#i like the greenish yellow spot strip things

[mudkirby]

Woe

Isopod upon ye

[reddpenn]

It’s me again!  I got a shortwave UV light for Christmas, and I finally got to check my rock collection for fluorescence!  Some rocks I knew ahead of time would be fluorescent, some rocks completely surprised me, and some looked cooler than I ever possibly could imagine.  I wanted to show them off, but man, photography’s hard in the dark!  But after much playing around with long exposures (and getting a lot of very blurry photographs), I can finally say this:  who wants to see my fluorescent rocks?!

Let’s start with some banded fluorite!

Fluorite’s the OG fluorescent rock.  It’s so famous for its fluorescence that that’s why the phenomenon is called fluorescence, from the words fluorspar (another name for fluorite) and -essence (state of being).  So fluorescence just means: “being like fluorite!”  Right away I knew some of my fluorite was going to fluoresce!  The zoning (different layers of colors) in this banded fluorite is doing some surprising things, though.

Look at that!  Only a few bands of color are fluorescing: those thin blue-green stripes at the top, and the dark, honey yellow at the bottom.  Surprisingly, the place that’s fluorescing brightest is that stripe that looks like a very dull, dark brown under natural light.  But look at the bright yellow-white it becomes!  Under shortwave UV light, I can even see extra zoning bands that weren’t visible to the naked eye!

Let’s test the rest of my fluorite!  You might remember my incredibly cool chunk of fluorite from Rogerley Mine.  The fluorite of this mine is famous for its daylight fluorescence, meaning it reacts so strongly to UV light that it’ll change color even in regular sunlight!  Here’s what that looks like, by the way.

In sunlight, this piece turns a dark blue.  But look what it does under an intense UV light!  All the translucent crystals turn suddenly opaque, and the entire rock glows a vivid, saturated purple-blue!  This is what I think of when I think fluorescence!

These itty bitty pink crystals are spinel!  Naturally occurring spinel fluoresces under longwave UV light, but these little crystals were grown in a lab.  Lab grown spinel reacts brightly to shortwave UV light, like the one I’m using.  It’s one of the easiest ways to tell them apart.  These lab grown spinel glow an amazingly bright hot pink!

Here are some of the pebbles from my Big Bowl of Gravel.  Shining my UV light around in there revealed a ton of sodalite, a rock which is blue and white under natural light.  But with my UV light shining on them, they fluoresce pink and orange!  Sodalite is another mineral famous for its fluorescence, so I suspected I’d find these little guys glowing.

A rock often confused with sodalite is lapis lazuli, but you can easily tell the difference by looking for little flecks of pyrite.  Lapis lazuli has them, and sodalite doesn’t!  But these two rocks even fluoresce similarly.  My piece of lapis lazuli glows with stripes of neon orange, but lapis can glow white or pink too.

Here’s a rock I didn’t expect to glow!  Fordite is a manmade gemstone, made from the buildup of layers upon layers of paint on car production lines.  It’s a way of recycling human garbage and industrial waste into something beautiful, and it’s one of my favorite manmade rocks.  But this piece must contain some layers of fluorescent paint, because check this out!

Just like in my banded fluorite, there are layers of paint here that weren’t visible to the naked eye.  Some (but not all) of the black paint is turning a turquoise green, and the yellow is suddenly full of bright strips of light yellow and dark orange.  Some of the white glows, too!  I probably should have expected this, since manmade paints and plastics fluoresce all the time.  Some of my figurines and funko pops have fluorescent paint on them too!

Oh man, this one is amazing!  This is septarian, a type of fossilized mud or clay.  Growing in the cracks in the mud are dark crystals of aragonite and yellowish crystals of calcite.  The dark lines of aragonite in this piece are fluorescing a dull orange, and some of the calcite is glowing a pale greenish yellow, fading to blue at the edges.  But did you notice the super cool thing happening here?

Even though it all appears the same color under normal light, some of that calcite isn’t fluorescing.  You know what?  I think that innermost layer isn’t calcite at all, but barite!  Barite in septarian nodules is usually pretty white or clear, but this big barite layer was similar enough to the yellow of the calcite that I didn’t even notice it until I saw it under UV light.  Welcome to the family, barite!  It’s so cool to find new secrets hiding in my old rocks!

Actually, fossils in general are pretty likely to fluoresce.  Here’s my petoskey stone, which fluoresces a pale whitish yellow.  The color is so subtle in person that I passed over this stone several times before realizing it was fluorescing, but it’s super obvious once you compare the pictures!  I wonder what caused that pattern of non-fluorescent spots?  Was it the way the rock formed, or did some of the fluorescent minerals get removed when the rock was polished?  Either way, what a neat effect!

And as usual, I’ve saved the best for last…

This is amber.

And this is also amber!  The bright blue rock with the best fluorescence of all! 

This dark, red-orange rock turns super amazingly bright robin’s egg blue under UV light!!  (It can be yellow-green, too.)  The reaction is so bright and vivid in almost all specimens of amber that it’s one of the best ways to tell it apart from imposter gemstones like copal or manmade resin.  There are even some types of amber that exhibit daylight fluorescence, just like my Rogerley Mine fluorite.  Look at those swirls and patterns of light and dark blues!  The way it highlights the bubbles trapped inside!  How the rock goes from dark and translucent to bright and opaque!  Amber is absolutely beautiful.

Those are all my fluorescent rocks!  I’ve only tested them with a shortwave UV flashlight, so even more of my rocks may fluoresce with a longwave light or simply a more powerful light with better filters!  Some of my other rocks surprised me with cool features like tiny, impossible to photograph flecks of fluorescent inclusions.  From now on, I’ll be on the lookout for even more amazing, glow-in-the-dark fluorescent rocks!

(You can see more of my rocks over here!)

[thevoidwriting]

Xie the practice boi.

First his looks will change, he will change to the story, second I will explain his looks to the reader everytime so you the reader is up to date .

For this story he is a tentacle alien, his rib cage opens up to reveal his apendges, ok looks light blue skin, big oval eyes, colour is greenish yellow, slits for a nose, sharp teeth. Tol about 9'6 , normal rib cage has gill like slits that turn into tentacles.

Keeps spare cloths cause they leak aphrodisiac like sluge, likes to use it on partners, keeps using it as replacement slick in emergencies.

May or may not be into breeding males and females.

Fffffffiiiiiicccccc ttttttiiiiiimmmmeeee.

As you look around you notice the door, it says: 'one step and your wildest fantasy will come true or turn back and leave unsatisfied.', so you open the door and see him standing there before the bed.

"Hello I'm Xie and I'll be helping my friend tonight and I'll be your partner tonight." He had an easy smile and a calm air to him.

For my first time this might not be so bad except that he's not bad on the eyes, he went over the options and I saw something I only ever read about in fics. Tentacle restraints and aphrodisiac slime on them to help the process. Thank the non-committal deity that it's an option, she looks over the menu on the table and just stopped working for thirtyish minutes, she's paying for the day and night so it's ok.

Part of the virgin bundle, after she recovers she sees him on the bed taking off his shirt showing off his slits.

"Can I touch, I mean if your ok with it." You mumble off, Xie waves you over, you move to the bed (it's a king size), as soon as you hit the edge of the bed he moves to meet you half way. As soon as he gets there he pulls you on so you can't yeet yourself thought the door (like the prier 4 times, you have a record.).

Once on the bed he put your hand on his slit mid rib cage, your hand sinks in and your feel the goo that leaks between his slots, when you pull away you see the trail from your fingers to him and once again I see that charming smile.

"Sweetheart I'm going to take off my pants, last article of clothing on me, you need to strip of well of course." That prompted me to remove my shirt and pants, only in a sports bra and boy short panties.

"Ahhh cute girl, cute under cloths. Humans are so strange." He attempted to do my bra to realize that you pull it off, so he did that then look at my c cup breast and just giggle that their 'natural'. I smile and poke his chest, "yeah I've kept it that way so they bounce." I made my point by shaking my shoulders to make them jiggle, is dick or more like tentacle wiggles and writhes at that, it lightly hits my thigh.

