Who favour fire

Scientists just mapped mysterious earthquakes deep inside Earth

Scientists at Stanford have unveiled the first-ever global map of rare earthquakes that rumble deep within Earth’s mantle rather than its crust. Long debated and notoriously difficult to confirm, these elusive quakes turn out to cluster in regions like the Himalayas and near the Bering Strait. By developing a breakthrough method that distinguishes mantle quakes using subtle differences in seismic waves, researchers identified hundreds of these hidden tremors worldwide.

Tomorrow is the last day of the half-price sale in Not Quite Kansas. fuzzyred is running a pool that will close later today, so if you want in on the quarter-price sale, now's the time to make your selections. If you're still shopping solo, the sale as a whole will close Sunday night.

Because it's nice to let people know that we appreciate them.

In the spirit of love memes, this meme is a place to thank someone who's created something you love, or done something kind that you still remember after all this time, or who has made your fandom life (or your life in general!) better in some way.

🩵Appreciation Meme🩵
my thread is here!

Today's project was creating an enclosure behind the log garden. I dragged some more logs back there so I can dump dead leaves inside. That way, they'll stay put, create habitat, hold moisture, and remain available in case I want some leaf litter during the warm season. This is a good use for old logs if you have any lying around.

( Walk with me ... )

Today is partly cloudy, chilly, and windy.

I haven't fed the birds yet.  Already I've seen one male and two female house finches, plus a male cardinal.  :D

EDIT 2/20/26 -- I fed the birds.  I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/20/26 -- Under the big mulberry tree in the house yard, I hauled several logs toward the log garden.  I am working on creating a sort of enclosure there where I can pile dead leaves.  That will contain raked-off leaves, create habitat, store moisture, and keep the leaf litter available into the growing season.

EDIT 2/20/26 -- I hauled more logs to complete the enclosure. \o/

I flushed the great horned owl from the ritual meadow when I went back there.

EDIT 2/20/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I took a few pictures of the log garden enclosure.

I've seen a large flock of sparrows and a mourning dove.

EDIT 2/20/26 -- I raked leaves away from the base of the barrel garden.  So many tulips are sprouting there!  :D

EDIT 2/20/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

These are active communities in Dreamwidth from Winter 2025-2026. They include things I've posted, but only the active ones; the thematic posts also list dormant communities of interest. This list includes some communities that I've found and saved but haven't made it into thematic posts yet. This post covers A-I.

See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.

Highly active with multiple posts per day, daily posts, or too many to count easily
Active with (one, multiple, many) posts in (current or recent month)
Somewhat active (latest post within current year, not in last month or few)
Low traffic (latest post in previous year)
Dormant (latest post before previous year, but could be revived because membership is open and posting is open to all members or anyone)
Dead (not listed because there are no recent posts, plus membership and/or posting are moderated)
Note that some communities are only active during a limited time, or only have gather posts on a certain schedule.

( Read more... )

Today is cloudy and cooler, but still unseasonably warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a male house finch.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I saw a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I refilled the hopper feeder.

I raked off the leaves from the goddess garden. There I found one lavender crocus in bloom along with many more sprouts.

Oddly the honeybees are not visiting the crocuses as usual. Instead they are nosing around the seeds in the hopper feeder. Go figure.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I started raking leaves off the daffodil bed on the east side. So many shoots now!

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I finished raking leaves off the daffodil bed on the west side. Just as I wrapped up that activity, it started drizzling rain. *sigh* I was hoping to gather up leaves later and put them somewhere, possibly behind the log garden.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

My seed starting kit arrived! :D What makes this awesome is that it comes with its own light system. That means it's not restricted to window use; it can go anywhere -- within reach of an outlet if we use a USB wall wart, or wherever else with some sort of battery pack. It will be interesting to see how this experiment works out.

