vom_marlowe

Take a look at this Washington Post article. 

There's been a TON of confusion over who qualifies, how to get the payment, how to contact the IRS, etc, etc.  But long story short, basically everyone qualifies, including those without a job AND those on disability.  It should be $1,200 per person and $2,400 per married-filing-jointly.

In case this is a concern...  The stimulus payment doesn't screw up disability income limits--I researched this extensively for family.

One fun thing that happened was that a lot of people were sent their money as a pre-paid debit card, but because the IRS sent it in a plain envelope, it looked like junk mail, and people threw it away. 

If you haven't gotten your money yet, you can find out information on the IRS website here.  October 15th is the deadline to give the IRS certain information to be paid this year. 

Posting this because a friend of the family was under the impression that there was only a brief window to request the payment, that she'd missed it, and that was that.  She doesn't file tax returns, so she wasn't in the IRS auto-payment group.  (My own payment took a while because I file with TurboTax, but it got here eventually.)

Anyway.  Probably not applicable to anyone but in these times, it's a lot of money, so I'm posting it just in case.  There's ALSO a very confusing but possibly applicable $500 child credit, so that might be worth a look, too.

So, my mom and I have been trying hard to work on positive, uplifting aspects of our relationship, and one of the things we do to bond is to watch beautiful stories together.  Right now, we are listening to Little Women from audible.  In the past, we have shared other audiobook loves, like Terry Pratchett (now her favorite beloved author), Jane Austen, Shakespeare, etc.  She read to me a lot as a small kid, and somewhere I have a cassette of her reading snippets of my very favorite stories--she sent it to me, when I was in college and lonely, and the last bit was the sound of our then-dog's beloved nails racing across the floor.

Recently, we watched our very favorite two movies to watch together, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, and we're looking for something else to see.

I'd LOVE to have some recommendations for gentle stories that are uplifting and have zero-to-no-violence, ideally with great acting and beautiful scenery/appearance/sets/etc.  Any genre is welcome!  

Everybody's gonna laugh, but over the summer, we spent a delightful time watching British reality TV shows, particularly Big Dreams, Small Spaces (highly, HIGHLY recommended!) and, of course, The Great British Bakeoff.  The latter was tricky because mom can't have sugar any longer, and also, um, we'd get over-invested and WORRY BECAUSE SO TENSE IS THE CAKE GOING TO BE LEFT IN THE RAIN?
AHHHHH PLEASE EVERYBODY BE OK!
OH MY GOD WHAT IF IT'S SOFT IN THE CENTER, um. Yeah.  Maybe, um, assume we can get a little emotionally overinvested in making sure everybody turns out OK, haha.

Just for example, although she loved the appearance of the recent RDJ/Lawe Holmes' movies, with all the Ritchie artwork, they were too violent to continue.  We ran into similar trouble with Elementary, because although some eps are low violence, others have a lot.  Quirky and artistic is most welcome--we watched a pretty nifty adaptation of the Magic Flute on youtube some time back, animated, that was great. 

Oh, and, I should add, she loves the early Harry Potter movies, but hasn't seen the latter ones because they're too damn sad.  (She loves Harry, as who among us does not.)

We did try Kiki's Delivery service, years ago, but found it too twee.

So, I guess it's a balance!  

Any suggestions welcome!

 OK, so another post is due later today!  (Yes, I'm way late!)

But in the meantime......

So, I purchased the puppy from a high-end breeder who asked that I feed at least partially raw, especially during her developmental years.  I was amenable to this.  Dog nutrition is quite complex, so we feed half raw and half pre-made.

I'll skip the long, boring story about us trying various chi-chi dog foods before discovering some that agreed with her system.  We've now got a couple that she does well on.

Which means that I can now get rid of the absolutely mind-boggling array of top-notch Honest Kitchen foods that I bought.  If you have never heard of Honest Kitchen dog foods, they are really excellent quality.  Rather than a kibble, these are dehydrated foods that you mix with water.  This turns them from a powder into a sort of thick porridge.  