He then pulls down my panties and now we both bare as the day we were born or hatched in his case.

"I chose the restraint option cause my fight or flight instinct kicks in when someone trys to penetrate me. I'm so sorry if I bite you-" he cut me off, "I know I read your file the owner informed me, one bad person ruins it for all trust me." He lifts me and puts me at the head of the bed propped up by pillows and fluffy blankets, once I was comfy he proceeded to open his rib cage and I see black to gray tentacles, eight in total.

One wrapped around my wrists, one around each of my thighs, tits, and lastly around my neck let me tell you it was kinda hot. He also put one in my mouth to lightly suck on and get some of the gel on it in to me.

He started by kissing my temples to my forehead then my jaw line, bless him he then started to kiss down my neck to my chest. He took my left nipple into his mouth and started to suck then lick alternating the pace once it stiffened he switched to the other giving it the same treatment. Once it did the same he took some of the slime on his tentacle dick and worked it though my cunt and I feel the affected semi fast specially paired with the apendige I'm my mouth. He gave a wolfish smile to see the two slicks mix, lightly pulling away to see the string stretch out.

"I'm going to start preparing you for my wiggle buddy down here." I laughed as much as I can around the thing in my mouth. He just moaned a bit, he started by gathering slick on his fore finger and middle, moving up and down slowly to ease me into it, I was kinda thankful but damm he was working up a storm.

Once he finally put his forefinger in I moaned and he pulled out his tentacle out of my mouth thinking I had enough I was minorly disappointed but I didn't have time to complain cause he added his middle and started to thrust gently, slowly. It felt great, I tried to move my hands and remembered that that we're being held very softly by him but the suckers dug in and left marks on my once pristine skin.

"(y/n), you have a lovely blush on your cheeks that no makeup can replacate." At that he added his ring finger to the mix as he started to fasten that pace I feel something weird starting to build in me and started to panic, he shushed me and reassured me that this was normal, this promped him to move me to a hold against his chest petting my head and calming me down till it spilled over. "FUCK." I suddenly felt light headed and fuzzy at the same time but somehow better its hard to explain.

"better." Was all he said against the crown of my head. "Yeah." Was all that I could manage. "Next were gonna try penetration, if you feel off at all let me know I'll stop, wait and then go when you tell me to ok." Bless his heart he was just the best. "Ok, I'll try but I might scream." It was a fair warning.

He just smiled, nodded and moved to stabilize his wiggly part and move to that in and thrusted to the best he can. Once it was slightly in it grew thicker at the base, I was still ok but then it hit the breach point and i yelled for him to stop it hurt, he stopped as soon as he hears.

"shit sorry I thought I used enough slime apparently not, note to self use more next time." How he was lucied I will never know but once the pain passed I told him to move all the way in, so he thrusts all the way in fuck it still hurts abit Xie waited till i gave the go head and he didn't move. I just feel intense wiggles and mild writhing.

"sorry , my kind don't thrust we let our lower tentacle move on it's own........ Human word cock." The last word was a mumble, then it hits a spot that makes me tighten on him so it hits it over and over again, fuck that feeling is building over again but faster, I though it was a myth that orgasms happen faster after the first but his base Is growing bigger, double fuck he has a knott. All I hear are low moans, grows and groans. It helped grow that strange feeling then it's hit to spots at once and it realeases again, then I hear a loud moan and feel a cold thick thing being shot into me and he just drools Abit.

It takes about I think 40ish minutes to recover for both of us, he's head is on my shoulder panting lightly and I'm still breathing heavy.

"you ok doll I know it was kinda intense, I didn't hurt you right?" He was worried and concerned. "No I'm fine." I look down and see blood that's why he was worried, he was so sweet. But I kinda passed out cause the sight of blood. Once I woke I found him still inside of me and asleep. Oh well looks like I'm gonna have to go to sleep again.

The end (?).

@merplderpl thanks for your help

[ivarthebadbitch]

this is the most vague, but i demand fluff! so hvitserk and thora being stupid together in any shape or form

“So…what is it called?”

Hvitserk blinked at Thora in confusion. He looked down and frowned at the piece of fruit he had chanced upon in the marketplace that morning. It was shaped like an oval and about the size of a heart, with a greenish exterior and yellowish-orange interior. “I didn’t think to ask,” he confessed. “I just remembered it because I tried one in Spain. And I liked it.”

Thora cautiously took a bite. It was sweet and astringent and utterly unlike anything she had ever tasted before. Then she took another bite. And another. And she would have eaten more, except Hvitserk pulled a different fruit out his bag and distracted her.

“What is that?” Thora took the other piece of fruit from him and sniffed it. It was elongated and yellow with brown spots, and the outside was smooth. “Does it taste good?”

He grinned. “I don’t know; I’ve never tried it. I just liked the shape.”

She mimed throwing it at him and he pretended to duck. “You try it first, then,” she said, shoving it back in his hands. “How are you even supposed to eat that?”

Hvitserk shrugged and bit into it. He chewed for a few seconds and then spat it out and she giggled. “The outside tastes terrible,” he complained. “The inside is not too bad. Sweet.”

“Maybe you can take off the outer layer?” she suggested.

He looked at her like she was brilliant. “Oh,” he said slowly, and when he tried it, the outer layer peeled off easily in long strips. The inside was a paler yellow with a soft texture.

Thora gave it an experimental poke before taking a bite. This one was also sweet but with less of a strong taste compared to the first fruit, and between the two of them, they finished rather quickly. “That’s it?” Thora asked once it was all gone.

Hvitserk reached out and wiped a tiny bit of fruit from the corner of her mouth, and she couldn’t stop herself from blushing. Then he grinned and pulled out one more thing from his bag and she gasped: this fruit was oval-shaped and considerably larger than the others, with a rough yellow shell with scales and stiff, spiky leaves poking out from the top. “I saved the best for last. What do you think?”

She smiled back. “It’s perfect. Just don’t bite into it.”  

[queenofangrymoths]

How To Identify A Newsie - Warning! This is really, really long.

How do you do it?? Spend the last four hours looking up every name in Tumblr and google then find good images and soak in every detail you can. That's how.

This'll be in Alphabetical order more or less. You can use this to get details for drawings or, in my case, stories. This is just the Newsies, none of the adults or Katherine. 

Albert Dasilva : -hat looks backward -the hat has a dark plaid pattern -stripped shirt with three buttons closed -no sleeves -shirt is open -wears open vest -pants are rolled up to his knees -Socks are mid-calf/crew. -Color is either dark blue or black or dark brown with two yellow??? stripes of medium thickness. Sorry, it's hard to get details off a moving gif. -steals Race's cigar -Played by Sky Flaherty

Bart: -From Brooklyn -Arrives in Brooklyn's Here -Spot does a little hug thing with him. Draws him in close -On Spot's left??? -red and grey striped shirt -THICK stripes. -no sleeves -the hat is kind of smooshed -suspenders are blue, red, then blue again. -Pants are rolled up to the knees -stripped pattern -played by Andrew Wilson

Buttons Davenport: -Legit. BUTTONS. -Dark grey plaid shirt -three buttons are buttoned but then it opens -to slightly reveal another shirt under it that looks like it has black stripes. thin lines. not thick. -Sleeves are rolled up to his elbows -Wears his pants high -Pants are plaid. colors are dark brown then light brown. -Suspenders colors are light grey, then brown, then light grey again -Socks are mid-calf/crew. -are dark blue with two thick stripes of a lighter blue at the top -played by Chaz Wolcott

Crutchie Morris -hat is backward -the hat is also low on the head, not quite sure how it stays on. -color is dark brown -wearing two shirts -the over shirt is a light grey color -it's polka dots. Outline of circles is black and the inside is the same color as the rest of the shirt -This shirt is rolled up to his elbows -the other shirt is a darker light grey -it's long sleeved going to his wrists. -polka dot shirt has three buttons buttoned then it's open -undershirt has all buttons but one buttoned -the vest is completely open -it is a light brown with a plaid pattern -has five buttons -pants are light grey with a faint plaid pattern -pants stop right below the knee -socks are mid-calf/crew -dark brown/black with a thick stripe of blue at the top -has a crutch. Obviously. -played by  Andrew Keenan-Bolger

