pshaw_raven: (Hissing Kitty)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 24th, 2025 06:12 am)
The outdoor kitty's dad finally contacted us - he lives over on another road near here, but farther than even I thought, it's about a mile and a half from us. I run in that area sometimes (more now that there aren't loose dogs anymore). We were able to trap the cat again and hold him and the guy dropped by with a carrier. The cat's name is Tony Hawk - he says he let one of his kids name him. Anyway, he's back home now.

I'm mildly disappointed because I was all excited about ✨new kitty!✨ despite also wanting him to go back to his regular family. I was also a little dubious about adopting a young cat with Crowley still around. I'd like him to live out his senior years in relative calm, and he enjoys being the only cat in the house. Fox was also saying we can go to the shelter when we're ready, and mentioned that I seemed like the type who would adopt an adult cat, especially if they weren't a sprayer. (I would, he's right)

On a totally different topic, but one I love - noodles.

For several years whenever Fox and I are at Disney World and we end up at Animal Kingdom, we go to the Satu'li Canteen in their Pandora area for this noodle bowl that is just delicious. We both get a mixed grill kind with smoked chicken and beef. They used to also offer chili-garlic tofu which was really good. Fox gets his dressed with herb ranch, and Disney actually published a home version of this sauce. The one that a lot of people, including me, really want is the black bean vinaigrette.

I've made a few stabs at this dressing but never could really figure it out, especially how the black beans fit in there. Chinese black bean sauce was WAY too pungent and just very wrong, regular old black turtle beans from a can didn't make sense.

I was watching an episode of Beard Meets Food and he was eating this bowl of Korean black bean noodles, and they mentioned the name of the stuff the sauce was made with. I'm not very familiar with Korean cooking beyond gochujang, and making a spicy sauce for tteok bokki, or spicy sauce over rice cakes. So later in the evening I had this revelation - a literal shower thought. What is that Korean black bean stuff? I bet that's what is in the dressing at Disney! It's black fermented soybeans made into a paste. It's more salty than the Chinese stuff and doesn't have whatever stinky thing the Chinese version contains.

I now have a tub of the stuff and I'm going to try whipping up some black bean noodles this weekend - jjajangmyeon. Vinaigrettes are pretty simple - vinegar, a sweetener, maybe some herbs and black pepper. The Disney stuff is savory but mild. Disney's "spicy" is a step down from Japanese "spicy." *laughs in Cajun* Cracking this recipe would make me feel like an immortal among Disney Adults. Bow down before me, I am the Recipe Whisperer!

It's 50 this morning. Maybe I should have put an extra blanket on the bed.
pshaw_raven: (Florida lakes)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 24th, 2025 06:07 am)
1. What do you see when you are looking out of the window closest to you?
My front yard - bird feeders and a birdbath, the garage, trees and shrubs.

2. Who was the last person coming into your room?
Fox. He's the only other person in the house, so he SHOULD be the only other person in my room.

3. What is the most predominant colour around you?
Either brown or green. I'd say there is more brown.

4. What is right behind you?
A table with books stacked on it, and my phone charger. I'm sitting sideways on the couch, so I also have my back to a window.

5. What is on today's calendar sheet?
Fox has a doctor appointment and lab work, and we're going to do a little food shopping, possibly stop at Home Depot. Depending on how chipper he feels this afternoon we may finish picking up that brush and firewood.
pshaw_raven: (Hissing Kitty)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 23rd, 2025 06:35 am)
The cat came back, he couldn't stay away.
He was sittin' on the porch the very next day.
The cat came back, he didn't want to roam.
The very next day it was home sweet home.


Guess who showed up yesterday. Actually my next door neighbor caught him in a trap she'd put out for a raccoon that has been getting too close to her chickens at night. (She also caught a 'possum.) Shortly after one of her kids released him, he was on our back deck so we put some kibble and water out for the cat we're now calling "Neko." (Yes it means cat in Japanese, we named the cat "cat." We're dorks.) I sat outside while he ate, but my presence made him anxious. He responded well to a fishing pole toy, so he played with me for a while, but then he seemed like he wanted more food but wasn't willing to come closer while I was there. I gave him a break and went inside.

