#How To Grow A Grape Plant From A Cutting

[seresinhangmanjake]

Stolen Angel - part 2

Demon!Jake Seresin x reader

Summary: You thought you were having a one-night stand with some random, normal guy. Turns out he’s a winged, demon-like stalker who has been obsessed with you for years.

Warnings/Notes: Jake is a little dark. Kidnapping. Manipulation. Obsessive behavior. Brief smut 18+. I’m sure there are typos. This used to be a different fic for August Walker, so if you see it, it’s fine. I wrote that one too.

Words: 1551

Part 1, Part 3

He moans so sweetly for such a strong, toned man. And it’s odd.

As he moves in and out of you, filling and stretching, his lips graze across one of your cheeks before he makes his way to the other, his nose nudging yours between those kisses. 

You try to meet his thrusts harder so you can get him to fuck you faster, but he plants a giant hand on your hipbone to hold you in place so he can continue at the pace he wants. It is not a pace you are used to, and certainly not one you expected, but you don’t hate it. 

Eventually, you succumb to it, you thrive in it, and when he flips you over and you sink down onto his cock, you keep it slow. You would like to think his hands on your waist are stopping you from increasing speed, but they just rest there, occasionally moving to your ass or breasts and gently squeezing. 

“Beautiful,” he sighs, eyes locked onto yours. “Absolutely beauti–”

You shoot up at the sound of knocking at the door, instantly groaning at the ache of your healing back. There is more healing to be done, but you’ve made rapid progress, and, to your dismay, you’re slowly starting to get used to the weight of the new appendages. You’d resisted accepting the wings at first, but after multiple mornings of waking to find them still attached to you, you gave up on the idea that any of this could be a dream.

There’s another knock. You have no idea why he bothers, seeing as he hadn’t bothered with politeness when he invaded your body with whatever drug he used to get you here. But then, true to character, he opens the door and walks right in despite your missing permission. 

The small tray in Jake’s hands is covered with an assortment of what appears to be familiar foods, but you’re no more certain that they are real than you are certain that the view outside of your window is real, or that he is real. There could be a monster under that handsome disguise. A fitting figure to match how he has treated you. His skin could be an unnatural color, bones twisted and mangled, teeth razor sharp, with eyes to compliment his misplaced soul. 

You hope you’re wrong. You hope you didn’t let a creature like that inside of you. 

As Jake nears, the blaze of his gaze over your body is unashamed and cuts into your skin like a heated knife. “Tell me you didn’t sleep in that again,” he says, disappointed.

You glance down at the dark brown smock cinched at your waist with a thin piece of rope; the first item of clothing given to you after your wings had finished growing.

“What happened to the nightgown?”

“It’s see-through," you huff.

“And?” he questions, setting the tray on the table beside your bed. “I’m the only one who will see you in it, and I’ve seen you in nothing at all, so what does the opacity of the fabric have to do with your not wearing it?”

“I don’t like it."

“So what did you do with it?”

Your eyes flick to the fireplace on the other side of the room, the fire long burnt out since its lighting the night before, and Jake’s head turns to follow. He sighs, clicks his tongue, and says, “I’ll bring you another.”

“I don’t want anoth—”

“You need to eat,” he interrupts, nudging the tray closer to you. “You haven’t in days.”

You get a better view of the fat, green grapes, and thin apple slices next to cubes of cheese and round plums. All foods you enjoy… coincidentally? No, suspiciously. You’re increasingly wary of the hints telling you that he knows so much about you.

“Not hungry,” you tell him, crossing your arms like a petulant child. 

“Yes you are, you little liar. I heard your stomach groaning from down the hall,” he replies with a slight smirk. “So, you’re going to eat whether you want to or not. I don’t need you getting any ideas about starving yourself until you’re skin and bones,” he says. “That’s not to say I wouldn’t still find you appealing, but I prefer the woman I love to be a touch livelier than that.”

Just when you think you’ve gotten over the last of the nausea, another wave rolls through you—you would rather be skin and bones than be anything that pleases him—but then the sickness is overpowered by a rush of gritty determination. 

“I don’t care what you like or prefer,” you spit back. “You want to dress me up and feed me as if you’re trying to play house, but I am not your girlfriend, I am not your wife, and I am not your toy. All you’ve done is kidnap me and put me through unbearable pain, so drop the bullshit.”

Jake’s fists are balled at his sides by the end of your words, face harshly contorted, eyebrows knitted, and the corners of his mouth tipping down. 

“You think I wanted you to hurt?” The low rumble of his voice shakes the walls. The vase of flowers on your other bedside table shatters. A small frame you’ve never noticed before falls from its hook and smashes to pieces on the stone flooring. “You think I enjoyed hearing your screams? I wish I could’ve taken it all away, but that's not possible!”

You stand sharply, sturdy despite the tremor of the floor, and try pushing him back, but he doesn’t budge this time. He’s like a brick wall, tall and six feet thick. 

“You could have left me alone!” Your fists slam into the rock-solid muscles of his arms and chest and shoulders; anywhere you can reach. “I’m not meant to be here! I don’t belong! I’m not supposed to be whatever the fuck you are, I'm supposed to be human!”

Jake snatches your wrists, presses them together, and wraps one large hand around both. Your eyes widen and wings fan out to keep you steady as you’re forced into a seated position on the mattress. The room descends into still silence, and with a tightening grip, Jake leans in until his nose nearly touches yours. 

“You are meant to be with me,” he growls. “You are my Angel, and you couldn’t return to your old life even if I released you. You are not human. This is your home now.”

You try your hardest to hold your position in the stare-off, but you're distracted by a bright red that begins to seep into the green of his eyes, like little tendrils slithering from the pupil and infecting the iris. It's barely noticeable, but it calls for you to back off, to stand down, and though you don’t want to, you have to look away. 

“I hate you,” you grumble.

Jake exhales heavily as he straightens to full height. “You will learn to love me,” he says. 

You look up to find all traces of that red gone. “How could I? Why would I even try?”

“Because I saved you from a miserable life in a useless world. Because no man could love you like I do,” he replies. “Because before you knew about any of this, you enjoyed having me in your bed.”

When he goes to tuck a stray piece of hair behind your ear with the hand not holding your wrists captive, you jerk your head to the side. “Bastard,” you mutter.

Jake chuckles dryly and releases you, but there is a warning in that chuckle, a threat in the way he frees your hands. You can feel it—how he wants you to understand that he will have no problem putting you in your place if you refuse to cooperate, but that for now, for reasons you’d be wise not to test, he's willing to be lenient.

“I don’t know what we are going to do about that rude mouth, Angel,” he says, crossing his arms. “I’m getting a bit sick of it.”

“Yea, well, then maybe you took the wrong girl.”

His lips pull into a closed-mouth grin as he stares down at you, almost in examination. After a few seconds, however, you realize it’s not examination, it’s adoration. He’s not scanning your face as if to memorize all of its fine details now that he has ample opportunity, he’s gazing appreciatively at what’s been previously memorized. As his eyes drink in your features, you’re starting to believe he could map them out in complete darkness if necessary; he could paint your portrait with no source of light. They follow the curl of your eyelashes, trace the bow of your lips, give attention to each faded freckle as if caressing a long-lost lover. 

“No, I didn’t,” is all he says before he turns and walks to the door. He pauses halfway through and points a finger at the tray of food. “Eat,” he demands. “And I want that attitude sorted out by the time I come back.”

Plucking a grape from the bunch, you hurl it his way as the door shuts behind him. You miss, of course. Because, somehow, he’s just a tad too quick. Somehow, he’s always one step ahead of you.

tags: @wkndwlff @kmc1989 @sagittarius-flowerchild @dempy @oliviah-25 @rosiahills22 @xoxabs88xox @matisse556 @hardballoonlove @lynnevanss @pono-pura-vida @tgmreader @amgluvsbooks @ravenhood2792 @djs8891 @shakespeareanwannabe @penguin876 @tgmavericklover @athenabarnes @emilyoflanternhill @wretchedmo @shanimallina87 @crowsreadsarahjmaas @mamachasesmayhem @sky2nd @jessicab1991 @rosedurin @averyhotchner @horseshoegirl @roosteraloha @b-bradshaw @fandom-life-12 @hookslove1592 @buckysteveloki-me

[fandxmslxt69]

Alrighty! Lunch break time! Thots incoming!!!

*Ehem* Imagine, if you will, being tangled in the sheets with Loki. You’re both in Asgard, and the stars are just starting to twinkle in the night sky. There’s a soft breeze wafting in through the ornate palace windows, and the two of you are comfortable in each other’s embrace… making love, obviously~

I can’t stop thinking about the way the soft satin sheets would slip around us. So soft and delicate between your fingers amidst your throes of passion. There’s something inherently godly about it, I think. Like, Loki wants to worship you like the goddess he sees you as. The whole lounging while being hand fed grapes kind of vibe, if that makes sense.

Anyways, when you’re done, you’re not really done. You just keep rolling over for the next round until the sun peeks from the horizon…

So, those are my thots for today! 🤭

oh beloved...i am thinking thinking things....

a littleeee different but i loved the hazy 'drunk on love and pleasure' vibes and i just couldnt help it

more under the cut (warnings: silly cute fluffy SMUT.)

You hum sleepily, feeling the press of your lover's soft lips on your shoulder, trailing down your arm. You had settled into bed just a little ago after a few...exciting rounds with Loki in the shower.

The bed dipped as he settled into bed behind you, arms wrapped around your waist. You were immediately hyperaware of the fact that he had decided not to put on any clothing after stepping out of the shower. It didn't help that you wore nothing either.

You wiggle around, turning to face him with a happy smile. "Hi," You whisper, a stupid smile growing on your lips.

He smiled back, and oh it took your breath away. Something about today was very different; you couldn't get enough of each other. Loki ended up cancelling all his plans for the day, and you both stayed inside, tossing and turning and getting drunk on the feeling of one another. And yet after eternity, you remained constantly bewitched by Loki. You could never grow tired of him, of the feeling of him.

His ethereal beauty, especially his smile. The way his eyes twinkled with that telltale mischief, the ease and comfort that oozed off him, the trademark smirk that seemed reserved for you.

You snuggled closer to him and his hold on you tightened as he pressed a kiss to your forehead. "Hello darling wife,"

You ran a hand over his chest, enjoying the way his muscles contracted under your touch. You felt so safe, so full of joy in the comfort of your bed.