Davey Jacobs: -I nearly forgot to do this guy. Jesus me. -Has two outfits -Act one and act two. -ACT ONE outfit: -a grey hat, the dill tipped up -a white dress shirt with lines of blue -it's long sleeved -he has his cufflinks buttoned -collar down nice and proper -wearing a freaking tie. A TIE -which is grey with stripes of white and dark blue -a pinchbeck patterned vest -it's brown -it's closed -six buttons -black striped pants -can't see his socks -black shoes -ACT TWO: -shirt is different -the shirt is now gingham with blue and white -has one button open -THE VEST IS OPEN -same black pants and shoes -played by Ben Fankhauser

Elmer: -the hat is slightly pushed up in the front -grey in color? depends on lighting. -dark green striped shirt -short sleeves -has two buttons - closed -thin dark stripes -open, brown vest -has pockets on both side -five buttons -blue striped pants - socks go past his pants estimations would be to the knee -black with a diamond pattern that's blue -Also one of the Brooklyn boys -during that, he wears a red striped shirt -two buttons -both closed -grey pants -with brown suspenders with intercepting blue lines

-played by Anthony Zas

Finch Cortes: -a hat is a plaid pattern. -grey colored -the bill of the cap is flipped up -Two outfits -outfit #1 prestrike -plaid overshirt, -has two buttons closed -pale greenish color -black and white striped undershirt -suspenders are dark blue, red, then dark blue -brown striped pants -stop at knees -a button on a knee with pockets on either side -blue socks -the second outfit, during the strike -grey shirt -no sleeves -three buttons -only one closed -suspenders are dark brown then white then dark brown -dark brown pants -same socks -slingshot. emphasize on a slingshot. -played by Iain Young  

Henry: -grey hat -has a dot a the top of it -wears two shirts -undershirt is striped -dark blue and white -has three buttons, only one is closed -overshirt is a checkered pattern -kind of reddish in color? -sleeves are rolled up to his elbows -the vest is a brown plaid pattern -open -six buttons -pants are dark brown, -also a checkered pattern -rolled below the knew -socks are black with blue at the top with three stripes of white -played by Michael Rios

Hot Shot: -One of Brooklyn's boys -grey plaid hat -wears two shirts -overshirt is a red plaid shirt with lines of white and blue -has three buttons -none are closed -no sleeves -the undershirt is stripes of black and white -suspenders are just dark blue -light grey pants that are stripped -a smudge of dirt on the right cheek -carries the Brooklyn sign -played by J.P. Ferreri

Ike: -twin brother to Mike -maybe describing Mike but I can't fucking tell them apart. -has a dark grey hat -the bill is tilted up slightly -a dark blue shirt striped with thin lines of white -three buttons, all closed -short sleeves -a dark grey vest -has three buttons -dark grey pants -striped with black lines -a smudge of dirt on the right side of the face -played by David Guzman

Jack Kelly: -literally the main guy -like. This is so easy -so many references. -The outfit at the beginning of the movie. The Santa Fe prologue: -grey hat with a diverse pattern -white shirt with stripes of light blue, dark blue, light orange, dark orange, olive green, dark green. -Has two buttons. None are closed. -red suspenders with white lines on the edges then white dots -three in a row then another line. -same gray, striped pants -probably no shoes yet. -smudges of dirt on the face -Normal outfit. -two shirts -the upper shirt is the bright blue shirt -sleeves rolled up to elbows -collar is open -undershirt is grey -similar to the upper shirt, the collar is open -striped grey vest -it's, shocking, closed. -three buttons -underneath the vest are his red suspenders. -same pants. -black shoes -played by Jeremy Jordan

Jojo: -grey plaid hat -wears two shirts -the upper shirt is light blue and tucked in but open -undershirt is a grey button up shirt -at the top, there are three open buttons -sleeves are rolled up to his elbows -plain brown suspenders -brown checkered pants -stop below the knee -just plain blue socks -smudges of dirt or grime on the cheekbones -played by Joshua Burrage

Kid Blink: -wears a checkered light brown hat -the hat is on backward -wears two shirts -the undershirt is a faded white striped shirt with black. -the upper shirt is pale red. -it's a checkered pattern. -rolled up to his elbows. -an open pin check brown vest -five buttons -brown, striped (?) pants -stop below the knee -black and white socks that go to mid-calf -played by Andy Richardson.

Les: -wears a totally different hat than everyone else -Is it like a brown bowler hat? -probably is his dad's. -a white, checkered pattern shirt -with lines of red and green -it has eight buttons on the front -suspenders that are colored black, white, black -grey pants that stop below the knee -red diamond pattern socks -his left arm is in a sling after the first rally of the strike -played by Ethan Steiner

Mike: -Or Ike. -Might be describing the wrong twin but I can't tell them apart. -brown hat -checkered blue and white shirt -three buttons are open -light tan vest -it's open -has four buttons -plain light brown pants -played by Jacob Guzman -I GUESSED THEM RIGHT WHOO

Mush: -grey hat -the bill is in an arc shape -wearing a white, awning pattern button up shirt -colors are red, blue, and green -three buttons are open -wears a black striped undershirt -the stripes are white -brown pants with lines that are dark shades of red and green -stop below the knees -suspenders colors are brown, white, brown, white. -plain white socks -played by Nicholas Masson

Myron: -One of the Brooklyn boys -grey hat, dill is fully up -has this blue scarf tied around his neck -wearing a red striped shirt -stripes are a darker red -two out of the three buttons are open -suspenders are white, blue, white -out of everyone, his pants look more like jeans -dark blue jeans -played by Stephen Hernandez

Race Higgins: -My favorite -I love this boy -always has a cigar -Race has two outfits -first outfit: -He has an undershirt on. -It's black and white striped -has three open buttons -then the shirt on top is gingham -it's colors are blue, pale green, and white. -Sleeves are rolled up to short sleeves. -out of those six buttons, only one (maybe two) are buttoned -it's tucked in though -vest is brown and a checkered pattern -five buttons -it's open -pants are light brown  and a checkered pattern -they stop right below the knee -his socks are crew and they're blue with red at the top -second outfit: -his shirt is just now his undershirt -it has short sleeves -nothing else changes -except he has some bruises -played by Ben Cook

Romeo: -wears a dark grey cap -his shirt is striped -blue then white -has short sleeves -his vest is dark brown -pockets on either side -does that folded like look? -has four buttons -I honestly can't tell if he has suspenders or not. -pants are a dark grey and striped -wears said pants high -his pants stop right below the knees -socks go to his knees -they are blue and red, striped -Played by Joshua Burrage

Spot Conlon: -King of Brooklyn -5'4. -grey cap -wears a red shirt -no sleeves -it's striped -dark red followed by a lighter red -it's dirty. Sweat? blood? Grime?? IDK -Suspenders are stripes of black and white -dark jeans -played by Tommy Bracco

Smalls: -She's short -From the Bronx! -ONLY GIRL NEWSIE -I REPEAT, ONLY GIRL NEWSIE -wears her hat backwards -it's brown -wears a green, striped shirt -sleeves are rolled up to her elbows -pants are worn high -vest is open, brown -has a checkered pattern -has three buttons -wears brown suspenders -green socks that are mid-calf -carries the Bronx sign -played by Julian DeGuzman

Specs: -wears glasses. Hence the name. Shorten version of spectacles. Which I actually kind of like better than glasses. -lost his shoe -grey hat -wears a sleeveless shirt -it's a faded black and white striped -over that, he wears another shirt it's like a dress shirt, with stripes -the sleeves stop at the elbows -it's white with faded black stripes -his vest is a brown, plaid pattern. -it's open -has approximately five buttons -suspenders are brown with a pale streak of brown then back to the dark brown -stripped pants that stop at the knee -red socks that you can see slightly -played by Jordan Samuels

