Friday, June 7
Jun. 8th, 2024 01:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Gorgeous weather.
No major physical labor required in the garden today. Just planting a few more beans.
I did mow for a while with the ride on, while I let everyone out into their pastures. The grass is SUPER tall in places, because I haven't been mowing much with all the rain, and the garden taking priority.
I did peek under the tarp covering the compost pile to check on the little snakies. They look pretty happy under there.
I worked with Dandy for a few minutes. I feel like consistent sessions are important, whether they are only 15 minutes or a little longer. With him, for now, I think shorter sessions are better anyhow. He's not used to having to pay attention to me.
I went to see River, and he was kind of tired (they all are. It's been windy for days, and I know that I would be tired of standing out in the wind), but fairly willing.
I worked on putting our freestyle all together, and really he was doing okay going through the pool noodle thingy, given that the wind was blowing them all over the place. Well, might as well do it that way, in case that's what it's like on the day.
He did try to kind of duck out of it at one point, and whacked his head. Poor guy.
He's doing a little better with turning his back end (more or less moving by crossing his back legs, and not moving his front legs much), the opposite of the turn on hindquarters.
Then I worked with Quidley during the other girl's lesson. Quidley would have happily napped too, but we did some general ground work.
I came home and my Sweetie had just gotten home too.
We watched "Arlington Road", which was still good for being about 25 years old.
Sao Tome and Principe are two archipelagos surrounding the two main islands, so more or less a country made of islands. They are on the West Coast of Africa, and are the second smallest African country after Seychelles.
"he islands were uninhabited until their discovery in 1470 by Portuguese explorers João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar. Gradually colonized and settled throughout the 16th century, they collectively served as a vital commercial and trade centre for the Atlantic slave trade. The rich volcanic soil and proximity to the equator made São Tomé and Príncipe ideal for sugar cultivation, followed later by cash crops such as coffee and cocoa; the lucrative plantation economy was heavily dependent upon enslaved Africans. Cycles of social unrest and economic instability throughout the 19th and 20th centuries culminated in peaceful independence in 1975. São Tomé and Príncipe has since remained one of Africa's most stable and democratic countries. According to 2023."
"Nearly all citizens are descended from people from different countries taken to the islands by the Portuguese from 1470 onwards. In the 1970s, two significant population movements occurred — the exodus of most of the 4,000 Portuguese residents and the influx of several hundred São Tomé refugees from Angola."
They mostly speak Portuguese, and their own creole.
Since most of the agriculture was based on plantations, and still has industrial farming for things like sugar, cocoa and coffee, there is a challenge in growing enough actual food for the people who live there. Ironically, they have to import a lot of food, in spite of having rich volcanic soil.
The country faces challenges economically, as there is just a very small work force (population of around 200,000 people). That said tourism is a big industry, there are exports like sugar and coffee and cocoa (chocolate). Efforts are being made to shift businesses from state ownership to private, and attract foreign investment to try to stimulate the economy.
Even though it isn't a super rich country, the actual people who live there aren't doing too badly, as there is investment in things like education.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Tom%C3%A9_and_Pr%C3%ADncipe
https://youtu.be/mnoZ1A4TU80?si=5pLCOgrzS9YxvpXk
The islands are volcanic in origin, and are subject to a tropical climate with monsoons seasonally. There is not much in the way of native mammals, but LOTS of birds, bats (that's your mammal) and is an important turtle nesting area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Tom%C3%A9_and_Pr%C3%ADncipe
Gorgeous weather.
No major physical labor required in the garden today. Just planting a few more beans.
I did mow for a while with the ride on, while I let everyone out into their pastures. The grass is SUPER tall in places, because I haven't been mowing much with all the rain, and the garden taking priority.
I did peek under the tarp covering the compost pile to check on the little snakies. They look pretty happy under there.
I worked with Dandy for a few minutes. I feel like consistent sessions are important, whether they are only 15 minutes or a little longer. With him, for now, I think shorter sessions are better anyhow. He's not used to having to pay attention to me.
I went to see River, and he was kind of tired (they all are. It's been windy for days, and I know that I would be tired of standing out in the wind), but fairly willing.