"Hi," You said again. Loki chuckled softly, his hand drawing circles on the dip of your hips. You leaned up, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

It was obviously the wrong move, because it wasn't for another thirty seconds before Loki was kissing you senseless; all tongue and lazy, messy kisses. It made you squirm as you rolled over on top of him and he sat up slightly, hands roaming your body slowly. Your hands raked through his messy curls, soft pants and groans escaping the two of you.

You could feel him growing hard, and you knew this was how it would go for the rest of the night. You'd wake up in pain tomorrow, and deliciously sore, but you also knew that meant Loki would stay with you for the day again.

You moan quietly, grinding yourself against Loki's length.

Tomorrow could wait. Outside, the night was still young, stars beginning to twinkle on Asgard's sky.

You could reconsider your choices when the sun returns to the sky. For now, you kissed Loki deeper as his hands planted themselves firmly on your hips, sure to leave marks to be added to ones already covering your body.

For now, you could just get lost in the feeling of your husband as he entered you slowly, a deep moan rumbling through him, and the pure look of pleasure on his face as you lifted yourself and slowly sank back down.

For tonight, you could just stay drunk on each other.

[the-habitat-ring]

The (Real) Stardew Valley Farm Update 2024

I’m wrapping up my third year trying to grow everything from Stardew Valley in our yard, with substitutions as needed, preferably with Midwest USA native plants.

I’m continuing to battle the invasive plants (why won’t the honeysuckle and thistles stop?????), beg for truckloads of woodchips (Google decided our address isn’t real anymore), and deal with a body and brain that makes going outside impossible sometimes (the past two years have been rough medically). But despite all of that I still managed to make a ton of progress!

Here’s how things stand as of now. If you’re looking back at previous posts you might notice some differences, but that’s mainly because things I planted died (drought + medical crises don’t bode well for newly established plants). I’ve also added the additional crops from the new update.

2021

Amaranth - Native white amaranth

Grape - Native riverbank grapes (so many grapes). I’m hopefully going to successfully propagate some cuttings from the neighbor’s green cultivated variety

Dandelion - Obviously

Maple Tree - Native silver, red, and sugar maples

Pine Tree - Douglas fir

Apple Tree - Three old apple trees of different varieties in very rough shape. I’ve been working to prune them up and two are looking a lot better. I’d love an Enterprise apple tree at some point

Coffee Bean - Chicory (a naturalized plant commonly used as a coffee substitute)

Salmonberry - Native black raspberries since salmonberries aren’t from around here, although I really want to add raspberries of various colors in the future

Starfruit - Native wood sorrel

Cave Carrot - Queen Ann’s Lace, AKA wild carrot

2022

Kale

Rhubarb

Strawberry - Both cultivated and native

Tulip

Radish

Tomato

Eggplant

Fairy Rose - Native prairie rose

Cranberries - Native cranberry viburnum

Orange Tree -Native persimmons, which produce orange fruit

Daffodil

Spring Onion - Native nodding onions

Spice Berry - Native spicebushes

Wild Plum - Native plums

Crocus

Cherry Tree - Native black cherries and nonnative bush cherries

Banana Tree - Native pawpaws, which are also known as Indiana bananas

Sweet Gem Berry - Native Juneberry (Downy Serviceberry)

2023

Garlic - Native wild garlic

Blueberries - I planted three varieties and only one survived. Don’t shortcut your bed preparation, friends

Wild Horseradish - Not wild, but contained with my mint

Hops - Teamaker hops which is good for tea since we’re not alcohol fans

2024

Blue Jazz - Native Ozark Bluestar

Beets

Apricot Tree - Native passionflower vine, also known as wild apricot

Sunflower - Both native and non-native sunflowers

Pumpkin

Cactus Fruit - Native prickly pear cactus

Melon - Cantaloupe

Oak Tree - Native dwarf chinquapin oak, which took me forever to get

Hot Pepper

Palm Tree/coconut - Native palm sedge

Poppy - Native purple poppy mallow, after other native poppies failed. I still want to grow bread seed poppies, though

Corn - Tried some gorgeous colored corn and popcorn that didn’t grow great but they did grow!

Green bean

Hazelnut - They’re supposed to be easy to grow but they do not like me. Third time’s the charm, right?

Carrot

Summer squash

Powder melon - I decided to do honeydew melon because it’s kinda powdery and I don’t really have any other ideas

Planned for 2025 and beyond

Potato

Pineapple - White strawberries (pineberries)

Winter Root - Hopniss, a native root vegetable

Red Cabbage

Artichoke - Native Jerusalem artichokes

Yam

Bok Choy

Leek

Fiddlehead Fern - Ferns do not like me

Blackberry

Crystal Fruit - Probably honey berries, which produce fruit earlier than anything else

Ancient Fruit - Native Aronia berries. They’re blue(ish) and have lots of antioxidants so you live to be ancient

Tea Leaves - Native New Jersey Tea bush. The previous ones were murdered by rabbits

Mango Tree - I thought one of our pawpaws was a variety called mango but I was wrong

Ginger - I want to try growing native wild ginger again

Rice - Native rough-leaved rice grass

Wheat - I have some gorgeous ornamental blue wheat seeds

Summer Spangle - Possibly native prairie lily? I was unsuccessful growing it from seed this year but maybe in the future

Parsnip - I can’t get them to germinate to save my life but one day I will be successful

Sweat pea

Holly - Native winterberry holly

Mushrooms - I'm just gonna ignore varieties and try some plugs or similar

Peach - Vine peach. It’s a melon, and more doable than a tree

Mahogany Tree - I think I’ll resort to mahogany nasturtiums

Broccoli

Pomegranate Tree - I could try Russian pomegranates?

Taro Root - I would have to plant it in pots

Snow Yam - Not actually a yam but maybe native sweet potato vine?

Qi Fruit - Very creepy, not sure what to do with this

Over halfway there! If anyone has suggestions for plants please let me know because I’m still stuck on a few and very open to alternatives.

In other news, I’m making Stardew Valley Fair displays with cross stitch patches for each of the items I’ve added that year. I’ll have to post pics of those at some point.

[dark-elf-writes]

Also just thinking of the twins’ powers in general for the transmasc Percy AU.

Like I’ve mentioned a few times that Castor has some control over madness that he hides because he thinks people would be scared of him but I think Pollux also hides the majority of his powers from everyone that isn’t his brother and Percy because it makes sense that they are two sides of the same coin and the jump from Revelry to Madness isn’t a very big one.

So the twins pretend that their only power is their limited control over plants and no one really notices how Pollux’s eyes are particularly bright and tinged purple when nights around the bonfire get particularly rowdy or how the people who tried to kill Castor in the battle of the labyrinth fall to hysterics, cackling even as they started to claw at their own faces. They’re just Dionysus kids after all. Nothing special.

(Percy notices. Percy sees them like no one else ever has. Percy who smuggles in grape juice and has the three of them lock themselves into the twin’s cabin to see if they had some limited control over liquids as well. Percy who throws his head back and laughs loudest, who shouts the campfire songs even louder, to watch as Pollux’s grin gets wider and wider and his eyes grow ever brighter. Percy who cut down the people who tried to kill his friend both for revenge and to keep castor’s secret until his friend was comfortable sharing it.)

[t-mblr-begone]

HI I JUST FINISHED TNG AND AM AUTISTIC I NEED TO TALK (warning long ass post, ramblings)

Q in his stupid fucking judge outfit???? Oh my god i love him so much?? And like?? I dont even think he wanted to put picard on trial at the end he says it was the continuums orders so did he even want to do that too him? Who knows!! We do know hes gay as shit though oh my god. I love him.

The past, the Encounter At Farpoint, picard yelling for Q on the bridge and everyone probably thinking hes insane. Picard not telling any of them whats going on, even though it doesnt affect the other timelines. Tasha Yar???? Hi Tasha!!!!!! Worf with his old sash, the old uniforms, the shitty dress deanna wore in the first episode (it slayed), data being. So autistic. Liek actually hold on can i talk about tha

This episode, with all its converging timelines, really shows how data grows- not just as a character just in general, as the years go by on the ship, he starts understanding idioms, somewhat. He. He gets more human. He really does. His movements more fluid, hes smarter. He really does grow, something about his neural net constantly evolving or something. Oh my god.

The shitty future?? Worf liking Deanna Romantically Cannon??? Riker was still holding on to the relationship this whole time?? (I never noticed really. Im. Autistic.) PICARD AND CRUSHER GOT MARRIED. And then divorced BUT STILL. Picard back on earth?? Tending to what i can only assume to be grape plants or something, like his brother. Data teaches at Cambridge. He has grey hair, thinks it makes him more distinguished. Geordi has eyes! Like in two different timelines he has eyes.

Thats another thing actually, like i could have sworn at least in the earlier seasons, he didnt want. Eyes? I thought?? But like. It seems like a minor Thing, cause it showed up in that one Riker Gets Kidnapped By A Child Alien Because Its Lonely episode. And again here, and probably other places i can't remember because ive consumed all of tng in 2 months.

The present. I dont have shit to say about that actually. It sure is season 7.

OH MY GOD THE BEGINNING OF THW EPISODE BEFORE Q REAVEALS HIMSELF?? How we dont know if he Is travelling through time or if hes Going Senile. The cuts?? I mean the cuts through the whole episode is so good the cinematography in general!!!! Oh my god. The close ups, the panning, THE ACTING?? TASHA YAR??? EARLY WORF? OLD WORF? I like worf. GEORDI? DATA???? love brett spiner.

And i mean who remembers the judge scene from the first episode at this point? The foreshadowing with the jury(?)/audience(?) i didnt even. Realize until they put Picard on the stand again.

DEANNA BEING FUCKING DEAD IN THE FUTURE HELLO?????????????

Oh my god but the end scene. The end shot of the poker game? Imagine seeing the future, all your friends, drifted apart, tense at each other with worf and riker. Seeing that. And then coming back to reality, to Your Time. And seeing your friends as they are right then. Why didnt picard join them for poker?

No like actually. Did. Did he have a reason for that? Some like, weird captain thing? Or like. Some weird barrier wall thing? Thing where he feels like he should isolate himself.

But the point is, he joins his friends for some poker, i dont think he had probably played poker in years. Its just. Amazing.

You know. I think this is one of the first times ive seen her again and not cried, which is progress because every other time it was. Not great.

But now that tngs over

Hey does tumblr have a word limit? We're about to find out.