Sniper: -wears his hat backward -it's brown -wears a black undershirt -over it, he wears a blue plaid shirt -shirt probably has five buttons -only one of them is open -sleeves are rolled past his elbows -light brown vest -has about five buttons -it's open -dark blue suspenders -brown pants that stop mid-calf -blue striped socks -dark blue than bright blue -played by Daniel Switzer

Tommy Boy: -hat is brown -shirt is faded white with stripes of yellow -shirt has three buttons -two are open -a light, light brown plaid vest -it's open -probably has four buttons -suspenders are white with a hint of red -pants are a light black -striped -worn high -played by  Michael Dameski

Vince: -See Myron

Willie: -See Bart

[mackenziepride1-blog]

How To Decipher Dipstick Urinalysis Results

Painting can be exciting as well as it shouldn't be actually challenging in any way. Folks using black appear thinner (in correct mixes as well as styles), but dark objects appear heavier and more powerful. Safest Colour- Though certainly not all Indian's are as involved as for risk-free colours are thought about yet certainly this is actually a factor one needs to never ignore. I individually love seeing individuals holiday snaps specifically of Italy therefore below you go. I may additionally post a 2nd collection in a few days time. The more melanin you possess the darker your eyes are actually. Reddish different colors is additionally symbol of passion, union and marriage. Oddly, they discovered that 14 percent of individuals consider pink tablet computers as sampling sweeter than red tablet computers whereas a yellow tablet computer is identified as salted irrespective of its true elements. A lot of paint suppliers and also some house experts offer complimentary resources on their sites to help you in selecting exterior property paint shades. Red hair originates from mutations in a genetics associated with skin and hair pigmentation, named melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) on chromosome 16. Oh as well as allow's certainly not forget that most of people on Earth are blessed along with brownish eyes. This software program is actually comprehensive with 100 task web pages all set to complete along with either colour or even paint, excellent for kids who remain in daycare or primary school. The cycle will reach the various other meals coloring spots as well as they to will certainly begin to extend quickly making a mix of splendid shades. Brilliant colors, like orange and yellowish, will certainly create you to come to be even more pleasing or even satisfied. We may also choose our hair shade and a lot of other things. Much of the Sojourner coloring web pages in this particular segment are actually suited towards more youthful little ones and so attribute easy illustrations or even comic strip style pictures. Individuals along with the condition likewise develop spots of black skin layer, comparable to basted skin layer. If you visited a Chinese bistro or enjoyed a Mandarin film, odds are you could possess discovered the color reddish, yellow as well as green which pack click through the following document atmosphere. I picked this charming floral photo from the Fresh Florals established by Clearly Besotted I put the coated board in my mini MISTI and afterwards tattooed up the stamp with white colored pigment ink. The great different colors of wedding ceremony are blue, greenish, blue-green, and Silver. Little ones like a super hero and also if they desire to color within this web page after that you may take its printing from here anytime. Also prevent dark woes as well as vibrant purples which can easily subdue the blue-green as well as damage its lightness. Take pictures of your work, laminate all of them when you travel and also develop up a public library of vibrant skin repainted memory cards for the youngsters to decide on coming from. Substitutions can easily lead to darker or even lighter shades, or colors that deviate from the charts. You will view a great deal of styles in images looking fantastic in a set of light colour tapered denims that finish at the ankle joint.

[astrogeoguy]

The Full Grain Moon, Comet Zinner Zips towards Capella, and Mercury’s Best Manifestation for the year!

(Above: My friend Michael Watson of Toronto took this detailed image of the full moon on February 22, 2016 when it was only 9 hours past full - the same situation we’ll see tonight, Sunday, August 26, 2018. Notice the strip of shadowed craters along the moon’s right-hand limb - proof that the moon has started to wane. Michael’s lunar images are here.)

Astronomy Skylights for this week (from August 26th, 2018) by Chris Vaughan. (Feel free to pass this along to friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics.) I post these with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory, or another in your area, visit www.astrogeo.ca.

If you’d like me to bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlanetarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together!

Public Events

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday evenings after dark, they offer free public viewing through their telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

The next RASC Public Event at the David Dunlap Observatory will be Speaker Night on Saturday, September 15. There will be a Skylab planetarium tour, space crafts, a tour of the giant 74” telescope, and viewing through lawn telescopes (weather permitting). The doors will open at 6:30 pm for a 7 pm start. Attendance is by tickets only, available here. If you are a RASC member and wish to help us at DDO in the future, please fill out the volunteer questionnaire here. And to join RASC, visit this page. 

A Binocular Comet

This fall, astronomers are watching for two comets that are predicted to brighten enough to see with binoculars and possibly even your unaided eyes. I’m going to continue updating you about them, even though, like cats, comets have tails and are extremely prone to doing their own thing, despite what we might want them to do. 

(Above: The path of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in the northeastern sky this week, shown here at 11 pm local time. )

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner returns to our vicinity every 6.5 years – hence the “P” for “periodic” in its designation. It has been gradually brightening because it is approaching Earth’s orbit. Later this week, once the bright, full moonlight wanes, you should be able to see the faint fuzzy greenish object in binoculars or a small telescope, if you can escape city lights. 

The comet is located in the north-northeastern sky on a track that moves it downwards every night. Tonight (Sunday) it will be found about a fist’s diameter (11°) to the left of the bright star Mirfak in Perseus (the Hero). Next Sunday, it will have descended to land only a finger’s width to the upper right of the very bright star Capella in Auriga (the Charioteer); putting the two objects inside the field of view of a low magnification telescope. Capella will still be fairly low at 11 pm local time, but the comet and star will be carried higher during the course of the night due to Earth’s rotation.  

A second comet named 46P/Wirtanen is predicted to become much brighter by December. Right now, it is tickling the belly of the whale (Cetus), but it’s far too dim to look for yet. 

The Moon and Planets

August’s full moon, known as the “Sturgeon Moon”, “Red Moon”, “Green Corn Moon”, and “Grain Moon” occurred this morning (Sunday). The Assiniboine People called the August full moon the Black Cherries Moon, and the Inuit call it the Swan Flight Moon. In China, it’s the Harvest Moon and in India it’s Bhadrapad Purnima. This one will shine within the constellation of Aquarius (the Water-Bearer), but you’ll be hard-pressed to see the dim stars of that modest constellations due to so much bright moonlight. When the moon rises on Sunday evening, it will appear a hair less than full. Binoculars or a telescope will reveal a narrow strip of shadowed terrain along the moon’s right (its eastern) edge. 

For the rest of this week, the waning moon will continue to slide eastward through more water constellations, including Cetus (the Whale) and Pisces (the Fishes). It will also rise later and later, and then linger into the morning sky for your commute to school(!) or work. 

When the waning crescent moon rises at midnight on Sunday, September 2, it will be sitting only two finger widths to the lower left of Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus (the Bull). The moon and bright star will cross the sky together while the moon’s eastward orbital motion will slowly draw them apart. Two hours earlier, at 9:50 pm EDT (01:50 UT), observers in Greenland and northernmost Canada will see the moon cross in front of, or occult, Aldebaran.

(Above: Mercury shown at 6 am local time, one day past its greatest elongation west of the sun. the steep Ecliptic (yellow line) causes the planet to rise well before the sun, facilitating our observations.) 

For people who live in the GTA and mid-northern latitudes around the world, Mercury will be very easy to see in the eastern pre-dawn sky this week. Today (Sunday), Mercury will reach an angle of 18 degrees west of the Sun, its widest separation for this appearance. That means it will rise in the east well before the sun, in a somewhat darker sky. You’ll be able to see it between about 5:15 and 6 am local time all week. Try to pick a spot with a low and uncluttered eastern horizon. 

