#remustheravenclaw

[systlin]

Hey Systlin, an inquiry - can I send you a picture of my recently completed late 15th century Florentine ensemble? After 16 years of gathering materials and dreaming, and 3 summers of sewing, I finally finished it on Thursday.

YES PLEASE

[thebibliosphere]

Hey mum! A question: how likely is it that I could react to an allergen at night, but not in the mornings? I often eat leftovers for lunch, no reaction, but more and more often my face (specifically my nose) itches so bad I can hardly stand it during dinner. Could my body's ability to put up with allergen bullshit totally tank by dinnertime, but be back to normal in the morning? (We think garlic or onions is the culprit, alas) Thank you, love you, please say hello to the moth-father for me!

So I can only speak from my experience with histamine intolerance and mast cell dysfunction, but yeah, allergic reactions can take a while to manifest. I can eat something and be fine at first, then an hour or even five hours later, I’m breaking out in hives and dealing with all sorts of other fun symptoms. For me, this is because how my body regulates histamine is busted, and I’m more prone to reactions at night due to how mast cells are linked to the circadian rhythm and tend to be more active at night [1].

Just to be clear, I’m in no way saying you have either of these things; I’m just trying to give you some evidence that might explain why you are reacting to things at a certain time and not others. It’s certainly possible, and the human body is a wild and unpredictable beast sometimes :D

If you are histamine sensitive, then eating leftovers could be the trigger because the longer food is kept, even if refrigerated, the more histamine (which is in all foods) can build up. This is especially true with meats. If I have any leftovers, I have to freeze them right away and either thaw them really quick the next day. Or I tend to make things that can be cooked from frozen. So that might also be why you’re having delayed reactions, and only to leftovers.

It could also be none of these things! But it is certainly is possible to experience delayed reactions and for them to be more common at night. 

[gallusrostromegalus]

Gallus! I just saw that the rain/wind storm that hit us yesterday in the PNW is going to be hitting you guys as a blizzard sometime tomorrow. Are y'all ok? I know that absurd weather is normal for y'all this time of year but this seems... extreme. Another whole blizzard???

Oh.

Oh sweetheart.

The first year I moved out here we had a blizzard in JUNE.  Dumped 10 inches on my parent’s house and took out three aspens in the yard.

Late-season blizzards are an intermittent but regular occurnece here, and they tend to dump a lot of snow, the only thing different about this “Bomb Cyclone” is that it comes with a side of high winds...  Which is also a fairly regular occurence out here.

Oh, and it’s got a much cooler name.

Like not to trivialize this- my power went out during the one in march and we ended up having to drive through whiteout conditions to my in-laws becuase the house was getting dangerously cold- but Extreme Weather is fairly normal for here.  I’ve got my groceries stocked, propane for the camp stove so that if the power goes out again I can at least have hot food/tea, the battery heat lamp so we don’t have to drive if the power goes out again (last time was due to a downed branch so I think it’s unlikely to happen again).

I’m going to stay the hell indoors and consume my weight in tea and cookies tomorrow.

[lynnafred]

Hello! I'm sorry to hear about your car accident - I hope the pain will ease up soon, & more quickly than expected. I have a gardening question for you, if you're up for it. We recently discovered symphylans in our strawberry boxes. Are there any surefire, organic ways to obliterate them & keep them from spreading through the rest of the garden? Or is it over for the strawberry plants, the dirt, & the boxes? I'm willing to do anything but use the illegal insecticide my dad has D: thank you!!

Hi! Thank you for the kind words, and also for the ask!

Symphylansare tough little dudes to get rid of! They may have been living in your soil already, or they might have been brought in if you’ve recently added organic matter to your soil; check compost really carefully for them before adding it to garden boxes, and heat compost to about 160 degrees Fahrenheit to kill any that might be hiding in comport before adding it to your soil.

That said, there are a few organic, no-spray ways that you can get rid of them:

Flood your boxes in the wintertime. Once the growing season is over and everything has been either removed from the garden or is dormant, if you flood the boxes and let them stay like that for the winter, they’ll be drowned and go away. 

Till the ground and let it lay fallow for a year without watering it, effectively starving them out. Alternatively, till the ground and let it lay fallow in the fall, without putting on a winter cover crop. (This is risky, as it runs you the very real risk of winter erosion.)

Add way too much organic matter to the soil. This seems like it’d be counterproductive, but if you’ve only got a few of them and they haven’t started to do a lot of damage yet, overadding organic matter like mulch or compost might be a good way to keep them at bay while also getting them to leave your plants alone. That’s because symphylans are decomposers and if they have an easier food source they’re going to go to it.

Those are the best ways that I can think of. Another great tip that I have for you is to check your local state university’s extension office and ask to speak to a Master Gardener. They’re certified in what they do and these professionals are not only the best in their field, they;re also passionate about spreading and sharing their gardening knowledge with others! Master Gardeners are the shit and I’d love to be one someday.

Keep in mind too that if you’re seeing an outbreak in symphylans it’s because you have a good soil. They’re attracted to soils with a high organic matter and lots of moisture, so even just keeping your soils a bit too dry for them to be happy will send them deeper underground where they’ll leave you and your plants alone.

Hope that helped! Please let me know if ou have any follow up questions! :D

[spectralarchers]

@remustheravenclaw said something about bees and sunflowers and it reminded me of this video I took two years ago on my terrace ❤️

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

so yote it be

inDEED

(i’m answering old asks rn, the box isn’t open yet, im trying to get through a shitload of requests)

[moonblossom]

remustheravenclaw replied to your photo “Uuugghhh. At least the front door opens inwards. #snow #blizzard (at...”

The imprint of the front door really makes this picture :D how deep is the snow beyond the drift?

Yeah the door imprint cracked me up. It was about 8″ at that point, now it’s up near a foot, apparently.

clevermanka replied to your photo “Uuugghhh. At least the front door opens inwards. #snow #blizzard (at...”

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

cccccccccckkkkkkkkkkk

brainfuzz replied to your photo “Uuugghhh. At least the front door opens inwards. #snow #blizzard (at...”

We got 3+ inches of rain from that storm, which makes me very happy it wasn't snow.

Jesus, yeah. They say it’s approximately one foot of snow to one inch of rain so...

sarcellesonja replied to your photo “Uuugghhh. At least the front door opens inwards. #snow #blizzard (at...”

We come from the same bled. I took the bus at 10:30 and it was like a sea of snow.... up to my knees in our entryway. ❄️��❄️

Ouache! Je suis super chanceuse que j’avais pas besoin de sortir ajd.

[archaeologysucks]

Hey there! My family is going to be digging a utilities trench and a house foundation in the Eatonville WA area. Is that the kind of thing an archaeologist comes and monitors? Or that an archaeologist is called to only if something is found? A couple months ago my uncle found an arrowhead on the lake shore, but without knowing if it washed up, washed down the hill, etc., there wasn't any context. The arrowhead was found about 100 ft from where the foundation will be.

Usually any time land development happens that requires permit, there’s an archaeological component involved. Archaeologists will start by looking at historical records of the land usage, as well as past land disturbance, and what other sites have been found nearby, to determine how likely it is that there could be undisturbed cultural deposits within the area of development. If there is a chance of intact cultural deposits, they might recommend either a survey of the area, or an archaeological monitor onsite during excavation. 

I’m not involved in the logistics/research/permitting side of things, so my knowledge of the exact process and how and when those decisions are made is a little vague.