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#lime — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #lime, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Lime Files for IPO Amid Financial Challenges and Growth Efforts

    📰 Original title: TechCrunch Mobility: Lime’s IPO gamble

    🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
    👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️

    View full AI summary: killbait.com/en/lime-files-for

    #business #lime #ipo #micromobility

  2. Lime’s new ‘LimeBike’ model is shaped like the Glider, but with adjustable seat and pedals – UPDATED: It’s really good

    Giving the new LimeBike the downtown Seattle extreme hills test.

    Lime has launched 500 new “LimeBikes” in Seattle, a new model with smaller wheels and a lower center of gravity compared to the company’s existing “Gen 4 E-Bike,” resulting in a bike that looks a lot like the company’s sit-down scooter they call the LimeGlider.

    The new LimeBike, with a name harkening back to the company’s pre-scooter days, should be more stable when carrying weight in the basket. The bike hopefully will also be less likely to fall over and block sidewalks due to its lower center of mass. Like the Gen 4 E-bike, the LimeBike motor will activate via pedal-assist and throttle, whichever the user chooses. The form factor may also draw wider appeal since it may be less intimidating to some users than a bike with full-size wheels. The LimeGliders have seen lots of use since they launched, for example, and may be attracting users over the Gen 4 E-Bikes that look more like traditional bikes. The Glider has been able to bridge the gap between a bike and a stand-up scooter, and it will be very interesting to see if the new LimeBike can appeal to scooter users in a way the existing bikes do not.

    UPDATE 5/11: I finally tracked one down, and oh boy it is very good (no, this post is NOT sponsored). My biggest fear was that it would be a scooter with worthless pedals attached so that it would count as a bicycle like the Veo “bikes” from a few years ago, and I am very happy to report that this is not at all the case. The new LimeBike is the best bike share bike I’ve ever tried, and it’s not even close. I took it on the same extreme test loop I have taken nearly every other micromobility device: Up Spring Street from 2nd to 4th Avenues downtown for a worst case climbing test, then down Madison from 4th to 2nd for a worst case braking test. If a bike can handle this loop, then it can handle anything. Not only did the new LimeBike perform flawlessly, I was able to pedal up these ridiculously steep hills at 12 mph without significant effort. It also easily passed the hardest test of all: Getting started on a steep uphill (many devices have failed this one). Perhaps due to the smaller wheels the bike seemed to have a lot more torque than any other micromobility device I’ve ever tried, which helps with climbing and getting started from a stop. The bike’s pedal assist feels more responsive and natural than the Gen 4 E-Bike it is replacing, so I didn’t feel compelled to even touch the throttle. But beyond power, it was just so comfortable.

    — Advertisement —

    The new seat post adjustment latch seems unnecessarily large at first glance, but it’s so intuitive and easy to use to get the saddle at the right height. For a bike where you’ll probably want to adjust this every time you ride, this design is brilliant (assuming it holds up well with time and wear). The lower stepover height makes the thing even more approachable. The lower cargo area is also great, though it is not a cycletruck-style design as I had initially thought it was. I thought the basket was attached to the frame, but it does move with the fork when turning. However, it didn’t feel like the handlebars wanted to flop to the side when there was stuff in it. Thanks to the pedals, the LimeBike is much more zippy than its similar-looking cousin, the LimeGlider sit-down scooter, and on flat ground I was comfortably able to pedal beyond 15 mph, the point that the electric motor stops providing assistance. The bike felt good to ride even without the motor whirring, which is not something I can say about any other shared e-bike I’ve tried. Honestly, I think if they sold this thing in stores people would buy it. You could happily and comfortably ride it for hours around town (buy a LimePass minute bundle or subscribe to LimePrime rather than paying by the minute if you’re going to do this). I had high hopes for this design, and it blew my expectations away.