I just checked out cameras, and he's sleeping on top of the wood cradle. I guess we have an outdoor cat.

Slightly off topic, but for years I thought I'd hallucinated a movie called Banjo the Woodpile Cat but I finally found out in 2001 that it's real. It's a Don Bluth joint. Thanks, internet!
pshaw_raven: (Meowdy)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 22nd, 2025 08:43 am)
Am I coming down with something? Did I catch some form of crud in Jacksonville? Yuck.

Anyway, we haven't seen the cat since Monday night. The food's gone uneaten and there hasn't been anything on the cameras. I'm going to just hold out hope that his family tried the trick of putting his litterbox outside and it helped him find his way home. There's nothing much around us, except due west of here, where there are several homes, and I know one has free-roaming indoor/outdoor cats. I suspect that's where he is from, because I can imagine him exploring the woods between our side and his side and getting lost less than a mile from his house. Especially a juvenile kitty without a mental map of his territory.

My request to join that local lost and found pets group still hasn't gotten a response so I guess I can log out of Facebook and ignore it again. Thank God. Ugh. Gross.

I've got so much to do and barely any energy. I wonder if going back to bed for a while will help.
pshaw_raven: (All Work No Play)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 21st, 2025 09:17 am)
Not only do I hate Facebook, I do very poorly in local groups, mainly because of my overwhelming desire to "laugh react" to stuff like this.



Because it's funny.
pshaw_raven: (Good Medicine)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 21st, 2025 08:23 am)
The cat was back last night, but was back to being very skittish and afraid, so we didn't push him to come to us. I put out some dry food and fresh water and we let him be. My neighbor let me know there's a local Facebook group I could post in to see if someone there has lost him. I despise FB but I was able to log in and I think I found the correct group. I'm now waiting for admin approval to join. The place is a fucking cesspool.

Yesterday was fine, but exhausting. I dropped by Jax Oriental Market and loaded up on inexpensive noodles and produce. I brought a cooler and some freezer bricks to keep the veggies cold. The ramen place Fox wanted me to try was excellent, but I overate and was miserable the rest of the day. I also poked around in an IGA grocery store, which I had never been in and wasn't sure what to expect, but it was really nice.

Despite telling myself I wasn't going to the bookstore, I went to the bookstore. Barnes & Noble is right across from the eye doctor's office. Lead me not into temptation, I can find it perfectly well on my own. And the appointment went as expected. My distance vision hasn't changed - it sucks. My close up vision sucks more and she says I've developed a slight astigmatism. But I'm still good to wear contact lenses, and she said the scan of my retinas showed no problems and my eyes were very healthy. Yay me!

You know you have poor vision when they tell you to read the letters and you have to ask "what letters." On top of that, Fox saw my prescription and said, "Wow, Bird, you really are blind!" Gee. Thanks. :P

While I was out, Fox heard some activity down the road and found someone on a property a couple of lots down doing tree clearing. This guy is looking to build a little deer camp out here, but he's got to clear some space for it. We need firewood for the winter so Fox struck a deal that he'll clear the brush and little stuff away if we can have the trees, and the guy happily agreed. He even showed up later to find out if Fox could brush hog a particular area and was willing to pay him. We're going to just ask for a tank of diesel for the tractor - honestly the free firewood is payment enough. So today we'll head back there and finish hauling the logs off. I spent about an hour dragging branches into brush piles while Fox used the grapple to bring the logs here, and this weekend we'll get the splitter out and process all that. The pine is very resin-y and should make a good starter.
pshaw_raven: (Arnold Thumbs Up)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 20th, 2025 09:05 am)
Mattie Rogers, weightlifting champ.

Not sure if this counts as a "gym crush" but I've developed a fixation with this lady. Not just because she's only slightly shorter than me and I can look at her and have physique goals as well as lifting goals, but she's from nearby Apopka.

