(no subject)

[potato_head]

Okay, first of all, I wasn't going to start watching Hannibal until there was more of it out, but then it turns out our DVR mysteriously recorded the first episode and nobody knows how it got there so I just assumed the universe was telling me to watch it, so that's what I'm doing right now.

IDK if I like it yet or not lol. I think if I had seen this half a year ago I would like it more, but the portrayal of psychopathy and sociopathy in Elementary has spoiled me a bit (this show could have used some more up-to-date research, which is more annoying without the nostalgia glasses I have for shows like SVU). But I'm not thaaat far into the episode, I think. Maybe it will improve?

Speaking of Elementary, ARE ANY OF YOU DORKS WATCHING IT???? IF SO, WASN'T THE MOST RECENT EPISODE AWESOME?!?!?!?!!?!

Aaaand speaking of awesome things (I am the best at segues) I discovered Spoonflower a couple of days ago. It's a website where I can sell fabric prints that I've designed! I don't actually have any for sale yet because I have to order a test swatch before I can sell them (which is reasonable), but I have made some of my patterns public so they can be viewed, because I like to tease people/wanted dakfire* to see the designs. They are here for the curious. And I'm going to go work on some more stuff right now (snails!)

*Notice that I persist in using the 'lj user' code even though dreamwidth changes it into a dreamwidth code and keeps it that way when it exports it to LJ, and yet also insist on using her LJ username, when she has a dreamwidth account and it is sounds_liget. This is because I am amazing.


P.S. Super-sekrit filter folks to be noting this is not a filtered entry thankyou o u o


P.P.S. Hannibal did not really get any better. It was mostly just boring and badly-researched and awkward. And, regarding the 'awkward' bit, what the fuck exactly is 'pure empathy'? Something that would sound really weird to most people if it weren't being attributed to an autistic character, I'll guess...

I was about to say it was nice, though, to have an autistic character in direct opposition of the 'can't empathize/no soul' bullshit that Autism $peaks and Hollywood are both spreading right now, but actually he comes off/is shown as only being able to empathize with murderers and not the general populace (although Lecter does say differently, but characterization speaks louder than exposition...I think that's how the saying goes.) So it's less actual empathy and more super special weird and creepy autistic powers.

So now I'm re-watching Les Mis for the third time. I'm actually doing pretty well in figuring out the plot of the movie, through the combined forces of 1. actually trying really hard and 2. all of the main characters looking very different from each other. (Although it makes Javert a little difficult to judge because he just looks like a big sad puppy dog to me. I just want to go AWWWW IT'S ALRIGHT BB YOU DID EVERYTHING ALRIGHT!)



Oh yeah, and on a COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE, I realized recently that likely the reason I enjoyed eggs so much in China but hate them here is that it's probable the eggs I had there were free-range and therefor much more flavorful, whereas a lot of store-bought American eggs are just sort of...tasteless and gelatinous. Which just has me thinking again about when I'll be able to keep some of my own chookchooks. And ducks maybe, but they need more space I'd assume? Since, you know, they need a pond? But I would really like some tasty duck meat (and duck eggs? I have never had a duck egg but I have heard they are more 'gamey'? if I don't like them though I can like...give them to people or boil them and feed them to the chickens). I do plan to have a fertile flock so I can eat the young roosters.

So which of you lovelies wants to come live on my little homestead with me and help me raise chooks and duckies and a dog and a cat or two and a garden? And probably also three to five rats and a pair of guinea pigs? I'm going to name the chicken coop The Love Shack if that's any incentive.

Comments

[seventhbard]

Um I would like to sign up for this magical homestead experience right now plzkthanx. I hope we can expand it to include a couple of milk goats and a garden with herbs and a few veg (and maybe fruit depending on where we end up). I can't remember a time that wasn't my dream.

I would describe a duck egg as "richer," but I certainly wouldn't use the word gamey. They're nice. It's a very subtle difference, they're not such a wild variation on the chicken egg flavor that you'll be all "what do you mean this is an egg wtf." It's really more the texture that's affected (I'd say duck eggs have a slightly higher fat content judging solely on taste and texture but I don't know if it's strictly true tbh). They are supposedly the very best for baking. SO WE CAN MAKE ALL THE CAKES.