    They are a bit difficult to track down. As of now, only 500 of Lime’s 4,000 bikes in Seattle will be the new model. In the Lime app, the LimeBike does have a slightly different icon from the Gen 4 E-Bike and the Glider if you are determined to track one down yourself (if you’re doing so today, downtown might be your best bet as I saw several down there this morning).

    Back to the original story:

    — Advertisement —

    At least on paper, the LimeBike addresses my biggest issues with the LimeGlider. Perhaps because I am so used to biking, I do not like the lack of an adjustable-height seat on the Glider and the fact that it feels kind of awkward to stand while riding it. It feel much more comfortable and in-control when I am seated higher, though this is likely a matter of personal preference. The Glider can also struggle a bit going up the steepest hills. The new LimeBike has pedals, so you should be able to help it up hills, and it has an adjustable-height seat. I have not yet had a chance to test ride the new LimeBike, but I will attempt to hunt one down and will update when I do.

    As someone who rides bikes every day, I really like the Gen 4 E-Bike. The company is only replacing 500 of their 4,000 Seattle e-bikes with the new model at this time, so the company will keep the Gen 4 bikes in operation for a while longer. However, the new bike fits better into their operations, so if it is a success they will likely phase out the old bikes eventually. The Gen 4 bike was based heavily on the JUMP bike design that the company inherited when it acquired its competitor in the early days of the pandemic in 2020. It’s a solid tank of a bike with good brakes and zippy acceleration. But ridership is consistently higher on the scooters than the bikes, so I am open to the idea that what I am personally seeking is not in step with the average person.

    The bike industry seems to be leaning toward bikes with 20-inch wheels, which have a lot of practical advantages over larger wheel sizes even if they take bumps a tiny bit harder. They can more easily fit shorter riders, for example. It is also easier to mount cargo to the frame rather than the fork. It is also easier to get high torque/low gearing, a high-demand bike spec in hilly Seattle. Our family cargo bike is a Tern GSD, which has two 20-inch wheels and is fantastic at hauling anything and anyone I put on it. This isn’t to say 20-inch wheels are always better, but mini velos are having a moment. Rodriguez makes a pretty cool one here in Seattle called the Pony Keg. They also have one called the 6-Pack covered in couplings so it can fit inside a 20″ x 20″ suitcase. (No, they do not sponsor me, I just think these are really cool).

    Lime’s Seattle ridership continues to climb to levels few would have predicted even five years ago. Their bikes and scooters carried 57,000 people on the day of the Seahawks parade in February, which is on par with the number of cars that drive across the Aurora Bridge. Data that Lime reports to SDOT shows that the company carried 943,200 trips in April, a 43% increase over April 2025, which itself was a 115% increase over April 2024. To date (through May 7), Seattle is at 3,218,800 trips in 2026, and Bike Month just began. The summer months are when Lime ridership usually balloons. These are astounding numbers, showing that Lime is a serious part of our city’s year-round transportation system now.

    With competitor Bird no longer operating in Seattle as of this month, Lime seems to have officially won Seattle’s 9-year shared micromobility cage match. It may be time to revisit our city’s relationship with Lime since our existing permit system is written to encourage competition, yet it’s not clear who else is in a position to compete with Lime at this time. It is a great thing for micromobility that Lime seems to have figured out how to make this work, but it’s also not usually good for users when one company has a monopoly. Seattle may want to figure out how it can ensure Lime’s success also benefits Seattle residents into the future.

    The Lime Glider seems to have not cannibalized ridership from the standing scooters or bikes. Instead, it just added more trips on top, helping to explain Lime’s surging trip counts. Chart from SDOT’s Shared Micromobility Data Dashboard.Image from Lime.

    #SEAbikes #Seattle

  3. Nauczyciele na hulajnogi. Lime i Fundacja „Drogi Mazowsza” ruszają z wiosenną edukacją w Warszawie

    Wraz ze startem wiosennego sezonu na mikromobilność, na warszawskie ulice wyjeżdża coraz więcej elektrycznych jednośladów.