Okay, realistically, I will probably never lift as much as she can, but I enjoy seeing what's possible. Looking at her arms is just making me want to end my cut early and start training hard again. Because holy shit, girl, you are a fucking BEAST. And I mean that in the best possible way, with little animated sparkles and rainbows.

Alas, I need to leave and go Do Things.
Tags:
pshaw_raven: (Lurking Kitty)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 20th, 2025 07:08 am)
Last night there was a cat on the back deck. We've seen this one the past few days - red reflective collar and all. I thought perhaps one of the neighbors got a new kitty but it turns out he's probably lost, because we were able to lure him to come to us with dry food and he inhaled two dishes worth of chow. The poor little guy was giving those long meows that usually mean "please help me," but we couldn't get him to come inside and stay. Plus Fox and I are both going to be gone all day today with medical stuff, and it seemed unfair to just lock him in the bathroom and leave.

So we'll probably try again later this week if and when he comes back. I've sent a photo of him to my neighbor to see if she might recognize him, but I think he's just managed to wander too far from home and has gotten lost.

I do not want to go into Jacksonville for this stupid appointment. I hate this shit. But there's a new ramen place that opened up nearby that Fox really wants me to go try and report back on, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a couple of bao and maybe a plate of omurice. I'll drop by Jax Oriental on my way, and then once the appointment is over head back home. Fox will be getting an MRI on his foot at about the same time. He's got a few follow up appointments later this week, but much closer to home.

Should I get a slice of matcha mille crepe cake? I love matcha desserts, and it seems excessive, but when will I be back that way with Fox? I'm probably not doing Gate River Run, so ... who knows.

I hope that cat is all right. I hope he comes back tonight. Crowley disagrees with me, though, and likes being an Only Kitty.
pshaw_raven: (Bodhisattva)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 18th, 2025 10:40 am)
Quote from this morning's reading:

"The choice is not between the free market and central planning but in getting the right mix of regulation. No one wants state ownership of production where the absence of competition corrodes the character even more. The answer is not to seek moral perfection which inevitably leads to theocracy and dictatorship. Since it is in man's nature to want more, one learns to live with human imperfection, and one seeks regulation that not only tames the Duryodhanas [evildoers] but also rewards dharma-like behavior in the market."

Gurcharan Das, author and former CEO of Proctor & Gamble India

An interesting combination of morality and economics, which for all of our noise about ethical practices in business, aren't usually seen as occupying the same spaces.Proponents of either state-run or free-market policies tend to paint themselves as virtuous and their opponents as the embodiment of all the ills in the world. It's a philosophy of economics that wouldn't necessarily be out of place alongside EF Schumacher's Small is Beautiful.
Tags:
pshaw_raven: (Perched Raven)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 17th, 2025 05:35 pm)
We went to the dump this morning, got that out of the way. It was 380 pounds of stuff.

Three hundred and eighty pounds.

Man it feels good to get rid of things, though. I'm a little embarrassed that we accumulated so much crap, though the vast majority of it was Kitty's, but clearing out space always feels nice. Sure, things have memories attached to them, but how long do you need to remember things? I'm under no illusion about what will end up happening to my stuff after I die. Though I should get some sort of letter or something from the Diary Project about how they're supposed to get my notebooks.

There's still more in there that needs to be sorted and probably tossed. Fox is going to run the carpet cleaner tomorrow and once the floor is dry I'll start putting things back in the closet, hopefully in a more orderly fashion than what we've been doing.
pshaw_raven: (Default)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 17th, 2025 04:29 pm)
1. How long ago did you join LJ (or DW)? I joined LJ in early 2001, then DW in ... 2016? I forget.

2. How did you find out about LJ (or DW)? I was an artist on Elfwood when they temporarily shut down. Their page said you could find out more at their LiveJournal, so I signed up at first just to keep up with that situation, then stayed because I started making friends on the site.

3. If someone introduced you to LJ (or DW), is s/he still on your friends list? I think Elfwood is defunct now. But I still have some folks here that I knew way back then!

