Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in seachild_elf's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Thursday, June 18th, 2009
7:57 pm	Due to getting worked up over the organisational mess of the elections, I totally forgot the blood drive the next day. Darn, and just when I had finally worked up the courage to go and figured the now-deceased home-grown bubonic plague wouldn't have any consequences any more. It's going to be at least four months now before I can go and donate since I just had my tetanus shot renewed today. Ah well, I better put it in my agenda for October then. Current Mood: determined (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
12:59 pm	Putting a collar on a cat seems more difficult than putting a bell on one We're not having much luck with collars for Tyrfing. Since he's now graduated to out-door cat, we want him to wear a reflective collar so he can be seen in the dark, and have an address-pendant. The first collar we found looked good, but proved disastrous. It was covered with a light felt on the inside, and it either proved too irritating or allergenic for Tyrfing: he had a bald ring around his neck within a week! So we bought him a new one, of fake, yellow reflective leather. That one seemed good enough. We took on the habit of taking off the collar when he came in for the evening, in the idea that his hair would grow back faster if he only wore a collar over it during the day. I suppose we've got no one but ourselves to blame for weakening the lock, because he lost the collar yesterday. *sigh* We spent an hour with torches in the garden in the night, hoping we might find it again since it was reflective. No such luck, but we did gather at least two dozens of garden snails, illegally munching on our garden plants. The red-cheeked turtles were very happy to feed on them. So it wasn't a complete waste of time. He now wears a third one, of reflective fabric, yellow and silver. I hope he doesn't lose this one either. I have a feeling we'll have to fetch him a reserve collar for next month when we go on holiday, and my grandparents come over to look after the pets. It's a good thing Tyrfing doesn't mind people putting on his collar, in fact he enjoys the attention, sits still and purrs. Still, I wonder if his previous collar ever turns up, he doesn't leave the garden much yet, so it's either there or in the house. I'm kind of thinking we'll see it hanging in a tree somewhere in winter, when all the leaves are gone. Current Mood: grumpy (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
12:38 am	You know your mind works in strange ways, when you and an innocently looking squirrel hold a staring match through the kitchen window for a couple of minutes, and you then proclaim to the world: "That squirrel is up to something." He just was. Current Mood: cranky (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
12:39 am	RIP Echo I just learned that Echo, probably the most famous elephant in the world, has died earlier this month. If there ever was an animal that commanded one's respect, it was Echo of the EB-family in Amboseli. I also hear her son Eli may have been killed by poachers. And the world is just the little bit less bright. Current Mood: sad (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
12:10 pm	Life has been good the last few weeks. I managed to go to the Elf Fantasy Fair, the largest fantasy-themed festival in Europe. Finally. The last time I made it was four friggin' years ago. Things always get in the way, people suddenly couldn't accompany me or everything else gets planned for that very same weekend. But I got there this year, even though it again was a close shave. Bliss. Returned with our bags full of goodies, we did. Dad bought a couple of arrows, a cool leather quiver and an equally cool pouch with decorated leather. We might test them out in the future when the weather's good. I got to point him in the direction of several objects saying: "Dad, remember how it's my birthday next month and remember how I was to say if I saw anything I wished to get? Allow me to draw your attention to this book and that one and I'll just distance myself for a couple of minutes and forget all about it." Good times. We had a surprise party for my sister's birthday, in which we invited a great deal of her friends. It was great to see her suspecting all things, but the thing we had planned. (It is notoriously difficult to keep anything from her, she is terribly curious and persistent.) We went to a restaurant, something we rarely (if never) do, so we didn't get stuck with all the dirty dishes afterwards. Yeay. Sis's out of the country for months now on a dig. I get stuck with doing her taxes, hang on, when did I agree to that? We got our parents tickets to a rare concert they absolutely wanted to go for their anniversary. They mostly knew nothing about it even happening, and they now have front-row seats. Friends of mine managed to find an affordable house to their liking and in the location they wanted. Something that is not evident in these dark economical times. They've moved a town away now, so that is a bit of a bummer, but hey, can't win them all. I offered to help paint and move, but we'll see if they take me up on it. The garden is absolutely lovely and everything's in bloom. The azalea's, the wisteria, the magnolia, and practically everything else I don't know the English name of. Bright blues, purples, reds, yellows and whites splashes all around the garden. Heaven. Still not enough butterflies to take advantage of it, though. But we've got tadpoles, well rather toadpoles, in the pond. Wheeee! And the first water damsels have appeared. Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