Anyway fowl are a lot of fun to raise. It's part of why I want to live in Canadia some day, I dream of all that space, I bet it's not super duper hard to find a little piece of land for sale with a little cozy house.

[potato_head]

YAY. And yeah it would be kind of a waste to keep chickens and NOT grow some produce? Because they do weeding and pest control and fertilization on established gardens FOR you.

And hmmmmm texture differences could actually be a problem for me...since I am very sensitive to texture...well I suppose I will TRY THEM BOTH but since they are fantastic for baking I could just use the duck eggs for baking :D :D :D ALL THE BAKED GOODS!

Keeping chickens has actually been my dream for like forever as well. Although originally it also incorporated living in Texas so that I could therefor hunt for a few specific Texas-related cryptids (especially living pteros) in the bluffs there.

Can we get the kind of goat that falls over when it's scared?....I'm not sure that they produce good milk though. LOL. I was going to say you would be responsible for all of that dairy product since I'm lactose intolerant, but does goat's milk have lactose in it? I don't remember if I've heard of it being an alternative or not...I have heard that it tastes very different, which is not necessarily a turn-off for me, because I hate the taste of cow's milk, but I've never tried it before.

[seventhbard]

I loved them but they kept getting eaten by wildlife and one of our dogs who was very stubborn and my father hated them for eating his painstakingly landscaped yard. XD

Fainting goats are pretty useless tbh, they aren't very exceptional for fiber, milk, or labor and I'm personally a little iffy on the humanitarian aspect because people basically only bother to cultivate them because it amuses them to startle them into an involuntary reflex that leaves them temporarily helpless. It's not as bad as waltzing mice because the fainting doesn't hurt them per se but I have too many feels about it because of my own issues with "practical jokes" and bullying and people ganging up on me and thinking my discomfort was funny etc. Basically, the goat don't care, but I would, and I'd just... rather not deal with it. :P

Pygmies are fun and cute though and perhaps surprisingly given their size they aren't bad milkers, and of course there are LaManchas and Nubians which I love. I've never raised a Toggenburg but they are good milkers too and very beautifully marked. And/or I could go for something that gives good mohair as well and then I could learn to spin and I'd have to give up my day job to have time for all the hobbies I'd have. XD

For people whose lactose intolerance is mild, goatsmilk can sometimes be a viable alternative. It does contain lactose but the chemical composition of goatsmilk differs from that of cow's and it is more readily digestible than a lot of other dairy for the human system. In fact goatsmilk is drank more commonly than cowsmilk if you're looking at global milk consumption. IIRC the most common milk livestock in the world is the goat, then cow, then camel. As far as taste and texture, goatsmilk is smooth and creamy and it definitely has a unique flavor. I really like goatsmilk but a lot of people think it's too pungent/strong. When fresh, it doesn't have the odor you will find in storebought, but just a day or two in the fridge sees it developing the trademark goaty aroma. For cooking there's nothing like it and it can also be used to make lotions, soaps, incomparable cheeses, yogurt...

Fresh herbed goat cheese with herbs from the garden... oh my goodness... <3 Ugh it makes my heart ache, I don't know if it is something I'll ever get to do but I dream of it.

[potato_head]

Ahaha yeah. This is why the dog would have to be a molosser breed with low prey drive. (I think this will work because if you notice, most of the pictures of dogs snuggling with little chicks and ducklings and so on are molosser breeds, and the internet is never wrong! Seriously thou, they're bred to protect things and not to herd/eat them, so...?)

I thought they were also kept for like, science reasons? D: I JUST LIKE THEM BECAUSE THEY'RE KIND OF CUTE AND LITTLE it hadn't actually occurred to me that people would intentionally make them faint for sport.

OMG pygmies are even cuter and tinier though. I APPROVE OF THESE. Although I'm wondering if a rooster might be able to significantly maul one if it got out and too close to the flock.

I know so little about goats lmfao. I am going to look all these goats up. SO INTERESTING

Even if you never get a lot of space, you might be able to manage some of those things! Backyard chickens and ducks are a pretty big thing now, although you kind of have to keep it to a starter flock (~three birds) in a city-sized yard. I have no idea what the space needs/zoning laws for goats are, though.