    Aby zadbać o bezpieczeństwo najmłodszych użytkowników, firma Lime po raz kolejny połączyła siły z Fundacją „Drogi Mazowsza”, organizując cykl specjalistycznych szkoleń dla nauczycieli wychowania komunikacyjnego.

    Inicjatywa ma przygotować pedagogów do roli instruktorów nowej mobilności w świecie zmieniających się przepisów.

    Nauczyciel jako „instruktor jazdy” nowej generacji

    Druga edycja projektu, po sukcesie jesiennego cyklu, skierowana jest do nauczycieli szkół podstawowych z Warszawy. Organizatorzy wychodzą z założenia, że to właśnie pedagodzy są pierwszym ogniwem edukacji drogowej dzieci.

    „Rok 2026 obfituje w zmiany dotyczące prawa o ruchu drogowym, w tym zasad poruszania się na hulajnogach elektrycznych. Nauczyciele, jako instruktorzy nauki jazdy naszych dzieci, muszą poznać zasady poruszania się pojazdami, które stały się tak popularne” – podkreśla Adam Sobieraj, Prezes Zarządu Fundacji „Drogi Mazowsza”.

    Teoria i praktyka (często ten pierwszy raz)

    Szkolenia, które odbywają się w maju oraz czerwcu w Ośrodku Szkolenia Rowerzystów „R18” we Włochach, podzielone są na dwa etapy:

    • Część teoretyczna: omówienie aktualnych przepisów i zasad współdzielenia przestrzeni miejskiej.
    • Szkoła bezpiecznej jazdy: praktyczne ćwiczenia pod okiem ekspertów Lime.

    Dla wielu uczestników jest to pierwsza w życiu okazja, by stanąć na podeście elektrycznej hulajnogi i osobiście sprawdzić, jak pojazd reaguje na hamowanie czy skręcanie.

    5 żelaznych zasad bezpieczeństwa według Lime

    W ramach kampanii edukacyjnej Lime przypomina o kluczowych zasadach, które nauczyciele będą przekazywać swoim uczniom:

    • Gdzie jechać?: korzystaj z dróg dla rowerów. Jeśli ich brak, wybieraj jezdnię (przy ograniczeniu do 30 km/h) lub w ostateczności chodnik.
    • Prędkość: maksymalnie 20 km/h. Na chodniku zwolnij do tempa pieszego i zawsze ustępuj mu pierwszeństwa.
    • Trzeźwość: nigdy nie jedź po alkoholu lub innych środkach odurzających.
    • Solo: hulajnoga jest pojazdem jednoosobowym – przewożenie pasażerów, zwierząt czy ciężkich ładunków jest surowo zabronione.
    • Parkowanie: zostawiaj sprzęt w wyznaczonych miejscach lub równolegle do zewnętrznej krawędzi chodnika, dbając o to, by zostawić co najmniej 1,5 m przejścia dla pieszych.

    Kolejna edycja szkoleń to strategiczny ruch Lime przed nadchodzącym szczytem sezonu, mający na celu minimalizację ryzyka wypadków poprzez budowanie świadomości u źródła – w szkołach.

    Lime aktualizuje ofertę w Polsce. Co dokładnie daje nowa subskrypcja LimePrime?

    #bezpieczeństwoDrogowe #edukacja #FundacjaDrogiMazowsza #hulajnogiElektryczne #Lime #przepisyRuchuDrogowego2026 #Warszawa
  4. I found -vm this week. It looks like a nice tool to make a separate for each project on . Testing it now.

  5. Bezpieczniejsze hulajnogi i rowery na prąd. Branża chwali się mniejszą liczbą wypadków

    Firmy oferujące współdzieloną mikromobilność notują potężne wzrosty, ale wbrew obawom sceptyków, nie idzie to w parze z proporcjonalnym wzrostem liczby incydentów.

