bumblebeeappletree

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in the land of the free if you're a student protesting against genocide they send snipers to your school

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Passover seder at UC Berkeley’s Gaza solidarity encampment (via twitter)

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Dont forget Palestinian students

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My grandmother made me this quilt when I was in middle school. It has seen a LOT of wear and tear. Last year I ripped a huge tear it in and she was able to mend it for me which was a huge help. Unfortunately, a few of the fabrics have decided to fall apart and it is my turn to patch my quilt.

I have scoured the top for holes and tears and marked them with safety pins. I am taking patches down around the holes by hand. After I put all the patches on, I will reinforce them all with a bit of machine stitching along the original quilting lines and such.

I could sew around the edges of the patches by machine as well, but this is a queen size quilt and I have a standard home hobbyist sewing machine. I would rather spend extra time hand stitching on front of the TV than wrestle the quilt under my machine any more than I absolutely have to.

The pink fabric I am currently using for patches is actually from a skirt that my grandmother made me that no longer fits, but I wanted to save the fabric. I think it's fitting to use fabric from the skirt she made me to fix up the quilt she made me.

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Here, have a spark of hope.

The reality is that no single person can fix the entirety of the current ecological imbalance that has been literally centuries in the making at this point. Yet there are so, so many of us who care, and who are doing what we can to make a difference in whatever every day to day ways we're able. I often think of conservation efforts like the Loren Eiseley story "The Star Thrower" (aka, "the starfish story"). Amid a beach full of stranded starfish, one person cannot possibly save them all, but they can spend what time they have saving those they're able.

And this study shows that these efforts do, in fact, make a difference, not just for starfish but a myriad of species. This meta-analysis of almost 200 studies definitively proves that conservation preserves and restores biodiversity, keeping more species from going extinct. It's all too easy to get entangled in the losses, but we even more need to allow ourselves to celebrate the wins.

That success is crucial to convincing governmental entities and other stakeholders that putting funds toward conservation efforts makes a significant difference and is not only worth the investment, but worth increasing. And, on a personal level, it's necessary for those of us who care so deeply for this world to know when our efforts are having an impact, to buoy us up when the anxiety and grief over ecological destruction wears us down.

There is hope. Keep it up, folks; it's helping <3

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Garden happenings

Due to some March sowing overzealousness, I had dwarf bean seedlings ready to be planted out much too early. It really should be at least another month before beans go outside, but I decided to send them out into the world anyway on the off-chance some might survive. 

Every slug deterrent I've tried so far has had little to no effect (wool pellets, copper tape, eggshells) but this past week I've been experimenting with coffee grounds and hoping.

I've relocated several volunteer nasturtiums and sunflowers, of which there are many. I'm hoping the pictured nasturtiums will want to trail over the edge of the stone wall.

In perennial plant news, I have acquired a tayberry. Having been inspired by berry arch photos I've seen online, I'm hoping I can get it to grow over my pathway supported by a metal archway. Space is at a premium in my little garden, so anything which I can grow upwards rather than outwards is highly desirable.

There has been loads of spinach and chard to harvest from plants which started growing last year, and I picked my first radish! It's a bit on the small side, but extremely tasty.

Tulips are still flowering, and it feels like every few days there is a new kind of weird bug living in the pond. What a genuine pleasure to watch these things play out.

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yummy pomegranate

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animated some things i’ve been shown on the east coast

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