But now that tngs over, theres still a lot i have to ask. Like why the fuck did they do that to wesley? Do we see wesley again? Is still dont know who b-4 is. Whats Ro doing now? Is she good? Do we see her again? Does she know kira? Do ro and kira meet? Probably not actually. Itd probably be cool though. Do worf and deanna get married? Please. I ne- oh wait no they cant bc worf has a thing with jadzia at some point. What the fuck is up with worf and jadzia? And also where is alexander now? When does worf join ds9? Probably season 3 idk. Or Barclay? Cheif o'brien? Cause the show ran concurrently for a bit. WHY DONR WORF AND DEANNA GET MARRIED THEYRE LIKE PERFECT???? What the fuck is that guy with the ears damar? Gamar? I think its damar? Idk. Why he look like that? IS RO GOING TO DIE??

Oh hey i get to meet sisko, hes cool. He gets like visions or some shit. Q doesnt like him i think "picard never hit me ):" "im not picard."

Q and Quark. Odo and Q. Do we get to see the cunty judge outfit again? Why does he have a mustache when hes boxing sisko or whatever?

OH I GET TO SEE FUCK ASS DUKAT THEOW DARTS AT HIM EVIL. Fun.

Okay yeah im done

[merrimentsmight]

Cicero and Listener gathering flowers for Mother, then killing people who're bounty hunting the Listener and then just having a cute camp/picnic while still covered in blood,,,,, that's my favourite daydream of Cici

Mother needed dragon's tongue, Cicero said. He would always bring her flowers, and make sure they were fresh and fragrant. It was sweet, and it made him happy. The Listener suspected it made Mother happy, too. So they were picking dragon's tongue off the side of the road south of Windhelm. The Listener was being careful, picking only a few blossoms from each plant to keep them growing and healthy. Cicero was less calculating, and picked whichever ones he thought best, even if that was every flower the plant had to offer. When they had a full basket of flowers, the Listener rested, sitting on the side of a stone ledge, and began to pick wild jazbay grapes, popping some of the sweet berries into their mouth and adding some to the over-crowded basket.

Cicero kept gathering flowers. They watched him flit about in the late afternoon sun, mumbling and laughing to himself and looking, gods bless him, content. “And there was the one with the, no, no that won't do, too crass. Oh, terribly, terribly crass. But perhaps if I reworded it...” he mumbled to himself, following a train of thought whose beginning and end were as obfuscated to himself as anyone else. They were so caught up in looking at him that they didn't notice the quickly approaching footsteps on the road behind them, despite the fact that they were far from stealthy.

“Well!" said Cicero sharply, catching the Listener's attention, “It looks like we have company. Should Cicero set another place at the table?” The rest of the world came back into focus, and they hopped off of the ledge to stand next to him.

“Perhaps it's nothing," they said, as the group approached, "perhaps they'll just keep walking.” They both hoped that it was not nothing, and that they would be stupid enough to make trouble. They both got their wish.

“You! We know who you are,” said one of them, a thick-accented Dunmer near the front.

"Oh?” They asked, clutching the basket of flowers like an innocent youth. A sentiment undercut by Cicero's grim laughter.

“Yeah.” He returned, stepping dangerously closer, “and ever since what you did to the Emperor you've got a mighty fine price on your head, too.” He was in leather armor, as were most of his cadre, and the leather was from cows and not netches. They hadn't traveled too terribly far for the bounty. The Listener wondered how far rumors had spread, and who was spreading them. They had gone to great lengths to remove witnesses in the past.

“Do you have proof, or are you going to execute me on your hunch alone?” They asked.

“Please. You have the jester with you. There's only one little redheaded jester in all of Skyrim, far as I know, and he's your one.”

“Oh! Cicero feels terribly special,” he said, knives already drawn. But he did like that idea of possession, that even strangers knew who he was, and who the Listener was, and that he was theirs.

The Listener smiled in that way they did, sharp and nasty, that made Cicero's heart start beating even faster than the thrill of the impending fight did. The good name of the Dark Brotherhood had been tarnished so badly that these poor men had no idea what they were up against. The man reached for the sword on his belt, and Cicero, like a well trained attack dog, pounced.

He cut the man's throat before anyone knew what was happening. A spray of blood issued from the wound and covered Cicero and the Listener and the basket of flowers, which the Listener set gingerly behind them before drawing their own weapons and advancing to join Cicero in the throng. They made quick work of the rest of the bounty hunters, who reacted slowly, as if they had been expecting the assassins to surrender when outnumbered.

“Mash and bash and swipe and clash! Ha!” laughed Cicero, sidestepping to avoid overturning the discarded baskets of flowers, “nobody gets the best of the Dark Brotherhood.” The Listener allowed themself to laugh with him. When it was all said and done, they were ringed by the bodies of the dead and dying, sitting among the flowers and leaning on each other to laugh like children. By the time they stopped fighting, and then stopped laughing, the moons had come out.

“Oh,” said the Listener, pushing away from where Cicero had clutched them in his helpless mirthful peals, “I suppose we'll have to set up here for the night.”

“Mmhm,” said Cicero, still giggling. He lowered his bloody head onto their lap and popped a blood-splattered grape from their basket into his mouth. “Whatever you say, my Listener.”

[thriftingfreak]

Nothing Lasts Forever

Pairing: Luke Castellan x female ares!reader

Summary: Some moments in time where Luke and you can’t seem to figure out how you feel about one another. Part 1??? Maybe more if y’all like it!

Warnings: Yearning. Pretty much a yearning page at this point. Also a lot of background building. My bad yall. This is so long i’m sorry _____________________________________

the very first night

The day you rolled into camp is a day that will go down in infamy.

At least, for Luke it would.

There was no day he would ever remember more clearly.

The sun rose among the clouds beating down upon the plethora of kids and teenagers. He could remember helping some of the younger Demeter and Dionysus kids in the fields with their different crops ranging from strawberries to the beloved camp grapes. Luke wasn’t the biggest fan of grapes himself but he never turned down one from a Dionysus kid.

“Yes, those look perfect Courtney” A grin spread wide across his face as he watched the girl pluck a perfectly ripe strawberry from the plant. If anyone knew how to grow good fruit, it was a Demeter kid.

As he stood up, he brushed his khaki shorts clear of dirt. A flash of a shadow appeared from the corner of his eye. As he turned around, he came eye to eye with a very bewildered face.

“Where am I?” You muttered out. You bent over, placing your hands on your knees. He could tell that you had been running from something terrifying enough to prompt the expression.

“Camp Half-Blood” was all Luke could muster up.

“What?” Oh, this poor girl had no idea how her life was about to change.

“Are you okay?” Luke asked, looking you up and down. Your jean shorts were slashed and your right elbow looked like it had been burned.

You looked up after catching your breath, you shook your head. It was a dumb question, because anyone could see you clearly weren’t doing too great. To this day Luke still felt embarrassment from it.

But even with your confusion and aloofness, you followed him to the infirmary and get the cuts and gashes cleaned up.

Your feet dragged along the path, a couple feet behind him. When Luke turned around, your eyes were pointed toward the ground to the mud stained tennis shoes.

He wanted to explain Camp Half-Blood and every single thing that came with it, the good and the bad. Although now definitely wasn’t the best time. He was afraid you would burst into tears or worse, start hitting him. Luke learned that some of the campers react in that manor, the hard way. Thoughts rattled his brain trying to figure out the best decision.

“Why are you staring at me? Never seen a girl been chased by a big ass bear before?” you snipped at him. At least she wasn’t crying, he thought.

“Uh, actually I have” Luke smiled at you, hoping you would appreciate the sentiment.

You did not. A scowl festered on your face. Maybe from all this anger you’d end up being an Ares kid.

This thought process would prove him to be correct.

Entering the infirmary, he guided you over to a room with several beds. Collapsing on one of them, you shoved your shoes off. You brought your knees to your chest, staring at the ceiling. It was difficult to comprehend the sudden and profound change in your life. Luke knew the feeling all too well.

Luke sat down in the chair across from you. He watched you, almost with care. You seemed to notice though because you immediately sat up.

“Is someone going to explain what’s going on here?” He noticed the sudden quietness in your voice.

Taking a deep breath Luke started the same speech he gave every new camper, with some exceptions. He left out minor details usually directed toward young campers. You clearly weren’t young, at least 16 or 17. Pretty old for a new camper but hey, Luke didn’t discriminate. A part of him didn’t want to scare you away with all of the knew information, leading to little white lies.

“I’ll give you a tour tomorrow morning of camp but I think you should just rest up for now” Luke stood up, walking toward the door. As much as he wanted to stay, he knew the Apollo kids had to do their job.

“Oh by the way” He turned around to face you, “I’m Luke.”

You gave him a curt nod before shutting the door in his face. __________________________________________

a place in this world

It took a couple of months but it finally seemed like you were settling in. Even though your mom had told you about the Gods and Goddesses and how your father was a God, you didn’t have the heart to believe her. That was, until a hairy brown creature was chasing after you.

For the first time in weeks you noticed you didn’t wake up with a heavy heart, missing home.

Someone else noticed it too.

Luke, very slowly, had built up your trust. He really was a good guy, even though he annoyed the piss out of you at first. Countless lonely nights in the Hermes cabin had been made better by him. He would listen to you complain about everything and cry over missing your mom.

That was until an intense game of flag football concluded in being claimed.

After Chris had thrown the ball to some poor Athena kid, you chased after him. Yanking the strap around his waist so hard it sent him flying into the ground. When the ball launched up in the air, you had caught it, sprinting so hard you thought you were going to throw up. In the end, it didn’t end up counting as a point for your team, to your disappointment. Although when a red holographic boar appeared over your head, peace finally seemed to settle in your heart.

The Athena kid did end up in the infirmary after the game but in your defense no one had explained the rules of flag football to you.

On the other hand being claimed meant moving out of the Hermes cabin. In some ways, this was an upside. No more blue dye in your shampoo or whip cream on your face. You wouldn’t feel like you wanted to drown the Stoll brother.

The one who was affected by your claiming the most though was no other than Luke. So many warm nights of your body heat radiating off of his own were no longer. He couldn’t reach out to you in the dark anymore. Now it’s for the better, he thought.

Even with these bubbling feelings, he couldn’t force himself to come to terms with them. They would sit in the back of his throat, burning and itching. But maybe the pain was worth it.

That night he helped you pack your things up to move in with your newfound siblings.

