lady narcissa

I am so sorry about your dahlias! I hope they rally and come around! Living in an apartment with no outdoor space sort of eliminates weather worries for me. My mint is doing fabulously! I do not want to jinx myself but I think I have perfected snipping some bits off every week for mint tea and keeping it replenishing itself. My basil on the other hand is a bit undecided. It was doing great but then the other week it abruptly halted its enthusiastic growing and is now on the fence about things. I will continue to observe it. I got the beginnings of a tomato plant that is supposed to do well in a container and will supposedly grow cute little tomatoes. We shall see. I successfully transferred it to a larger container and I've installed a support stick and marked its current height so I can appreciate if it grows at all this week. Fingers crossed! I will also request that you send your rain up here. I absolutely love rain and we've hardly had any. We are way behind this year.

Zorral, I've seen a couple of articles analyzing the Faerie Queen quotes in Troubled Blood - Elizabethan poetry experts jumped on the opportunity to talk about something 'new' - but I have to admit I just skipped over them. Similarly I could not muster interest in all the Rosmersholm quotes in Lethal White. Anyway, glad you are giving Troubled Blood a look. I am also currently reading C.S. Harris' What the Devil Knows. I have been less satisfied with the most recent books in the series. We have really entered into a formula with these later ones with the greatest emphasis on the murders being solved and less advancement with the personal lives. I think what I liked best about the stories was Devlin's personal life and his personal growth. Now that he is in a content point in his life - despite there being countless attempts on his life in every book, of course - I am less interested. There has been such a long drawn out few back plots on hold these past few books that could spice things up if brought to the forefront but we still wait for those. I enjoyed the first half of this newest book and learning about the real life events that inspired the story as well as the history bits - but there are so many characters and so much talking to them and Devlin just investigating in the later half, I am sort of just skimming.

I'm enjoying reading everyone's reactions to the show/episodes. I have no idea when I'll be able to see this since I don't have Netflix. Does anyone know if Netflix ultimately makes their shows available to other services or at least sells DVDs? Or do they keep everything locked down inhouse?

Thank you! I have embarked on horticultural experiments and snipped snipped snipped away! Hoping the basil and mint survive my snipping.

Thanks @Fragile Bird and @Tears of Lys ! I think what I am really trying to understand with both the basil and the mint is if I cut off a branch or a stem, will that cut off growth at that point or will it split and start again from that point? For example, I have a jade plant and a branch broke off but now I have two new branches growing from the cut point - will basil and mint do this? Or will from the roots, the plants generate and send up new branches? I have a shamrock/oxalis plant that is constantly sending new shoots up from the roots as the old ones die off. My mint is in a pot and there are 6 branches that have grown 11" high. They are very orderly and contained just getting to the point where I'm wondering how much higher they can go before they start leaning over. And I'd like to use some. But if I cut off a branch is that the end of it? Or will it regrow?

Can you provide more information on the "trimming" and what pieces should be trimmed and where to trim? I probably won't use the correct terms but - do I but off some branches from the main stalk? Or do I cut out entire stalks? Or both?

Thanks for sharing the information. I do get that. I am probably okay with that so long as he keeps writing the Peter stories - and enjoys writing them and has fresh stories to tell. But I do feel it speaks well for this world he created when the stories are not dependent on Peter being in them. Not all authors are so successful when trying to broaden their universes.

So my potted basil and mint have grown like gangbusters in 2 weeks and are threatening to jump out of their pots and take over the neighboring ones. Any advice on harvesting from them / thinning them out but not killing them off? I've only ever had herbs for short term use before, I've never tried to long time sustain them. I can't move them to larger pots because of limited room but would like to keep them going in their current pots for as long as possible.

@ants Ah okay, sorry then. I will be more careful going forward. Don't know if you saw Maas has teamed up with Ron Moore for a potential show on Hulu based on the series. Oh and speaking of Aaronovitch's novellas, I should add I finished What Abigail Did That Summer and I found it very enjoyable and satisfactory. I do like how he expands the universe with these novellas and they show how the universe works with multiple characters outside of Peter. If he wanted to, he could come up with a successful middle grade / YA fantasy series with Abigail as a main character. I could see him not wanting to get locked into that. But an occasional novella like this would be enjoyable.

