This aster was swarming with pollinators this afternoon. Bumblebees, carpenter bees, honeybees, lots of tiny bees that were moving too fast to identify. I can’t believe how big it’s gotten 🌱

Divaville Lounge now until 4pm ET! No theme today but I’ll be digging into some of the great music I just acquired. Like Jimmie Lunceford, up next! 88.7fm in Durham or stream at WXDU.org

I am 100% down for this

Peacehammer 40K: Paintinge litel miniatures of gardeneres, sculptors, academics. Trimminge hedges. Makinge friendes.

Forgot to post this earlier: baby swallowtail caterpillar on the parsley!! 🌱

Begging the question.

All my EBay buys are here now! These are the two I’m most excited about. The Lunceford set I meant to get when it came out but missed it, & the used price was way too high for years. The Wilson set was released before I got into Mosaic. Wish I’d had it when I did a show about him in Feb.

Done! Well mostly done. I ran out of pins. No biggie, when I start topstitching & removing pins I can go back and baste the edges. Somehow I forgot how physically demanding basting a quilt is. My fingers, back, knees and head all hurt. How do old ladies do it?

This is the only place in my house big enough to baste a full sized quilt. Put up a barricade to keep the dog out. She is not happy.

It’s basting my quilt day! Wanted to do this weeks ago but I had a minor medical thing and had to take a break from physical activity like crawling around on the floor for hours. Step 1: iron the backing!

I feel like I won my first game of Fate of the Fellowship just by putting this thing together

@colewehrle.bsky.social when are you planning to launch the Molly House reprint?

Speaking of apple: question for bakers! What is your favorite, most reliable apple pie recipe? Online or in a cookbook. I have an urge to make apple pie but I’m not much of a pie baker, I need a good recipe!

Roasted fall vegetables with halloumi was great! Next time I wouldn’t add the apple. It didn’t brown & roast like everything else, it just got really soft. But the onion was a nice addition.

Dinner is in the oven! I added an onion and an apple just because

It’s actually cool out and I’m making roasted fall vegetables for dinner!

Eee Fate of the Fellowship arrived! Look at that map! I might have time to play tomorrow evening!

It's National Hair Day! Post some great hair...

Friendly reminder to Durham peeps there’s a primary election on October 7th (early voting now) and then full local elections in November. I know a lot of people in the feed are fed up with electeds but the local ones are the ones that actually matter for things like roads schools etc.

“Now butter your bacon!”

MST3K friends: anybody heard anything yet about this year’s Turkey Day marathon?

I blew all the $ I’m going to get for working the election on board games and music, mainly old Mosaic sets from EBay, and arrivals have begun! I started with the Ed Lang/Joe Venuti set. It’s amazing.

They almost had me. Well done.

Apple cider doughnut holes! Damn! So good! I mean I knew they would be good but damn!

It’s dark and rainy and almost cool out and I had ramen for lunch and if my pans arrive in time I’m going to make apple cider doughnut holes after work 😍

Board game friends! My FLGS doesn't have Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship 😭 Can you recommend a FLGS that does mail order?

You all don’t have to do this. You can see that someone is having fun talking about something they love (having a break from the endless stream of doom on this timeline) and just say to yourself “this isn’t for me” and move the fuck on.

Tonight’s mov: We’re Only Human. Preston Foster stars as the worst cop in the world. Incompetent and mean. We put it on because James Gleason is in it, but he dies way too early.

Board game friends! I’m thinking about backing Kalypso. Any opinions? Anyone played it solo?

Divaville Lounge now until 4pm ET! No theme today, just great music from Tin Pan Alley to the swing era. Coming up in about 5 min: a radio appearance by Fletcher Henderson and Benny Goodman! 88.7fm in Durham or stream at WXDU.org

Salted butter caramel ice cream with boiled cider. Dang!

Tonight’s movie: Kandukondain Kandukondain. A Bollywood take on Sense & Sensibility! We’re only about an hour in but I think it’s based more on the Emma Thompson movie than on the book. At least there are moments that look just like the earlier movie

Boiled cider is done! I think I overcooked it a bit, it’s darker than I expected. I think it’s at the “overcooked but still usable” stage described in the recipe. It’s tart but not sour. The jar we chose was too small, we noticed just before it overflowed. Whew!

The boiled cider is getting close! It has to get down to the lowest mark on the top toothpick. It’s not syrupy yet but it’s starting to smell like cider and caramel. It’s a lovely smell.

Boiled cider is almost halfway done!

G found longer toothpicks so I redid my measuring stick

I’m making boiled cider today! With special cider courtesy of @natsauce.bsky.social While waiting for it to come to a boil I marked a toothpick so I’ll know when it’s done

Poll worker training was great! I’m very tired now.

Uptight

fuck off, Facebook

Painting is done and the screens and gutters are back in place! Dang they worked fast. I think they were pushing to get done before the rain. I’m so happy with the job they did. Love that color for the deck and I LOVE the shed matching

Mary Pickford clears the train platform with a sneeze in DADDY LONG LEGS (1919), one of the few contemporary cinematic references to the influenza epidemic.

NC friends! 80,000 NC voters have to either repair their registration in advance or vote provisional and possibly have their ballots thrown out. Please check if your name is on this list! Good info in this gift article on what to do if this affects you.

Chicken korma turned it great if I do say so! It’s a bit of work but worth the effort, and it makes enough for 2 dinners.

I’m making chicken korma tonight! I love measuring out all the spices and seeing all the colors 😍

sounds like if you have a Real ID you still have to renew in person every other time. I just got my Real ID earlier this year, here's hoping they fix the DMV situation sometime in the next 16 years :)

Holy crow! This episode of Taskmaster we’re watching has our Palio poster on the wall! The 1999 Palio commemorative poster. Our one trip overseas. We carted it home in a cardboard tube where it stayed 20+ years until we renovated & gained a wall big enough to hang it.

The painters got so much done today! The walls and most of the window trim. They told us they won’t be done before the rain. Hope they’re able to out the downspouts back up tomorrow.

Now this is news you can use. Salient fact for Durham friends: The Durham got a B sanitation score.