Wildlife

Aug. 30th, 2025 12:50 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [community profile] birdfeeding
Celebrate International Bat Night August 30-31.

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Allbingo and Crowdfunding

Aug. 30th, 2025 12:07 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [site community profile] dw_community_promo
[community profile] allbingo provides a space for creative people to share their work, using bingo cards for inspiration.

[community profile] crowdfunding is a community for creators, patrons, and fans of cyberfunded creativity.

Further details below ...

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protocol

Aug. 30th, 2025 01:00 am
[syndicated profile] merriamwebster_feed

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 30, 2025 is:

protocol • \PROH-tuh-kawl\  • noun

Protocol most often refers to a system of rules explaining the correct conduct and procedures to be followed in a formal situation; in computer programming a protocol is a set of rules used in formatting data. Protocol can also refer to a plan for a scientific experiment or medical treatment, or to a document that describes the details of a diplomatic treaty.

// What is the proper protocol for declining a job offer?

// My doctor recommended a simplified treatment protocol for my condition.

See the entry >

Examples:

"Back in the UK, it's still unclear what kind of royal life, if any, lies ahead for Archie and Lilibet. While they hold their princely and princess titles, bestowed upon them following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, their day-to-day lives in Montecito are a world away from palace protocol." — Faye James, Hello Magazine, 15 July 2025

Did you know?

In Late Greek, the word prōtokollon referred to the first sheet of a papyrus roll bearing the date of its manufacture. In some instances, it consisted of a flyleaf that was glued to the outside of a manuscript's case and provided a description of its contents. Coming from the Greek prefix prōt- ("first") and the verb kollan ("to glue together"), prōtokollon gave us our word protocol. In its earliest uses in the 15th century, the word referred to a record of a document or transaction. By the turn of the 18th century it was being used for the original record or minutes of a diplomatic negotiation, and still later for the etiquette observed by heads of state in ceremonies and relations with other dignitaries. This sense has since extended in meaning to cover any code of proper conduct.



Birdfeeding

Aug. 29th, 2025 02:11 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [community profile] birdfeeding
Today is mostly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I cut brush under the maple tree.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I planted 2 Red Masterpiece irises under the maple tree and 2 Twist of Sheree purple-and-white irises in the purple-and-white garden.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I watered the irises.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I watered the old picnic table, patio plants, and house yard plants.

I picked 6 groundcherries and 1 yellow pear tomato.

EDIT 8/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I watered the new picnic table, septic garden, telephone pole garden, and a few savanna seedlings.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

Blue Jays and more

Aug. 29th, 2025 01:49 pm
ribirdnerd: perched bird (Default)
[personal profile] ribirdnerd posting in [community profile] birdfeeding
Many Blue Jays, Squirrels and Chipmunks around this morning.   We have one Chipmunk who will come into our kitchen to grab a peanut or two off the floor, then run to his nest to fill his stash.   It is quite amusing and cheap entertainment!

We have on and off thundershowers today but there is supposed to very nice weather over the holiday weekend.

incisive

Aug. 29th, 2025 01:00 am
[syndicated profile] merriamwebster_feed

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 29, 2025 is:

incisive • \in-SYE-siv\  • adjective

Incisive means "impressively direct and decisive." It is generally applied to either something communicated in a way that is very clear and direct, or to a person who is able to explain difficult ideas clearly and confidently.

// The columnist is known for her incisive commentary on local politics.

See the entry >

Examples:

"'Death Becomes Her' might be a combination of an uproarious camp sensibility and the grotesquely macabre, but it also contains incisive social critiques—of impossible beauty standards for women, the difficulties of aging, and the lengths people will go to maintain their youthful looks." — Christopher Wallenberg, The Boston Globe, 1 June 2025

Did you know?

An incisive person doesn’t hem and haw—they get straight to the point. The original meaning of incisive, from around 1600, was "having a cutting edge or piercing point"; the modern meaning of "impressively direct and decisive" has been part of English since the mid-1800s. Incisive is a close relative of incisor, which refers to a front tooth typically adapted for cutting, so it's no surprise that incisive has a specific meaning in dentistry, describing that which is of, relating to, or situated near the incisors. Both incisive and incisor come from the Latin verb caedere, meaning "to cut." English is rich in cuttings from the fruitful stem of caedere: some examples to sink your teeth into are scissors, chisel, incise ("to cut into or engrave"), excise ("to remove by cutting"), incision ("cut" or "gash"), precise ("minutely exact"), and concise ("brief").