11:19 am	Of caterpillars and plants Last Sunday we visited the spring plant fair, I had made a list of herbs I wanted to buy specifically for caterpillar food. Butterflies are declining after all, and as we've now got a nice volume of nectar plants as butterfly food, we considered trying to do something for the caterpillars as well. After all, if you want the butterflies, you've got to live with the caterpillars. So we've got some nice plants lined up now: Hyssop, origanum, menthe, and thyme. Some of them are used to a more mediterranean biotope, so I'm planning of planting those in a bowl that I can put inside in the winter. So far so good. But at the same time, something's decimating plants in the greenhouse. And it's doing it sneakily under the cover of darkness. So yesterday evening, we go to investigate, flashlights in hand and what do we find? Caterpillars. At least two dozen. Well, there's a first. Considering they're practically eating only the Corsican plants, there's little doubt on their origin. They must have come back as eggs on one of the plants we took home with us last year. And so, after an hour of caterpillar hunting, I now have a glass jar holding two dozen of caterpillars standing on my cabinet. And after spending another hour pouring over the butterfly and moths books, I have yet to identify the species. Sneaky bugger, this one is. But they eat lettuce as well as our fern and juniper, so we'll probably try to have a couple metamorphose to butterfly or moth and then try to identify it. Still, it was odd, you buy plants to get caterpillars in your garden and you end up with free caterpillars in your greenhouse. Current Mood: curious (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
2:34 pm	Fun fact There is apparently a dinosaur called the bambiraptor... Definitely made my day! Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
9:28 pm	Living with Alzheimer I've watched the double documentary following (the newly minted sir) Terry Pratchett during the first year after his diagnosis. I was oddly moved by it, not so much because he's one of my favourite authors, but because his reactions were so recognisable and honestly human. When they introduced the seriously wonky helmet, designed to halt brain degeneration by firing impulses into it, I thought: 'Come on, you're not just going to buy that without any clinical trail?' But as the documentary wore on, I started to realise that when your own brain is betraying you, eroding slowly the bit that is you, wouldn't we all be willing to try anything, no matter how unfounded? It was a sobering thought. I can't say I enjoyed the documentary, because it reminds one of a rather bleak, but ever so likely, personal future, but I am happy that I saw it. God knows I already have enough charities on my list, but I'm going to look up the Belgian Alzheimer research trust. I don't think it matters much if the donation is inspired by a sense of altruism, or a sense of frightened egoism, but it there's no point in ignoring something we're likely to deal with at some point in our lives. Current Mood: thoughtful (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 12th, 2009
11:56 pm	Darwin Day Today is the 200th birthday of a man who quite changed the way we look at the world, back in his time and even today. That man was Charles Darwin. You will find him featuring on a lot of blogs today. I wanted to write something to commemorate this day too, so I decided to pick something close to my heart. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Darwin’s Frog! Darwin’s Frog (Rhinoderma darwinii) is –naturally- named after the man who discovered it, Charles Darwin. He came across the amphibian during the equally famous Voyage of the Beagle. This diurnal frog hails from southern Chile and Argentina where it can be found in forest streams, swamps and leaf litter on the forest floor. It’s a relatively small frog, about 2,5 to 3,5 cm. At least, small compared to the European frogs I’m used to. Males and females look alike, but females tend to be slightly larger. It can either be green, as in the picture, or brown.  You can easily spot the camouflage trick the frog is relying on for its protection: a leaf-shaped frog will be harder to spot among many other leaf-shaped… leaves.  