Although I am not actually sure I could go with the idea of keeping animals in a city, I'm afraid the noise and air pollution would stress them. But then I also had an immediate NO response to the info I found that it's not essential to provide ducks with water to swim in. So I might just have an emotional need to spoil my birds.

[seventhbard]

Our ducks just had a baby pool as a splashpond. (I've had chickens, goats, ducks, sheep, pigs, ponies, and rabbits, as far as barnyard livestock goes). They didn't seem too fussed. If you get them as babies, they'll imprint to you and it wouldn't be hard to train them to tag along for splashies in a pond and then come home... though you'd have to get a solid recall before you let them near the water or you won't get them to follow you back home 'till they're good and ready. XD

And uh, roosters have sass but nobody, NOBODY outsasses a pygmy goat. Ever. Pygmy billies are... more than anyone's ever gonna handle. XD We always had wethers!!!! ;) Plus they're pretty rugged in general, and they're small but they are deffo bigger at adulthood than anything a chicken could mess with.

There's nothing in the world like the way they smell when they're babies, or how they bleat, or the way they wag their tails... <3 Our Nubian was so brokenhearted when he had to stop living in a dog crate in my bedroom and go to his big boy stall in the barn, and he'd slip out and bleat for his bottle at the back door every morning and try to run back in the house when we opened the door, because he was sure he should be a house goat.

I always had all these grand plans of what I'd do when a house and yard and barn were all mine, I'd have an herb garden, and chickens and goats and maaaaaybe try some quail, and the garden and livestock interests would come to beautiful fruition with my DIY and baking and other household pursuits and I'd have pretty soaps and tasty food and it would be really rewarding and fun. It is all those things, but also time consuming, so I guess I better either be making a living off it somehow, or just independently wealthy. So I am not sure how viable that is as a plan.

[potato_head]

Yeah, I was wondering if just a kid's pool might work. But there were all these pages that were like 'they just need like a little bucket of water to get their feet wet in' and I'm like. WHAT? BUT WHAT IF THEY WANT TO SWIIIIIMMMMM????? ; n ;

I have heard only recently of keeping domesticated quail. It did pique my interest. I have no idea how quail taste, though, and I'm pretty sure their eggs are really tiny? Which is adorable, and I'm guessing bitty boiled quail eggs in a salad would be something really impressive to serve to guests, LOL. I have a feeling if I had quail eggs, though, I'd end up like, draining them and shellacking them (and maybe like, painting them with nail polish) and see if anybody wanted to buy them for crafting purposes because HOW CAN YOU WASTE SOMETHING THAT TINY AND PERFECT?

I pretty much want to raise ALL THE FOWLS except for, uh, the big scary waterfowl like geese and swans. I've considered turkeys as well, but I don't really...like turkey meat all that much. If I can find a smallish breed of turkey though (it seems like all the breeds in the US are AS BIG AS POSSIBLE these days) I might go for that, because I do like fried (not breaded) turkey, so if I have a bird small enough to fry I could enjoy that.

Basically my plans all require I not be living alone (...my life kind of requires that in general since I'm never going to be very good at some things like, uh, using the phone, even if it's necessary) so the work will be split. So the idea is that I will have enough time to do some work out of the house (freelancing creative type) and supplemental income from investments, or else wait until retirement (at which point I'm more than confident enough that I'll have a significant income from investments). And that would be on top of at least one other potential income in the house.

[seventhbard]

Quail and quail eggs are apparently delicacies. They are like fancy wancy food that people eat at expensive restaurants. So apparently, it's nice! ;D I don't know why they haven't taken off more tbh, they're tiny so it's efficient to raise them.

You know, it really... sounds like we'd get on very well as housemates. XD Awesome, if you ever need a roomie, you know who to call!

I've never thought of investments. Perhaps I should look into that myself at some point (you know, when I have an income).

Maybe I'll be able to write my book eventually and get a fantastic out-of-home career as a novelist or freelancer or whatever.

[potato_head]

I was researching it last night and it's standard to keep like, 20-30 quail or more? THAT IS A LOT OF BIRDS lol. And IDK, I would guess that they just sort of taste like egg and they're delicacies because they are TINY AND ADORABLE but maybe they taste amazing :D

You should definitely look at investing when you have an income. Let me know if you want any tips, I'm going to be brushing up on UK opportunities anyways for beasts_of_homeworld.