Why a porridge?  This makes the food more digestible and more 'normal'.  Kibble itself isn't really a normal form of food.  The recent Australian research found that dogs prone to bloat had less chance of bloat if they were fed, uh, table scraps, rather than just regular approved dog-food, which still cracks me up (the researchers were obviously hoping to get another chance to yell at pet owners who give table scraps but were Foiled).  Anyway, the extreme dry kibble can be tough for some dogs, and a more natural water-containing food is easier on the system in general.  

HK is also the only pet food company that not only uses human grade ingredients, but has been inspected by the FDA (at HK's own request!) to human-food-grade standards.  

This is all fab-tastic, but makes the food unbelievably expensive.  (I know, what a surprise.)

This is the brand I started with for the puppy and she ate it for quite a while before turning up her elegant and Germanic snout.  Therefore I now have an ungodly number of boxes of gold-standard dog food that will go to waste if I don't find a home for it.  I've already donated a bunch of 'didn't work out' kibbles to the local rescue, but I don't know that they're really set up for feeding their pups porridge, so I'm offering it here, at a steep discount.  

Most of the boxes have only a couple servings removed.  She used to eat Thrive, which is why I have so many boxes of it.  The others were bought as sample sizes; we'd take out a little, offer it to her, she'd try it once, then refuse all subsequent offers.  We've determined she's a fairly picky eater, especially around Hormonal Girl Time.  Anyway, I can weigh the boxes if anyone wants to know for sure how much is left of each.

I'd like to get about 50% of the cost back, but if no one takes it at 50%, I'd take less.  I'm not sure how much shipping will actually cost, but I'm using a guestimate of $15.  Anything above the $15 is on me.  If I can somehow get it shipped for less, I'll refund the difference.

I'm listing the retail price, then the 50% off.  IDEALLY, I'd love to send it to one person.

Thrive: free-range chicken and quinoa, three TEN POUND boxes, one box unopened, retail at $98 each, total is $294.  I would like $140
Verve: Ranch-raised beef, 4 pounds, retail is $40, asking $18.
Keen: Cage-free turkey, 2 pounds, retail $18, asking $8.
Force: Free-range chicken, 2 pounds, retail $26, asking $13.
Hale: Base-mix, add your own meat, UNOPENED, 3 pounds, retail $36, asking $18.

Total asking price for all the food: $197 plus $15 shipping, is $212.  Total retail price is $414.  

I will ship to anywhere US for the $15; I take paypal; comment if you'd like to buy.

Any takers?  

I have been very absent, it's complicated, let us talk of other things.

So!

There's this meme going around. Give me a topic, or a question, or similar, and I will do my best to post about it on the day you request.  You may ask me about personal stuff, random things, fic, fandoms, whatever you like.  You should also request a number.  Depending on the question, I reserve the right to post it f-locked/filtered, obvs.
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3.  Puppy story, for kore .
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5.  My hurt comfort preferences, for rachelmanija .
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9. Fountain pens, for yhlee .
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11. Quilts, for rilina .
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18. Earning money or dog stories, for loligo .
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Hey, buddy, wanna buy a quilt? *opens trenchcoat to reveal several cunningly folded and hung beauties of dubious provenance*

OK, not really.

But I am selling one of my quilts. I have never done this before, and I thought I'd best explain.

A dear friend of mine is going through a hard time, due to unemployment and Hard Times, which seems to abound right now. My country is still in the midst of a rough depression, and finding work is extremely difficult. This dear friend's husband has been hitting the payment relentlessly, but to no avail.

As a hiring manager myself, I know why. He's overqualified for the few openings available, he's too old, his health precludes him from hard labor, and he doesn't have the chipper-cheery mien of a twenty-something fresh out of college.

In years past, my grandparents had friends just like this. Back then, they would hold potluck suppers and card-parties and dances. A dollar for supper, or a minor fifty cent card party buy in, or another dollar for the dance room. The host and friends would supply simple but tasty food, like fried egg sandwiches or chips, and the proceeds would go to the friend in need.