If a predator does see through the disguise, the frog will play dead, by throwing itself onto its back. The belly of the frog is white and black, possibly also as a deterrent to predation. A further distinct, visual aspect of Darwin’s Frog are the unwebbed front feet. Some of the toes on the hind feet usually are webbed. The Darwin’s Frog has an interested take on raising its young: the tadpoles are carried around in the vocal sac of the male. Therefore the female lays only a small number of eggs, less than thirty, unlike many other anurans. The eggs are deposited in the leaf-litter and mommy then heads off never to be seen again.  Dad gets to become a single parent and is left with all the babysitting. As soon as the male can spot movement in the eggs, he takes them into his mouth and places them in his vocal sac. As the tadpoles continue to develop while squatting in the vocal sac, dad’s throat visually grows thicker. Just think about what it would be like, having thirty squirming babies deposited on your vocal chords. The course of parenthood never did run smooth... After about fifty days the tadpoles reach metamorphosis, and dad throws them out of the house, into the wide world where they happily go about their business of bothering insects and other small invertebrates for dinner. Darwin’s Frog is listed on the IUNC Red List of Threatened Species as ‘vulnerable’. Its total population is estimated to have declined more than 30%.  Some of the separate populations, both inside preserved areas and outside, have disappeared completely between surveys, where in other areas a visible density decline is also noted. The main cause of the decline of Darwin’s Frog is thought to be habitat loss and degradation caused by human activity. Climate change and diseases are thought to play a role as well in the species’ decline. However, the fungal infection chytridiomycosis, that is blamed for the extinction and decline of many amphibian species around the world, has not been reported yet in Chile. Thank god for small miracles, I guess. But let’s not cry victory too soon. The Darwin’s Frog close cousin, and the only other member of the Rhinoderma-genus and Rhinodermatidae-family, the Chile’s Darwin’s frog (Rhinoderma rufum) is considered extinct by most since it hasn’t actually been seen for… well longer than I have been alive. Until its extinction can be confirmed, the Red List  gives it still as ‘critically endangered’.  Sources: Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin%27s_frog The IUNC Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/19513 Vocal Sac-Brooding Frogs: Rhinodermatidae - Darwin's Frog (rhinoderma Darwinii): Species Account, http://animals.jrank.org/pages/127/Vocal-Sac-Brooding-Frogs-Rhinodermatidae-DARWIN-S-FROG-Rhinoderma-darwinii-SPECIES-ACCOUNT.html 300 Frogs, Chris Marrison, Grange Books, 2007 Current Mood: accomplished (Comment on this)
Saturday, January 31st, 2009
11:14 am	The age-old dilemma... So little wall left, so many things to hang up. Current Mood: in two minds (Comment on this)
Monday, January 19th, 2009
7:54 pm	We made use of the below-zero temperatures last week to clean out the freezer. Curiously, in the process of shifting the food, we came across the sink plug from the bathroom upstairs that we have been missing for at least a few months now. Just lying suddenly on the ground. No, we don't know where it came from either. It's one of those inexplicable stories, I suppose. Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Friday, January 2nd, 2009
11:07 pm	Happy Darwin Year! What I look forward to in 2009: No longer being a fungus factory! Visit to the specialist is on Monday. Here's hoping I get the all clear. The wound looks sufficiently healed to my untrained eye; A long, hot, soaking bath! I haven't had the chance for a luxurious bath for months thanks to these blasted fungal squatters; Finally pushing myself forward and getting a driver's license. My parents were kind enough to suggest they'll fund the lessons, which is very, very sweet of them. Now if only I can get myself over that mental hurdle, that yes, I can do this; Hubble being repaired and upgraded. I know I said it last year too, but the repair got postponed and rescheduled to 2009; More art! Need more art! I did very good with increasing my writer's output last year, but art suffered terribly in return. Must draw more, will never be decent artist without the exercise; Tyrfing losing his newly acquired  taste for wall-paper. I can't keep gluing the pieces back indefinitely, especially not when he eats parts; Sad to see the Year of the Frog go, pleased to see some encouraging results and that conservation efforts will continue; A new Star Trek movie. Please don't suck; May the Darwin year be glorious; An end to political blundering. Dude, we had elections back in 2007! Please get this darn government act together, idiots!; And good health, satisfaction and fun for all. Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 20th, 2008
