Pen's Nest

The sunshine_challenge is not quite what I was expecting, but that's probably to the good, as I've done the snowflake challenge several times, and the same prompts again would be a bit stale.

So, today's challenge is Red, and as it so happens, I do have a Red, because I wrote a story that may have been for that prompt, or may have been retro-fitted to that prompt, I really can't remember. But it's here, if anyone would like to take a look. A fantasy AU (The Chronicles of Lancyn and Ser Chrisfer), and the red in question is blood.

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Pandemic stuff, vaguely
( cut so you don't have to look )

This is fun: A really long outdoor Rube Goldberg Machine.

http://nautil.us/issue/86/energy/why-birds-can-fly-over-mount-everest Very interesting and not very long piece about evolution. Cool stuff about birds (and dinosaurs, and giant insects) and how things fit together. Which led my Beast to investigate the birds stuff a bit more and find some diagrams on Wikipedia.

Our online chorus get-togethers are odd. Unsatisfactory in terms of making progress with learning the new song (which is not a difficult song, just a few matters of timing that cause problems - everybody should know it by now!), but very pleasing in terms of having the chance to see one another and exchange some conversation. We break, of course, for the 8 o'clock clap: I really don't know how NHS workers feel about it, but I like the spirit of community, of doing something along with everyone else around me even though we can't see one another and don't interact. I hear claps, shouts and the banging of pots and pans, and today, I played my long-silent clarinet. So my lips hurt.

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Beast acquired for me a superior yoga mat, which is positively cushion-like after the hard labour of the first one.

He had also sent for a teeny tiny battery to power the remote for our extractor hood, but it came today and was dated to expire in October 2017. And was corroded on one end. Seriously, Amazon marketplace? Seriously?

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I picked some lilacs from the garden yesterday, and by the evening, the buds were starting to open. The scent is wonderful!

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And dear Kirstie is on telly with a programme about how we can craft during this time of lockdown, with materials that we have in the house. It's rather charming, indeed. She is in her own dining room, with the kids thumping about upstairs, and two cameramen barricaded into corners of the room so that they are all suitably separated. Normally her craft shows include visits from 'experts' (I am a little cynical about some of them), but this one has so far had a brief video call with one guest. And they include a craft from a show several years back, just for variety.

She is, visibly, more stressed than usual, probably because this show has been thrown together with great speed and she is having to do everything herself. Usually, she is the show host, and watches other people, and has a go at what they show her. But she believes (and I think she's right) that using the time to do something creative is good for our collective mental health. Also, there are lots of pics of fabulous creations being shared.

I have no desire to make a four-seasons cushion, a terrarium or a dangly thing involving paper balloons, but I might have a go at making a cardboard loom. And I like Kirstie, even though she says 'cems' when she means centimetres. I can watch her show, and knit.

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Finally, animals social distancing.

And, tartan sheep.