I'm too far away to offer a party like that, but I can sell a quilt.

This quilt was originally intended as a gift for my mother, and it's named Grrrrl Power in honor of the tough as nails line of ladies from whom I descend. My grandmother once explained to me how to keep a brick on the lid of a toilet to prevent rats entering a baby's bedroom via the sewers and how to rig a similar safety measure for the windows, as babies are particularly vulnerable prey to rats.

This should give you a sense both of the intense maternal devotion and of the sort of environment (urban rough) from which I descend.

I'd like to think my quilts reflect this heritage.

The top (that's the pretty stripy part) is made of strips of fabric dyed by hand in Bali. The Bali dyers use wax to create the patterns, and the repeated handling of the fabric means that the fabric needs to be very sturdy. The wax that remains (in tiny amounts) also strengthens the cloth.

In my experience, the sturdiest quilts are made of Bali handpaint fabrics. Mixed quilts (those with regular patterned quilting fabric or plain quilting cotton) will show wear at the plain fabric first, far earlier than at the Bali fabric.

But I don't use Bali fabric just because it's sturdy. I use it because it's beautiful--created by master craftsmen, I sincerely believe that the care and thoughtfulness that goes into its creation shines through in the lovely tonal qualities of the fabric that results.

The pattern I chose (that's the long stripes) is a simple one, and not particularly challenging to create. It is sometimes used by quilters for a fast and easy project, in which case they sometimes choose the next strip to attach by random, allowing serendipity to guide the result.

Since this was a quilt for my mom, I was a little more thoughtful about it. While I did have a color scheme and some pre-cut strips, I removed those that didn't match the mood and substituted strips that better suited. I ordered the colors in a way that best suited the design I had in mind, and I finished the results with a color (rich red-violet) that would make the center colors float.

This was a tricky quilt to photograph, as red-violet laughs at my little Nikon, and the current crop of storms has made things challenging.

The main colors are: red violet on the outside, a lively mix of bright-dark and bubblegum-light pinks, cream or gray with sprightly splashes of yellow or pink/violet, and some spicy yellows and lovely lavenders.

The backing is a dark red-violet pinkish tonal print.

The quilting was done with pink and lavender Aurifil thread, with a sewing machine but by hand (that is, not longarm production quilted) in a sturdy wide stitched-in-the-ditch style. I find that wide spaced quilting produces the softest quilts for snuggling under. Dense quilting looks fabulous, but is often too stiff for snooziling.

The batting is Warm and Natural, which is what I depend on.

If you have never owned a truly handmade quilt before, you may be nervous about its care and keeping. Handwashing, hang-drying, special washing sodas, etc.

Yeah, I don't hold truck with that sort of thing. My quilts are washed in a big Kenmore and dried in same or on the line, as God intended. I would recommend avoiding any laundry detergent prone to fading (such as Gain), but that is often a matter of preference. If you wish to wash this baby in the bathtub with a teensy bit of OxyClean, that is fine, too.

All photographs were taken after washing and drying, so that you could see how the quilting would look once the fabric had rested post-drying. (That is why you often see before and after pictures on some Etsy listings, by the way.)

I make my quilts to be used. Some people who shop handmade quilts are nervous about putting them to use. By all means use a handmade quilt to cuddle your ancient cat, you sick parent, your cranky toddler, your own chilly toes. Quilts, in my view, are only truly quilts when they are used for comfort.

This quilt is 53" by 63", or "throw" sized. A crib size quilt (for babies) is around 40 by 60, and a large twin bed quilt would be 72 by 90. So this is about the perfect size to cover a person in a large chair/on the couch/at the end of the bed.

Since I have never sold a quilt before, I was somewhat unsure what to price it at. Many production style quilts are sold a bit cheaper, but most seem to be sold for quilt a lot more. I have chosen a minimum of $150 for the start of the bidding. I am leaving this open for five full days. So, bidding closes on Sunday, April 6, at 7 pm.