“I wonder why it took so long to get claimed” You wondered out loud, shoving your childhood teddy bear into your backpack.

“The Gods do everything on their own time” Luke’s face fell into a solemn stare. You knew it was a touchy subject for him, specifically his own father. Ares may not have been the best shoulder to lean on but in his own ways he still managed to beat out Hermes by a mile.

Doing your best to shake his mind from it you said, “Did you see Bryce though? I really didn’t mean to yank him so hard” You smiled at Luke and in return you were granted the smallest laugh.

The next morning, you were itching to hang out with your friends (and distance yourself a tad from your brand new siblings). It was a group Luke got along with, but didn’t care much for. Gods knows why. Of course, however, your new found sister Clarisse remained a part of the friend group and Luke never really liked her. She was soft with you and some of your other siblings but rarely anyone else.

The rocky path crumbled under your shoes as you made your way to dinner. You swung your water bottle around your hands before spotting a warm and familiar face.

“Hey Poppy” a smile broached your face. You linked arms with the daughter of Athena. Even though you loved your friendship with Luke, Poppy was your number one. She had only been here for a month before your arrival, causing a very tight knitted bond between the two of you.

“How was the first night in the Ares cabin?” Sharing a look, you both knew the answer. You shrugged. There wasn’t much to share. Your brothers and sisters didn’t seem to hold their rage as well as you thought they might. Arguments ended in screaming matches. Or a dagger being thrown.

“Listen, I’m hot-headed but they really take it to the next level” You both giggled.

Right before you stepped up to the pavilion, Poppy unhooked your arms, turning to face you. “Are you sitting with us today or,” she paused and in air quotes she said “Lukie Pookie?”

Ah yes, the nickname everyone around camp designated upon him. You knew Poppy meant no harm by it but even just by the mention of him, it felt like a pillow smashed your stomach.

Brushing it off you quickly looked around for him, “I was planning on sitting with you guys and I don’t even think he’s here yet.”

Poppy raised an eyebrow and pointed to the curly haired boy across the pavilion. Shrugging once more, you grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the opposite side of the benches.

Your friends, a cluster of kids from different cabin, were gathered in their usual spot. Before you could even sit down, someone called out your name. Whipping around, it seemed as if the curly haired boy teleported.

“Speak of the devil” Poppy muttered. You lightly smacked her shoulder.

“Hey” A soft smile graced Luke’s lips, “Mind if I sit?”

Interesting.

His eyes lingered in yours for a moment before you shook yourself out of it.

“Of course!” You patted the spot next to you. You mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ to the group, just incase.

A flash of hesitation crossed his eyes but he plopped down anyway.

“Mhm! I’ve been meaning to ask you Luke” your friend Ben started “I was wondering if you could help me with my swordsmanship?”

Luke nodded quickly before turning to face you. It was the signal that he wasn’t interested in the conversation. Although you knew Ben would pry about it later as Ben was also a child of Hermes.

But he didn’t see things in the way you did. Instead Luke focused on how your hair fell in front of your eyes. It took everything he had in him to not move it. Others around him could talk and talk and talk but he was only ever focused on you. Over and over again he chose you. But what were best friends for, right? __________________________________________

snow on the beach

The sound of footsteps against a shallow pier never particularly bothered Luke. That was if they weren’t disturbing his peace.

The humming of the trees blowing in the wind, soothed his mind over. His eyes followed the way the fish swam with air bubbles peeking over the surface.

Watching the water helped slow everything down. His particularly dense relationship with his father was starting to wear down on him. Luke knew how even the scar on his face didn’t do his hatred justice.

Too clouded by his thoughts, he didn’t notice a familiar giggle breezing behind him.

You placed your fingers over Luke’s eyes and he immediately reached up to touch your hands.

He turned around and peered up, meeting your gaze. Luke’s breathe slowed when he met your eyes. There was a mutual sense of warmth between the two of you. Shared between little moments of laughter and light. And just by looking up at you, he knew he was in a little too deep.

Luke could, of course, fess up. But even the thought of that made him want to hurl his cookies. It’s not like he wanted these feelings and trust, he’s tried to get rid of them. They were more painful than awkward. The flutter in his stomach when you stood just a little to close to him. The way he caught his breath anytime you looked up at him and smiled. Or the shakiness in his throat and on his tongue whenever you quipped a snarky comment.

He quickly stood up reveling how he towered over you so easily.

His eyes glanced down to your hands which had been pulling something out of your jean pocket. A small string bracelet was cupped between your hands.

He snatched it from you, looking it over. It was covered in red and blue zig zags. His favorite colors.

“Hey” you whined, “I worked hard on that.”

A grin broke out on his face, “Is it for me?”

You frowned, “Well it was supposed to be but since you don’t seem to have much patience, I’ll be taking it right back!”

Before you could seize the gift back, Luke’s arm shot up in the air, holding the bracelet overhead. It was a trick he pulled on you plenty of times. Of course it did nothing but annoy you yet that was the fun of it.

Many could not dupe a child of Hermes. Even so, if there is one thing you inherited from your father it was the fight response in oppose to flight.

Your hands wrapped around the front of Luke’s orange t shirt, bunching it into a fist. Swiftly you yanked him back just enough before you efficiently shoved him backwards.

In the blink of an eye, he performed a large flop into the lake. Although the water that had skyrocketed upwards, dunked you clean with water. Worth it.

Now soaking wet, his mane of dark curly hair, bobbed up and down in the water.

“Not cool” He sputtered out. He pulled his upper body on the dock, holding his hand out for you to grab.

You sighed, knowing what was about to happen. In order to escape future prank endeavors, you had to let him do it.

Before you knew it, you were handing over your right to dry clothes.

Head hitting the water first, you tumbled off the deck. Your entire body, including the dry clothes, plunged into the inhospitable water. How on earth could fish swim in water this cold?

As soon as you breached the water, Luke shoved your head down. Well played.

“Was that necessary?” you groaned, water stuck in your ears and nose. Luckily it was pretty shallow otherwise you would have been way more upset.

“I have bad news” Luke paused, running a hand through his hair, “I think I lost your bracelet” He hesitantly waited for the backlash he was about to receive.

As soon as your mouth started to curl into a frown he knew it was over.

You dove headfirst into Luke. He tumbled back and you pushed him so far under he hit the sand. Although it wasn’t that deep, he managed to grab onto you, pulling you underwater with him.

Your laugh threw bubbles all around. His brown eyes shot open. For a minute he seemed like he was searching yours for something.

In just a couple of moments, it felt like the world stopped moving. You could feel the air in your lungs start to sting. Maybe it was time to resurface.

You mentally clocked all of the seconds you could spend underwater without passing out.

But when Luke smiled, all of your thoughts went muddy. He grabbed your hand, pulling you up.

You gasped for air, feeling the sharpness. It quickened when you realized Luke’s shirt cling to his body.

Look away look away look away look away.

A hint of rose rushed to your cheeks. You cursed yourself for thinking anything different.

After you two had burned every ounce of energy you had, you found yourself laying on the deck, eyes closed.

You could hear Luke breathe as his chest fell up and down.

The sun started to set in the distance, and the buzz of grasshoppers with Luke laying next to you is all you needed.

It’s all you ever wanted.

Almost as if he read your mind, Luke mumbled “I could lay here for hours.”

You hummed in response, simply glad he appreciated the sentiment as much as you did.

Something tickled your cheek with its moisture. You opened your eyes to find small snowflakes falling from the clouds. Snow, specifically snow at Camp Half Blood was rare.

It was weird, but it was fucking beautiful.

It crossed your mind that maybe it was Zeus’s doing, a little reward. You were reminded that even though the Gods had failed you time after time, there were small moments where none of it seemed to matter.

Like laying next to the boy who pulled at your heart strings when snow fell.

You glanced at Luke and caught a glimpse of his smile. The way his lips tugged at each other, you knew he felt the exact same way. It was provoking the way you both knew the ins and outs of one another.

In the back of your mind, you knew the snow wouldn’t last long as it was the start of summer. But oh how you enjoyed it so.

As some would say, nothing lasts forever.

———————————————————————

Authors note: I definitely meant to put this out sooner however I have been booked and busy! Now that it’s summer, I should definitely have more time to write because I love writing this stuff. Lemme know if you guys want more pieces in time of Luke and reader! Also if you have any requests or recommendations send them in!!!!

-Bee

[missmielyhoran]

Housemate

in which Y/N finds a cheap place to live...

(Werewolf!Harry × Florist!reader)

Masterlist

*****

Moving out was a hard task and harder than that was finding a place to live.

You thought packing your bags and moving out of your parents' house after one bad fight was some kind of badass move, but it came to bite you in the ass.

You were living in your best friend's apartment, but she herself was moving in with her boyfriend, and the apartment was already bought by the next owners, and you only had two days left.

Most of the places you saw were either too expensive, too shady, or too far from your shop.

Losing all hope, you sat down on the bench in the park and ate your burrito. Tears of frustration and anger were pricking in your eyes when a piece of paper flew straight on your face and stuck to it.

You removed it from your face groaning. The first thing you saw was 'housemate needed' in bold letters, and like fate pulling you in, you walked straight to the address, forgetting all about your burrito.

*****

Harry was in desperate need of a roommate. Someone would think being who he is, he wouldn't have to worry about bills and shit but it was a modern world, even his dad had to go to work.

His work pay wasn't cutting it, though. He was struggling to pay his bills and still have some money left for food and stuff or in his savings. Then Niall suggested getting a roommate like he did. The idea would have been great if he was a normal human being, but he wasn't. He was a walking danger.

A blaring warning signal on legs was who he was.

His house was beautiful if he said so himself. It was a decent size, two rooms, and a bathroom with an open kitchen-living room plan. Most of the walls decorated with pastels. Living room walls were baby blue but a specific shade he loved with loads of plants.

No one wanted to live near the forest, which was the problem. His house of near forest (for obvious reasons) and most of the people living there were either like him or old people who just wanted to live off their days in peace.

He had just plopped himself down on his couch when the bell rang. He stood up straight, something about whoever it was on the door made his senses perk up. He fixed his jeans and patchwork cardigan he made himself. Harry walked towards the door, the unknown feeling growing and growing.

He calmed and took a deep breath before opening the door. But when he did, he forgot how to breathe. There you were in a cute little yellow sundress with black boots and the biggest smile showing your dimple on the left cheek.