Holo Pendants

Aug. 28th, 2025 02:18 pm
yourlibrarian: Raven Silhouette (NAT-Raven Silhouette - yourlibrarian)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian posting in [community profile] everykindofcraft


Not sure what they're actually called but the center in the compass pendant and the oval one have what seems like a multicolored foil interior that looks orange, green or both depending on the light. You can see the orange a bit above and mostly green below. Read more... )

Trees and Flowers

Aug. 28th, 2025 02:09 pm
yourlibrarian: Long Time Ago for Spike and Angel (BUF-LongTime-sfwolfpup)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian posting in [community profile] common_nature


I wish I'd had our car in this photo as a reference point for how large those trees were, At least in the next photo you can see a park building in the bottom left which gives you some idea. It was very impressive to be driving through these roads of giants.

Read more... )

Birdfeeding

Aug. 28th, 2025 01:19 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [community profile] birdfeeding
Today is partly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/28/25 -- I planted 2 yellow Harvest of Memories and 2 red War Chief irises under the maple tree at the edge of the house yard.

EDIT 8/28/25 -- I watered the irises.

EDIT 8/28/25 -- I did some work around the patio.

EDIT 8/28/25 -- I did some work around the patio.

I saw a squirrel up a tree lashing its tail.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

diminution

Aug. 28th, 2025 01:00 am
[syndicated profile] merriamwebster_feed

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 28, 2025 is:

diminution • \dim-uh-NOO-shun\  • noun

Diminution is a formal word that refers to the act or process of becoming less.

// The company is committed to seeing that efforts to scale up production do not result in a diminution of quality.

See the entry >

Examples:

“A sense of abasement hovers over the performer of the Super Bowl halftime show. It is slight, but it is there. ... The gig—a live gig—is essentially done for free. It ends, the performer is spirited away, and the multi-million-dollar commercials and multi-million-dollar game resume. It’s popular music as the doula to football. The next morning, everyone makes big talk about history and legend-making; the feeling of diminution lingers.” — Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025

Did you know?

In his late 14th century tragic poem Troilus and Criseyde, Geoffrey Chaucer employed the word diminution, contrasting the verb encrece (“increase”) with the phrase “maken dyminucion” (“make diminution”). Like many words Chaucer used, diminution came to English from Anglo-French, and ultimately from the Latin word deminuere, meaning “to diminish,” which is also an ancestor of the English verb diminish. That word entered the language in the 15th century, and the related noun diminishment, a synonym of diminution, was adopted in the 16th century.



Birdfeeding

Aug. 27th, 2025 02:13 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [community profile] birdfeeding
Today is partly cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/27/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/27/25 -- I sowed a pot with yellow raspberry seeds.

EDIT 8/27/25 -- I did some work around the patio.

EDIT 8/27/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/27/25 -- I watered the house yard plants and the old picnic table.

EDIT 8/27/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and septic garden.

I've picked 1 red cherry tomato and quite a handful of groundcherries today. :D

EDIT 8/27/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and a few of the savanna plants.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

nebulous

Aug. 27th, 2025 01:00 am
[syndicated profile] merriamwebster_feed

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 27, 2025 is:

nebulous • \NEB-yuh-lus\  • adjective

Nebulous is a formal word used to describe something that is difficult to see, understand, or describe—in other words, something indistinct or vague.

// A lot of philosophical concepts can seem nebulous at first, but a good instructor can cut through the jargon and help students see how they apply to day-to-day life.

See the entry >

Examples:

“[Rob] Harvilla began to notice the blurred lines of late-Nineties genres as he produced his podcast 60 Songs That Explain the ‘90s and while writing its corresponding book. ‘The late Nineties were a weird, transitional wasteland,’ he says. All of these genres that had such stark lines in the Nineties have now become a more nebulous concept, blending into one supergenre of just ‘Nineties music.’” — Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 21 July 2025

Did you know?

Nebulous may sound otherworldly—after all, it’s related to nebula, which refers to an interstellar cloud of gas or dust—but its mysteriousness is rooted in more earthly unknowns. Both words ultimately come from Latin nebula, meaning “mist, cloud,” and as far back as the 14th century nebulous could mean simply “cloudy” or “foggy.” Nebulous has since the late 17th century been the adjective correlating to nebula (as in “nebulous gas”), but the word is more familiar in its figurative use, where it describes things that are indistinct or vague, as when Teju Cole wrote of an avant-garde photographer who viewed photography as existing “neither in the camera nor in the printed photograph, but in a more nebulous zone.”



Birdfeeding

Aug. 26th, 2025 01:07 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith posting in [community profile] birdfeeding
Today is mostly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/26/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
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