Extremely bright Venus is quickly descending the western early evening sky each evening as its orbit carries it back towards the sun. Tonight it will set at about 9:30 pm local time, but a week from now that will advance to 9 pm. Meanwhile, the bright planet will appear to be approaching the bright star Spica in Virgo (the Maiden). The effect is caused by Earth’s motion carrying the entire sky westward faster than Venus is moving. They’ll “kiss” this Friday and Saturday evening; a gorgeous sight in binoculars! In a small telescope, Venus’ disk will resemble a first quarter moon, half-lit on the sunward side (although your telescope might flip the view). The planet will also be growing larger in apparent diameter because it is travelling towards the Earth right now.

(Above: The early evening sky, shown here Sunday evening at 9 pm local time, features the naked-eye planets Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.)  

We are in the closing chapter for observing Jupiter this year. The earlier sunsets will buy us some extra evening observing time, but its position low in the sky will add a great deal of extra blurring atmosphere between it and our telescopes. This week, the very bright planet will emerge from the southwestern twilight soon after dusk, and then set in the west-southwest after about 10:30 pm local time. Jupiter, which has been slowly shifting eastwards, will continue to pull away from the nearby bright star Zubenelgenubi, the brightest star in Libra (the Scales). In binoculars, you’ll plainly see that Zubenelgenubi is a pair of stars. While you have the binoculars handy, see if you can see Jupiter’s four Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede) flanking the planet. 

The Great Red Spot (or GRS, for short) takes about three hours to cross Jupiter’s disk. But the planet’s 10-hour rotation period (i.e., its day) means that the spot is only observable from Earth every 2-3 nights. If you’d like to see the GRS, use a medium-sized telescope (or larger). You’ll have your best luck on evenings with steady air – when the stars are not twinkling too much. Try to look within an hour before or after the following times: Sunday, August 19 at 9:46 pm (as the planet is setting), Wednesday, August 29 at 8:07 pm (starting in twilight), and Friday, August 31 at 9:46 pm (as the planet is setting). All times are given in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), so adjust for your local time zone. 

Medium-bright and yellow-tinted Saturn will appear not too high up the darkening southern sky shortly after dusk this week. The planet will reach its highest elevation of about 2 fist diameters above the southern horizon at around 9 pm local time, and then descend to set in the west by about 1:30 am. This summer, the ringed planet has been 4 finger widths to the upper right of the “lid” star of the Teapot in Sagittarius (the Archer). As the sky darkens, even a small telescope should be able to show you some of Saturn’s larger moons, especially Titan. Using a clock’s dial analogy, Titan will move counter-clockwise this week from a position at 2 o’clock (left of the planet) to 8 o’clock (right of the planet). (Remember that your telescope might flip and/or invert the view. Use the moon to find out how your telescope changes things.) 

Mars will still be very bright this week. Visually, it will appear pink or orangey due to the global dust storm it has experienced recently. Mars will rise over the southeastern horizon at around 7 pm local time (give or take, depending on your latitude) and then climb higher until 11 pm local time, when it will reach an elevation of about 20° (or two outstretched fist diameters) above the southern horizon. (That will be the best hour to view the planet in a telescope because it will then be shining through the least amount of Earth’s distorting atmosphere.) Note that 20° is lower than many trees and buildings, so a clear southern vista is essential. It will set in the west at around 3 am.

(Above: The ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune rise late and remain in view all night, as shown here at 10:30 pm local time this week.)  

At visual magnitude 5.8, blue-green coloured Uranus is visible from late evening until dawn. You can see it without optical aid under very dark skies, or in binoculars and telescopes under moderately light-polluted skies. The ice giant planet is located in the eastern sky, about 4.5 finger widths to the left of the modestly bright star Torcular (Omega Piscium), which is above the “V” where the two starry cords of Pisces (the Fishes) meet. 

Using a decent quality telescope you can also see the distant and very blue planet Neptune among the dim stars of Aquarius (the Water-bearer). It will rise in the east shortly before 8:30 pm local time. Look for the magnitude 7.8 planet sitting 1.75 finger widths to the right of the modestly bright star Phi (φ) Aquarii and 4 finger widths to the left of the brighter star Hydor (Lambda Aquarii).

Keep looking up to enjoy the sky! I love getting questions so, if you have any, send me a note.

[growlighteco]

How to Protect Your Plants from Pests & Bugs?

Figuring out how to get rid of indoor plant bugs is extremely frustrating, and it can be very difficult to control houseplant pests. In this post, I’ll show you how to identify the most common pests. Then you’ll learn how to get rid of bugs on houseplants naturally, and get tons of tips for how to keep bugs off indoor plants in a marijuana grow tent, for good.

Common Cannabis Pests

The most common cannabis pests include thrips, whitefly, spider mites, leaf miners, aphids, and cabbage loopers, among others. In the ganja community, the inchworm-like looper caterpillars are also referred to as “bud worms”. If you aren’t familiar with all these insects, consider browsing this article about common garden pest identification too. Finally, powdery mildew and fungal diseases can also be an issue for cannabis.

Our area is prone to all of these things! During our first year growing cannabis, we struggled with cabbage loopers the most. And just as I said, we didn’t realize how bad it was until too late. The caterpillars don’t just eat the buds. They also poop in them, which then creates mold. Some of our first flowers were so full of caterpillar shit, we had no choice but to compost them. Lesson learned. Now we know how to stay on top of it, and nip the problem in the bud… before it damages our bud!

HOW TO DETECT BUGS IN YOUR GROW ROOM EARLY

Pest infestation can be one of the biggest headaches in an indoor grow room. Early detection is key in pest control to prevent from an unfortunate outbreak.

Hanging sticky-traps can be of major benefit in the grow room for two reasons.

The strips catch any flying pests

They act as a good meter of how many (if any) pests are appearing in your grow room

The more insects you see stuck on a trap, the more insects are in the room, so act immediately. Flystrips, or “ribbon” strips, can be hung from the ceiling with a tack. These traps spiral down, creating a landing surface for the flying pests.

Other styles of applicators include trays and square paper. Trays can be set on any horizontal surface, such as a table or desk. Square paper can be mounted onto a vertical surface such as a wall or hung from the ceiling like the ribbon strips.

Once pests are stuck on the strips you can act immediate to prevent an outbreak. No matter which option you choose, be sure to read the instructions and warnings on the packaging.

[PRO TIP] Different insects are attracted to different colors. Select the color of your traps based on the type of insect you are trying to remove.

HOW TO KEEP BUGS OUT OF YOUR GROW ROOM

Is your grow room sealed? This includes door jams, windows, baseboards, and even air vents.

Pests can and will infiltrate any place they can for food. Be sure to caulk up any cracks or holes, and seal under the doors with a door sweep or other alternative bottom door seal.

Ventilation is important in the grow room for a number of reasons. A good suggestion would be to inspect the ventilation system before bringing any plants into the space. The air duct system(Inline Duct Fan) can be set up in a number of ways, but the important thing is that it is sealed.

Duct “Mastic” is the most secure and recommended way to seal up a leaky or drafty duct, but duct tape can be used as well. The more secure the room is beforehand, the easier it will be to maintain if the need arises.

[PRO TIP] In the indoor garden the “ease of clean” factor is very important. There should not be many surfaces to scrub or intricate fixtures where pests can hide away. Milar is commonly applied to walls, ceilings, and floors for this very purpose. It is nonporous and is very easy to clean/wipe down. Remember the easier the space is to clean the easier it is to maintain.

Early detection is key to managing pests

Finding pests before they become a problem is the best way to keep insects at bay.

Thoroughly examine all plant parts and containers before bringing them home from the store or indoors for the winter. You may need to use a magnifying lens as some pests are very small. Inspect tops and undersides of leaves for insects, webbing, holes and eggs. Examine leaves that are discolored as this may be evidence of a pest problem. A ten-power hand magnifying lens is helpful when looking for pests. There are also magnifier apps for smartphones. Small, shiny, sticky spots on greenish-yellow leaves Watch for honeydew, a shiny, sticky substance made by aphids, mealybugs and scale insects found on the upper surface of leaves as well as on tabletops and other items around and under the plant. Check plant containers for signs of pests along edges, rims, the bottom of pots, saucers, crevices. Remove if found. Isolate newly acquired plants for one to two weeks to allow any possible pest problems to become visible. Check for pests when you water, fertilize or clean plants. Two yellow sticky cards hung above some green plants. Tiny, black flies can be seen trapped on them. Yellow sticky card trapping flies Some insects like springtails and fungus gnats will move due to the water, making it easier to detect them. Use yellow or blue sticky traps to detect flying insects like whiteflies, fungus gnats, winged aphids and thrips.