"Hi" You said like a bird in some disney movie. You looked like a disney character with big almost animated looking eyes, curly hair tied up in a half up do.

"Hi" He mumbled shyly and welcomed you in. He wasn't very outgoing but in front of you he felt different. It was like he was a teenager again interacting with crush for the first time.

He really hoped you would agree to live here cause he didn't know if he could let you go.

"I saw the ad for a housemate? I honestly didn't know flyers were still a thing you know cause of Craigslist and stuff. " You laughed lightly while Harry's face went red.

"My friend suggested I should get another person here cause of expenses, and I'm not good with the internet, so I did what I knew," He said, feeling a bit embarrassed. He grew up different from the others, and he also didn't like social media, to be honest.

He was basically a grandma in 25 years old boy's body, as Niall says.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that." Your eyes widened, thinking you had made him feel bad. The walking around the whole area has gotten you tired and maybe a grumpy, "Oh my god, I'm sorry"

That made him laugh, showing off the deep dimples on both sides of his cheeks, his eyes crinkling. He looked like a squished grape, but in a cute way, you just wanted to pinch his cheeks and hold his face for entern-

Woah there calm down.

"I like this place a lot," you said, turning away before you could do something embarrassing.

"I will show you around," He said, walking in front of you. It was a small house with a small entryway with a shoerack and medium-sized mirror. The living room was blue with loads of plants and a yellow couch with a matching love seat, giving it a pop of colour. The kitchen was also blue with white cupboards, an island facing the back o the couch.

There were two doors, one of which you guessed was Harry's room and other yours. "This is my room" He said opening the room, it was everything you expected, white walls with a blue accent wall, crumbled white sheets on bed in middle of the room, a desk near the window and loads of plants.

"Blue is your favorite I take," you teased, watching him smile shyly and mumble a yeah.

Then we got to the other room, it was sage green with an old couch in the middle and that was it. It was a decent size enough for you. There was a window just like in his. It was identical to most.

"So...do you like it?" Harry trailed off. He was anxiously looking at you trying to figure out if you liked it or not.

"I love it!" You gave him a big smile and walked in more to look around. The whole house had a musky smile, like soil after rain, foresty, and you were in love.

"I might have to tell you I might steal your clothes cause they look good and comfy." You teased him and gave a cheeky laugh.

Harry was about to jump in happiness like a puppy getting asked if he wanted a treat, and in a way, it was.

"You can take whatever you want." He smiled, and you there it was the urge to just pinch his cheeks, and this time you gave in.

You extened your hand and gave him a soft pinch on cheek, "You're soo cut-" You cut off your sentence and removed your hand. It felt like an electric shock went through when you touched him.

Harry felt it too, a lot harder than you. His eyes were matching his, wide in shock. You didn't know what it meant, and neither did Harry, but it wasn't something normal, and neither was them being so undeniably pulled towards each other.

"I never got your name," Harry asked in hushed in voice, your eyes on his emerald ones.

"Y/N," you replied in the same voice, not wanting to break the moment. Harry smiled, thinking how your name suited you a lot.

"Welcome to Lone Cottage, Y/N"

*****

Here is my soft puppy boy, istg i love him sm

Taglist- @indierockgirrl @gotthecinema @matildasatellite

Please Like,Comment and Reblog!

You can talk to me or send me feedbacks here♡

[aelfheimerandrobots]

Sims au: Old Helex, Castle Heights, Old Dreadnaught Castle| Overlord

Brought to you by popular demand we are now featuring a tour of the infamous, Dreadnaught Castle! This castle has gone by many names over the centuries and certainly has a reputation of a sort but it's current owner has certainly done quite a deal to turn this crumbling old fortress into a magnificent mansion! Now this tour may take us awhile ( a reblog or two) due to its sheer size, but don't let that deter you! This masterpiece is worth the long walk! Should you survive ....

Rather than a street view look we'll start this tour with an aerial shot of this sprawling estate. From it's magnificent front towers to it's beautiful gardens and lovely private pool this mansion features of plenty modern touches to bring the crumbling relic up to our contemporary standards. With solar panels galore, on-site farming, rain capture water heaters, and natural springs this space does it's best to erase whatever carbon footprint it might take to keep this place up and running. And the incredibly manicured gardens surely- wait...do those trees look...phallic to anyone else?

*ahem* Yes, well, phalic nature of the tree-lined exterior approach aside, the gardens are excellently maintained and offer lovely moments of picturesque splendor in this quaint countryside. And what a front walk this makes for! With a romantic fountain, iron lampposts, and an expansive patio with elegant architecture this space certainly holds to higher standard of elegance and atmosphere.

Continuing our tour of the grounds, we'll be starting with the southern garden path. This lovely pathway beckons us in with a fantastical archway and leads down an ancient but lovingly restored path to the Castle's growing fields. While not terribly expansive this section of the grounds do offer horribly fertile ground to grow grapes for the ground's famous in-house wine. I'm told that most of the manor's food needs can also be supplemented from these fields and offer a lovely tableau for the grilling and picnicking area adjacent to the fields. This outdoor rest area looks out perfectly over the estate's expansive pond, which we will happily explore next!

This large pond can be easily accessed via the posterior entrance to the estate grounds as well as from the Castle directly. The Castle entrance here leads from the ground-floor laundry and storage area directly onto this waterway and it's lovely collection of flora and fauna. With romantic archways and grottoes reserved for enjoying the beauty of nature one can hardly blame Overlord, the current owner, from doing his best to stock the pond with local wildlife. Why there's a lovely pair of swans who- Is that an Alligator? No not the log, the thing next to the log. I saw it move! I did! Right there! I- ugh... okay fine. Let's move on to finish the tour of the grounds.

This long back walk opens toward the road leading to the estate and back out to the road, allowing access to staff and guests alike from the rear should they not wish to traverse the long drive to the front entrance of the estate. Though, I'm told it's bad manners to approach the estate in this manner. The walk is lined with lovely memorials to beloved pets who once walked these grounds and opens up to the west side of the grounds which feature a historical graveyard that has largely been overtaken by native plant growth, now cut back and cultivated to reveal more of the old facade. How odd though that some of those graves seem freshly dug. Also why is there a giant bonfire located near the gravesite? Hm. Yes well, moving on. The West end of the grounds also feature some ruins from the old castle which have been left intact for posterity but removed from the castle proper due to their crumbling nature and state of disrepair. And with the grounds wrapped up, let's head on inside for the rest of the tour!

We enter on the ground floor into the lovely foyer which features many of the estates modernized furniture while also highlighting the eras that have come before. Particularly the nineteen twenties which saw quite a bit of activity for the Castle! With lovely art deco revival pieces and stately vintage furniture to highlight updated facades and restored architecture, this foyer feels grand and welcoming. The water feature in particular is quite lovely and an amazing statement piece! Huh, that vase...is that really an urn? Hm. I'm sure I must just be mistaking it for a funeral urn, that's all. Shall we move on?

Heading into the hallway on the right we've entered into a stately passageway that features some lovely modern art pieces as well as a bit of industrial storage while still providing access to the safety measures included in the castle to protect the owner's vast investment into this home.

Heading into the door on the right and we've entered into the ground floor office space. This cozy den has plenty of charm and really highlights the use of industrial, art deco, and luxury inspired pieces to create a cohesive and good-looking environment. The office's private bathroom also features lovely tile work that manages to avoid feeling cramped thanks to the vaulted ceilings and large mirror. Just around the corner from the couch is the first set of stairs on the east end of the castle, which will eventually become the east tower. Ah and I see we've included a few antique taxidermy pieces. What a...lovely vulture skull. Oh and a preserved cow-plant! How...unsettling beautiful. Erm, let's just head on out shall we?

We'll head next into the door at the end of the hall which leads us into the ground-floor laundry which has access to both the exterior grounds as well as the pool deck and patio space! The laundry itself is serviceable and feels charming with much of the original stonework and infrastructure remaining intact. And with this room we'll go ahead and take a break before returning to our impressive tour!

[gardenreviewus]

How to Prune Grapevines to Grow on an Arbor Pruning your grapevines might initially seem daunting, but with the right techniques, you can create a lush and productive arbor. By working with nature, you can train your vines to thrive and produce delicious grapes while enhancing your outdoor space. In this guide, you'll discover the simple steps to effectively prune your grapevines, ensuring they flourish on your arbor and provide a stunning centerpiece for your garden. Let's get started on transforming your grapevines into a beautiful and bountiful edible display!Understanding the Basics of Pruning Grapevines A fundamental aspect of growing healthy grapevines on an arbor involves mastering the art of pruning. Proper pruning enhances air circulation, sunlight penetration, and promotes optimal fruit development. Familiarizing yourself with the basic principles will empower you to keep your vines lively and productive, ensuring a thriving harvest year after year. Why Prune Grapevines? If you want your grapevines to flourish, pruning is crucial. It helps to remove dead or unproductive wood, encourages new growth, and shapes the vines to maximize sunlight exposure. With careful pruning, you can balance foliage and fruit, improving the overall health of your plants. Key Factors to Consider The key factors to consider when pruning your grapevines include vine age, growth patterns, and the season. Be attentive to these elements to achieve the best results: Assess the vine's age and healthObserve the natural growth patternsTime your pruning during the appropriate season After evaluating these factors, you can make informed decisions about how to prune effectively. It's also important to take into account your desired vine shape and size. Different grape varieties may require specific pruning techniques for optimal yield. As you familiarize yourself with your vines, consider the following additional aspects: Check for previous pruning cutsEvaluate the spacing between vinesPlan for future growth and expansion After you've gathered this information, you'll be set to prune your grapevines confidently.The Best Time to Prune Some experts agree that the optimal time for pruning your grapevines is in late winter or early spring, just before the buds begin to swell. This timing allows your vines to recover from the cuts and encourages robust growth as they enter the growing season. Pruning during this period helps ensure that your arbor is filled with healthy, thriving vines. Seasonal Timing Tips Even when planning to prune, taking note of seasonal conditions can make a big difference. Here are a few tips to help you decide when to prune: Prune when the risk of frost has passed. Avoid pruning during heavy rain or storms. Timing can vary based on your local climate. Assume that if the buds are still dormant, it's a safe time for pruning. Signs Your Grapevines Need Pruning With grapevines, a little attention goes a long way, and you'll be able to identify when they need pruning. Look for signs like excessive growth, tangled branches, or deadwood. If you notice these issues, it's a good indication that your vines would benefit from some careful trimming. Understanding the signs that your grapevines need pruning can help you maintain healthy plants and maximize your harvest. Check for overly vigorous canes, which may crowd the vine and lead to poor air circulation. You may also see spindly shoots or an abundance of unripe grapes left after harvest, indicating that it's time to rejuvenate your plants with some careful cuts. By pruning at the right time and being aware of these signs, you can ensure that your grapevines remain healthy and productive.Tools You'll Need for Pruning The right tools can make your pruning experience much smoother and more efficient. Whether you're trimming for the first time or you're a seasoned pro, having the appropriate equipment ensures that you can handle your grapevines with care. Essential

