Palaces
Nov. 22nd, 2025 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puddleshark
Kingston Maurward House. Built 1717-1720, originally of red brick, but fashionably encased in white ashlar in 1794.
( And, in the grounds of Kingston Maurward, a very small palace )
New from Torment Nexus Industries: THE BAD IDEA BEAR!
Nov. 21st, 2025 02:07 pmfull_metal_ox posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
metaquotesdissectionist: Back in MY DAY, we had to read Penthouse Forum letters into a tape recorder and put the resulting tape into a first-gen Teddy Ruxpin. Nowadays kids don’t even have to work to turn their teddy bear into a creep.Context reports FoloToy’s Shock and Surprise! at what happens when you feed a kid’s toy OpenAI.
Quiz, snow, sale
Nov. 20th, 2025 10:27 pmbunn Our team won the monthly quiz at a local village hall. Such pride! I think everyone on the team had at least one 'nobody else knows this' question, which is always rewarding. We won sugary treats which are very bad for us. They were delicious.
Today, it snowed. Most of Pembrokeshire seems to have been covered in a delightful white blanket, though down here by the water the snow quickly went to slush.
Much hard work went into launching the Shop on the Borderlands winter sale (we decided to ditch the idea of Black Friday, which is kind of meaningless in the UK anyway, and go a week or so earlier.) There was much rushing around putting books into piles and photographing them at top speed.
Then I forgot to clear the site cache before we sent out the newsletter yesterday saying the sale had begun, meaning that a lot of people saw an empty page of No Offers. Oh well. There has been a steady stream of sales today so it's all more or less worked out, though we're both rather worn by the effort of all the packing.
Today, it snowed. Most of Pembrokeshire seems to have been covered in a delightful white blanket, though down here by the water the snow quickly went to slush.
Much hard work went into launching the Shop on the Borderlands winter sale (we decided to ditch the idea of Black Friday, which is kind of meaningless in the UK anyway, and go a week or so earlier.) There was much rushing around putting books into piles and photographing them at top speed.
Then I forgot to clear the site cache before we sent out the newsletter yesterday saying the sale had begun, meaning that a lot of people saw an empty page of No Offers. Oh well. There has been a steady stream of sales today so it's all more or less worked out, though we're both rather worn by the effort of all the packing.
(no subject)
Nov. 20th, 2025 09:32 amjecookToday is the day we remember the 360+ people that died due to transphobia worldwide.
And for that, I weep.
And for that, I weep.
Bright & cold
Nov. 19th, 2025 02:24 pmpuddleshark
Sunshine and a bitterly cold northwest wind. With the windchill, it's well below freezing. Bundled myself up in hat, scarf, gloves, and many layers, and took a brisk walk through the gardens at Holme, snatching a few photos along the way.
( Read more... )
Foster kitties 2
Nov. 15th, 2025 12:50 ambunnThey are still rather sleepy and sneezy and subject to minor goes of the runs, but they do seem more relaxed, have definitely put on weight - and they enjoy playing now. Apparently cat flu can last six weeks, and it's been 4, so I am still hoping for a full recovery.
( Cut for photos )
( Cut for photos )
Path to nowhere
Nov. 15th, 2025 12:51 pmpuddleshark
I had originally planned to head over to Stourhead this weekend, thinking how lovely the lake would look in this grey weather. But I woke up this morning with a sore throat, feeling too feeble to make that long drive north, so instead took a quiet walk out through the forest to the marshes.
( November, by the marshes )
Two Stinky Things
Nov. 13th, 2025 07:04 pmbunn1) the drain outside our house got blocked. I lifted the manhole cover, and found the shaft down to the drain was full of Horrible Awful Stinky Things that had risen to lap at the very edge of the cover (and had been leaking out if anyone had a bath in the house). I poked around with a spade, but was unable to dislodge anything.
But! we called a Drain Clearance man, who came within an hour, stuck a Device down the drain, twiddled it, and it was fixed! He did charge £180, but for that, we got someone who knew exactly how to do it, AND showed Pp where to buy a similar inexpensive Drain Twiddling Device, and how to twiddle it next time. Which makes it seem like that story about £5 to fix it, £175 to know *how*.
2) I took Theo to the beach, and he found a really, really manky runny dead seal and rolled in it. I brought him home and ran him under the outside hose. The Seal Smell remained. I used the usual dry dog shampoo. Still there.
I've just given him scrub scrub scrub, rinse, repeat with mint-scented dog shampoo under hot water in the shower. I can still smell it. Not sure if it's really still there or if I'm imagining it at this point.
But! we called a Drain Clearance man, who came within an hour, stuck a Device down the drain, twiddled it, and it was fixed! He did charge £180, but for that, we got someone who knew exactly how to do it, AND showed Pp where to buy a similar inexpensive Drain Twiddling Device, and how to twiddle it next time. Which makes it seem like that story about £5 to fix it, £175 to know *how*.
2) I took Theo to the beach, and he found a really, really manky runny dead seal and rolled in it. I brought him home and ran him under the outside hose. The Seal Smell remained. I used the usual dry dog shampoo. Still there.
I've just given him scrub scrub scrub, rinse, repeat with mint-scented dog shampoo under hot water in the shower. I can still smell it. Not sure if it's really still there or if I'm imagining it at this point.