Oh I am sorry if I spoiled something for you but confused...are you talking about me talking about the Sarah J Maas "Court of" series? Because if that is what you are referring to, I think I was under the impression that other than Kair no one else here reads that series and I think we were more chatty in our discussion as a result. But I did try to avoid saying anything really spoilerish about the plot and tried to limit myself to the more window dressing items which are what I liked best. And if you are asking about that series, yes, the most recent book has firmly stepped into the Paranormal Romance category. The bulk of the story is the romantic relationship of the main couple and there are lots of fairly detailed sex scenes. The fantasy aspects are just the window dressing. If you were referring to being spoiled on another series, I'm totally confused but still sorry if I spoiled anything for you. Regarding the Aaronovitch novellas...I buy those as ebooks from amazon. They are only a couple of dollars here which is reasonable for their length, they are a decent length. But I get that unfortunately that is not an option worldwide.

Well I finally read Robert Galbraith's Troubled Blood. I wasn't sure if I would. I really really really disliked the previous book in the series, Lethal White. And all the things with the author and everything from that really did not sit right with me and I wasn't sure I had any interest in reading this based on that. Plus the fact that a serial killer is part of the storyline also led to my reluctance as I tend to avoid such stories. But I got a free copy and I like closure so I decided to read it. I ended up reading it twice in a row - finished it and just started it right again. And its been a few weeks and I still just find myself thinking back on it. I hate to say I really enjoy a book such as this with its subject matter, but the book really took me in. It's very long. This is literally a year plus several months in Strike and Robin's lives with lots of stuff besides the main investigation. There is Strike's personal life with family and his former girlfriend. There is Robin with her personal life and her divorce. There is the Agency with its employees and multiple investigations for multiple clients. We get a lot of story about all these other things. But then there is the mystery itself at the heart of the story - an investigation into a woman who disappeared many decades ago and now her daughter is all grown up and wants to see if she can get any closure and find out what happened to her mother. Without being spoilerish I will say you find out what happens. That whole story of what happened comes after the very long investigation with multiple interviews with anyone still alive who remembers the woman plus all sorts of personal issues amongst everyone. There is lots of walking around locations and driving to other locations. It was pretty satisfactory how it all comes together. This is why I went back and read it a second time to see if the clues were all there, and they were. It is a work of fiction, I don't think a cold case like this could really be solved without the coincidences an author is allowed to create. But it was well created for the purposes of a story. I do not like where the characters are heading with their personal lives. I pretty much loathe Strike as a person, although I enjoy him as a character. I would like to see Robin in a different situation. But there we are. Like the daughter, I got the closure I needed with this series with this book.

mccormickcharlie is his handle. I actually am more into following his husband who is an architect/interior designer and posts lots of building pictures. But I like to look at the pretty flowers in their garden too. Also oldhouseintheshires seems to be a good one to follow if you like to garden. Personally if I had outdoor space I would be all into topiary. I'd have an avenue of topiary pyramids.

I like to look at pictures of flowers and gardens but I tend to avoid having flowers myself. Their short lived nature always just makes me sad and I hate having to throw them out at the end. But instagram has been great for following people with larger plots of land and seeing all their hard labor pay off with gorgeous results. Is anyone on instagram and have any gardening accounts they like to follow? @Elder Sister @Mlle. Zabzie Regarding dahlias...there is this...I guess I'll call him "gentleman gardener" (since he seems to do it for leisure) in England on instagram and he grows amazing dahlias. Regarding tomatoes I am already torn between starting from seed or cheating and getting a plant already started. And they what variety to get?!?! There are too many choices!

@larrytheimp Thanks, that is super useful information! I'm somewhat bored with my low maintenance don't need to be watered that much plants. I think a high maintenance needs to be checked on frequently and fretted over plant would be more my thing so that is good news. At least it seems worth experimenting with this summer.

I have no access to outdoor space but I do face south and get a lot of light so I've had a few indoors plants these past few years. This weekend I decided to deal with them and ended up tossing three. A jade plant was all droopy and sad looking. The parsley and mint plants I started growing a year ago from seeds just were jungles of messiness and never looked right. So out they went. I took my second jade plant and broke it up between two pots because it was getting out of hand...waiting with baited breath to see if they survive after the initial trauma. Then I took my snake plant and this palm plant out of their pots and stripped out the outer layers - they were getting too bulky and needed to be thinned out. Repotted them with new soil and hope they will survive. And then did a new pot of basil and a new pot of mint and they seemed happy immediately. The basil looked like it doubled in size in a couple of hours. I mean I know it didn't but it really just bulked up after being put in new soil and watered. Anyone have any success/experience with growing tomatoes indoors? A small amount in a not huge pot?

