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Continue reading →: SOAR
Thursday morning I set off for the Poconos. It’s about a three-hour drive, through lovely rural Pennsylvania (on an interstate, but rural despite that), through hills and farmland, and through some peak fall colors. The weather was lovely, and the trees were gorgeous. I could trace the topography in the…
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Continue reading →: Cookie nomnomnom
Since my previous attempt to make Will Shetterly’s Finest-Kind cookies met with such great approval, I thought I’d give it another shot. Having done it once, I had to tweak the recipe a bit. Here’s the latest incarnation: 1/2 cup butter (reduced from 3/4) 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar…
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Continue reading →: A Weaver
I turned on my computer this morning to learn that Peter Collingwood, master weaver and textile specialist, died unexpectedly yesterday, in his studio at home. I’d never had the pleasure of meeting Peter in person, but we’d corresponded a number of times over the years. He wrote the masterworks on…
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Continue reading →: Autumn Gardens
This is what I rose to early this morning. My sofa faces the east-looking livingroom window. I watched the clouds change colors and positions, and finally fade, accompanied by the crunch of my breakfast cereal. It occurred to me earlier this week that I’m wildly excited by the first flowers…
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Continue reading →: Not tonight
I had plans for a post about the first frost of the season last night, and the fall garden, and finishing the first sleeve of my first sweater, but you know, I’m tired. Tonight, you get good intentions, but no followthrough, and I get to curl up on the couch…
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Continue reading →: The Elder Vegetables
No, not the chard in the back of the crisper drawer. Let me present to you the Candrake: and Cthulot. The things that happen when I don’t work all weekend… What can I say, except that it’s almost Halloween. And that crocheting tentacles is a lot of fun.
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Continue reading →: SOAR Update
Laura asked for a SOAR update, though she’s a long way away and not attending herself. I got off the waiting list last week, but the only reason I knew was that I contacted them. As a further sign of extreme disorganization on their part, SOAR is being held at…
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Continue reading →: Bringing the tropics home
I got to try something new today. This isn’t a rotten potato, or a misshapen apple. This is a pawpaw. Pawpaw trees are native to eastern North America, and are sometimes called “Kentucky bananas” (or Indiana, or Michigan, or various other geographic modifiers) for their vaguely bananoid shape. A co-worker…
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Continue reading →: Bits from the internet
Some odds and ends: Neil Gaiman is on tour for his new book right now. He’s reading one chapter per stop, and each chapter is being videotaped and put online. Not the same as being there, but really a nice plan. I’m interested to watch people who make stuff work…
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Continue reading →: A technical note
I’m being inundated by spam for the last week or so. Akismet does a great job, but there are more coming in than I can easily skim for false positives. (Who has time to read 600 spams a day?) So if you’ve left a comment and it hasn’t appeared, it…
Welcome!
I’ve been doing stuff with string for quite some time, and describing it to others online since 1996 or so at Phiala’s String Page.
I also do some science and write some fiction.
I’m Phiala most places on the internet.