12:34 am	And so the saga of my little homegrown bubonic plague plods ever forward, going from inofficially suspected fungal infection in the first stage, to an officially diagnosed bacterial infection, to - no, wait, scratch that- to contact allergy,  and finally to contact allergy with suspected fungal infection. I wonder what it will mutate into next or whether now that we've come full circle, it will finally scram. I decided not to bother with waiting until this thing beats it, and sent out my last end-of-year-donations, with a doubled donation for Médecins sans Frontiers and a doubled donation to Amphibian Ark as well. The Year of the Frog may be running at an end, but the Chytrid-fungus infection is far from through. And I sort of appreciated the symmetry between frogs suffering from a fungal infection and me likely having one as well. I've wrapped all my Christmas gifts, ended up buying a lot of gifts that my parents and grandparents wanted to give to each other but didn't have time to go to the shop themselves. At least this year looks like we'll make it through the holidays without approaching break-down level. I got a but a couple of extra shifts at work. And I got dad to repair my leaking aquarium, got two new fish too. Yeay! Tyrfing has taken to sleeping on the bed, which is terribly cute, if only he didn't have this tendency to attack my feet everytime they move, or pounce on any moving hair. I now sport two red lines on my cheek where he tried to apprehend an offending strand of hair. He tried to bite open the tupperware box in which I keep his food, in the middle of the night. Still has that identity crisis where he thinks he's a dog, I see. Current Mood: calm (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, November 24th, 2008
1:51 pm	Dear diary... ( still not king. ) Current Mood: aggravated (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
11:47 am	Somehow I've got myself a bacterial infection. This sucks. What sucks even more is the tenaciousness of the little blighter. So far two doctor visits and one specialist visits and three weeks of antibiotic salve have not rid me of this itching bugger. Some side-infection of an unspecified allergy that even the specialist can't figure out how I exactly got it. Frustrating really, if only for that undying itch the wound and the bandages give me. Still, I'm lucky. I absolutely abhor the thought of what if this happened if I didn't have access to doctors, medicine (albeit them both being expensive in their own time) the way I do now. I think karma demands of me, that when I get rid of this little bugger, I upgrade my donation to Médicines sans frontiers this year. I intend to, I wouldn't wish this on anyone in that situation. The only up-side to this thing has been that my sister happened to get an eye-infection at the same time, and we're trying to out-gross eachother with the details. "I see your puny eye infection and raise you a contagious bacterial infection." "Mine's worse, I only have a 90° field of sight." "Mine's probably a double infection. I win." "Hey, mine might be staphylococci too!" "That's not fair, I had them first! You pick something else." "Keep them, The doctor said that if it spreads, the infection could reach my braaain!" "Right then, you go zombie and I'll find myself rags and a rattle and wander through the house yelling 'unclean, unclean!'" "You know, this is such a pity Halloween was two weeks ago..." Paraphrased of course. On the bright side, she did give me a nice recipe for chicken rolls with mozzarella. Anything that requires you to pound a chicken fillet with a rock must make interesting eating... Current Mood: resigned (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
10:08 pm	Something to make you smile There is apparently a dinosaur that has been named the Irritator This has so made my day. Current Mood: amused (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, October 27th, 2008
7:08 pm	Got into a fight on the internet today, which is, I have to say, surprisingly easy. Or rather it felt as if someone was trying really hard to pick a one-sided fight with me. It was a bit weird from my point of view. That or the behaviour of sharks must be a really tricky and offensive topic, in which case I really have put my foot into it. The mod-part of me is already thinking about ways to inoffensively explain why I wrote what and how I absolutely meant no offense. The bit of me that often wants to yell at the computer screen wonders if there really is any point in it if an innocent query is met with phrases like 'Hey! What's your problem?!', 'You're rude and riciduling me! Don't play stupid.' and 'you need to learn some humility.' In more interesting matters, Tyring and Smaug are still not best buddies ever, but we're making real progress to a neutral tolerance. The growling bed still makes occasional appearances, though. Tyrfing, I discovered today, likes rice wafers. The thing is, I like my rice wafers too! There were some interesting accrobatics involved when I was trying to keep a very agile cat away from the cookie in my hand while at the same time trying to direct said cookie towards my mouth. Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