I happened to notice yesterday that Ben Aaronovitch has a Rivers of London novella out last week focusing on Peter's cousin Abigail - "What Abigail Did That Summer". It takes place during that earlier book when Peter is out of town so he is not around. It's mainly set in and around Hampstead Heath. It's about 200 pages so enough to get a story. I started it and its enjoyable. I'm actually thinking I might give it to a friend's teenage daughter who enjoys fantasy as a gateway to the Rivers of London series as so far its pretty appropriate for younger readers. @kairparavel I've been meaning to come back to report on A Court of Silver Flames. It was about what I expected it to be. I knew I would absolutely hate Nesta at the beginning so that was a slog. I really had no interest in her romantic relationship with Cassian so I skimmed a lot of that. So what was the point? I love Maas's locations and story settings. I absolutely loved the house Nesta stayed in and how it developed a personality and would deliver food and books to her. And those endless stairs and Nesta's training to conquer them. I loved the library and the levels and the darkness down there. That woodsy swampy place Nesta went to to get the first item with that pool of water and that creature down there. And then the two new female friends for Nesta and their friendship and how they bonded in training together and supported one another and how they went through the challenge at the end together. I enjoyed all those moments. Overall the story was a mess and the ending with what Nesta gives up and keeps for herself...omg that was quite a ridiculous. But I will keep reading the series for the things I like. I've accepted I'm never going to like an entire book of Maas's the way I did A Court of Thorns and Roses.

In my mind Barnes is still 20 and frozen in Narnia but I looked him up and apparently he is 39 in real years. In Hollywood years I think he could pass for 30. The actress playing Alina is actually 25. So I suspect they have purposely aged them up for the tv series and are going for 20 somethings instead of teenagers. I think this makes sense, it will probably have broader tv viewing appeal this way.

The swearing is what makes it Paranormal Romance instead of YA!

I'm starting it tonight. I am not expecting to love it. SJM would have to work words craft miracles to make me enjoy reading about Nesta. Btw I saw a post on twitter by the author Samantha Shannon who had jumped from reading ACOTAR to this one and was like what happened to Tamlin?

I think extra birds fly into your copies of the books!!! I mean I remember some birds in some of her books but not them being a dominant feature like this. I suppose we all just notice certain things more than others depending on our interests and experiences. As for Shardlake, obviously with them taking place during Henry VIII's reign there is going to be religion in the background with Anne and the Reformation and his dissolution of the monasteries but the first one with the monastery setting perhaps amplifies it a bit more.

You know in my mind I thought there was some overlap. But its been awhile since I read any of them so I guess I was confusing what we know if their backgrounds with what is actually revealed "live" in the stories. In any case, here appears to be the answer: https://www.thewrap.com/shadow-and-bone-series-netflix-six-of-crows-characters-timelines-books/

I lllooooooooooooooovvvveeeeee the Darkling *grin* Ben Barnes is not quite perfect for him but he will do. I just wish he did not have facial hair for the role. As for combining Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows, I can see why they are doing that. Best to just get all the characters out there at once rather than introducing a whole new set later on. And they do have an overlap in the timeline. Presumably if the show is successful they could extend the story through the King of Scars material as well by doing it this way.

Thanks @williamjm ! I will figure this linking out one of these days....

New trailer today for Shadow and Bone premiering on Netflix on April 23rd. I know a few of us are fans of the YA fantasy book series that the tv show is based on. The author, Leigh Bardugo, met a few of us from this board at Worldcon in Reno before the first book ever came out and it was just a dream in her head. It was probably thanks to Stego's vocal support for it on this board when it was published that many of us went out and purchased it to support her and then ended up loving it ourselves. Anyway the trailer looks great! I don't get Netflix myself so I have no idea when I will ever see it but I will live vicariously through any clips of gifs I see until I do. I've just realized I have no idea how to post a tweet or a link to the trailer on this board so if the following utterly fails hopefully someone will tell me how or post a correct link below. Anyway this is my attempt to post the tweet with the trailer... <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">To destroy the Shadow Fold, we&#39;re going to need a miracle. Shadow and Bone premieres April 23 on Netflix. <a href="https://t.co/QLRLZiWbwS">pic.twitter.com/QLRLZiWbwS</a></p>&mdash; Shadow And Bone (@shadowandbone_) <a href="https://twitter.com/shadowandbone_/status/1365332043140317192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> ETA: Or just see the post below since I failed to link correctly.

Clinton with Penny is an interesting combination. I am 100% positive my mom will purchase and read it (because of Penny and the topic) so I might check it out if she enjoys it.