Feed your soil to feed (and protect) your plants.

Did you know that soil quality directly influences a plants susceptibility or resistance to disease, stress, drought, and pests? By creating a healthy environment for your plants to live and grow in – full of rich organic matter, worms, and plenty of high quality compost – the stronger the plant’s immune system will be. Just like humans, and our lifestyle and food choices. We explored this concept in our introductory post on garden pest control, which applies to all types of plants – not just cannabis! Stressed plants will get “sick” easier, and more readily attract and succumb to pest damage. The same goes for those that rely on synthetic fertilizer and chemicals for food. Most important, light is essential for plant growth, if you want to choose a light which is similar with natural light, a full spectrum LED grow light can take for a consider.

Growers may add certain amendments that naturally deter pests to their cannabis soil, either as part of the initial soil mixture, or later as top-dressings. For example, neem seed meal is dual-purpose. It is an amendment that provides modest amounts of micro and macronutrients to the plant, increases soil microbial activity, and also deters pests. In general, most pests don’t like the smell of neem. It can help control unwanted nematode populations, fungi, and soil pathogens.

Crustacean or crab meal fits the same profile and has similar benefits, particularly protecting against root knot nematodes.

The use of aloe vera and silica in routine waterings or foliar sprays help to enhance a plants immune system and overall resilience, as we explored in the posts linked below.

Final thoughts

Some growers leave a change of clothes close to the entrance of the grow room that they can change before entering. Others perfer to use full hazmat suits. Equipment can be cleaned relatively easily before and after every session using soap and water. A spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol can also be used. A little cleanliness goes a long way in preventing pests in your cannabis plants. What's more, a best advice for beginners, you need to buy lots of tools, may be a marijuana grow tent kit can help you.

[flowing-paint]

Time travel

It’s Sunday again and this means a new post on the blog. I actually lost two weeks worth of posts because of my trip back to Italy but I don’t really care: that was an awesome trip and gave me so many inputs and ideas! It was like traveling back in time to high school. Tabletop wargaming speaking, of course! In this post, I will briefly go over the experience and post some pictures of my really (really) old Warhammer Fantasy models. Wanna see them?? Click on the link below! Just be aware: a lot of pictures, so you’re in for a sloppy paint job ride!

So, I was back to my parents’ house where all my pre-Japan nerd stuff is carefully watched after by my Mom. She is not actively caring for it, of course. She just put all the junk in some big cardboard boxes and stuck it in the basement. Luckily our basement is a wine cellar so we have perfect humidity and temperature year round and my Magic The Gathering cards are still doing fine. My Warhammer figurines ended up in the same basement so, one of the first things I did was going downstairs and start digging through all the boxes to find them.

If you follow me on Twitter (unlikely, I know... but there’s still a remote possibility) you probably saw the pictures I took of my old models. Well, not all of them; just a small amount of representative ones my wife wanted me to upload on the blog. At the beginning, she just wanted to see how “good” I was back in the days mainly because she thought she may win a free “make fun of your nerd husband” ticket. However, after seeing the miniatures she thought it would be nice to upload them here: my painting at the time sucked so much that we thought it may be worthwhile to show it to those beginners on the internet that are just moving their first steps in the hobby. You know... just as some motivational stuff.

Taking proper pictures was hard: as I didn’t bring my light-box with me the picture quality is really bad... but, hey! not that I am blaming the pictures for my sloppy paint jobs. They are barely tabletop standard in some case (Skinks, I’m talking to you!) and lack proper contrast in most of the others. I will upload them here so that you all can see how one can evolve from hobby-zero to hobby-hero! (ok, this last one came out a little bit too presumptuous),

Dark Elves

During high school, I was a great fan of Tolkien books.... I still have all of them in my bookshelf. I really liked Elves as they were the most “likable” faction in all books so when I first approached Warhammer Fantasy, Elves was my to go choice. Still, high elves with all their white and pointy faces did not appeal to me too much and the Wood Elves looked more like Robin Hood imitations. So I naturally ended up with the Dark Elves with all their human sacrifices, blood drinking, and naked boobies. Impressive how teenagers mind works (or really, doesn’t). I went with the color scheme suggested in the army book and ended up with some cool looking models. I just happened to make two big mistakes:

I did not coat them when I was done with the painting. Actively playing with them and storing in sub-optimal conditions led to a lot of paint chipping and the models are now completely covered in blemishes.

I left them on display in a bright spot. The UV from the light slowly ate through the paint and the more delicate pigments just died (especially the blue and the yellows)

Read these two points well and avoid the same mistakes! I am coating the models now but the very first units I didn’t protect are to be fully repainted. Do you really want to do it? No, you don’t. Well, maybe, if they were really bad you can think about it.

So, let’s actually see some pictures!

These are the two leaders Malekith, the Witch King on his black dragon and Morathi the witch on her black pegasus. They look like they’re black only while the wings and some part of the body were painted with a blue-violet gradation.... that’s totally gone. I also urge you to focus on the bases: yes, that was the “only” style back in the days. Goblin green and flock aplenty! I may actually say I was going fancy as you can see a couple of stones and a log on the lady’s base.

Not sure about the name of the first one but the second one is an assassin. I remember using these two guys a lot: they were good at killing big stuff so I recall using them against my friend’s chaos demons. Not that I was able to win easily because, back in the days, chaos was super-overpowered!

Dark Elves are rich in witches.... like, literally everybody is a witch. Even the supreme commander/king. They use to hang around a boiling cauldron full of blood they used to do sacrifices and magical rituals. I clearly remember the cauldron being one of my favorite models back in the day: the machine itself is still super cool. What I didn’t really like were the witches themselves: they show how bad GW miniatures were then... super ugly. I mean, look at them.... I can’t believe I painted 20 of them...

Last, one of the few ranged units in the army, the Reaper bolt thrower. It was really useful when all other units were basically close combat. I only had a 10 man unit of bolt thrower equipped infantry and I was just flying forward with my big guys and charging with cold ones. Mmmm.. not the best strategy. That’s probably why I didn’t win too much with these guys.

Lizardmen

This is still my favorite army by a long stretch. I won big games with them and I mean that all my friends hated playing against them and kept asking for the Dark Elves... But do you really want to know the best thing of all? I had 90% of the army for free. I’m talking being in the right place at the right time. I was shopping with all my friends in a small shop that was my FLGS at the time and the owner came and asked all of us: anybody into starting Lizardmen? Back in the high school, we didn’t have money and, as you know, GW stuff may be pretty expensive.... so everybody went like “no thanks, I already play xxx”. I was the only one that actually replied differently; something along the lines “No, thanks... I don’t have money. But I wish I had ‘cause they look epic!”. That’s when the store owner replied “Then you’re in luck! I don’ want money for them: here you are. pick this bag and have fun!”. We had just realized the store was going out of business and he was giving away bargains but nobody wanted lizardmen because of the sheer number of dudes required. I just got a bag full of them and my friends kept blabbing about my luck for months. I’m still in love with them, their mesoamerican Aztec-like fluff and their tactics so I am still collecting them even in the new Age of Sigmar. I wish I could rebase them all easily.

Let’s move on to some pics!

Aerial view of a “typical” battle configuration. With 90% less skinks... I mean, I was fielding 100ds of skins. On average. They were able to fire two arrows in a row and were super-cheap. I like old skinks way more than present skinks. They were actually useful back then.

My favorite unit in the whole game. They were three flame throwers.. pretty solid ones! A salamander and 2 handlers got lost somehow...  They kept killing tons of foes while being pretty resistant too. I was really happy to see they didn’t get nerfed in the AoS warscrolls! The color scheme was completely original... the suggested colors were greenish IIRC but as you all know I am not a big fan of “standard” colors.

