because it's Friday and I can't reasonably go down and get any sewing done in a half an hour so I'm already drinking

and because apparently being out of the house for a whole two hours to do the grocery shopping meant I was gone forever and now I have two very needy cats all up in my shit

how are we going to survive 3 weeks in Japan

(also AMA about the Japan trip if that's a good topic)

I initially read "pro-sewist" as "in favor of and supporting sewists" and that's also good

I mean, valid

I am pro calling it sewist and supporting newbies getting into it

anyway that's the question from your cats for this ama I imagine "how are we going to survive while you're gone for 3 weeks in Japan!!!!"

omg right? like, at least we know we'll also be tortured but we can't explain to them that we miss them as much as they miss us

here how about, do you have any garden plans for 2023 yet?

um....kinda? being in Japan until after the equinox is going to fuck up early plans so I can't make any

yeah I did kinda wonder

but I am considering a sort of rain garden at the end of the driveway because I'm noticing drainage patterns that are independent of the gutters/downspouts

our driveway and front yard is a slope, and while I don't want to take away water from the prairie patch, there is a lot of drainage that the prairie can't fully absorb

we'll see

the city also took out 3 trees across the street and hasn't replanted any, so I don't want to dig, prep, and plant anything until I know the long-term sun situation there. right now it's full fucking blazing sun thanks

oh yeah ew

that makes it hard

even our tree guy who we're using to clean up our willows is like, fuck the city planting non-native poor-growing bullshit after taking out ashes and lindons

they're planting catalpas and other absolutely terrible trees with only 10 year lifespans, so they'll have to replant again, frequently.

what... who... decided that

I guess maybe they're trying to avoid giant trees that get too big to handle?

idk but I'm inclined to write some nasty letters. my tax dollars need to go to better tree care

good

I understand being burned by first dutch elm disease and then emerald ash borer but ffs maples are safe!

and native!

gosh and also just very good trees

who doesn't love a maple

mmmmmm exactly

except maybe some HOA Karens who don't like sweeping up the seeds

but honestly fuck them

hoa karens can leave the chat

they can go live in the gentrifed downtown isthmus where the only trees are decorative

tell me about your cats

I will call you The Shooting Company of Franz Banning Cocq & Willem van Richtoffen

a bunch of trees were downed in the storm here and I'm positive they'll replace them with crappy ones. -_-

I tried to make that an acronym and lmao welp

CATS...real quick before my pasta is ready

we have a bonded pair that we rehomed from people who had an allergic daughter and turns out they were just leaving the cats to live by themselves with zero human interaction for days at a time

Sadie is a purebred...we were told Himalayan but the vet says Siberian, since she's a buff calico and has no seal points. which they paid way too much for because they wanted a hypoallergenic cat

and then got standard issue Oliver because oops I guess? and the daughter was allergic to him go fig

THAT'S SO SAD

what's wrong with TSCoFBCWvR

flows right off the tongue

lmao I love you

but yes

we had just lost Miss Mai Valentine when we were contacted by a friend who said they had a friend who needed to rehome a bonded pair so YES PLZ

we were mindful of the children who had named them and were sad, so we kept their given names, but added titles to make them ouors

Sadie is now the Marquisse de Sadie, Destroyer of Toys, because if you buy her a new one she will rip it apart within 24 hours

Ollie is Oliver Bughunter, because in the summer when we have flies in the house he looooooooves chasing them down and eating them

we're also pretty sure he's the one who keeps eating the mice that he catches

and then I checked my prairie enthusiasts mailing list to find I can get a Master Naturalist certification for $275 um ok yes please happy birfmas to me

weekend trainings in May and June? YES PLEASE

ooh! how excellent

so cool omg

probably more useful than the college degree I didn't get lmhadkjsh