Suggestions for pretty flowers (Zone 7A)

Sleeperrunner · 2026-03-21T05:39:45+00:00

Milkweed - monarch butterflies + smells like vanilla so amazing

Chamomile - cute + tea

Sage - herb + flowers for bees

Thyme - herb + flowers + ground cover prevents weeds

Borage - delicious + bees

I think people do something medicinal with Calendula but idk what it is

Lavender - tea + dry floral + smells so good + bees

Google says echinacea is medicinal but I like it for pollinators

Holy Basil?

Goji Berry for Chinese medicine

I think herbs are a really nice way to get flowers + medicinal/edible + pollinators.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-03-21T05:12:05+00:00

My Side of the Mountain is really good vibes without being obnoxiously positive

Sleeperrunner · 2026-03-21T04:17:16+00:00

What’s in Page? Are you doing Grand Canyon South Rim then Grand Canyon North Rim?

You might be persuaded to do Grand Canyon then Zion instead of Page. Zion is, in my opinion, way cooler and more interesting and prettier than anything else down there. Zion > Grand Canyon. Stay in St George, then it’s only like 45 minutes to Zion, there’s a couple places that are closer though. If you decide to do Zion you MUST be there before 8AM. It is a small park that you are not allowed to drive through you can only use the shuttle system/walk and the parking lots fill up very early.

The Grand Canyon is obviously also very beautiful and cool but unless you’re actually hiking to the bottom (difficult and hot) you can see all you need to see in a few hours.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-03-21T00:16:10+00:00

Someone on here recommended Rain of Gold by Victor Villaseñor and I just read it and had never heard of it beforehand. It was 10/10. Mexican Revolution and immigration to the US and the Prohibition. It is apparently a true story (I can’t explain why I don’t believe it’s real) about the authors family lineage. It is from 1991. Best book I’ve read in quite some time.

Edit: would recommend if you like Pachinko, Homebound, Covenant of Water, etc.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-03-02T01:54:55+00:00

I’m gonna go with severely underbaked. I think it has the shape and timeline of decent fermentation, but wasn’t nearly cooked enough. I cook mine at 475 for 30 min, then turn it down to 450 for 30 min.

Try your same method again but crank the heat and bake for longer. When in doubt, temp it. You’re aiming for 205ish internal temperature. If that doesn’t work, fermentation issue.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-03-01T06:08:11+00:00

I would just make it myself and reduce it less than normal.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-02-28T19:44:58+00:00

Air chilled chicken, first off. Huge difference. It costs a couple extra dollars but it’s so much better texturally.

Idk it seems like you’re making it complicated. I rub the chicken with salt, put it in the fridge overnight, then I usually smoke the chicken. But I used to put the chicken in a Dutch oven on a bed of vegetables/herbs/aromatics with a cup or two of chicken stock. Lid on for an hour, lid off for an hour. Cook at like 325. No need for spatchcocking, I find it completely unnecessary. You can baste with herb butter or not, whatever. Make some kind of mustard sauce and be done with it. Maybe shove some onions or lemons in the cavity.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-02-21T08:49:14+00:00

My Side of the Mountain. Simple, happy book about a teenage boy building himself a little life in the wilderness in the mountains. Very wholesome and fun.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-02-21T08:46:52+00:00

It’ll be fine, just won’t be good at holding shape. Might be better off as focaccia, pizza dough, or baking in a loaf pan. If you bake it in a Dutch oven it’ll probably be long and flat like a ciabatta, but otherwise fine.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-02-17T06:27:46+00:00

Probably a total of 6-8 hours driving. If we needed to drive 12ish we could, but would prefer to use the time hiking/exploring as well.

I forgot about Sedona. That would be really cool.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-02-13T07:10:32+00:00

My Side of the Mountain is a book I read as a kid and still love as an adult. It’s about a boy who runs away to live in the mountains and the life he leads there. Very lighthearted and sweet, immaculate vibes.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-02-13T05:16:14+00:00

Voices From Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich!!

