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Word_Geek

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Anyone got any idea what these fungi are? I'm in London, England, if that helps

Two lobes of a streaky brown mushroom with streaks growing out of white stones

October 18, 2025 at 9:20 PM

Word_Geek

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Voila! Chart folder and finished stitching

The folder holding the chart, with a picture of the finished design. It's a DMC chart called The Willow Fairy, and is mostly sewn in shades of green, cream, and brown

My finished version, before I washed and pressed it and took it to the framers. You can see a few threads at the top. I had to put in guide threads to mark every 10th stitch, otherwise it was impossible to track where I was, sewing an area with multiple near-identical shades of green

It is a very pretty image, though not in what has become my normal style

October 4, 2025 at 3:07 PM

Word_Geek

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Occasionally you get a gem from the bot that tracks edits to the NYT

Three replies showing how the NYT has updated its lead and title to the story about the Delta planes crashing. The first shows that the lead originally read "an inbound flight was taxiing to the gate when it was struck by an outbound plane, the authorities said. One passenger was injured." This has been altered to start "A plane that was preparing to take off struck a plane that had landed...". The following two posts show that someone changed the name of the airport to La Guardia, and (presumably) a second person switched it back to LaGuardia. This is very funny if you are a copy editor

October 2, 2025 at 8:00 AM

Word_Geek

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Banana bread is one of those cakes I just keep making, because it's so damn easy. This one has a mix of banana and apple puree in it, because those were the fruit we needed to use up. It's darker than usual because I use brown sugar

A loaf-shaped cake, with a pronounced dip in the middle, cooling on a black wire rack

September 28, 2025 at 3:53 PM

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My neighbour got kittens. The other one was not interested in playing and so I gave him some space. This one here has a surprisingly loud purr for a small kitten

A small kitten, looking up at the camera, with a toy nearby

The same small tabby cat staring in fascination at the underside of the glass coffee table, where a Winnie the Pooh coaster is resting

September 26, 2025 at 8:18 PM

Word_Geek

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Went away at the weekend, and there were bunnies🐇

Literally on the other side of the glass from me. At one point the first rabbit sniffed at the glass. Didn't get a good shot, though

Rabbit in classic watchful pose, up on hind legs with ears cocked

Two bunnies, one grazing on the grass and the other hopping along paving places right by the wall, which was clearly considered to be a great bunny sized path by both rabbits

September 25, 2025 at 9:25 PM

Word_Geek

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For some reason, the local pest control company brought their birds into my office the other day. The barn owl was extremely keen to get a turn being shown off, while the falcon was checking out the rest of us. The other two birds were no cooperating with photographers in a hurry

Barn owl whose name I don't remember, looking plaintively up at the handler from a rather larger perch. Shortly after this photo, he started trying to fly towards her. It didn't go well, as he has jesses on

September 25, 2025 at 9:14 PM

Word_Geek

@word-geek.bsky.social

Also, for all those dudes freaking out about their height, let me tell you about this great new innovation. High heels

King Louis XIV of France, the Sun King, poses for a picture with a cane, huge fur robe, stockings and red and cream high heeled shoes

September 12, 2025 at 8:06 PM

Word_Geek

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This is what happens if a woman tries to explain something to a man. Even if she is an expert

New Yorker cartoon of a man and a woman across a dinner table, drinking wine

He's saying "Let me interrupt your expertise with my confidence."

She's drained her wine glass, presumably in an effort to avoid strangling him. Or because he has been talking forever

September 6, 2025 at 11:54 PM

Word_Geek

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Now now, Janey Godley wasn't a sea hag. Although this is displayed in Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis (where his mum was from, more or less)

The black railings outside a pebbledashed building displays a banner reading "Shame on you, Donald John!" in large capital letters and #democracy underneath it

Donald John is how Trump would have been addressed if he were living on the island

It is raining. Because Scotland

September 6, 2025 at 6:33 AM

Word_Geek

@word-geek.bsky.social

This is the first time I have seen The Rook in person. My Kindle edition is much read, tho

Also a surprisingly extensive selection of Naomi Novik books, one of which I snagged

