I am a flower freak, so I would just plant a ton of hellebores. That is what I’ve done with a very shady spot in my backyard, and now I have hundreds of blooms I can cut from and bring inside from January to April. They are never going to be super tall, but they are massive now! I also have hydrangeas (including oak leaf, which give pretty autumn foliage), astilbe, heuchera, sanguisorba, ferns, and rhododendrons in shade, as others have mentioned.

You may know this already, but mints, raspberries/blackberries, and lemon balm will completely take over a space over time. You are probably okay for this year since it’s a new planting, but I would highly recommend repotting it at the end of the season into a separate, contained pot. It can still hang out near your bed and provide some pest management! Just best to keep it separate so you’re not pulling it up constantly.

Buying seeds is always an exercise in optimism! There’s always next year…

Ha. Anyone who’s farmed knows that ag leases are such a different scenario and very negotiable, especially if you are working with someone who wants to see the land in production or help young farmers etc. I WISH there had been more willing landlords when I was farming, it took me two years to find a place at all. Lemmings can hate once they’ve negotiated their own ag lease 👀 👩🏻‍🌾

For now? Lease as much of that land as you can. Cover crop the rest. You do not want bare, tilled soil sitting there for a year+ as you figure out bigger plans.

We were recently in Vancouver, and people were happy to have us! You shouldn’t worry. We did some extra shopping in solidarity and they appreciated our support.

Also in N Seattle, also got some TJ’s eggs for $3.99 today! Hi neighbor!

Sierra Leone is gorgeous once you get out of Freetown! Bureh, Tokeh, Tacugama, and all the inland rural areas are all genuinely beautiful. But Sierra Leone is so hard to get to. They built the airport super far from Freetown, so it’s either a 3-hour drive or a chaotic 45-minute ferry ride (plus time to load the boat etc.) after you land at the airport. Not exactly what you want to deal with after flying! I think they would have more tourism if they solved that.

My cat does the same thing, but uses both paws like the little troll he is.

My dog is a leftie, for sure. Anytime he touches his face, raises a paw to ask for pets, or pees, he favors using his left paw.

Right there with you. I believe Gaiman was using her as a smokescreen for exactly that reason. (I’m being generous and assuming she wasn’t actively and deliberately trafficking women for him.)

And yes, there are a lot of song lyrics / tweets / media that aged like milk for both of them.

This is why women choose the bear…

Idk how to format, but I want to save you from reading if you need that. So here’s a brief list of claims in the article:

• she frequently and repeatedly recruited homeless, impoverished female fans to provide childcare without any payment
• she repeatedly left these women alone with Gaiman, without the child present
• she warned Gaiman to “keep his hands off” at least one woman
• she said that at least 14 women had come to her for help with Gaiman
• she subsequently wrote a song about how much of a chore it was for her to deal with the multiple “suicidal mess”es Gaiman created
• she routinely controlled employment/housing of these women and knew Gaiman was, at best, sleeping with them (this cannot be consensual when housing/employment are in the mix)
• when notified of an assault that happened with her child present, only questioned whether the child was “wearing headphones”
• refused to cooperate with at least one police investigation
• refused any material help to assaulted women after repeatedly assuring them she would “take care of” them, get different housing/employment set up, etc.

Just…awful stuff, and this is best case scenario, FFS. She is fucking trash.

I didn’t heed the warning and regretted reading the whole thing - there are very detailed and gruesome first hand accounts of his alleged assaults on multiple women. Excellent reporting throughout, which only makes it more sickening.

Also, as a former Amanda Palmer fan, fuck her, too. It’s clear she enabled this and committed, at minimum, wage theft crimes. Both of them deserve to do jail time with even the most generous best-case-scenarios. I’m sure she was also abused by him, but that is not an excuse to abuse other women. Some feminist.

Ah, the joy of cats!

He has 2 heated beds and a cat tree! But he’s 16, and I think the older he gets, the needier he is.

I wish that worked. Mine screams to be picked up and held like you’re burping a baby. Absolute mad lad.

• Ireland and Italy offer citizenship by descent, but it is a long process
• The Netherlands and the US have a treaty called DAFT that allows you to start a business in NL
• France offers a self employment visa
• Check skill shortage lists for countries of interest - almost all European countries need skilled trades, truck drivers, etc. that wouldn’t require a degree
• Study abroad; it’s possible you could apply and receive funding for a degree since many countries have free education + work study arrangements for your living expenses
• Teach English abroad
• Look at international NGOs, you could possibly get hired as an admin/etc. without a degree but that might be a stretch

I found another pic from Osborne Seed showing the color variations - will be exciting to see what color you’ve got! Sorry I can’t upload photos, it may be my instance or app bugging out.

https://www.osborneseed.com/products/cue-ball-f1-untreated-squash-seeds

To me it looks like a zucchini or squash. If it lengthens it could be a zucchini “Magda,” the color seems right. But I really think it’s a particular variety of squash (or a mutant) that is globular, called “cue ball.” I don’t know how to share a picture, so this link will have to do.

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/squash/summer-squash/cue-ball-f1-squash-seed-3359.html

The seed catalog I am looking at shows a light green, yellow, and dark green version. The dark green one is sometimes called “Eight Ball zucchini.” Light green is called “Cue Ball” and yellow is called “One Ball.” Curcubits cross pollinate routinely, so it could also be some sort of mutant - congrats on your cross breeding program! :)