tools include hand pruners, loppers, a pruning saw, and a sturdy pair of gardening gloves to protect your hands while working. With these tools in hand, you'll be well-prepared to sculpt your grapevines for a beautiful arbor. Essential Pruning Tools If you want to make precise cuts and avoid damaging your grapevines, investing in a few necessary pruning tools is vital. High-quality hand pruners will help you snip away small branches, while loppers are perfect for thicker growth. A pruning saw can tackle the largest limbs, and don't forget a pair of gloves to keep your hands safe. Safety Tips While Pruning The safety of your hands and eyes is paramount when using sharp tools for pruning. Start by wearing safety goggles to protect your eyes from debris, and make sure to use gloves to avoid cuts and scrapes. Always cut away from your body, and keep your tools sharp to ensure clean cuts. Check the area for potential hazards, like uneven ground or low-hanging branches. Follow these helpful tips: Wear sturdy gardening gloves Protect your eyes with safety goggles Keep your work area clear of distractions Always cut away from yourself Thou will thank yourself later for taking these precautions! A safe pruning session will keep you focused on shaping your grapevines without worrying about injuries. A few more safety practices you should consider include inspecting your tools regularly and maintaining a firm grip while cutting. If you're using ladders to reach higher vines, ensure they're stable and that someone else is around to assist you if needed. Follow these additional tips to create a safer pruning environment: Inspect tools for damage before use Ensure your ladder is stable and secure Work in pairs, whenever possible Take breaks to avoid fatigue Thou will have a more enjoyable pruning experience when you prioritize safety! How to Prune Grapevines Step-by-Step Not all grapevines require the same pruning approach, but following a step-by-step process will help you achieve healthy growth. The table below outlines the primary steps you should take when pruning your grapevines: Step Description 1. Assess your vine Review the previous season's growth and identify strong canes. 2. Choose your method Decide between spur pruning and cane pruning based on your vine type. 3. Make cuts Cut back the canes or spurs to promote new growth. 4. Clean up Remove any dead wood and excess growth to improve airflow. Determining the Right Cut Even the smallest cut can make a big difference in your grapevines' productivity. Identifying the right cut starts with understanding the previous year's growth pattern. Look for healthy canes that grew well and keep those while removing weaker or overcrowded ones. This selective cutting ensures optimal production for the coming season. Techniques for Effective Pruning The best approach to pruning involves using the right techniques to ensure your grapevines thrive. Start by using sharp, clean tools to make precise cuts, which helps prevent disease. Angle your cuts to promote healing, and try to leave a few buds on each cane for new growth. Consistency in your techniques will yield the best results as you develop your gardening skills. Plus, consistent pruning practices will help you learn more about your specific vines over time. Each season offers an opportunity to assess how well your grapevines produced, allowing you to adjust your techniques as needed. Also, safeguarding your tools and keeping them sterilized can elevate your pruning sessions, ensuring your plants remain healthy and vigorous.Common Mistakes to Avoid For successful grapevine pruning, it's crucial to stay clear of common pitfalls. Many gardeners tend to prune too aggressively or not enough, which can hinder your vines' growth and yield. Pay attention to these mistakes to ensure your arbor thrives and produces delicious grapes for you to enjoy.

Over-Pruning versus Under-Pruning To achieve the best results with your grapevines, find a balance between over-pruning and under-pruning. Too much pruning can stress your plants, while too little may lead to a tangled mess that restricts air circulation and light. Aim for healthy growth by targeting the right amount of wood during your pruning sessions. Timing Errors to Watch For Mistakes in timing can significantly affect your grapevines' health and fruit production. Pruning at the wrong time can expose your plants to frost damage or disrupt their natural growth cycle. Take care to prune during the appropriate season for your grape variety to help your vines thrive. Plus, be aware that pruning too late in the season can hinder new growth, while early pruning might expose tender buds to chilly temperatures. Aim to prune when your vines are dormant, typically in late winter or early spring, just before new growth begins. This timing allows your grapevines to recover quickly and set the stage for a bountiful harvest. Maintaining Your Pruned Grapevines Unlike other plants, your grapevines require specific care to thrive after pruning. Proper maintenance will ensure they grow beautifully on your arbor, providing a lush, green canopy and delicious grapes. Regularly check for any signs of pests or diseases, and be diligent about watering and fertilizing as needed to support healthy growth. Post-Pruning Care Tips The success of your pruned grapevines relies on attentive care after pruning. Here are some crucial tips to follow: Water your vines adequately, especially during dry spells. Apply a balanced fertilizer to promote new growth. Remove any dead or damaged wood as it appears. Monitor for pests and take action as needed. After following these tips, your grapevines will be well on their way to thriving. Encouraging Healthy Growth The key to encouraging healthy growth in your grapevines lies in providing the right environment and consistent care. Make sure your vines receive enough sunlight, ideally at least six hours a day. Keeping the soil well-drained and regularly mulching around the base can help retain moisture and suppress weeds. Encouraging your grapevines to grow strong means giving them the right nutrients and conditions to flourish. Regularly check the soil moisture and adjust your watering schedule accordingly. Additionally, support healthy development by pruning appropriately each season and ensuring your arbor offers the necessary structure for climbing. With your dedication, your grapevines will reward you with abundant foliage and tasty grapes over time.Conclusion Taking this into account, pruning your grapevines not only helps them grow beautifully on your arbor but also ensures a healthier and more fruitful harvest. By following the proper techniques and timing, you can guide your vines effectively while enhancing their appearance. Each season offers a fresh opportunity to refine your approach, so embrace the journey and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with nurturing your grapevines. Happy pruning! https://gardenreview.us/pruning-grapevines-for-arbor-growth/?feed_id=214&_unique_id=672db9216c441 https://gardenreview.us/pruning-grapevines-for-arbor-growth/?feed_id=214&_unique_id=672db9216c441

[localratbastard]

Could I make half a thought?

I’ve got half a mind,

Mrs. Morales suspects I’m hardly half a person 

blotted napkins and gauze accuse her of beng an empty barrel

shots fired long ago

hardly a person herself, she wants to be the half of another 

red ignores the accusers and stains an upper denim pocket,

 nine dimes and a nickel are sure of the cuts clotting

go down stones and watch grass worm its way through, not as a native but as an invader

i’ve got half a mind

 and half a limb picking at a bruised knee’s one trick pony, 

sniveling scabs

sniveling mothers rarely care for plants that flourish natively

naively my half mind picked her a daisy and bled

taintiing a flower is the biggest sin

what good is intention at the expense of her appearance, her vanity, her joy?

stab me with a stem 

stain me with a stunt

strangle me with her speech

a quarter of what she endured in her youth

Mrs. Morales’ mother naively cut the stems of roses given to her by an ideal child

it’s easy to crush the stem of a plant when cutting it,

with half a mind Mrs. Morales’ mother was complicit in a slow death

crushing the stem of a rose impedes it’s ability to absorb water

Mrs. Morales, my mother, learned how to cut stems from her mother

what do you do with a half-person who's feet are more callous than skin?

i’ve got half a mind

 and raw water shaven hands made for picking at open wounds and washing dishes that aren’t my own

Mrs. Morales keeps a garden with aloe vera, cacti, roses, and oregon grapes

she refuses to tend to them but prides herself in their fruit

Mrs. Morales suspects I’m half a person 

her garden suspects i’m the poisoned fruit fallen of a poisoned tree

she has a way of hurting for the greater good

the thin nails we share tend to stay in the skin of everyone we’ve ever loved

my half mind still can’t make sense of burning wings for the compost of plants that grow in sand

i’m only half a person, she can’t fill her bottomless barrel with that

02/04/2024

[livehorses]

Friday of Sorrows or Passion Friday

A week before the Good Friday, we Catholics commemorate a special Friday dedicated to the advocation of our Lady of Sorrows. This is a day dedicated to remember all the pain Mary suffered on the Passion of her Son, to pray and accompany her in her despair. The Devotion to the Sorrowful Virgin goes back to the early years of Christianity, and quoting Wikipedia: “In 1727, Pope Benedict XIII extended a feast commemorating the sorrowful Virgin Mary to the whole of the Latin Church, assigning to its celebration the Friday in Passion Week, one week before Good Friday.” But these specific traditions held in Hispanic countries persist since the Viceregal era. In México were originally started by the “Servitas” (Mary’s Servants Order) in XVIII Century.

There were two dates for this feast, the Friday before Palm Sunday and September 15. Although with the Second Vatican Council, all the duplicated feasts were reduced to one date. The date of the fifth Friday of Lent was removed and the one in September was left. However, Mexicans tend to focus more in the Independence Night, but the tradition of the Friday of Sorrows is still strong in churches and towns. Later on, the Pope Saint John Paul II reintroduced it as a mass commemoration. As always, the tradition brought by the Spanish to America, took a very unique and folkloric tone.

On this Friday, in some towns and states around the Mexican Republic it’s made a procession in which it’s carried an image of the Sorrowful Virgin around the block. It’s also a tradition that people put an altar either on a church or in their house with many elements that each one of them keep a particular symbol.

The Virgin of Sorrows

Firstly takes protagonism an image of the Lady of Sorrows, covered with black, dark blue or purple clothing, to highlight her state of grief, with luxurious embroidery and crowned with an encrusted crown. Those images made by the hands of skillful artisans are the most beautiful and moving one could find, resembling in her expression the work of Renaissance sculptors and painters like Michael Angelo or Raphael. The most notable aspect are the tears that fall over the Virgin’s cheeks. Some of these images are centuries old.

The colorful glass spheres

Around the Altar there are placed a numerous group of glass spheres of bright colors, with the popular intention to cheer up the Virgin’s mood and as a way to comfort and distract her.