While I was heading to the mailbox to fetch that package, it started raining again. There are puddles in the street. But then the sun came out, so I looked around -- and glimpsed part of a rainbow to the northeast. Naturally I trotted up the road in pursuit of a better view. It was a bright, full rainbow with a partial double on the outside. :D 3q3q3q!!! Definitely one of the better ones I've seen. I got a lot wetter than was strictly necessary, but I so don't care.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- The rain let up.

I did more work around the patio.

I raked up the leaves left from the rain garden and dumped them behind the log garden.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I raked up the leaves left from the daffodil bed, filling the trolley twice, and dumped them behind the log garden. Then I raked the leaves away from the front of the log garden and dumped them behind. This revealed a lot of shoots, mostly grape hyacinths with some crocuses mixed in.

I heard honking overhead and saw a skein of geese flying north. :D

I am done for the night.

Today is sunny and actually warm, with a light breeze -- it's 69°F outside.

I fed the birds. I've seen a small flock of sparrows, and a mourning dove flying around.

I put out water for the birds.

The crocuses are blooming in the rain garden! :D I'm pretty sure this is the earliest I've seen anything bloom here. The snowdrops don't even have their buds up yet. I took a few pictures of the crocuses.

EDIT 2/18/26 -- While we were out, I spotted 2 red-winged blackbirds. They are waaayyy too early. They won't find much to eat yet. :/

EDIT 2/18/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 2/18/26 -- I trimmed the dead stems from the 'Autumn Joy' sedum in the septic garden.  The garlic chives are already sprouting there too.

I've seen a flock of sparrows, a male cardinal, and a male house finch.

EDIT 2/18/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

NASA fired three rockets into the northern lights and the results are stunning

NASA has pulled off a high-flying aurora investigation, launching three rockets into the glowing northern lights over Alaska. One mission targeted mysterious dark patches called black auroras, while the twin GNEISS rockets created a 3D scan of the aurora’s electrical currents. All rockets reached their planned altitudes and returned strong data. The result: an unprecedented look at how these dazzling light shows are wired from space to sky.


That's such a cool concept for an experiment!

Thanks to a lot of work from fuzzyred, the landing page for Not Quite Kansas is now visible!  \o/  It's dark fantasy with demons and angels.  You can read the introduction and the previously published poems.  This series is featured in our current Half-Price Sale if you want to see more.  fuzzyred is hosting a pool in case you want to magnify your impact with the quarter-price option.

Today we made the Cold Stream Farm order. This is one of the few remaining nurseries with affordable prices, focusing mostly on native species of trees and bushes. Most have wildlife value. Some are good for permaculture.

( Read more... )

Yesterday I shared photos from the House Yard and South Lot plus Savanna and Prairie Garden. Today I did a bit of yardwork that revealed fun new things. :D

( Walk with me ... )

Human noise is stressing birds worldwide - but we can help

Birds don’t just “put up with” our noise. A new analysis suggests that traffic, construction, and other human-made sounds are changing how birds behave, how stressed they get, and even how well they reproduce.

Some of these shifts look small on their own, but together they paint a picture of animals constantly adjusting to a louder world.


Anthropogenic noise is bad for many kinds of wildlife. It is also terrible for humans. There are things you can do about it.

( Read more... )

Today I took some pictures around the yard. These are from the house yard and the south lot.  (See the Savanna and Prairie Garden.)

( Walk with me ... )

This was previously published on LiveJournal December 19, 2020.


These are the notes for "Wanting a Little of Everything."

( Read more... )

This planet friendly diet could cut your risk of early death by 23%

A planet-friendly Nordic diet may slash your risk of early death by nearly 25%.

A major new study suggests that eating the Nordic way could help you live significantly longer—while also helping the planet. Researchers from Aarhus University found that people who closely followed the 2023 Nordic dietary guidelines had a 23% lower risk of death compared to those who didn’t.

Compare with other healthy and/or eco-friendly diets.  Notice the confluence of eating less red meat and more whole plant foods.

Climatarian

Flexitarian

Mediterranean

Vegetarian