@lionelb@expressional.social
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

lionelb

@lionelb@expressional.social

My main themes here are gardening, nature and conservation, green energy and open source software but my frustration with the way billionaires are trashing our world will inevitably feature at times.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

alexisbushnell, to gardening
@alexisbushnell@toot.wales avatar

Help! My herbs are growing mushrooms!

I noticed some of the compost in a few of the herb pots was raised today. Assumed they'd been nudged accidentally or the cat had investigated. But this evening I noticed a pale yellowish lump in one and it's a mushroom! There's one in another too.

I did not plant mushrooms. Wtf? Can I eat them? How did this happen?

A small plant pot of coriander seedlings with a small mushroom peeking just visible under the compost.

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@alexisbushnell

Spent manure from mushroom farms is often used as compost.

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@alexisbushnell

I would never take it as read that any toadstool is edible. If you get it wrong, you can end up dead.

lionelb, to random
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

This is a Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) a very bright, attractive insect with heavy wasp vibes.

#hoverfly #insects

Claydisarray, to random
@Claydisarray@socel.net avatar

I really wish #KoFi allowed larger images in their shops as I'd love to move away from Big Cartel. :blobawkward:

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@Claydisarray

There is an ethical replacement for Etsy, run as a coop.

lionelb, to random
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum) growing wild!

lionelb, to random
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

A mating pair of Bramble Sawflies (Arge cyanocrocea).

lionelb, to wildflowers
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

Is my small raised bed meadow a 'habitat'? Absolutely.

Ignoring the multitude of tiny flies, aphids and mites and looking just at the medium to large more ornate insects and spiders, the species count grows by at least five a week during the warmer months.

That despite my inattentiveness and their propensity to hide. Many are authentically meadow creatures, common there but not ordinarily in gardens.

The ability of insects to home in on a tiny patch is extraordinary. Though from their perspective it is a vast jungle with many different microclimates.

It acts as a hotel between larger wild patches and as home in its own right. Anyone with a garden can and should do this.

snaptophobic, to random
@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar

I’ve tried to do some wilderness clearance (our back yard). The goosegrass was getting a bit rampant, and I felt the nettle patch didn’t need to be quite so large.

Anyway, guess who tripped over their own feet and ended up in the nettle patch?

There’s a good reason I’m not a keen gardener.

Happily, no bones broken, and some ointment liberally applied to my back to stop the nettle rash! Now safely back on familiar ground, the sofa.

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@snaptophobic

The goosegrass roots (which are very fine, so difficult to harvest) make a very beautiful orange-pink dye. You need about 2 parts by weight of root to 1 part wool/cotton.

lionelb, to gardening
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

This Centaurea bud is quite spectacular. One of those where the opening bud is very easily confused with a seed head.

lionelb, to random
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

Armed forces veterans' ID cards not accepted for voting.

Ooooooooooooopsie.

If there is anything worse than ballot-rigging it is incompetent ballot rigging 😂

lionelb, to random
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

Second and third preference voting for police commissioners in England. How come they give us real democracy for those decorative positions but don't allow democracy for proper elections?

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@snaptophobic

I looked up the last result and that was how it worked. Maybe they feared the idea would catch on and snatched it back? Add it to the pile of gerrymandering.

snaptophobic, to random
@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar

Morning world. I feel I want to be productive today. That’ll last until about morning coffee time.

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@snaptophobic

You are productive before coffee? 👀

lionelb, to videos
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@Tusky

I am not sure whether it is a feature just of Tusky or of Mastodon in general but videos loop without pause.

A pause of a couple of seconds before replaying (or a press to replay mechanism) would be more elegant than an unbroken loop in my opinion.

#videos #tusky

michael_martinez, to USpolitics
@michael_martinez@c.im avatar

This is too rich not to share.

"U.S. Congresswoman Suspected of Having 'Russian Handlers' After Transcarpathia Amendment"

FROM THE ARTICLE: "Political pundit ‘Jay in Kyiv’ responded: 'The amendment that Marjorie Taylor Greene just proposed to sabotage the Ukraine bill is something that is such a nuanced Russian disinfo narrative that it could have only come directly from her Russian handlers.'