4. Have you introduced anyone to LJ (or DW)? OMG yes, a lot. I had several people on LJ, but I don't think I have anyone I've gotten to join DW. Maybe?

5. Is your LJ (or DW) public or friends only, and why? It's mostly public. For one thing, I don't have much reason anymore to keep my journal friends-only. When I still lived in Louisiana I worked for the parish government and kept things locked just so nosy people wouldn't find out much about me. It's also good to keep it open here because I have a friend who doesn't need or want to sign up but still likes to read my posts.
pshaw_raven: (Lawrence smoke)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 17th, 2025 07:36 am)
Yesterday afternoon, AT&T went down ... again. I'm not sure what happened but the last several times we've had long outages like this, it was due to someone severing the fiber optic line. Service came back sometime during the night. Since they provide infrastructure to local ISPs like Fastnet, every hour of downtime is costing them money in the form of SLA fees, so you know they're scrambling to get this shit fixed.

Fox had system patching he needed to do, so when it became clear around 5:30 that the problem wasn't being fixed anytime soon, we decided to drive to Middleburg. There was service there, so the Jacksonville area wasn't the issue. I'll be curious to see what Jeremy has to say about it today. But anyhow, Fox was able to set up his laptop and do what he needed for work. Since it was already late, we didn't go over to the dump, but we'll do that today or tomorrow and unload a lot of the stuff we dragged out of the closet.

All my Pathfinder class stuff has opened up! I can download a calendar and start planning things like my weekly miles and my challenges. One's a reading challenge, and for my level, it's one free choice book and one from the approved list. A lot of the philosophy, mindset, and athletics books are things I've already read, and I wanted to challenge myself with something I'd not normally select, so I put in a Thrift Books order for The Guns of August, Barbara W. Tuchman's history of WW1. Almost all my reading about the "Great War" has been about the Arab revolt and TE Lawrence. I also can't seem to find my copy of A Distant Mirror, her book about 14th century Europe that got me so interested in Medieval history that I took a minor in it.

So I need to start figuring out what workouts and challenges I'll be taking, and probably get with Fox about a few of them like the beach ruck. There's a night ruck I'd like to try, but I am not sure where to do that, since way out here wildlife is a thing, not to mention loose and aggressive dogs, but closer into town, there are humans. Neither sounds like a good option, but going out at night would be pushing a personal limit for me, since I've been socially conditioned not to, and I also don't see super well in low light.

I need to make a batch of brioche dough today, pickle a red onion, gather up the dried roselle calyxes, and try using a hot water and vinegar mixture to clean the moldy carpet in the utility closet. Once that carpet is no longer gross, we can start moving things back in there and out of our way.
althea_valara: An icon of Sephiroth saying, "LOL". (Sephiroth LOL)
([personal profile] althea_valara Oct. 16th, 2025 09:34 am)
A friend linked to this tumblr: https://bitimdrake.tumblr.com/post/797526051236577280

It's a list of tropes that have been flipped, so for example instead of the "Only one bed" trope, it's "Too many beds" trope. I'm cackling just reading the flipped tropes, and some of them are giving me Ideas, so I thought I'd boost in case others are looking for some good prompts right now.
pshaw_raven: (Julian of Norwich)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 16th, 2025 06:52 am)
It's nice hearing the Barred Owls calling - having the windows open and being able to hear natural sounds is soothing.

I'm still digging boxes out of the closets and sorting through old clothes and things. I may list Fran's turquoise pieces on Ebay. I am not a jewelry person, and I'm especially not a ring person. The only rings I tolerate are silicone ones, other rings annoy me. I know some of her stuff is "old pawn" Native American but I don't know the artists or the provenance. I do know that she bought a lot of things from the Ugly Otter Trading Post, but it looks like he doesn't buy, or at least, I don't see an easy way to contact him about buying back anything.

But with all this cleaning up we do have a ton of stuff to haul to the dump later this week.

I have an optometrist appointment next week, but my favored doctor is only seeing patients in St Johns Town Center right now, so I'm heading out there. She allows me to skip the puff of air test and checks for glaucoma by putting the heels of her hands against my eyelids. I have such a hard time with the air test that they usually can't get a reading on me anyway. I hate stuff close to my face.