    Organizacja Micro-Mobility for Europe (MMfE) opublikowała najnowsze zestawienie za rok 2025. Dane wskazują na wyraźną poprawę bezpieczeństwa, choć należy wziąć na to poprawkę – są to statystyki przygotowane przez same zainteresowane firmy.

    Warto od razu zaznaczyć, że zgromadzone informacje pochodzą bezpośrednio z wewnętrznych baz głównych operatorów na Starym Kontynencie (firm Bolt, Dott, Lime oraz Voi). Analiza obejmuje 27 państw członkowskich Unii Europejskiej, a także Izrael, Norwegię, Szwajcarię oraz Wielką Brytanię. Według tych raportów, systematyczna poprawa bezpieczeństwa z powodzeniem dotrzymuje kroku błyskawicznemu rozwojowi usług.

    E-hulajnogi: więcej przejazdów, mniej incydentów

    W 2025 roku łączna liczba przejechanych kilometrów na współdzielonych hulajnogach elektrycznych wzrosła o 13,9% w ujęciu rocznym (to ponad 640 milionów pokonanych kilometrów w ramach 353 milionów wynajmów).

    Pomimo tego zauważalnego wzrostu popularności, wskaźnik urazów na milion przejechanych kilometrów spadł o 1,1% rok do roku. Spadło również ryzyko odniesienia poważnych obrażeń (o 0,6% w porównaniu z rokiem 2024). Długoterminowy trend, którym chwali się organizacja, prezentuje się obiecująco – od 2021 roku ryzyko odniesienia obrażeń na milion przejechanych kilometrów obniżyło się łącznie o 19,9%.

    E-rowery: potężny skok popularności

    Segment współdzielonych rowerów elektrycznych zanotował niezwykle dynamiczny wzrost – liczba przejazdów podskoczyła aż o 72,3% względem poprzedniego roku (zamykając się w 136 milionach przejazdów). Równocześnie liczba przejechanych kilometrów na tych jednośladach powiększyła się o 49%.

    Nawet przy tak gwałtownej ekspansji usługi, statystyki bezpieczeństwa uległy poprawie – wskaźnik urazów na milion kilometrów spadł o 5,6%.

    Skąd ta poprawa i czego w raporcie nie ma?

    Przedstawiciele branży tłumaczą ten pozytywny trend lepszą technologią. Nowoczesne jednoślady są wyposażane w stałe ograniczniki prędkości oraz systemy geofencingu wymuszające zwalnianie w newralgicznych obszarach miejskich.

    Trzeba jednak pamiętać, że jest to perspektywa samej branży, oparta na specyficznych wskaźnikach (liczba urazów na milion kilometrów). Podczas gdy operatorzy chwalą się spadkami, włodarze wielu europejskich aglomeracji wciąż mierzą się z problemami źle zaparkowanych pojazdów i skargami pieszych.

    Sama organizacja MMfE przyznaje zresztą, że do osiągnięcia unijnego celu „Wizja Zero” (całkowite wyeliminowanie śmiertelnych wypadków i poważnych obrażeń na drogach) wciąż brakuje bardzo wiele. Odpowiedzialność za to koalicja przenosi częściowo na miasta, apelując o inwestycje w lepszą infrastrukturę rowerową i obniżanie limitów prędkości dla samochodów.

    Hulaj ART: Sztuka na kółkach – hulajnogi (jak) malowane

    #Bezpieczeństwo #Bolt #Dott #hulajnogiElektryczne #Lime #mikromobilność #MMfE #raport2025 #roweryElektryczne #transportMiejski #Voi
  6. Nicht zuviel versprochen! Ne flache Rate für nen platten Reifen. #Lime #ebike #Hamburg

  7. jedes mal neue app neues registrieren neue zahlungsmodalitäten neue zeitabrechnungsquatschideen neu einen betrag hinterlegen den du nicht verbrauchst weil der anbieter spurlos verschwindet mstdn.io/@march/10994735442181

    #bolt #lime #tier #dott #quick #nextbike

  8. Timeline cleanse: future fruit, peaches and limes edition
    #cleans #peach #lime #Arizona

  9. In the next pod, I'll discuss #DoctorWho: #Battlefield. I'll also enjoy complaining about #BT, #Uber, #Lime #eScooters, #Ikea, #British #redtape, and anything else I can literally shake either one of my poorly sized #walkingsticks at.