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
( Cut for large photos )

Look, I'm getting desperate over here.  I now have NINE tromboncinos lurking on my damn kitchen table, and this is after I gave away several.  The vines have spread so far that they've climbed over my bean bed, through a tomato patch, and out the other side.  One vine has a runner that is, my hand to god, a good twenty feet long.  It has nearly reached the fence line and appears to be headed for the neighbor's house.

Each of these long trailing vine-fiends has baby squash on them.  I saw one of the rabbits go in the patch, but I haven't seen it come out.  Maybe the squash ate them.  Maybe the rabbits hollowed one out to build a home.  I fear the dog will approach too closely and be nabbled up, and he's a good eighty pounds.  These suckers have to be feeding off something.

Some of the squash in my kitchen are four pounds EACH.  Others are "only" two and a half pounds.  People, I have nearly forty pounds of squash here.  Half of which I picked yesterday. 

I have so far made:
Grilled squash
Squash lasagne (with squash "noodles")
Boiled squash
Squash muffins, squash pies
Squash bread
Side-squash
Squash salads
Squash kebabs
Squash sliced, breaded, baked, and made into zuke sticks with dipping sauce

I instituted a one squash per person per day rule, but it isn't helping.  The squashy fiends have far-outstripped our current nomming efforts, and I've started trying to feed them to the dog, who is doing his best to help out, but he's getting on in his years, and he told me he can only manage half a squash if I add some butter to it and give him time to gnaw them because his teeth aren't what they used to be.   

What am I going to do?  I looked out this morning, and even from my porch, I could see two more light green squash lighted up like mini-lanterns, ready to be picked.  Tomorrow, they'll probably weigh another pound. 

Help. Help.

Pls send recipes knthnxbai

As I think I mentioned, I planted an embarrassment of fruit trees this spring.  Eight apple trees (in little clumps of 2-4 each), two cherries, two peaches, and a fig. 

Today, I harvested the first fruit of my labor.  Now, I bought small whip yearlings of semi-dwarf stock, so there was no reason to believe I'd have any fruit whatsoever for at least three or four years.  Even worse, I put the trees in a bit late because we had such strange weather (snow for a good six weeks past usual frost) and even more worse, the trees came from a completely different (and much milder) zone in northern Cali. 

But despite it all, my young trees took off, and a couple of them bloomed.

I was delighted to discover, late in the spring, two young apples.  One was reabsorbed or eaten by the squirrel mafia, but one small apple remained.  The summer trundled on, wet and lovely and beautifully mild for us, and the apple grew and grew.  Finally, it appeared fully apple-sized.  The fruit I bought from our local farmers market was smaller than the fruit I had on my tall leafy twig.  Weird.  I let it be, and let it be, and then today I discovered it had blushed as rosy as Nanny Ogg's cheeks. 

Very carefully, I held the apple, weighing it, thanking the tree, smiling with the glow of a summer-warm girl in the comfort of her own owned land, and I twisted up and off she came.  My own very first apple.  Sweet Bough.

Early apples are notoriously untasty, but I am a canny researcher.  I had purchased a wide variety of heirloom apples famed for their flavor, including a couple early apples.  My baby orchard boasts both Red Gravenstein (a sport of regular Gravenstein that supposedly enjoys the heat more) and Sweet Bough, widely considered by Coxe and other early-American growers (including in the South) to be one of the few early apples worth growing for flavor. 

I am startled to report that.....I agree.

We placed our Sweet Bough upon the cutting board, sliced her up, and tasted her.  Within about twenty seconds, the entire apple was gone.  My taste report is as follows:
Surprisingly crisp.  Not cool-weather Honeycrisp crisp (what is?), but a good deal crisper than the current crop of Galas available locally.  It was juicy without being wet--that is, nicely wet when bitten, but it did not pour juice down its side. The flesh was not at all mealy (awesome!) but instead nicely firm.  The taste was what really set it apart--sprightly.  Bright flavors, sweet, tangy, but nothing like the bitter or sharp cousins you get off many organic trees (where you wonder if things just went oddly awry). 

It wasn't a dark round flavor, like the Arkansas Black, but instead very light, pale summery honey gold.  Absolutely delightful. 

