21 April 2024
Spent my Christmas gift cards today. In the front went four coleuses. The Chocolate Velveteen blends in with the dirt, but it’s between the large bleeding heart and the birdbath base. Spiced Curry is dead center, Coleosaurus (which is a fantastic name) is just above the purple coral bell on the right side. The Great Falls Yosemite is tucked between the nandina bush and the alliums on the stair side of the path.
Filled both over-the-railing planters with impatiens. Went lavender and light pink this year.
In the back, I filled in no-man’s land with annuals. Got two more lantana (yellow and white with yellow centers), and three angelonia (pink, white, and purple).
And filled the last empty spaces between the flagstones. White Star Creeper in the middle, County Park pratia around the big paver.
Chives and alliums about to bloom.
18 April 2024
More fiddleheads on the ferns
Getting into seed season. Sprinkled two varieties of larkspur in and around the cardinal flowers and irises. Canterbury bells went in front and behind the pink snapdragons on the step side of the path.
Potted fennel is doing quite well. This is what I had the swallowtail caterpillars on in the front last year (and think there wasn’t quite enough plant for them). I hope they find it again this year and are able to make it all the way to the chrysalis stage.
No real updates on the neighbor. I’ve been pretty matter-of-fact in my posts about the whole situation, but it is really quite stressful. Even though the police were gone by eleven last night, I didn’t fall asleep until almost one and still woke up about every hour. I’ve been sleeping in my guest bedroom for over a week now, because the bangs and stomping up and down the stairs at all hours makes it impossible to sleep in my own bed. It’s not a tenable situation, and I’m afraid that’s still going to be an issue even if the illegal activity is dealt with. I’ve very much been distracting myself with my garden, but that’s only good for daylight hours.
fourthage reblogged
The SWAT team just rolled up at my neighbor’s house. Guys with the shields and everything. Announced several times on a megaphone that they had a search warrant and that all occupants needed to come out with their hands up.
SWAT team’s rolled out. One person was put in a van and left with them. The others went back into the house still handcuffed with a bunch of regular police officers. The group chat is, as you might imagine, very busy as folks are sharing what they can see from their various vantage points.
It’s all very exciting to be sure, but they are banging around a lot and I do have work tomorrow. Hopefully whatever they’re doing doesn’t go on for too long.
My favorite (???) part of this is probably the one officer who’s just hanging out in front with a stack of papers and a laptop on the hood of the unmarked police SUV, clearly getting a head start on the paperwork.
Things seem to be winding up. Four people (one man and three women) came back out still in handcuffs and were put in police cars. Officers are coming out of the house now too and one was carrying a bunch of small evidence bags.
My neighbor himself, somehow, seems to not be one of the ones arrested. He was seen being taken back into the house in handcuffs, but wasn’t one of the ones brought back out. Given that he’s the owner and let all of this happen in the first place, it’s very frustrating to see everyone but him have consequences.
fourthage reblogged
The SWAT team just rolled up at my neighbor’s house. Guys with the shields and everything. Announced several times on a megaphone that they had a search warrant and that all occupants needed to come out with their hands up.
SWAT team’s rolled out. One person was put in a van and left with them. The others went back into the house still handcuffed with a bunch of regular police officers. The group chat is, as you might imagine, very busy as folks are sharing what they can see from their various vantage points.
It’s all very exciting to be sure, but they are banging around a lot and I do have work tomorrow. Hopefully whatever they’re doing doesn’t go on for too long.
My favorite (???) part of this is probably the one officer who’s just hanging out in front with a stack of papers and a laptop on the hood of the unmarked police SUV, clearly getting a head start on the paperwork.
fourthage reblogged
The SWAT team just rolled up at my neighbor’s house. Guys with the shields and everything. Announced several times on a megaphone that they had a search warrant and that all occupants needed to come out with their hands up.
SWAT team’s rolled out. One person was put in a van and left with them. The others went back into the house still handcuffed with a bunch of regular police officers. The group chat is, as you might imagine, very busy as folks are sharing what they can see from their various vantage points.
It’s all very exciting to be sure, but they are banging around a lot and I do have work tomorrow. Hopefully whatever they’re doing doesn’t go on for too long.
The SWAT team just rolled up at my neighbor’s house. Guys with the shields and everything. Announced several times on a megaphone that they had a search warrant and that all occupants needed to come out with their hands up.
17 April 2024 (2 of 2)
This is one of the posts that falls more firmly into personal reference, so I can look back and see where things were at certain times.
Above, my fuzzy yellow yarrow with buds, and the current state of the perennial sunflower.
At least one iris will bloom this year!
I had no buds last year on the peony during its first spring in the garden, so I’m excited to see that it will bloom this year.
Chives getting ready to bloom (top) and more allium buds (bottom).
Joe Pye Weed coming up (top) with the creeping thyme greening again with the warmer weather, and new growth on most of the trimmed branches of the relocated climbing rose (bottom).