The general of my army, the Slann is being carried around by 4 Saurus temple guards. This dude was a beast! But he actually looks like he was painted with my toes... unfortunately. I remember I had to paint him fast to field him in a game... but now I regret doing it. I should have taken more time to do it better. He is not even washed! Guys, please treat your generals with some more respect than I did....

Prehistoric flyers... this model actually looks good. It clearly shows what the protective coat does... he was out in the light with the dark elves but the blue is still there and the red is still bright. Game-wise... Terradon suck. I should try the new flyers, the “ripperdactyls”

I also had a lot of characters to field from the crazy cavalry dude on an enraged horned one (Inxi huinzi) to the snake priest (Tehenhauin) and the blow-machinegun (Oxyotl). I think I had even more but I’m not super-sure. Here are the pics I shot.

I think we can consider ourselves done with pictures.... I have some more but basically, this is it! What do you guys think? Did looking at this metric crapton of sloppy minis motivate you? I hope it did ‘cause it motivated me to repaint them! Maybe somewhere in the future... who knows. Or maybe I’ll give them to my son when he will grow up and let him have fun with them. After stripping them of course... luckily they are all metal!

To close this long post, I just anticipate that looking at my old minis I also had some proxy ideas for my AoS armies that I will show you next week! Stay tuned!

... game on!

[pacamaracatuai-blog]

Finally the day arrived - I got to pick coffee (on my birthday no less!). Rosie and I headed down the mountain with the burro to meet Andy in the chacra, armed with bags and a pot with the lunch Pascuala packed for us (zapallo, rice, fried eggs, and mashed beans, like fava beans, called abas).

Rosie showed me the chacra, behind a little crumbling house where we stashed our lunch. It was nothing like Azael’s other chacras! He planted caña in perfect rows and quadrants grouped by the date they were sown, but the coffee was almost haphazardly strewn around the land. Not only were there no rows, but the land was steep and harder to navigate. A few banana trees and shade trees grew amongst the coffee plants, also scattered about. We were ready to go! The plants had lots of cherries hanging from their branches; each cherry contains two seeds, which are what we call coffee beans. I noted within minutes that a lot of the plants seemed to have rust spots and very few leaves, and I remembered what Azael told me about his reasons for switching to caña instead. Seeing this, it all made sense.

Rosie showed me the ropes quickly; after all, she has been picking coffee since she was about seven years old! She instructed me to pick the ripe red cherries, the yellow nearly-ripe cherries, the dried brown cherries, and also any that were greenish-yellow (this is known as strip harvesting). Only very green cherries were to stay on the branches. The part of me that spent three years working in coffee quality control cringed…anything greenish should wait till later, as unripe beans impart a peanutty and astringent flavor in the final cup. But I went with it; coffee isn’t their primary crop and Azael told me most of their coffee is consumed at home anyway.

One thing that surprised me was how each cherry matures at its own pace. In each cluster of cherries, it is possible to have dried overripe fruit, red ripe fruit, yellow, and green unripe cherries all mixed together! I rarely found plants with branches full of only red cherries. Even if I had been picking carefully and selecting for color, it would have been tough.

What else is tough about picking coffee? Some of the plants were absurdly tall and hard to reach! And others were perched on tricky steep spots, causing the picker to slide downhill while trying to grab cherries. Plus, it was a hot summer day and my bag got heavy quickly.

We stopped for lunch at noon and took a break to harvest habas for Pascuala - those are haba plants in the photo of the mountains. Then another hour of picking and we were done - lots of green cherries remained on the branches, for next time. We collected a couple bunches of unripe bananas and a few fresh oranges to snack on, and we were heading home. (On the way home we stopped at their grandma’s house for a snack of boiled corn on the cob - grandmas all over the world seem to do more or less the same things, just with different foods!)

First time picking coffee but definitely not the last…it is hard but overall peaceful work. Plus I got a gorgeous view of the Andes while I worked!

[wordsaremything]

Drastoria Drabble

Just a little thing I wrote up about Draco and Astoria. Just because I wanted to and I’m obsessed with Draco Malfoy.

2490 words.

The Slytherin table bustled around him as Draco studied the Potter Stinks badge in his hand. He couldn’t help but think that this was one of his better ideas. Alright, maybe it wasn’t completely his idea. Theodore Nott helped quite a bit to make them look as perfect as Draco wanted them but that didn’t stop him from taking local credit from all his fellow Slytherins.

And he should take credit for it all. It was his idea after all.

Before he was ready, Pansy Parkinson parked herself right beside him. She was sporting one of the badges and her signature grin. “These have really been a hit, Draco,” she said, tapping the green badge and sending it back to the yellow Support Cedric Diggory, “Even with Hufflepuffs! But mostly the Gryffindors hate them.”

Draco lifted his eyes towards the Gryffindor table. They did look rather… ruffled. He smirked. “Well, that was the intention,” he replied

“I’ve got everyone to wear one!” Pansy continued, and looked around her at her gaggle of girl friends. They all puffed out their chests and flicked their hair so Draco could see their badges clearly. It was like watching himself win.

Draco gave them all a devilish grin. “Well done, ladies. This ought to knock those lions down a few pegs,” he said and swelled just a bit more at the girls’ giggles in answer. And maybe bloody Potter and his friends will stop walking around like royalty. Suddenly, Daphne Greengrass piped up.

“Tori!”

Draco looked up and watched a small brunette stop in her tracks. He recognized the girl as Daphne’s younger sister, but he couldn’t place the face with a name past whatever Daphne just called her.

The blonde continued. “Where’s your badge?” she asked expectantly.

The younger one turned around, slowly, to face the rest of them. She wasn’t wearing one of their badges. He checked. Then he waited until she answered.

“I’m not wearing it,” the girl replied, squaring her shoulders.

Pansy scoffed. “Of course you’ll wear it–”

“No,” she cut off sharply, “Sorry, Daph.” And then she turned and walked swiftly from the Great Hall.

Draco grimaced. Merlin, what an attitude. “What’s her problem?” he asked, turning his head towards Daphne.

Her cheeks were flushed. “Sorry, my kid sister… she’s too much like our father, spends all her time with her nose in a book. She couldn’t care any less for the real world,” she said and promptly tapped her badge so it was green again.

Potter Stinks.

“Remind me of her name,” Draco continued as he pinned his back to his robe.

“Astoria...”

Draco hummed quietly in recognition but didn’t think too much further about it. He wondered what else he could do to spoil Potter’s second big break.

“What are you doing?”

Draco jumped and smacked his head on the bannister. He cursed quietly and pressed his hand over the smarting spot before looking up. A familiar brunette was standing there, one thin eyebrow raised in question.

“I was scoping out the entrance to the seventh floor,” Draco replied, rising to his feet. He climbed up one step for good measure. “Now you’ve done in my plan.”

Astoria Greengrass looked to become even more confused, her eyebrows drawing in and the corners of her mouth dipping down. “You do know how ridiculous that sounds, don’t you? Is this all for Umbridge?”

Draco scoffed and brushed by her. However, before he could reach the landing, the staircase started to move. He grabbed the banister for support without even needing to think about it. When he looked back up at Astoria, she looked a little more smug. It was an odd expression on her, considering she didn’t do much emoting to begin with.

“What do you know about it?” he demanded of her.

“Hardly anything other than the fact that she’s using you for spies.”

“It’s for extra credit!”

She crossed her arms. “Sounds like favoritism to me. Notice you’re all Slytherins?” Draco didn’t reply. “And I know you’ve been taking unnecessary points away from the other Houses as well. Gryffindor’s nearly in the negatives.”

He ground his teeth and looked away. He consciously knew it was all about favoritism and stamping out Umbridge’s opposition, and he really enjoyed making the Gryffindors suffer. But for some reason, when she pointed it all out so daintily, it made him feel a little… well, guilty. Just a bit.

“What do you care, anyway?” Draco demanded harshly, “Our House will win, no more annoying Gryffindors… This is better. Things are getting better and you… just go back to your bloody books!”

