goblin-gardener

[goblin-gardener]

Made a huge silly salad, very excited to eat my veggies

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no one will know which one it is.

[goblin-gardener]

For the second time this month: I can't sleep because I got too excited obsessively thinking about plants I could grow in a garden I *do not have*. I would like to be asleep, but instead I'm calculating the perfect planting density for native fruiting shrubs, and how to train apple trees to make a little den 🙃

[goblin-gardener]

My laundry looks strangely grumpy today

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She protecc my plants 💚🐱

[goblin-gardener]

Undertale is currently $0.99/£0.69 (nice) in case any of my beloved mutuals haven't played it yet btw

[goblin-gardener]

I potted up my peppers and tomatillos this weekend, and every time I look at my windowsill they make me happy :)

[goblin-gardener]

Update: we compromised and now she has her own delicious desk-water

Phasma thinks the glass of water on my desk is THE MOST DELICIOUS THING EVER. Working from home with a cat is a challenge 🙃

[goblin-gardener]

Starting my Big Adventure to go get top surgery! Please look how cute my hospital bag is

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european mustelids

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Phasma has a new toy and she loves it 🧡

[goblin-gardener]

I hope this doesn't come off as disrespectful, because I'm genuinely curious, but like...is alchemy "real"? Because the way you speak about it is how I wish I could, myself, appreciate it and you're the closest I've ever found to a real world wizard which excites me a great deal. I totally respect if for you it's actually just an interesting academic study without intention, I'm just curious for how you view it in that lens.

No that's a good question!

Short answer: Yes, as in alchemists were real people who could actually do cool shit sometimes, but they weren't actually transmuting lead into gold, you need a particle accelerator for that.

In the 4th century, you weren't a scientist, that word hadn't been invented yet. You were a Natural Philosopher. You studied everything from the stars, to mathematics, to medicine, to the nature of herbs and stones.

In the medieval era, you weren't an astronomer, you were an astrologer. Telling people's horoscopes involved a lot of astronomical math. There wasn't really a difference between astronomy and astrology.

In the renaissance era, you weren't a chemist. The term chemist didn't exist yet. You were an alchemist. You tried to make gold sometimes, but you also manufactured dyes, glass vessels, cosmetics, paints, and medicines. You were kind of a whitesmith, and a glass-blower, and a doctor, and sometimes just a con-man.

Alchemy and chemistry have a relationship similar to Astrology and Astronomy. But, don't think of alchemy as just "Chemistry with magic." Alchemy is the father of modern chemistry. It is the cocoon that chemistry sprouted out of.

The thing is, alchemy is more "real" than astrology is. You know what a common use of astrology was in the medieval era? Diagnosing diseases. You'd check someone's horoscope to determine what medicine to give them. This didn't work. A medieval astrology textbook isn't going to be useful for diagnosing why your stomach hurts.

But!

Medieval alchemy texts are actually useful sometimes. If you want to dye some copper so it looked more like gold, there are alchemy texts that can tell you how to do that. If you want to distill the mercury out of some cinnabar, alchemists could do that. They didn't really know how or why that worked, but they could do it! If you want a potion that could make you immortal, the alchemists could make a philter of mercury and lead that would definitely 100% kill you and it would hurt the whole time you were dying. You can't win em all.

Im writing about the history of alchemy on my patreon if you wanna support me!

[goblin-gardener]

I Remember Butterflies in Flower Fields, Mushrooms and Flutter Wings, Tiny Frogs in Scattered Creeks, Togetherness on Tire Swings, Slow Thoughts, and Simple Things…

…Dying Brings Back Memories, Thoughts That No One Else Can Keep—Buried With Me as I Sleep. I Hope the Wilds Thrive Off Me: From Moss Grown Bones to Blooming Seeds. I Remember Greenery, So Maybe Nature Will Remember Me.

—poetry by @iridescentace

[goblin-gardener]

This is the 'straw' from my mum's nativity scene, and it was the first thing I ever knitted (when I was 5 years old). I think it's extremely cute that it still gets put out with the Nativity around this time every year 🌲

Winter blessings everyone! We're through the longest night. I hope your festive celebrations of choice are full of warmth and joy.

(ETA: here is the rest of the scene, knitted much more skillfully by my gran. I'm not a Christian, but these dolls hold a special place in my heart)

[goblin-gardener]

[goblin-gardener]

Please look how pretty the ink I'm using to write my chemistry notes is 💙🩷

[goblin-gardener]

Sometimes my partner will drop a conversation starter about one of my special interests to give me an opportunity to talk about it and watch how I light up, and I think that's the purest form of love I've ever experienced.

I'm very soft and gay 😭