vital functions

Celebrating. A significant birthday for my godmother!

Reading. Moooore Toby; now working on Night and Silence. ( Continuity. )

I am presently 77% of the way through my Giant Compilation Ebook, which ends with When Sorrows Come/And With Reveling, whereupon I'll have to engage in some shenanigans to buy the most recent novels (... last time I checked I swear there were at most two??? but now it is DEFINITELY THREE) but then maybe? my brain will let me read something else???

Watching. Good Omens S02E03. Still mostly at ...

Playing. Fluxx! Including one round where I smugly thought I'd won, had failed to notice that Inflation meant I needed 6 Keepers rather than the 5 I had out, grumpily played Rules Reset, and was very surprised when A started tidying up everything, not just the rules...

Cooking. I have discovered that the kale-and-bean thing is Even Better if -- and this is shocking, I know -- you do actually caramelise the onion (and preferably have a much higher proportion of it), which might be enough to tip me over into finally starting to batch-cook and freeze caramelised onion.

Also a blackberry pie.

Eating. RUBY VIOLET TRIP: damson & soured cream; hot (scotch bonnet-infused) honey & honeycomb.

Exploring. Small tromp around London Zoo pre-migraine-appt. A new-to-me bit of the sprawling multi-hospital complex orbiting UCLH. Wanstead flats (MUSHROOMS).

Making & mending. A Thing about Abel & Cole is that they provide boxes Tied Up With String. Lots of string. And it's a polycotton blend, and they don't take it back to recycle, so I've been gradually Acquiring String I've been unwilling to send to landfill and periodically using bits of to tie plants to stakes and the like. This summer it finally occurred to me that it might be a solution to my unwillingness to actually buy netting for peas and beans, and then this week I have started tying bits together! Alas I got a little way in before it occurred to me to look up the recommended knots so I am probably going to work my way through undoing everything so far and then start over, but I am learning things and I am Making A Thing and I'm enjoying myself.

Growing. To my absolute astonishment, the Pattison Blanc doesn't actually seem to have died of being transplanted to the greenhouse. There are new leaves and flowers and everything. We Shall See.

Still playing frost chicken over the Queensland Blue squash.

Observing. We have once again sighted the bat! I was almost sure it had gone to sleep but we got a nice mild evening back at the beginning of the week and It Made An Appearance. :)

(And, at London Zoo: penguins, including juveniles; a giraffe, thoughtfully tilting its head back and sticking its tongue out as far upward as it could go and still not quite managing to reach the remaining leaves on its branch; zebra; goats.)