My mom is quite picky about her apples, and she said, surprised, 'It doesn't need hummous or anything!'  We both agreed that it was a very surprising apple to eat in August of all times, when normally you just would not get good fruit anywhere.  (It is basically the tail end of the storage apples so they're mealy or the too-early underripe types from far-away). 

Two thumbs up: Would nom again!

I reviewed Black Butler (anime version) at the Hooded U the other day.  You can read about it here.

I have strep throat.  Vicious, ugly, horrible illness.  But now I have a Z-pack.  We loves our Z-pack, precioussss.  Preciouss, precioussss Z-packs.  I've been only semi-conscious the past few days, but within four hours of taking the beautiful beautiful Z-pack, I am now feeling semi-human instead.  I should have crawled my way to the doctor's office days ago, but I just felt too sick. 

For those who enjoy learning about learning, I thought I'd mention that I've finally found another dog trainer who explicitly uses mimic techniques to train dogs (aka imitative learning).  I used mimicry to teach the Pook a number of behaviors (including fetch--primarily, I would click/treat my mom for doing the behavior), and I was amused to discover that according to Science, this was not supposed to be possible.  But now another trainer has developed a specific system built around social mimicry.  It looks pretty cool, and I've popped for the DVD set off Dogwise.  If there's interest, I'll review the DVDs when I'm done watching them (they're over 8 hours long, so the price tag is actually quite reasonable).

I've been slowly and carefully regaining strength.  It's taking much longer than I would have liked, but bodies can be like that.

As part of this mad health plan, I decided that if I gained enough strength, I would get myself a bike.  Today I went into the best-reviewed local bike shop.  (My criteria were, in order: reputable and women-friendly shop, woman specific bike designs available, upright comfort style, step through frame, within budget.)

They were super nice.  The guy asked me all kinds of questions about what I was looking for, my priorities, my ride plans, without telling me my wants were silly or stupid.  He did not get bike-snobby whatsoever when I said that stability and comfort were my most important criteria.  He just said, "Sure!  Lots of people who get back into biking prefer that.  Let me show you something that might work for you." 

He explained thoroughly and carefully each of the various bikes that might match my needs.  Then he helped adjust a trial bike and set me up in the parking lot with a helmet.  I played with the gears, I tried the brakes, I listened to the explanation of various options for adjustment.  He talked to me like I was an intelligent person who simply hadn't had the opportunity to learn this stuff before (which I hadn't).  He focused on what I said was important--stability, safety, and comfort.

The bike he recommended for me was customizable in a few key ways.  He explained that when I started riding I might feel more comfortable with the settings in such-and-such a way (lower seat, for instance, so I could put my feet on the ground easier).  After a month or so, he said, when I was more steady in my balance, that might no longer be necessary and I could switch to the (easier for actual biking) slightly higher seat. 

What a difference a good bike person makes! 

I picked her up an hour ago (they assembled one in my preferred color for me and then put on the rack in the back).  I had mom drop me off, then I rode her home (after another gentle test drive in their back lot).  It was glorious!  I really like the more upright riding position.  It was gentle on my knee, without sacrificing balance.  I was easily able to brake, turn, and change gears. 

When I got home, I felt confident enough to just tool around the back streets of my neighborhood for a few minutes.  I didn't want to overdo, so I pedalled slowly home and put her away. 

In case people are curious, I bought a Giant/Liv Sedona DX.  I considered several models, including the Cypress and some others, but this one had more stability.  It fits my body, and I can ride without pain.  She's a soft turquoise, which I liked better than the black for some reason.  I could have had a wider range of brands and styles if I'd been able to stomach the jerks at the other stores, but I felt it was more important to buy a bike from someplace I could trust to do a tune up or teach me to do various adjustments. 

So!  My plan is to (gently, gently) work up to riding her on small errands, such as to the farmers market or to the grocery for milk/cream.  For the first couple weeks, my only goal is to make it easy and fun to gently bike around the neighborhood. 

*zoom zoom*