The whithered flowers and grass

Because we’re meant to be grieving, it’s traditionally prohibited the placing of aromatic and beautiful flowers. Instead, it can be used whithered purple flowers or, four weeks before, plant seeds of wheat, barley, chia and lentils on little pots, and let them grow without permiting the rays of the Sun to land on them. That way, the plant grows with a yellow tone, dried and whithered to resemblance the discouragement of the Virgin. Specifically these plants make reference to one of Jesus’ teachings: “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24

The wheat is also the plant used to prepare the communion wafer, and therefore, the grass of wheat represents the Eucharist. Sometimes it will be accompanied with a bunch of grapes, since from this fruit the wine for the Eucharist is made.

The pierced oranges with flags and drawings of sawdust or whithered rose petals

Also along the Altar are many oranges pierced by flags, sometimes of cut paper material or with silver and gold tones. As long as I remember, these last colors represent Mary and Jesus respectively, showing this way the closeness they have with each other as Mother and Son. The orange is the fruit of choice resembling the sour taste with the sour feeling within the Virgin’s heart as she saw her tortured Son in the way to Calvary. The flags represent how even the sorrow is crowned with the banners of glory that promise the Resurrection’s victory. Also, the pierced fruits by the flags are meant to simbolize the pierced Inmaculate Heart of Mary by seven swords, making reference to the prophecy of Simon the prophet in the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple: “And to you, a sword will pierce your soul” Luke 2:35

There’s also a catholic devotion that comes from that prophecy, that remembers The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, which contemplates: The Prophecy of Simon, The Flee To Egypt, The Child lost and found in the Temple, The meeting in the road to Calvary, Jesus’ Crucifiction and Death, The descent from the Cross, and The Entombment. For each one of these sorrows is prayed a Hail Mary. Sometimes, the Virgin’s Monogram, precisely her Inmaculate Heart pierced by seven swords, can be represented along Jesus’ Monogram with sawdust of diverse colors or whithered rose petals. In general, the Altar is full with colorful sawdust desings.

Elements of Christ’s Passion

In some Altars it can be seen some elements of Christ’s Passion, like the ladder that was used to descend Jesus from the Cross, the Cross itself, the nails, the spear which was used to pierce Jesus’ chest, the rooster that sang as soon as Peter denied to know Jesus, the whip used to hit Jesus, the dices with which the soldiers made a bet to see who of them would keep Jesus’ robe, the crown of thorns, the sponge with vinegar and many more.

Candles, cut paper and garlands

As a decorative addition, the rest of the Altar is decorated with traditional chinese paper usually with Mary and Jesus’ initials, garlands of white and purple colors and with multiple candles. As always the purple symbolizes sorrow, grief, penance and sobriety, while the white is purity and holyness. The candles represent the light that God projects over the World, vanishing all darkness and shadows. Candlelights can also represent a night of vigil, when someone stays awake to pray. In that way we express we keep company to the sorrowful Virgin the moment she’s left alone after her Son’s Death, as the Apostle Saint John did. By the light that the bright flags reflect from the candles, it is traditionally said that the Altars of Sorrows are set on fire.

Flavored waters

One of the most popular elements in the Altar of Sorrows is the fresh flavored waters. Around this time in México, the weather has turned hot, and people search for ways to calm their thirst and cool off. It’s a tradition long lost in the urbanized zones to visit the neighbour houses to see each one’s altars and to stand by to pray a little. When a visitor arrives, since centuries ago the tradition is that this one asks: “Has the Virgin wept yet?” and the host inmediately hands off a glass of fresh flavored water. As you can imagine, these special drinks are meant to symbolize the numerous tears the Virgin wept on Good Friday. The flavors can vary and each one has a respective meaning. The Jamaica one, by its strong reddish tone symbolizes Jesus’ spilled blood, the Horchata one, made of rice with milk and cinnamon (rice with milk, a traditional Mexican dessert) mixed with water, by it’s white color represents Mary’s purity and others say its her maternal milk, the tamarind one is the vinegar that Jesus tasted in the Cross and finally the lemon with chia one is Mary’s tears mixed with sour feeling. Anyways, the flavors can be more than these ones.

The Friday of Sorrows is no doubt one of the most beautiful and devotional ones in all the liturgical year here in México, its devotion and pious aspect is mixed with strong tradition and floklore, making it unique as how each mexican tradition could be.

Is there something simillar in your country to commemorate the Friday Of Sorrows?

If I have time, I will share with you photos of my Altar I usually make each year.

Photo and research sources:

https://inah.gob.mx/boletines/5100-altar-de-dolores-tradicion-viva-en-museos-del-inah

https://desdelafe.mx/noticias/sabias-que/todo-lo-que-debes-saber-sobre-el-altar-de-dolores/

https://www.reconociendomexico.com.mx/altar-de-dolores/

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=luisalberto.rosalesherrera&set=a.932188683482052

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viernes_de_Dolores

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_of_Sorrows

[leighrobertsreads]

The (next) Leader of the Encanto

I have a tendency to write Abuela, aka Doña Alma (Lady Alma), a lot like Lady Catherine de Bourgh from “Pride and Prejudice”, meddling in her villagers’ and relatives’ lives, and Padre Flores far too much like William Collins, her rather sycophantic priest. I work to curb this.

The de facto leader of the Encanto has much bigger fish to fry, especially in the early years.

As it’s been cut off from the world for decades, the Encanto has to be self-sufficient. Her middle child might be able to provide irrigation at just the right time (but not those first few years), and now her eldest granddaughter might even be able to grow crops on demand (not sure how nutritious magically-formed plants are), but there is still a lot of labor to organize to harvest and process them. No one really *wants* to harvest and shuck corn all day for a couple of weeks, but unless most of the villagers are willing to, there’s going to be a problem. Alma, like any wise noble, organizes lots of celebrations, and ensures that her family is seen pulling their weight. Also prudently, they also don’t seem to be consuming more than their share of the resources - the big-deal engagement dinner didn’t have a giant roast or other signs of luxury aside from wine, which is a common enough product in even the poorest rural communities anywhere European Catholic colonists go - celebrating a valid Mass requires hosts (Communion wafers) made of wheat and water, and grape wine.

The leader of the Encanto also needs to oversee (or even make) hard decisions about what to grow and what to make, and who should be doing what. Much of Colombia has rich mineral deposits, so light mining might supply enough metal for the plows those refugees running with what they could carry on their backs did not bring with them, but someone still needs to smelt and work the metal, and provide the wood or coal to do so.

A newly-arrived blacksmith would naturally step up to continue his useful trade, but a lawyer?

Mirabel is hopefully going to be learning the ins and outs of how her village gets enough to eat without making the people who need to do that work angry enough about it to be vulnerable to a loud man who offers alternatives that sound good to enough people to get him into power but turn out worse for the most vulnerable.

And learning how to get along with the village priest well enough to head off trouble together before it threatens to drag their little corner of paradise into the hell that is scattered across the rest of Colombia in the 1950s (and frankly, throughout much of Colombia's post-Conquest history).

Alma sure took a bit of a risk with how she attempted to handle the Madrigals’ immediate problem in “Under the Sacred Canopy,” didn’t she? Bruno is not exactly an obvious choice for a diplomat.

[downtoearthmarkets]

Get ready for a fun weekend of farmers market grocery shopping because the biggest food holiday of the year arrives next Thursday! Thanksgiving marks a time to gather with family and friends to express gratitude over a feast of turkey and other traditional New England foods. But, while you’re busy preparing the main meal, your guests will need a little something to whet their appetite. Here are a few ideas for tasty yet simple Thanksgiving appetizers that you can make with ingredients sourced at your local Down to Earth farmers market this weekend.

It's a Stickup! Featuring plenty of seasonal flavor, with pretzel sticks as edible toothpicks for ease-of-handling and no fuss cleanup, these maple-glazed sausage bites are sure to be a Thanksgiving crowd-pleaser. The glaze delivers the coup de grace with its irresistible combination of sticky sweet maple syrup, earthy, herby crumbled sage and tangy stone ground mustard.

Ingredients: Makes 16 sausage bites

⅓ cup Maplebrook Farm maple syrup

1 tbsp stone ground mustard

½ teaspoon dried, crushed sage leaves

12 oz Goode and Local By Don Rodrigo, SOVA Farms or Stone & Thistle Farm cooked sausage

16 pretzel sticks

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine maple syrup, mustard and sage.

Cut sausage into 1" slices. Place on a rimmed baking tray.

Bake sausage for 8 minutes. Brush generously with maple glaze. Bake for an additional 8 minutes or until sausage is heated through.

Insert a pretzel stick into each sausage bite for easy serving.

Enjoy!

We’ll Always Have Brussels Brussels sprouts are currently in peak season as this winter vegetable grows best in cool or lightly frosty weather. You can often find Brussels sprouts being sold on the stalk in our farmers markets–just the way nature intended and eliminating the need for any excess packaging. Simply twist the sprouts until they break away from the plant.

These “mini cabbages” are considered nutritional powerhouses as they are high in fiber, potassium, and folate, and are an excellent source of vitamins C and K. They also contain antioxidants and minerals like calcium, iron, and magnesium.

There are many fun holiday appetizers you can make with these cruciferous cuties. Anything with bacon is sure to be a hit, so try whipping up these bacon-wrapped parmesan Brussels sprouts. You probably have most of the simple ingredient list in your pantry already, so pick up a pound of Brussels sprouts from the farmstalls and bacon from Goode and Local By Don Rodrigo and give them a whirl! Or how about these adorable sliders that substitute sprouts for the buns?

If you’re hoping to up the ante with your Thanksgiving appy or just discover a delicious new way to serve Brussels sprouts on any occasion, look no further than this vegetarian recipe. You’ll want to select the largest sprouts available and grab some whole milk ricotta from Maplebrook Farm before they sell out. Also, be sure to watch this short and very helpful instructional video before getting out your paring knife.

Pro Antipasto? Italy’s answer to France’s charcuterie boards, antipasto platters feature an array of classic Italian delicacies including cured meats, cheeses, marinated veggies, olives and bread. In addition to spreading antipasto across a large platter, it can also work great hors d'oeuvres-style when threaded onto individual toothpicks or skewers.