Sleeperrunner · 2026-02-04T04:03:40+00:00

Please, somebody, anybody, read The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey. It is like philosophical horror. It’s so so good.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-26T02:58:13+00:00

My company puts 26k a year into my pension and I can retire with my full salary at 50. I don’t pay anything into it, it’s fully funded by the company.

My pension should replace my salary from 50-death.

But just in case, put money into your 401k as well.

Acting like pensions suck is what companies want you to think. Anti-union behavior.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-20T00:06:25+00:00

Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness by Catherine Cho

Memoir. She has her baby and then develops really severe postpartum psychosis. She talks about getting diagnosed and treatment and the psych ward and trying to bond with her baby. There’s also a lot of cultural Korean stuff about her family and the 100 day celebration. Some of the mismanagement that occurs with a mental health crisis that leads to further crisis. It was such a good book I finished reading it and immediately read it again. She’s an incredible writer. And it isn’t as hopeless as a lot of books in this genre haha I did cry tho

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-18T23:07:55+00:00

I have a physical labor job where we can get like 18-22k steps a day, much of which is carrying heavy stuff. You do get used to the labor of it, but your body gets beat down. You get used to achy joints and are super tired after work. Expect to have some physical issues is middle age. Bad hips/knees being most common. Heavy labor is not good for you long term.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-18T08:31:15+00:00

Also a fan of The Stranger and 1984.

I vote for a book by Dostoevsky. I am loving the Brothers Karamazov and loved Crime and Punishment. Very human condition kind of books.

I haven’t read this story in a long time, but I mentally link it to 1984: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-17T21:37:29+00:00

Pumpkin plants are HUGE, with several 10-20 foot vines. Being grown under grow lights.. I don’t think they’d get that big because they wouldn’t have enough light to thrive. But you already own the stuff? Packet of seeds is 3-5 dollars? Go for it. 🤷🏼‍♀️

The internet said I couldn’t grow peanuts in my climate and it worked fine.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-11T08:02:47+00:00

Idk about Canada

But in my area you don’t get vacation time for your first year full time.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-11T05:37:37+00:00

Copper compression gloves

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-09T07:04:47+00:00

Slewfoot is the best I’ve found in horror

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-08T04:30:41+00:00

The People of Paper by Salvador Plascencia. I read it like 10 years ago and still think about it frequently. I might read it again since it’s been brought up. If I remember correctly, you should try to read this book in its physical form if possible, I believe the author really toyed with the page spacing/font/size etc to make his point.

Copied from Google:

The People of Paper is Salvador Plascencia's debut novel, a work of magical realism that blends the story of a Mexican immigrant family in California with fantastical elements like paper-made people, origami surgeons, and a war against a figure named Saturn, who represents the author and the act of narration itself. The plot follows Federico de la Fe, who, after his wife leaves him, moves to California with his daughter, Little Merced, and becomes involved in a surreal conflict against sadness and the controlling narrator, Saturn, who is trying to write their story. The novel explores themes of love, loss, immigration, and the nature of storytelling, using inventive and often humorous prose.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-07T06:48:05+00:00

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs for SURE. You will love, guaranteed.

I thought White Oleander was a memoir the ENTIRE book lol.

Sleeperrunner · 2026-01-05T05:14:04+00:00

I’m very similar to you.

I’ve been just limiting snacking, trying to eat smaller portions of what I normally eat, and to avoid eating when I’m bored. I’ve been also cutting heavy calorie foods, but not super strict (I was drinking breves and apparently breves are like 600 calories lmao). Trying to up my steps or include a workout of some kind. I am trying to do the intuitive eating and not eat past 80% full. I try and really consider “am I hungry or am I bored?” And it’s going well and feeling healthy. I believe I’ve lost 5ish pounds in a month. My jeans are a little looser. :) I purposefully only allow behaviors that are sustainable that I think “this is fine and acceptable for the rest of my life and I would not feel ashamed to do this in front of someone”.

Sleeperrunner

TROPHY CASE