But afterwards, or before depending on how early I leave, I have the chance to visit a new Lotte Market. It's been open for maybe a month now, so hopefully the crazy crowds have died down. I can't think of anything else I'd do while I'm there except perhaps restock my THC drinks. Fox is encouraging me to go to REI and look at the hiking shoes, since I'm thinking of replacing my old Hokas with something sturdy for rucking.

Speaking of, last time I went out rucking I met a neighbor's friendly cat and got to pet it. 10/10 would pet again. Today I'm going in a different direction, so I may not see any cats, but I'm ready to add more distance.
althea_valara: Icon of a closeup of the Detroit Industry fresco. (working)
([personal profile] althea_valara Oct. 15th, 2025 07:50 pm)
[community profile] communal_creators is a creative challenge where you pledge to be creative for a certain amount of time daily OR to finish projects of varying size. We have writers, yarn artists, vidders, bakers, someone making music - if it's creative, it counts. The current round ended last night, so here is a recap of what I did during the month.

I had pledged Time Tier II, to average 30 minutes a day of creative activity. I didn't pledge to finish any projects, because most of projects were massive things that I likely couldn't complete in a month's time.

A screenshot of a spreadsheet, showing I averaged over an hour of creative activity daily during Communal Creators.
[Image Description: A screenshot of a spreadsheet, showing I averaged over an hour of creative activity daily during Communal Creators.]

Crochet saw the most activity, with Smallweb coming second. I crocheted on 20 days and touched 5 different projects. The majority of the work went to my Motion Picture Mosaic Cardi, which saw 13 hours of activity.

"Smallweb" was my moniker for work on my Neocities site. This saw a LOT of work in September because [community profile] smallweb September was happening and double-dipping on challenges? {Yes, please.} I did smallweb work on 12 days, with 8 of those being in September for 10 hours. Another 3.5 hours happened in October. This was the area that saw most success, I feel; I finished copying over files from Dreamwidth which meant FFBE season 1 is DONE. I also completed documentation for FFXI:Rise of the Zilart and started Chains of Promathia. I'm quite pleased with the work I did, though I need to get back to it if I ever want to finish the site.

Knitting was my third most active category. I knitted on 13 days, on 5 different projects. Most active was the Central Park Hoodie, which saw ~5 hours 40 minutes.

I am VERY PLEASED that some of my creative activity took the shape of writing, and that's thanks to [community profile] ladiesbingo. I worked on THREE different fics for it! That's so exciting to me! Alas, it quickly fell off, and I didn't touch the writing in the last two weeks. I'd really like to get back to it sometime, but finding time is the problem. Also, I need to do some canon review.

I feel this round of [community profile] communal_creators was a qualified success. I'm very pleased with my output. Thanks to [personal profile] senmut for hosting!
pshaw_raven: (Appalachian Trail)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 14th, 2025 07:54 am)
I absolutely love the cooler weather we're enjoying. The windows are open, the air feels nice, and while I'm still having hot flashes, it's much easier to cool myself. Today I'm going to get some chicken into a marinade for dinner tonight and then head out for a ruck.

I'm currently on a cut, which has finally started working again, after being stalled for almost a month. I think that my running break is helping. While running is great exercise, I think it also prompts me to eat more, especially since I'm a little paranoid about bonking or feeling light-headed and faint-y while on the road. Not having the prospect of a run coming up, I don't feel compelled to eat a little more "just to be okay." For various reasons, rucking doesn't hit me as hard and I haven't felt wobbly or suddenly exhausted while doing it. Anyway, I'm pleased to see the scale start ticking downwards again.

Gate River Run is March 7, one week before we have a scheduled Disney trip, so I guess I need to decide soon if I want to do it or not. But I've also registered myself for a Pathfinder rucking course that runs through January 31. I was considering a structured training for Gate but I'm also tired of chasing PRs and feeling slow. Problem is that I compare myself not only to younger runners, but to younger male runners. I simply don't have that much speed. My endurance is a whole 'nuther matter though - sort of like comparing young greyhounds to a tough old coyote.