To assemble your antipasto skewers, thread from bottom to top: 1 Dr. Pickle pitted olive of any kind, 1 marinated Maplebrook Farm ciliegine, 1 fresh basil leaf, 1 cherry or grape tomato, 1 slice Goode and Local By Don Rodrigo cured meat (fold over once or twice before threading), 1 Dr. Pickle marinated artichoke heart quarter, 1 Dr. Pickle roasted red pepper slice (fold over once or twice before threading), 1 basil leaf, 1 olive, and 1 small piece of Wave Hill Breads or Orwashers Bakery baguette. Arrange finished skewers on a serving platter.

Sleek As a Leek Party Dip A member of the allium family which includes onions, scallions, chives and garlic, leeks are a fall and winter crop that can be harvested even after it starts snowing. Leeks need to be cleaned thoroughly before using because dirt can get trapped between the layers of leaves. To clean, halve the leeks lengthwise with the root still intact, then run them under cool water.

It’s not a party without a dip and, with only five ingredients, this melted leek dip is the gift that keeps on giving! While making your farmers market rounds, look out for crunchy veggies like carrots and celery and freshly baked loaves that will work great for dipping.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons SOVA Farms unsalted butter

4 large leeks from the farmstalls, white sections only, halved, and thinly sliced into half-moons

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pint full-fat sour cream

Crudités, Norwegian Baked LLC crackers, or toasted Wave Hill Breads or Orwashers Bakery baguette (for serving)

We hope these appetizing appetizer ideas got you primed and ready for Thanksgiving farmers market shopping this weekend. As always, our farms and food makers will have an array of freshly harvested, regionally grown and locally produced goodies to help complete your shopping list and fill your reusable shopping bags. We look forward to seeing you there!

[headspace-hotel]

All good questions!

You can take moss, but only in small amounts from a living colony, no more than a small fraction of what is growing there. Moss is really important for protecting the soil and the plant roots, but it grows slowly and misses often have very specific environments that they live in. Sometimes in spring you can find bits of dead or dying moss that have been dislodged from the ground by freeze/thaw cycles, I would say those are okay to take. Moss that has been torn loose of the thing that it's growing on by natural forces is generally fine. If you want to use mosses or lichens you can also go to a park after a windstorm and see what has been blown down from the tree branches. But again, don't take everything.

I would stay away from buying mosses in general honestly? I don't know how well it's regulated but I know that moss isn't really farmed and it is heavily poached. Our forests need moss to keep carbon in the soil.

Materials from invasive species (you can look those up) are always good to use for art projects, and anything weedy or abundant as long as you don't completely deplete it. Braiding wintercreeper vines makes neat garlands. European wild teasel has cool spiky flower heads. If you want the look of driftwood, sections of woody vines are good for that. Wild grape vines make little twirly bits that they use to climb objects, and the vines themselves are also cool looking. Seed pods, nut shells, bark, twigs and sticks from trees are usually fine. Materials from domestic or garden plants are okay as long as you have permission.

I'm not sure about acorns, taking them should be no issue but shipping plant materials long distances can spread diseases. Acorns are easy to collect in large amounts in parks in the fall, anyhow.

This is one of those instances where collecting personally is probably better than buying. But if a seller specifically says how they're harvesting their stuff (e.g. we collect pieces that blow down from the oak tree after a storm) and isn't selling anything scarce or collecting live moss/lichen in huge amounts, it's probably all right.

Pay attention to how abundant the organism you're using is and what other things use it. Don't take more than ten percent. If you get a bad feeling about it or feel unsure, leave it alone. If you find a bug or some other creature living in the thing you're trying to collect, leave it alone.

8. 9. all together: Domestic bird feathers are just fine. People do sell their peacock, chicken, duck, etc. feathers. Feathers of introduced species are also fine. For example if you are in the USA I think it would be fine to use pheasant feathers as pheasants are introduced species. However keep in mind that bird flu is a thing and feathers can have germs on them. I don't know exactly how you would sterilize a feather without damaging it.

Whether it's ethical to collect something often depends on how popular it is at the time, unfortunately.

For example it would probably be fine to collect a couple holly boughs for decoration nowadays. But in old books from the 1930's, I read about how forests were being stripped bare of holly because people would go and cut holly branches to deck the halls with boughs of holly at Christmas.

Oh my god I'm sooooo mad right now

So. I have no business telling people not to collect wild plants/materials.

I do it all the time.

However.

The words "wildcrafted," and "foraged," even "sustainably harvested," are terrifying to see in an ad on Etsy or Instagram

There is a such thing as the honorable harvest where you ASK the plant if it is okay to take, with the intention of listening if the answer is NO. Robin Wall Kimmerer talked about this, She did not make it up, it is an ancient and basic guideline of treating the plants with respect.

Basically it is not wrong to use plants and other living things, even if this means taking their life. But you are not the main character. You have to reflect on your knowledge of the organism's life cycle and its role in the ecosystem, so you can know you are not damaging the ecosystem. You have to only take what you need and avoid depleting the population.

Mary Siisip Geniusz also talked about it in an enlightening way in her book Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have To Do is Ask. She gave an example of a woman who was on an island and needed to use a medicinal herb to heal her injured leg or she would not survive the winter. In that situation she had to use up all of the plant that was on the island. This was permissible, even though it eliminated the local population, because she had to do it to save her life. But in return the woman had the responsibility to later return to the island and plant seeds of that plant.

And what makes me absolutely furious, is that there are a bunch of people online who have vaguely copied this philosophy of sustainability in a false and insulting way, saying "wildcrafted" or "foraged" materials to be all trendy and cool and in touch with nature, when it is actually just poaching.

If you are from a capitalistic culture the honorable harvest is very hard and unintuitive to learn to practice. I am not very good at it still. This is why it is suspicious if someone is confident that they can ethically and respectfully harvest wild materials with money involved.

So there's this lichen that is often called "reindeer moss." It looks like this:

It grows only a few millimeters a year.

This is "preserved" reindeer moss.

It is from Etsy, similar is also sold in many other online shops, many of which have the audacity to describe it as a "plant" for decorations and terrariums that needs no maintenance.

It is not maintenance-free, it is dead. It has been spray-painted a horrible shade of green. The people buying it clearly don't even know what it is. It is a popular crafting material for "fairy houses," whatever the hell those are. So is moss, also dead, spray-painted, and wild-harvested. Supposedly reindeer moss is harvested sustainably in Finland, where it is abundant, for the craft industry. However poaching of lichens and mosses is absolutely rampant.

It's even more upsetting because there's hardly any articles drawing attention to the problem. This one is from 1999. And the poaching is still going on.

There is a "moss" section on Etsy, and it is so upsetting

These mosses and lichens were collected from the wild. Most of the shops are in the Pacific Northwest or Appalachia, which are the major locations of moss and lichen poaching. There are some shops based in Appalachia selling "foraged" reindeer moss.

Reindeer moss may be abundant in Finland, but in Appalachia it should NOT be harvested to be sold on Etsy as craft supplies! Moss doesn't grow quickly. Big, healthy colonies like this took years to grow. Some of these shops have thousands of sales, all of bags and bags of moss and lichen, and thinking of how much moss and lichen that must be, I am filled with horror.

Clubmosses do not transplant well, and these ones have no roots. The buyers do not realize they have bought a dead plant because clubmoss stays green and pliable after it is dead.

This is especially awful because in Mary Siisip Geniusz's book she talked about clubmosses being poached so much for Christmas wreaths that they had almost disappeared from a lot of forests.

I don't even know if this is illegal if it's not a formally endangered species so I don't know if I can report them I'm just. really sad and angry

[joannaliangart]

home by heart series (2019) Chalk pastel, and ballpoint pen (for fruitless return)

individual titles: Overripe in a hazy home fruitless return welcome back // to a home // you can never return to

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Partly inspired by The Fall of Home by Los Campesinos!! had that song repeating nonstop while creating this series haha ough its so good

one of my most sentimental series... Hoo boy. I think this was these were the first art pieces I made for my ib art class. Here's the story of its creation:

Initial planning and uh unexpected progression INCLUDING the making of an entirely different art series in the process:

All throughout highschool I missed the townhouse I moved from, which wasn't terribly far from where I ended up living during highschool, but it certainly wasn't mine anymore. I initially wanted to illustrate my old townhome from memory, and then get permission from the new owners to take photos of a few parts of the house I'd illustrated, to show the changes and the inconsistency of memory. Feels very ambitious to me now I think haha but in some ways I was much bolder in highschool than I am now, for better or worse.

So well, the owners said no lol. Fair enough lmao

But! I could still do the first part, draw from memory. And I thought, "I can still take photos of the outside area around the townhouse..."

So I went to visit my old childhood home with my camera. And immediately was completely fucking stunned and sidetracked to see construction happening in the forested area right by it. Not active construction mind, just that there were parked excavators in the middle of the space n trees already cut down.

And that's... actually how I ended up photographing the War-torn photo series! There wasn't do not enter tape or anything or fences So I kinda. figured. it was ok. cough

so after that fuckin emotional experience. I went back to my original task. Went up to my old townhome and took some photos but mostly... Mostly I just looked.

There was a golden rose on the stairs leading up to the door. Everything felt so different and alien, so many new plants in the garden, a tomato plant on the balcony, the blinds all closed. But I recognized the golden rose, because it was one we had planted, still in our pot, that we had left behind. The new owners had kept it.

It was so familiar, and it was glowing in the sunlight. But it kinda made everything else around it look all the more distant from the home I remembered.

So... Instead of photographs I just drew everything from memory. the last trio welcome back, to a home, you can never return to are the parts of my visit that stuck with me most.

Overripe, fruitless return, and in a hazy home:

God this story is long! Overripe features the grape tree from my elementary school that was cut down while I was still there in grade... 5? "Joanna grapes don't grow on trees" yea yea I know; we called it the grape tree because it was a grape vine that had completely taken over a large tree in the centre of a bunch of bramble bushes behind a fence, and was climbing even wider to scale the neighbouring pine trees. It was the meeting spot for me and my friends for a long time during recess. I loved that tree to bits. I was devastated when they felled it

in its place is a firehall, featured in fruitless return. Which is important! But augh god. makes my child heart grieve still.

in a hazy home is the part that adhered most to the original concept: it's the memory of my townhome from memory, featuring the front of my home (with the golden rose on the steps!), blurring into the balcony with my cat apple, and then my room, as viewed from my childhood bed.

wip photos:

more tidbits:

I don't usually use chalk pastels, but I felt its fuzziness fit well for the concept. I also paid attention to the colours, trying to choose appropriate ones to convey the mood of each piece.

also see: Shower of Gifts, a piece related to this series