louisa_

purplepadma, 18 hours ago to random

Super tired now, but MUST. NOT. NAP, because I am getting a bit nocturnal of late. Suggestions for staying awake, please?

louisa_, 1 day ago to factorio

Came across some real life #Factorio the other day: a conveyor belt taking rubble from a quarry, under a dual carriageway road, then along a pier and onto a ship. We watched it running at full pelt for ages then the load started to get patchy. Someone needs to re-position their electric miners!

louisa_, 4 days ago to cymru

Had a glorious weekend in North #Wales.

Cycling on the coast near Conwy, a dip in the sea, then fish'n'chips on Friday. Walking and more much-needed swimming at Llyn Melynllyn & Llyn Dulyn on Saturday. And more coastal cycling today from Persarn.

We stayed at Cefn Cae in Rowen - one of my favourite campsites and, of course, got to see the aurora too.

We nearly didn't go through inertia - I'm so glad we did! Wonderful memories.

A beach - golden sand with pebbles mixed in - and a bay. The water is flat and blue: a jetty stretches out from high on the beach into the water. In the distance, the bay is lined with some large buildings (hotels) and finishes with a rounded cliff.
A long distance landscape photo of some low level hills in Snowdonia, Wales. A well worn path curves around the terrain on the right of the picture, pointing to a barely visible reservoir in the distance. It's spring so the grass is vivid green but some of the other plant life is still dressed for winter.
A small, natural lake in the Welsh hills. It is contained on all sides by rough grey rock and cliffs, parts of which are coated in grass. The sky above is blue, a sunny day, which makes the water all the more alluring...

louisa_, 6 days ago to cymru

#aurora phone pics from the #Conwy Valley in #Wales.

Visible with the naked eye but much better on camera.

I've wanted to see it for years and by coincidence, we happen to be at one of my favourite campsites for stargazing. Lucky!

A gasp of hot pink light in the sky: aurora borealis.
Some trees in silhouette against a pink and green coloured sky - aurora borealis. Stars are visible in the light too.
A low tree covered hill at night. The landscape is in silhouette but above, the sky is bright with the aurora borealis. Nearest the hill, the light is green but above it's a streaky lilac pink

louisa_, 8 days ago to manchester

Went to see #TenaciousD in #Manchester this evening.

Most of the gigs we go to are 12 people watching a folk singer in a pub backroom - so it was a little different 🤣 They're probably the only band that I could be bothered to go to an arena to see.

It was a huge amount of fun and great musical performances too. The support act (Dave Hill) was really funny too.

And I got a Totenacious D bag too 😁

A cream and red Tenacious D tote bag - cream fabric, red print and straps. The bag is styled after an old fashioned Italian restaurant: red & white check border, and two faces - sketches of Jack Black and Kyle Gass - wearing chefs hats.

louisa_, 8 days ago to vegan

After reading this article - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68944117?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-gb - about people sneakily making vegan croissants in France the other day, I am cravings croissants.

(Though to be fair, I could have just written: I exist therefore I am craving croissants.)

Hey #vegan or #dairyfree people in the UK, any recommendations for decent, properly flaky, dairy-free croissants over here?

louisa_, 8 days ago to Bloomscrolling

Bluebells in a flower bed feels a little like taking a picture of animals in a zoo but having these (planted by a previous owner) outside our front door is an annual joy.

#bloomscrolling #bluebells

louisa_, 11 days ago to random

#3goodthings for Sun 5th May

1. Bacon butties for breakfast. Colourful crochet blankets on the line.*

2. Seedlings appearing. More seeds sown. Bramble clearing. The lawns neatly mown.

3. A calf is suspicious of me. Its mum doesn't seem bothered and grazes close to the wall that I'm leaning over but the little calf goes wide, frowning at me from halfway down the field.

• (As seen in the background of the picture I posted of cobwebbed Ren earlier.)

#EverydayinMay

louisa_, 11 days ago to Cats

"No, I haven't been poking around in the dusty garage. Why do you ask?"

#cats #CatsOfMastodon

louisa_, 13 days ago to random

Went for an evening walk. Just local but ...

LAMBS!

And

FOALS!

#sheep #sheepofmastodon

Two lambs sitting together on a grassy field. They both have white wool and pink inside their big ears. They're both looking at the camera, alert.
Three horses with two foals. The two foals are dappled brown and white, like the horse nearest the camera. (The other two horses are chestnut, and in the very back, a black one.) The adults are eating from a large hay bale in a metal feeder. The foals are standing around, learning how to use their wobbly long legs.

louisa_, 13 days ago to random

#3goodthings for Thurs 2nd May

1. Even more seedlings have popped up since we last checked on them.

2. (As per my previous toot) When we walk down into the village to vote, Kaufman waits on the bottom stile for the whole hour that it takes us to return.