I feel weird talking about myself like this, but as John L Lewis famously said, "He who tooteth not is own horn, the same shall not be tooted."

I have all those roselle calyxes to process today, weight lifting, and a handful of other chores. However, my attention is all outside and I just want to go out and play around in the woods.
pshaw_raven: (Laugh at Death)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 13th, 2025 08:13 am)
Yesterday turned far busier than I expected and I find I'm still a little tired from it today. I wanted to get the garden in order for cool weather planting, so we weeded and prepped the two unused beds. All that took about two hours. I also used feeding stakes on the citrus trees. The lemon has a lemon on it - it's a young tree so this is its first year bearing fruit. The calamondin was nipped back by a frost last year and didn't produce as much but it's very heavy with fruit now. The key lime is finally old enough to start producing and has probably a pound or so of limes on it. The yuzu still hasn't quite recovered from the deer stripping it, but it has a fine covering of leaves again and has grown up to about my shoulder.

I'm planting some different cooking herbs, a variety of lettuces, and some cabbage. Nothing super exciting. Might get some spinach, too.

Later in the afternoon Fox decided he wanted to start cleaning out a utility closet. It had a couple of enormous plastic storage boxes of his old things, and a lot of stuff of Fran's that we just tossed in there after she died, because neither of us wanted to deal with it. That turned into almost a three hour job, but the closet is mostly cleared out now. It's actually a fairly large storage area, maybe three feet by ten. We have completely filled the bed of the truck with stuff to take to the dump. There's still a lot that we dragged out and need to deal with today. I bought a few storage boxes for things like our running shirts. See, when you do Disney races, you get a tech shirt for each race. If you do challenges, you get an extra shirt for that. Since we've done multiple Dopey Challenges, we each have far more tech shirts than we can really wear, and obviously some of them we don't particularly like. So about 90% of them can be put into storage for now. That will help free up drawer space and further clean up the exercise room. Progress!

I was planning to ruck today but I think I'll just focus on getting everything tidy here and go out tomorrow. It's still nice and cool and I can wait until the school/work rush is over. Fox is going with me to St Augustine later this month for a guided city ruck, so I probably need to make sure we have a pack that will fit him.
pshaw_raven: (Autumn Leaves)
([personal profile] pshaw_raven Oct. 12th, 2025 08:08 am)
One of the stories in my news feed this morning is "Things to do in Jacksonville, FL this weekend!" And beside it is a black and white photo of a woman on a couch. It's actually about the Mama Blue reading of Dickens in Fernandina Beach, but that little snippet makes it look like what you can do in Jacksonville is ... sit on this couch.

No disrespect to the couch though, it might be hella comfy.

From the Harvard Independent, no one can read. It seems that the Common Core requirements have led to "teaching to the test," which has students only reading non-fiction and technical works. Which, as the author fittingly puts it, makes reading as much fun as solving math problems. No one's encouraging kids to read storybooks, fiction, or any of the enjoyable reading of childhood that cements a reading habit later in life.

Relevant to my interests - things to do with roselle calyxes. So many of these call for starting with dried calyxes that I'm planning to simply wash and dehydrate mine. I need to dig out my pressure canner and check the seals - I think they'll need replacing. Once that's done I can use the remaining harvest to make more jam and heat can it for cabinet storage.

Dump & Go Gyudon - a video link. Looks like a lot of what's being made is single serving but it should be easy enough to adjust up for two or three servings. The whole channel looks good :D Easy Japanese home cooking from a real Japanese person. Also, gyudon is awesome and I love it.

It's delightfully cool here today - 59 as of just now. We opened the windows yesterday and have been enjoying the lower temps. Finally. I plan to get some gardening work in that I was going to do earlier in the week, but rain delayed me. I'll be chopping down the pumpkin vines and prepping the two fallow beds for planting. I'll be trying out cabbages, some cooking herbs, and probably spinach if I can get seeds for it.
.