  10. Lime aktualizuje ofertę w Polsce. Co dokładnie daje nowa subskrypcja LimePrime?

    Operator wypożyczalni elektrycznych hulajnóg i rowerów, firma Lime, wprowadza na polski rynek odświeżoną wersję swojego miesięcznego abonamentu.

    Nowy wariant subskrypcji LimePrime ma przede wszystkim uprościć cennik i zaoferować stałe, przewidywalne koszty dla osób, które regularnie korzystają z mikromobilności w miastach. Nowa oferta abonamentowa debiutuje na polskim rynku 3 marca 2026 roku i będzie funkcjonować równolegle z dotychczasowymi, jednorazowymi pakietami Lime Pass. Jej głównym celem jest ochrona użytkowników przed niespodziewanymi wahaniami kosztów przejazdów.

    Konkrety: co obejmuje nowy abonament?

    Zgodnie z nowymi zasadami, subskrypcja LimePrime oddaje do dyspozycji użytkowników następujący pakiet korzyści:

    • Stała cena za średnie trasy: nielimitowane przejazdy w stałej, z góry znanej kwocie na trasach trwających do 20 minut.
    • Taniej na krótkich dystansach: specjalne, zniżkowe stawki ryczałtowe dla bardzo krótkich przejazdów (trwających poniżej 5 minut).
    • Brak opłat startowych: nielimitowane, darmowe odblokowania pojazdów.
    • Dłuższe rezerwacje: wydłużenie darmowego czasu rezerwacji wybranej hulajnogi lub roweru do 30 minut.
    • Zniżki dla grupy: dostęp do stałych stawek dla rodziny i znajomych podczas inicjowania przejazdów grupowych (z jednego konta).

    Przedstawiciele operatora zaznaczają, że ostateczny koszt samej subskrypcji LimePrime oraz dokładna wysokość zniżek ryczałtowych będą różnić się w zależności od konkretnego rynku (miasta). Użytkownicy mogą sprawdzić zaktualizowane cenniki bezpośrednio w swoich aplikacjach mobilnych.

    Przy okazji ogłoszenia nowej oferty, Lime przypomina również o podstawowych zasadach korzystania z urządzeń, przypominając m.in. o bezwzględnym zakazie jazdy we dwoje na jednej hulajnodze, ograniczeniu prędkości do 20 km/h oraz wymogu prawidłowego parkowania (równolegle do zewnętrznej krawędzi chodnika, z pozostawieniem minimum 1,5 metra szerokości dla pieszych).

    Hulajnogi Lime wracają po zimie do Trójmiasta. Na start darmowe minuty i subskrypcje

    #abonamentNaHulajnogi #carsharing #cennikLime2026 #eHulajnogiPolska #hulajnogiElektryczne #Lime #LimePass #LimePrime #współdzielonaMobilność
  11. Aviation weather for Milan Bergamo airport (Italy) is “LIME 011050Z 13004KT 100V160 0150 R28/0450N -DZRA FG VV001 09/09 Q1026 NOSIG” : See what it means on bigorre.org/aero/meteo/lime/en #milanbergamoairport #airport #bergamo #italy #lime #bgy #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek vl

  12. So, here are a few #SolarPunkSunday topics that I plan on tackling in the near-future:

    - #Rainbarrels, #Cisterns, #Graywater use and systems
    - #ToyLibraries (in the US and elsewhere)
    - #SolarPanels and #Farming
    - How to make #Lime and #LimeMortar from scratch
    - Dealing with #Batteries and #HazardousWaste while #SpringCleaning
    - Seasoning #CastIron pans.