'The notion that Hungarians are being persecuted in Ukraine is insane BUT it’s being pushed by both Orban (who was promised a piece of Ukraine by Putin) and Russian disinfo machine. For an American to suggest this really confirms she is being handled.'"

https://2paragraphs.com/2024/04/u-s-congresswoman-suspected-of-having-russian-handlers-after-transcarpathia-amendment/

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@michael_martinez

I am looking forward to the time when her big potty mouth can be used as a pigeon-scarer to protect crops.

lionelb, to gardening
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

This shrub grows very easily and occasionally self-seeds. It is not spectacular but it is quietly beautiful. Without the flower, the leaves might immediately suggest Kerria japonica, with its deep veins and puckered ridges.

Actually this is its cousin Rhodotypos scandens.

The four floppy white petals are very unusual.

snaptophobic, to random
@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar

Morning world. My back is still giving grief. Time to call on the professionals, I suppose.

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@snaptophobic
My new bed has fixed slats rather than the previous bendy ones. Notionally less comfortable but I am sleeping straight through.

junesim63, to gardening
@junesim63@mstdn.social avatar

Lovely article on Birmingham allotments and the people who tend them.


‘The courgettes were so good last year, I got a tattoo of one’: life on a Birmingham allotment | Allotments | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/apr/14/life-on-a-birmingham-allotment-growing-food-vegetables

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@junesim63

On their arm. One hopes. Ahem.

tiamat271, to gardening
@tiamat271@mastodon.online avatar

Three good things for today, 4/13/2024:

  1. Finished and filed my taxes, and will be getting a refund! 💰

  2. Found another teeny tiny seedling sprouting in my flower garden. 🌱

  3. Surprised and delighted to discover that my day lily from last year seems to have survived the winter (with no help from me) and appears to be coming back to life! ☀️

@3goodthings

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@tiamat271 @3goodthings

Day-lilies are very tough. Oddly, they are closely related to hostas.

meganL, to accessibility
@meganL@mas.to avatar

People would think horticulture has nothing to do with accessibility, but it does.

Planting an Acanthus in this narrow spot was already a bad choice even if there were no wheelchair ramp there. You have to design your landscape for the projected mature size of the plant, not the size it is when you buy it.

But having it here and not constantly trimming it means you're just performing accessibility.

This is the entrance to an art gallery. @plants

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@meganL @plants

It needs complete removal. A cotoneaster would follow the contour of the wall and not be a nuisance.

MarSolRivas, to random French
@MarSolRivas@mastodon.online avatar

Le polo d'accord, mais quid du ? 🤔

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@MarSolRivas

Queen of Puddings.

lionelb, to random
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

For no other reason than that it is sublime, I have linked this 17th Century organ.

https://iv.melmac.space/watch?v=OskpqN4YnQ0

snaptophobic, to random
@snaptophobic@mastodon.me.uk avatar

Ooh! Ooh! Another call from social services!

We will have to self-fund care for Best Beloved because we are stinking rich. We sort of expected that.

I now have some phone numbers of local agencies that have a good reputation. It’s one way to overcome my phonophobia/telephonitis.

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@snaptophobic

If you can afford toast and butter you don't qualify.

jon, to random
@jon@gruene.social avatar

Zillertalbahn 🇦🇹

No more hydrogen trains, battery trains instead
https://www.railwaygazette.com/traction-and-rolling-stock/zillertalbahn-hydrogen-plan-dropped-in-favour-of-battery-traction/66291.article

LNVG 🇩🇪

Renews its commitment to battery trains, in the Land in Germany that was the pioneer of hydrogen trains
https://railcolornews.com/2024/04/09/passenger-update-no-more-hydrogen-lower-saxony-and-lnvg-competes-bemu-units/

Both decisions make sense

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@nf3xn @jon

Lots of alumininium and copper. Very little goes to waste.

High failure rates mean disruption and replacing failed parts requires energy inputs. Maintaining stockpiles of old equipment requires energy input.

It is complicated. Everything has to be factored in.

jrconlin, to random
@jrconlin@soc.jrconlin.com avatar

Friendly PSA:

When a loved one passes leaving you the role of Executor of the estate, and you're going through who to notify about the recent death,

TELL THE BANK LAST!

They will freeze the account immediately upon hearing of the death and the only way to unfreeze it is to go through probate, which will take at least a month.

This is really important for things like online bill payments for utilities, mortgages, etc.

lionelb,
@lionelb@expressional.social avatar

@jrconlin

In the UK that isn't a problem. Those routine payments can be made.

In particular, the (reasonable) costs of a funeral are automatically accessible.

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