the last human employee left. NGL this is surreal and deeply poignant. Tchaikovsky is as always fabulous and this is a nice quick read that will undoubtedly haunt you for days.

So the bank told my firm no work for the next two weeks, which is when I read audiobooks (multitasking!!). Ski season started here today too and we had better weather than we were supposed to. Which is to say there might be a bit of a break for the next couple of weeks.

Throne of Glass by SJM. I read it as it came out and started when I was in highschool. I collected the books, I think I have all but one in the original hardback covers in a box somewhere. But they have issues and her later books seem to not be as good. Maybe my tastes have changed?

It's past midnight, I finished crowfall and I may need to go stare at a wall for a bit to contemplate it. Not the end of the series I'd necessarily anticipated, but it works and is pleasantly hopeful. Somehow it made the world even weirder than the previous books, if that's even possible...

🪐📚 Second book in the series and some of my favorite side characters show up. There's also backstabbing and explosions, but is it the royal shit or the gun runners coming for her? If you've read the first book, you probably know it's not the gunrunners. Can't say much more because hella spoilers 1/

Can it blend has been replaced by can it gaiwan for the foreseeable future. Anything vaguely nice enough to possibly work gets shoved in the gaiwan to mixed results. Got a nice Ceylon and while it's not as nuanced as tea intended for gaiwan style brewing, it's still a nice preparation.

Beware of Chicken is cozy cultivation, which is impressive because it usually requires pitting yourself against the heavens and all who stand in your way. Dude's just farming and dealing with talking animals. Like 90% of the characters are so polite to everyone, even the talking rat. 1/ 📚🪐

Beware of Chicken (and the sequel I'm currently reading) is such a fantastic, fun book. Even if you're not traditionally a fan of cultivation books, you might enjoy it because it takes itself so un-seriously. Traditional martial arts land is over in one corner. Jin is thriving in another, farming.

My library picked up the whole set of ebooks for he who fights monsters, so I switched from the audiobooks. I got two in back to back and have read >1k pages since Friday. Sometimes I have issues switching from book to audiobook or vice versa because of narrative voice, but not here which is nice

#teasky TeaSource hammer and tongs I rather disagree with their tasting notes on this one, which is somewhat unusual. I get a semi-dry cacao like dutch processed cocoa, although there is some hay/straw on the nose. Really lovely deep rich flavor, but the only fruitiness I get is from the cacao.

Guys I fucked up. I put my w2t northern grown with the rest of the smoked tea I bought at the same time and it is not the same. It lost a lot of the really juicy fruitiness it had. It needs its own special storage... If I get more, it's going to get its own little jar, even if I have to break it up

No, I didn't get my new gaiwan and immediately start brewing.... I waited like an hour so it could warm up and be washed. Tea Source's jujube shoumei- excellent value, dried fruit flavor/aroma, pleasantly sweet. Probably broken leaf, but it's priced like it. I lost track of steeps, but this was ~5

Inspired by #teasky and my first gaiwan on the way, I went through my storage for teapots and cups that might be usable.... I found stuff I'd forgotten I'd had. The red dragon pot and blue floral both have unglazed interiors, so I probably won't be using them for tea, but they're still cool.

Guys, my hold for book 2 came in last night and I'm almost 70% of the way through. These books are too good.

Reintro as things are still evolving here: Primarily SFF book reviews, some romance (adult content will be noted in the TW/CW). I do try to put content warnings where appropriate, but I'm one person, so do your due diligence. Occasional tea, crochet, and sewing content based on ~vibes~ 1/

🪐📚 Worth the hype. It's a comedic and dystopian and yet you can't help rooting for Carl and Princess Donut (cat). The adult humour takes the edge off an otherwise completely horrific experience that includes acid spitting drug dealing llamas and roid-rage gym bros. 1/

Thoughts on reading more: 1. Set goals if it helps you 2. Read things you enjoy. If you're not enjoying it, stop reading it. 3. Join a book club? 4. Genre fiction and romance is just as valid as literature and classics. Fanfiction and smut count just as much as "literature"

📚🪐 I get the hype around the last unicorn now. I've not read it yet, but it's on my list. This was a fun fairytale-type story that isn't afraid to poke some fun at conventions while also telling a novel story. We've got a peasant boy, a prince, and a princess, all of whom don't quite fit in 1/