11:10 am	Feline Cold War, take two Day Two: Today features a lot of sightings of the infamous 'growling bed' or the 'growling sofa'. Sightings of an actual Smaug are rare. She forgoes eating, even when we lock Tyrfing in my room for his meals or even bring her food to her. At one point in the evening, I manage to get both on the bed, while holding Tyrfing, and stroking Smaug with the other hand. I slowly let go of Tyrfing. She sees him but doesn't hiss or growl. Success! I think. However, as Smaug is being stroked, Tyrfing has no better idea than to approach her and hit her with his paw right on the head! Oi, Tyrfing, that's no way to woo a woman six times your age! Hisss! she goes, and straight under the sofa for another act of the growling sofa. *sigh* Day Three: Smaug is getting a little bored under the bed, she can't sleep under there very comfortably, she doesn't have enough space to wash herself properly and she gets stiff and hungry. And worse of all, she can get no attention under there. So there are more sightings of Smaug, followed mostly by long spells of growling sofa and growling bed. We repeat the scenario from Day Two: get both cats on the bed while stroking both of them. Again she doesn't hiss at him when he's next to me. He carefully approaches her, lowers his head, and they sniff each other's nose! Success! I think. However, Smaug decides she doesn't like what she's smelling, she hisses in his face and hop! Again we get treated to another installment of the growling sofa. *sigh* Still, better than I had hoped so far. Still no balls of angry fur, teeth and claws. Current Mood: *sigh* (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
10:49 am	Tyrfing and Smaug and the narrowly avoided Feline World War Three So the first meeting between Smaug and Tyrfing didn't go well, it didn't involve any hair flying or screaming bundles of angry fur rolling over the ground, but it was definitely not a success. When I let Tyrfing out of the room, he went straight for Smaug in a playful but direct manner. The moment she caught sight of him and she went straight to red alert. Hissing and growling she hid away in the drawer under the spare bed. She has only come out once or twice to retreat under the sofa. Then every time Tyrfing came near, the sofa started growling. *sigh* Not exactly the friendly welcome we hoped for. Tyrfing, luckily, behaved admirably. It's a good thing he was in the company of other cats in the shelter, so he's used to having other cats around. He kept trying to approach her in a friendly want-to-play!-be-my-friend! manner, and didn't return the favour when he was met with angry noises and swipes. Eventually, getting slightly bored with the growling bed, and seeing all that new space around him, he quickly and enthousiastically set out to explore the side of the house he's allowed to run free in now, while Smaug continued to fume in her drawer. She's going to have to get used to it, we've bowed to her wishes for long enough, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. Tyrfing's only half her size and weight, she could mop the floor with him if she wanted. He's clearly not threatening her. And he's here to stay. Mom managed to entice Smaug on the spare bed for a bit of stroking, only half a meter away from Tyrfing, but she kept on growling every time he came nearer, decided not to eat and went back into drawer-Smaug-mode. We'll lock Tyrfing in my room to eat, so Smaug can have a chance to eat in peace (Tyrfing will eat anything vaguely resembling abandoned food) but that's as far as we'll go. If Smaug wants to stay in the drawer for the next few months (until Tyrfing can go outside) that'll be up to her. Ah well, at least life's not boring this way... (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
9:03 pm	Good hair day So goodbye, long hair. I don't know how the Elves managed it, but while I adore long hair, it can be so... impractical. Mine was getting a bit longer than I found manageable. If you turn over at night and end up not being able to turn your head too because you rolled on your own hair, that's saying something. But instead of simply cutting off a little bit, I sort of decided to maybe cut off a lot more this time. I have had long hair for a very long (no pun intended) time, I'm used to it, I still like the way it looked. And I tend to change my mind on how I look with the average speed of a moving glacier. But then my mom pointed out a news article that this month a new initiative had started where a certain hair product company promised to give 50 euros to the cancer relief fund for every 20cm of hair that gets sent in. Then all of a sudden my glacier was moved and I handed my mom the scissors. (She likes doing this much too much, possibly I should be worried about this...) Funny how things can go. Short(er) hair is surprisingly easy to get used to. Even after an absence of well, ten years at least. And it was fun hearing my dad yelling "Argh! There's a piece of my daughter in the kitchen and the rest isn't attached!' when he saw the bundle of hair. (2 Comments |Comment on this)