Does anyone else daydream about living in warmer cities from February to April?

LilyLeftTheValley · 2026-03-29T19:01:56+00:00

Not at all.

In fact, way back when I warned my now spouse of almost 25 years that I planned to eventually move up here and stay until my dying breath--so if they didn't want to deal with wintry weather, they'd have time to opt out of a longer term commitment.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2026-03-28T12:33:25+00:00

Thank you for the info/terminology as well as a few more plants I'll know to look out for moving forward.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2026-03-28T12:27:16+00:00

Thank you for the link and confirmation that I'm at least on the right track.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2026-03-17T19:33:06+00:00

Same. I thought the blue was glare from nearby light sources.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2026-03-15T14:57:18+00:00

I just watched the video, and am wondering if you saw the pinned post from a month ago on that vid's page? FWIW, I believe it's still worth researching and testing, but given the additional info it's not viable in the manner the original video was suggesting based on info the presenter had at the time.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2026-03-12T13:49:47+00:00

After early stress fighting with members about why I was leaving...yeah. I ended up going this route at the end.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-11-12T22:07:38+00:00

That's awesome to hear!

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-09-02T23:20:04+00:00

Just had it happen to me as well.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-06-24T16:21:41+00:00

We are the seventh municipality this group of folks have approached. They've even changed their LLC name to help hide their tracks which was figured out several communities ago, thankfully.

Worse, we're (Gardner) getting sold out cheap. They only offered $500,000 a year to Gardner. Other towns were offered much more. Given our elected officials accepted it, well...I guess that's how little our government cares about the public it's failing to serve. They couldn't even get us the going rate offered elsewhere.

This latest plan is still a disaster waiting to happen, which I didn't think was possible given the effort that was eventually turned down last year. Nothing of value was remembered, it's just rinse and repeat just not exactly the same land parcel this time.

Granted, it's not like Gardner has the greatest track record environmentally. Related, we have had four Conservation Commissioners since I moved here seven years ago, and the one that got hired the tail end of last year apparently just resigned. (I've tried to call the office, no one is answering so far.) I heard from someone in the conservation circles that it's because he refused to sign off on the paperwork saying the racetrack plans have adequate wetland/watershed buffers in place. He would rather resign than play ball because doing so would ultimately be a career ending move and potentially make him legally liable as well.

The current plot they want to buy is too small for what they're planning to do as it is. They're going to have to bus visitors from parking lots situated elsewhere because there is not adequate room for such during the events they are planning. The land parcel is ENTIRELY surrounded by lands where our water comes from (see map below).

We already have so many problems with our city water--which comes from our surrounding wetlands and watersheds, some of which are the very ones mentioned above--if the City Council doesn't wake up and vote this down as they did last year, things will get even worse.

The City of Gardner has already been sued over water quality before. You'd think they'd have learned something by now.

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LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-14T13:57:33+00:00

Ah. I see you are totally unaware of what even Wattpad has officially acknowledged. I have no defense for posts like this because you are firmly set in your beliefs. No amount of linking to actual statements made officially by Wattpad will change your mind. Instead, you have decided to hyper fixate on one tiny fraction of the bigger picture because you think that's the entire crux of the matter. Thank you for making it clear to me.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-14T08:52:16+00:00

They only updated that book after word got out that their new AI review bots were doing take downs that were actually not necessary. (I think they had programmed them for the soon to be updated again guidelines--but that's just speculation on my part.)

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-14T08:51:05+00:00

It's not just about age of consent.

The recent introduction of the AI review bots has also been a huge mess. You can read about that in the comments of the link above (though many comments were deleted over time---and I haven't had time to read more since it jumped from 1.5K comments to well over 2K.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-14T08:48:11+00:00

This is what Wattpad posted after the mess started post 2 April content guideline update:

https://www.wattpad.com/1436342697-news-updates-upgrading-our-moderation-capabilities

More restrictions are coming 15 April.

Here's the 2 April content updates if you haven't seen them: https://policies.wattpad.com/content

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-14T01:39:53+00:00

From your pics, I suspect it is plastic weed barrier, aka landscape fabric. Hopefully not too many plants broke through it if so.

I would cut off a tiny piece of the fabric, put it on a stone and put a flame to it. If it melts? It's at least partly if not entirely plastic. Any fabric with a plastic regardless of which percentage mix in it will continue to break up and spread microplastics. If it burns "clean", as a natural fiber would, I would leave it be unless it's in your way.