17 April 2024 (1 of 2)
Lots of things to post progress pictures of! This is the (mostly) flowers half.
Above, the first coral bell flowering of the year.
Candytuft (white flowers) blooming. Just behind them you can see the buds on the alliums, and to their right you can see the sedum just starting to poke out. I may need to move the lupine again. It is getting swallowed by the tickseed.
The new hostas planted a few weeks ago have come up and are looking good.
Creeping Veronica starting to bloom.
Jacob’s ladder blooming.
And moving to the back, the Chinatown tulips have made their appearance.
So have the latest blooming of the miniature daffodils, Sun Disc (Librije tulips above them).
Catching them on the back end, but the lovely bunches of the Silver Chimes daffodils, currently my only completely white variety.
What’s everybody’s most useless skill? If you show me any picture of Godzilla I can tell you exactly which Godzilla suit it is and who was wearing it.
What about this one
This is from Godzilla Minus One and it’s CGi. No suit actor involved in this movie (but the big Godzilla head in the water was a practical effect).
I welcome anyone to challenge me on this
How about this one??
Oh shit now this is a challenge! I’m 100% sure that the suit is the SoshingekiGoji suit, but this suit was used in like 4 different movies, so the real challenge is figuring out which movie this is.
I’m pretty sure this shot is from Godzilla Destroy All Monsters (the first movie that this suit was used in), because of the lack of wear and damage to the suit.
And we know that Godzilla is being played by Haruo Nakajima in this shot because of which movie this is (but it’s also extremely obvious based on Godzillas posture)
That is:
A: 100% correct
B: Incredibly hot
damn right
13 April 2024
My next door neighbor (not that one) and I have been saying for a couple of years that we’ll split the cost of trimming her tree since she wants to trim the branches closest to her house and I want to trim the ones that hang over my yard to give me some dappled light instead full shade. I’ve wanted a dogwood for a while, so this will be my motivator to get it done this year. Don’t want my new baby tree to wither away.
Geraniums blooming!
Got some snapdragons and marigolds at a local general store. Snapdragons went in and around the snowdrops, since they’re about done and will be cut back soon. Marigolds filled in some open areas along the footpath.
First true leaves (front right pot) on the love-in-a-mists.
Got a doozy of a neighbor update.
To set the stage, since I was added to the group chat, I've usually had 20-30 messages waiting for me when I get off of work. Today? 243 unread messages. Also for context, a couple days ago one of the visitors was caught on camera doing a drug that was probably meth on the curb in front of my house.
Around 12:30 today, a message goes out to the chat telling everyone to stay inside - a gun was just spotted. One guy was pointing it at another guy and pushing him down the steps (neither one is my actual neighbor). 911 is called, there ends up being a total of nine police cars, including K-9 units, on site. There's a helicopter overhead. Everyone in the house is made to exit one at a time and is handcuffed as they come out. Several very young (not minors, but pretty close) women are among those exiting. All the handcuffs eventually come back off of everyone except a guy who had an outstanding warrant. Most of the people who came from the house disperse. I get to read all of this hours later.
One of my neighbors chatted with a sergeant afterwards and shared his business card with the chat. I guess we'll see what happens? I don't need this kind of excitement!
I joined the neighborhood group chat less than a week ago and it has almost doubled in size since as everyone is watching this in horror. A couple of highlights (please read sarcastically): one member saw my neighbor take a machete into his house, and another neighbor shared video of a guy sitting on the curb in front of my house very clearly doing some kind of drug.
All the neighbors with cameras so far are across the street, and I think they’re really hoping I get one since I’m best positioned to see what they’re doing and saying. I’m starting to think I need to, but I want it to be wired and the video held locally. What a mess.
08 April 2024
Baby fern fronds! One of my new ferns planted in the front last fall. I think this is one that’s supposed to get 2-3 feet tall? I adore the curls every time.
Love-in-a-mist seedlings coming along. The two that look like nothing’s there have just broken the soil, so every pot has at least one seed that germinated. I’ll thin after they develop their true leaves.
And in the back, Queen of Night tulips (love my dark purple/black flowers) and what should be my new Silver Chime daffodils about to bloom.
New-this-year hosta under the stairs coming along, and the recently planted bugleweed is blooming.
Hosta that was moved from pot to ground last fall is happy so far.
City of Haarlem hyacinths looking more like what I expected with the super pale yellow coloring. Just had to wait for them to mature a little more, I guess.
And the current view along the footpath right now. Still deciding what I want to do in the no man’s land between the rows of bulbs.
fourthage reblogged
It's almost MOONDAY! To celebrate, here's a redraw of a piece I did to celebrate the 2017 eclipse!
The sun is more mellow now. There was a lot of rage in 2017 generally.
fourthage reblogged
thinking about that sheet of elf drawings by ryoko kui and it's a Bunch of women looking amazing as hell and then there's like astarion really small in one corner and he looks like he was traced from the box art
And how her only comment on him is "Hrm, he's popular right now"
she doesn't give a FUCK about him it's so funny