Astoria didn’t reply or change expression, rather just climbed down the stairs past him on her way. Oh, she was infuriating. Did she just… not have a soul? She didn’t even blush at his curse word. There was something wrong with her, honestly.

There was something wrong with him.

Shaking, vomiting, dizziness, the works. Mother said he was ill. Mother said he should come home. No, she didn’t understand. Home was too far away, and it wasn’t really home anyway. Not anymore.

He used to be able to think of Hogwarts as home. Soon, that would be taken away too. And that would be entirely his own fault. His decision. His assignment.

The enchanted mirror he had sitting before him was not as pretty as he would have liked, but it would do the job well enough. Dumbledore loved all his strange little trinkets… no doubt if he got this from a student admirer he would put it up in his office. Then, at least Draco would know when he was and wasn’t there. As long as he had his own looking glass on his person, he could spy quite easily. It was perfect.

A flash of movement in the mirror caught his eye. It was late, past curfew. Everyone should already be in bed. He turned, and in the dim light of the common room, he spotted a girl. A few torches lit up at the fresh movement, and it revealed to be Astoria. She looked drawn, sad. But not nearly as much as Draco did.

“What do you want?” he demanded sharply.

She didn't answer right away. She took a few steps closer to where he stood against the wall of the common room. He shrunk away as if trying to blend in with the pale wall. Astoria stopped and he looked away. He was Draco Malfoy. Malfoys don't cringe from anything, especially girls.

Another wave of nausea swept over him and he grabbed the nearby table for balance. The mirror rattled. Astoria paused, and when Draco looked up again she was in the light. The moon was filtering in the windows, casting a greenish and shaky light through the moving water of the Black Lake. Even then, she looked surer than he did.

“Are you okay?”

Draco stared at her. She was the only person to ever ask how he was feeling. Everyone else only asked how his assignment was coming along.

“Yes.”

“You're lying.”

It wasn’t an accusation, simply a statement of something they both knew to be true, but it still made Draco’s blood boil. How dare she accuse him of being a liar. How dare she be able to see right through him.

“Mind your own damn business for once, Greengrass,” he snarled at her, although it was more at his own shoes. He couldn’t look up; he couldn’t look at her concerned expression, nor could he bare to lift his head in case his vision started to swim again.

Astoria’s feet took a few steps closer. “Draco, please. At least… let me get you some water,” she said, barely above a whisper. He wouldn’t have been able to hear her if the fire had been going.

“No.”

She took another persistent step forward. “Draco, please, I can help–”

“I don’t need your help!” Draco shouted at her. The force of the yell shook his frail body, which in turn shook the table he had been working on, which caused the mirror to fall and shatter. That was the catalyst to send Draco Malfoy back down, down into a black hole shaped so much like the tattoo on his left arm. And he fell.

Astoria was there before he could really connect with the stone floor of the dungeons. It didn’t occur to either of them in that moment to just wave a wand and fix the glass. Instead, dry sobs wracked Draco’s body. He had long since spent all his tears.

“Astoria, I’ve m-made a terrible mis-mistake–”

She put one hand on the back of his head, and the other on his back. “I know.”

“I can’t do this… I have to… he’ll kill me, he’ll kill us all, my mother–”

She gulped. She didn’t have to ask who. “I know,” she repeated. It wasn’t a secret that Draco had been chosen.

“I killed people, Astoria. Innocent people are dead. Because of me.”

He forgot the last shred of his pride and let his forehead fall against Astoria’s shoulder. And he sat there, on the floor of the common room he had spent six years of his life in, and allowed Astoria Greengrass to hold him. The broken looking glass remained untouched beside them.

Draco had a mission. He was tired of feeling sorry for himself, and his family, and allowing those who were under him to walk all over them. If either the dark or the light triumphed in this war, there was no doubt the Malfoys would all lose their lives. The Dark Lord had stripped them of all their former splendor. And the Order… Draco knew Potter would never see him as an equal.

From the looks of Hogwarts, it didn’t look like his old school enemy was very close to victory. Draco had apparated into the dungeons, in search of the Slytherins, as that was their normal lair. But when he arrived, the east wing of the castle was crumbling above them. The dungeons were chaos. Draco supposed he only needed Crabbe and Goyle for this– they had been bumbling idiots for their entire school career, but at least they were stupid enough to go along with Draco’s stupid plan.

“You’re actually going to do it this time?” Crabbe asked him as they made haste towards the seventh floor, “Kill him? Deliver him to the Dark Lord? Not chicken out?”

Draco ground his teeth. At this point, the Malfoys’ last chance was if Draco helped turn Harry Potter over to Voldemort. He had to try one last time. “Crabbe. Shut your gob.”

“This is serious, Malfoy–” Crabbe stopped immediately. Draco had pulled his wand –his mother’s wand, actually, Draco still couldn’t believe she was in this hell without one– and pressed it against Crabbe’s jugular. He had purposefully done it with his left hand, so his sleeve edged down to reveal the top of the Dark Mark. Old school friends or not, Draco was the Death Eater here.

“Do as I say,” he said through his teeth and turned his gaze to Goyle, “Got anything to add?” Goyle shook his head quickly. “Good. Let’s go.”

So the three of them continued. When Draco rounded a corner on a back staircase, he froze. At the top of the same was a brunette with a bow in her hair and her wand grasped tightly in her right hand. Astoria Greengrass.

They just sort of stared at each other. Astoria had been at school the entire time the Death Eaters were in charge. Draco had not. It had been a long time since they had seen each other.

“Go,” Draco told Crabbe and Goyle, and they kept going up the steps. They pushed past Astoria as if she weren’t even there. He studied her. Tatty Slytherin uniform, wand, and a gash on her cheek. “Are you fighting?”

She nodded, her expression set.

“For Potter’s side?”

“I’m not about to go down without a fight.”

“You don’t have to fight! You would be safe if Potter was murdered at your feet!”

“That’s why I have to fight!” she cried, “I would be able to live on, but what about the Hufflepuff girl who sat next to me in Potions? Or the muggleborn boy who helped me with my Arithmancy homework?”

Draco sighed and took a few steps up, lessening the space between them. “Astoria, don’t be ridiculous.”

Her eyes narrowed at him. “What are you doing here then?” Then her eyes dropped inevitably to his left arm. Under her gaze, he felt self conscious about it. On reflex he covered the Dark Mark with his right hand.

“Astoria–”

“You can make the right decision here, Draco,” Astoria said, stepping down and further lessening the space between them, “You can say no. Finally. You don’t deserve this.”

Draco shook his head. “You don’t understand. My family–”

“Does not rely solely on you. My father was asked to be a Death Eater, you know, he told me. He said he couldn’t do it, he had to keep his family out of the war. They backed off because of his blood, because his name is Hyperion Greengrass. You joined for the same reason. ” She sighed., “But maybe I don’t understand.”

Astoria made to keep going down the staircase past him, but he grabbed her arm. She stopped. They were on the same step. She was taller than he remembered. He reached up and touched the cut on her cheek. “It’s not safe,” he told her.

“No,” she said. She gently laid her hand on his forearm. “But I’m used to that.”

He let her go. She ran passed him, closer and closer to the fray of the battle. Now that she was gone, Draco found himself able to focus again. Maybe he could actually do something this time. Try to forget about Astoria.

It didn’t work. His plan went dismally. Draco Malfoy owed his life to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. And Crabbe’s death as well.

A day later Draco sat with his parents among the aftermath of the battle. Narcissa and Lucius were both silent, but his mother hadn’t let go of his hand for he didn’t know how long. Draco stared at the table before him. It was charred and marked. He saw Astoria in the castle again, once. She stood with a small group of Slytherins who had chosen to fight in the battle, and the cut on her face was closed up. Pink and shiny, which means she was freshly healed. And she smiled. She didn’t smile at him. Draco knew she didn’t see him. She probably knew he would end up in Azkaban for all he did.

Then she did turn, and he met her eyes. Astoria took a moment to take in the scene around him. Then, she did smile at him.