(Taunton Waterstones)

Bookshelf including The Rook, the full Scholomance series, the first of the Temaraire series, Spinning Silver and Uprooted, all just above the Pratchett selection

$The Rook's current UK cover, I assume. Features a fractured chess piece$

August 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM

Word_Geek

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We are staying in a castle. None of the walls and floors are level in any way, leading to doorways like this

Apart from needing to be quite careful about going up stairs, it's a lovely place to stay

Two grey doors with brass handles in a dark corridor. There's clear triangles of light around the tops of both frames, because neither frame is even slightly square

August 9, 2025 at 10:22 AM

Word_Geek

@word-geek.bsky.social

The night mode is called System, if that helps

Appearance menu set to Colour mode: System
Dark mode can have a dark grey (dim) or black background (dark)

And my favourite setting, large font

July 13, 2025 at 7:55 AM

Word_Geek

@word-geek.bsky.social

Appearance gives you an option to switch to dark mode, including having it switch at a certain point in the evening. And under moderation, if you have adult content enabled, you get a bunch of settings. Mine are not laid out quite like the screenshot in the thread

Settings menu, which includes both moderation and appearance

July 13, 2025 at 7:48 AM

Word_Geek

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I broke one open and it worked (except that kiddo ate all the raspberries with her portion and I am too lazy to go get more so I have the last few strawberries)

A meringue, broken up with sliced strawberries. Apparently, I managed to get the middle right

July 4, 2025 at 1:29 PM

Word_Geek

@word-geek.bsky.social

Delia Smith really is the patron saint of "well, I've never made this before but what the hell?" cooking. I made mayo as ADHD tax for losing the jar, and now I have meringues, because homemade mayo leaves you with stray egg whites

Six meringues on a baking sheet with a brown liner. They are slightly brown, rather than being perfectly white

July 4, 2025 at 7:00 AM

Word_Geek

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Improvement

The band has moved to a stage in the round, and it's possible to see them

June 18, 2025 at 8:10 PM

Word_Geek

@word-geek.bsky.social

NIN have worked out how to make their show camera proof

Also I (my friend) got seated tickets because I am old now

Alas there's one guy who immediately stood up 2 rows ahead of us, and then 6 young people stood up in the row in front of me and are dancing with enthusiasm

I gave up and stood

My potential view at this gig: amazing full height light show using a screen between the band and the audience. Alas, the view of the band is obscured

My actual view if I sit down

People's backs

June 18, 2025 at 8:04 PM

Word_Geek

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PastMe made cheese scones, so obviously breakfast is scones with extra cheese

Two scones, split, toasted, and buttered, on a white plate. There is sliced Edam on all but one, where it has been removed to show the butter

June 13, 2025 at 6:56 AM

Word_Geek

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Got back to doing cross stitch, at least for a bit. There are at least three knitting projects waiting for me.

This is a nice easy design, and definitely a good one for beginners, or people looking for something straightforward and cheerful. Whole stitches, no backstitch, all that good stuff

Cross stitch on pale green Aida fabric, not quite finished. Design is of a Highland cow, and is by Caterpillar Cross Stitch

May 22, 2025 at 9:22 PM

Word_Geek

@word-geek.bsky.social

Also, if you are being asked to give home readings, look up how to do it properly

I found a list of about 6 when I first did this, but there are a ton of annoying "medical" sites. So try this list

From The Conversation, a list of activities that can increase your blood pressure, nearly all of them things people do while actually trying to take a measurement, and the impact on your BP:
Fitting a cuff that is too tight (up to 20mmHg), drinking coffee (15), smoking (20), having a full bladder (33), talking (19), having your legs crossed (15), arm with the cuff not supported or level with your heart (20), legs or back not supported (5)

May 19, 2025 at 12:59 PM

Word_Geek

@word-geek.bsky.social

I bought the Willow Fairy as a chart only on discount when I was very new to stitching and it sat in stash for literally years because I realised that it was going to be far more difficult than I had thought. No half stitches and relatively little backstitch, but so many greens. I did it during 2020