3. A ginger cat hiding in the hedgerow -- or what will be a hedge in several years time. So really, a clearly visible ginger cat amongst some thin saplings - but sshhh don't tell the cat. He thought he was a ninja assassin.

louisa_, 14 days ago to animals

Walked down to the village to vote. No dogs at the polling station unfortunately but we met a very friendly one on the lane on the way, which was nice.

Also, we walked down through our garden and (what is now) the cow field. Our cat Kaufman followed us through the garden then sat on the stile at the bottom and watched us cross the field.

As we returned an hour later, we joked about whether he'd still be waiting for us -- and he was 😍😍😍

(Very blurry shot from about 50m away)

#CatsOfMastodon

A low quality photo of a grassy hill. About half way up, there is a wooden stile with wire stock fence on one side. A black cat is patiently sitting in loaf position at the base of the stile.

purplepadma, 14 days ago to food

I bought a punnet of fancy mushrooms and some marinated tofu, I’m going to make Nigel Slater’s miso and ginger soup with griddled mushrooms. So easy even I can do it. And very tasty and nourishing #food #umami

louisa_, 15 days ago to random

After lots of rice pudding/payesh chat on my feed over recent weeks, I finally made a batch of dairy-free kheer in the slow cooker this afternoon.

It seemed a bit liquid-y before dinner so I whacked up the heat and that ultimately overdid it - but even stodgy, it was still so good.

Thanks for all the pudding inspo, people!

louisa_, 15 days ago to random

As part of some bigger mental health stuff, I've been really struggling with motivation this year to the point I've really given up trying. I need a kickstart.

Anyone doing, or fancy doing, a "do something every day in May" thing for some joint accountability?

I'm open to all ideas. Perhaps walking/outside time? Or something creative - such as making or writing? Or something silly? Or perhaps we can all do our own things but every day? Thoughts?!

#EveryDayInMay

louisa_, 19 days ago to random

Walked over to the #Marsden Cuckoo Festival. Out over the hills, back along the canal for a 10mile round trip.

Saw a few different bands (folk/brass/drum) and Morris groups, then the procession through the village.

We couldn't stay for long as it had taken us longer than planned to walk there - like us, all our neighbours on the route are coming out of hibernation so we had to keep stopping to chat. It took near 45mins to walk half a mile 🤣

louisa_, 21 days ago to random

One of the cats came in earlier mewing and chirping as usual - but this time, he ignored me and went straight to his brother. After a little more noise, they went back outside together.

We looked out of the window and saw a pheasant about 10m from the house, stalking around in the grass.

Pheasants are fairly common around here but it very much felt like Ren saw the bird and had to share his excitement.

(1/2)

RickiTarr, 23 days ago to random

These are some of the oldest surviving pictures of dogs. It just goes to show that humans haven't changed too much. We have to get pics of the cute pups!

This is a white fluffy poodle, it has a bow on it's head, and it's just exhausted by this whole ordeal and having a wee nap
This is a white dog with dark patches and floppy ears. It's seated in such a way that it looks like it could leap up at any moment joyfully, but it's trying very hard to behave for the photo. It has a big ole open mouth doggie smile, and definitely seems to be making eye contact with the human that is having it sit still to have it's picture made.
This dog has that kind of silky black and white fur that you just want to pet so much, big floofy floppy ears like a border collie. It is laying down like it's napping, and I wonder if it's human decided to try to take it's picture while it was napping, but it woke up to a camera and looks mildly perplexed, worried, and put upon.

louisa_, 25 days ago to random

Just back from our annual spring trip to Scotland.

We're usually VERY lucky with the weather (I got sunburned on our trip to Shetland last year) but this year, the forecast was for rain every day so we decided to stay flexible: pottering around the western Highlands & Skye rather than having to rely on ferries.

That said, after a couple of days on the west coast, we did take one ferry - the tiny Skye ferry from Glenelg, because fun!

(Pics: Glenorchy/Glencoe/Ratagan/the Skye ferry)

Three mountains - or more accurately, two mountains and a round hilly bump inbetween then - on an overcast day. The tops of the mountains are speckled in the last of the winter snow, reflecting the grey and white clouds above. The ground in the foreground is flat and scrubby, and is in shadow, while the hills are more brightly lit. The texture of the clouds and scrubland is reminiscent of a painting.
A view across a glen in Scotland. A loch is surrounded by hills, which are topped with low cloud cover.
A small ferry - it can hold six cars maximum - has just pulled up alongside a concrete pier, which slopes down into the water. The ferry is an old "turn table" ferry (indeed, the last manual one still in use anywhere in the world) and the top of the boat has been turned at an angle from the lower part of the boat, to allow the cars to drive off.

purplepadma, 1 month ago to random

Panicking a bit about what I’m going to do all week. Even though I’m not well enough to work, I’m lost without its structure. I have a new tapestry kit to start and a couple of bits for the party. IDK if I’ll be able to concentrate on reading