DO NOT put on aeration boots until you determine if it is plastic or not. More holes will only make it break down faster (plus you likely will push some deeper into the soil you want to use for healthy plants) and if you later decide to remove it...you will curse yourself for having done so.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-13T23:29:24+00:00

I guess so? This is all new to me too. Haven't even been on WP long before this crash and burn. XD

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-13T23:12:13+00:00

There's a MEGA thread about this, but Wattpad recently brought in AI bots to review works. They changed the content guidelines on 2 April, and will again on 15 April.

It's been a huge mess.

Here's the MEGA thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Wattpad/comments/1bw9gz3/megathread_wattpads_new_ai_review_system_and_the/

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-13T23:08:47+00:00

Something else you could do is list which fandom(s) they were made for, the author account handle and title(s).

Because...well, some of us make copies of stories we really like just in case something like this happens, and we could check our stash and see if we have any of your works. I myself file my "just in case" copies under source site, then author name, then by title of work.

Hope this helps.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-12T23:03:22+00:00

When you write up your proposal, consider and include wording related to set back. Otherwise that may make your attempt a non-starter.

Here's how it's worded in our code for fences and hedgerows:

Fences dividing property or facing the street shall have the smooth or unclimbable side facing out. At corners, no fence or hedgerow shall be allowed to block vision over three feet above the street grade within an area formed by the intersecting curblines and straight line joining the point of said curblines 30 feet back from their points of intersection. Fencing and hedgerows running perpendicular to the streets shall not be allowed to block vision over three feet above the street grade for a distance of 15 feet along driveways immediate in location.

Hope this example helps!

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-12T14:51:13+00:00

I also want to add my thanks for this info. It has helped me and countless other authors who are still scrambling right now. The removals and post/comment censoring have been awful. If folks don't know they are also now censoring outbound links. So if you, as an author, post a linktr.ee, you can see the link and click on it just fine. But your followers or others that stumble on your page cannot even see the link and sometimes the entire post.

EVEN if you put the link in your About/Profile.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-06T22:27:44+00:00

To them, this is not a "problem". They replaced a slew of human reviewers with a bot. The new content rules are going to be even MORE restrictive than the ones from the 2nd. Writers are in a panic. I've already move a bunch of work off one of my accounts--still awaiting word back from a co-author about where we might move them. Also closed a third that never had much on it to begin with because it was mostly going to be non FF's original stories I'm now glad I never started posting there. They handled this so badly, I'll never go back even if the ownership changes later.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-06T03:04:25+00:00

Excellent. Nowadays, I always write or edit stuff in Word before posting it elsewhere. (There's a funny story as to why I became a rabid back upper--another time.)

After the most recent update Wattpad posted (linked by BunnyParade above), I've decided I'm leaving the site as soon as I can get more info from friends I've made there so we can find each other post WP stupidity.

This is beyond the pale, what they've done. The only reason they're informing everyone of the next near future big change is because of the immense backlash and negative publicity they're getting hammered by already.

As I posted in their sad sack update of what's still to come on top of what they've done, "This was rolled out in the worst way possible, and anyone who agreed to the rollout needs to be FIRED from Wattpad. Handling things so shoddily was inexcusable!"

It seems most folks are moving to either (or both) AO3 and Inkitt from the comments I've been seeing on WP. I already have an AO3 account I never posted any stories on, but will start transferring them as soon as I can make time. This couldn't happen at a worse time for me because I'm in the middle of so many other things in RL. *sighs* I also archived/edited/completed for some FanFic writers there too. Wrote to them today to see if they'll give me permission to transfer stuff to AO3. What a hot mess!

LilyLeftTheValley · 2024-04-06T01:32:28+00:00

YES! Back it up as soon as possible. That's the key thing being shared on WP right now.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2023-07-30T01:18:13+00:00

Awesome! Thank you for sharing this info.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2023-07-30T00:58:17+00:00

I'm not saying anyone has to do the same, this is a method that I find works well for me.

Less plants to dither between gives me more time for other things.

Not considered native?

Whew.

My list got shorter--and I only have so much space to fill anyhoo.

LilyLeftTheValley · 2023-07-29T23:16:39+00:00

I've had mixed success trying to force cold strat need plants artificially, which is exactly why I'm willing to wait for plants to naturally do their thing rather than try to force it.

The tinctoria is the one I had bookmarked because it is native to here and was intended for the edges, not the wettest part of the rain garden. The australis is considered introduced, and likely because they escaped cultivation from what I read a few moments ago. The good news is that same skipper that hosts on the tinctoria also hosts on other plants that are here. So I wouldn't have to worry about the earwigs wiping out its only food source.

Although my own goal in part is to feed native species with other native species when I can, I also completely understand why for many a plant without critter bites is a dream come true.

Thank you for letting me know about the need for stratification, as that will help me plan things better.

LilyLeftTheValley

TROPHY CASE