I worked on putting our freestyle all together, and really he was doing okay going through the pool noodle thingy, given that the wind was blowing them all over the place. Well, might as well do it that way, in case that's what it's like on the day.
He did try to kind of duck out of it at one point, and whacked his head. Poor guy.
He's doing a little better with turning his back end (more or less moving by crossing his back legs, and not moving his front legs much), the opposite of the turn on hindquarters.
Then I worked with Quidley during the other girl's lesson. Quidley would have happily napped too, but we did some general ground work.
I came home and my Sweetie had just gotten home too.
We watched "Arlington Road", which was still good for being about 25 years old.
Sao Tome and Principe are two archipelagos surrounding the two main islands, so more or less a country made of islands. They are on the West Coast of Africa, and are the second smallest African country after Seychelles.
"he islands were uninhabited until their discovery in 1470 by Portuguese explorers João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar. Gradually colonized and settled throughout the 16th century, they collectively served as a vital commercial and trade centre for the Atlantic slave trade. The rich volcanic soil and proximity to the equator made São Tomé and Príncipe ideal for sugar cultivation, followed later by cash crops such as coffee and cocoa; the lucrative plantation economy was heavily dependent upon enslaved Africans. Cycles of social unrest and economic instability throughout the 19th and 20th centuries culminated in peaceful independence in 1975. São Tomé and Príncipe has since remained one of Africa's most stable and democratic countries. According to 2023."
"Nearly all citizens are descended from people from different countries taken to the islands by the Portuguese from 1470 onwards. In the 1970s, two significant population movements occurred — the exodus of most of the 4,000 Portuguese residents and the influx of several hundred São Tomé refugees from Angola."
They mostly speak Portuguese, and their own creole.
Since most of the agriculture was based on plantations, and still has industrial farming for things like sugar, cocoa and coffee, there is a challenge in growing enough actual food for the people who live there. Ironically, they have to import a lot of food, in spite of having rich volcanic soil.
The country faces challenges economically, as there is just a very small work force (population of around 200,000 people). That said tourism is a big industry, there are exports like sugar and coffee and cocoa (chocolate). Efforts are being made to shift businesses from state ownership to private, and attract foreign investment to try to stimulate the economy.
Even though it isn't a super rich country, the actual people who live there aren't doing too badly, as there is investment in things like education.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Tom%C3%A9_and_Pr%C3%ADncipe
https://youtu.be/mnoZ1A4TU80?si=5pLCOgrzS9YxvpXk
The islands are volcanic in origin, and are subject to a tropical climate with monsoons seasonally. There is not much in the way of native mammals, but LOTS of birds, bats (that's your mammal) and is an important turtle nesting area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Tom%C3%A9_and_Pr%C3%ADncipe
no subject
Date: 2024-06-11 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-06-11 06:43 am (UTC)These snakes are harmless to people, and are useful to us because they eat mice and apparently also garden slugs and such.
The males are especially small, (females are big because they give live birth) and have little tiny heads. It's kind of adorable to see them poke their heads up out of the compost pile, like little finger puppets. Some of them have very vibrant colors (they are predominantly black with red/orange/yellow stripes along their body, not in bands like a coral snake)
I worry about hurting them, but not worried about them hurting us. We sometimes have to pick them up to move them out of harm's way, and they are not slimy or anything.
Note: I would not feel the same way about dangerous snakes, but I would not find them repulsive, just dangerous and scary.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-11 10:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-06-12 06:50 am (UTC)It's not to say that you shouldn't be afraid of some things, or at least respectful, but there's a difference between recognizing when something is dangerous or not.
It helps living where we do, because there is very little in the way of dangerous snakes or insects.
Maybe it could help you with a few of your specific fears, is just to learn as much as you can about them, to see if it helps.
Like, if you're afraid of spiders, learn which ones in your area are dangerous, and which are harmless. Know that for the most part, if you can SEE it, you are likely fine, because they aren't going to run over to you and bite you, they want to go away. You can usually do that thing of putting a cup over them, then sliding a piece of paper under the cup, tip it back over, and just take them outside.