    I would love to hear suggestions for future SPS topics! Feel free to chime in!

    cc: @BrambleBearSnoring and @MaQuest

  13. So, here are a few #SolarPunkSunday topics that I plan on tackling in the near-future:

    - #Rainbarrels, #Cisterns, #Graywater use and systems
    - #ToyLibraries (in the US and elsewhere)
    - #SolarPanels and #Farming
    - How to make #Lime and #LimeMortar from scratch
    - Dealing with #Batteries and #HazardousWaste while #SpringCleaning
    - Seasoning #CastIron pans.

    I would love to hear suggestions for future SPS topics! Feel free to chime in!

    cc: @BrambleBearSnoring and @MaQuest

  14. So, here are a few #SolarPunkSunday topics that I plan on tackling in the near-future:

    - #Rainbarrels, #Cisterns, #Graywater use and systems
    - #ToyLibraries (in the US and elsewhere)
    - #SolarPanels and #Farming
    - How to make #Lime and #LimeMortar from scratch
    - Dealing with #Batteries and #HazardousWaste while #SpringCleaning
    - Seasoning #CastIron pans.

    I would love to hear suggestions for future SPS topics! Feel free to chime in!

    cc: @BrambleBearSnoring and @MaQuest

  15. So, here are a few #SolarPunkSunday topics that I plan on tackling in the near-future:

    - #Rainbarrels, #Cisterns, #Graywater use and systems
    - #ToyLibraries (in the US and elsewhere)
    - #SolarPanels and #Farming
    - How to make #Lime and #LimeMortar from scratch
    - Dealing with #Batteries and #HazardousWaste while #SpringCleaning
    - Seasoning #CastIron pans.

    I would love to hear suggestions for future SPS topics! Feel free to chime in!

    cc: @BrambleBearSnoring and @MaQuest

  16. So, here are a few #SolarPunkSunday topics that I plan on tackling in the near-future:

    - #Rainbarrels, #Cisterns, #Graywater use and systems
    - #ToyLibraries (in the US and elsewhere)
    - #SolarPanels and #Farming
    - How to make #Lime and #LimeMortar from scratch
    - Dealing with #Batteries and #HazardousWaste while #SpringCleaning
    - Seasoning #CastIron pans.

    I would love to hear suggestions for future SPS topics! Feel free to chime in!

    cc: @BrambleBearSnoring and @MaQuest

  17. Lime carried record 57,000 trips the day of the Seahawks parade, on par with daily traffic over the Aurora Bridge

    "Lime riders took more than 57,000 trips February 11, the day of the Seahawks parade downtown. After adding Bird’s 2,100 rides, the 59,300 total of shared bike and scooter rides was on par with the average daily traffic across the Aurora Bridge."

    #BikeTooter #SEABikes #Lime

  18. Age verification vendor Persona left frontend exposed, researchers say

    Runs facial recognition against watchlists and politically exposed persons, screens “adverse media” across 14 categories (including terrorism and espionage), and assigns risk and similarity scores.

    "pRoTeCt tHe KiDs"

    malwarebytes.com/blog/news/202

    #Persona #AgeVerification #privacy #surveillance #dystopia #AI #technology #Discord #Roblox #OpenAI #ChatGPT #Lime

  19. #MaksamatonMainoslause / #HannaVinkkaa:

    Olettehan te hyvät ihmiset maistaneet Lime Dominoita? (Vegaaninen, ei palmuöljyä).

    TöRRRRRkeen hyvä! Meni parhaiden elämässäni syömieni keksien joukkoon, heleposti!

    Valitettavasti näemmä #kausimaku; toivotaan, että tulee seuraavallekin kaudelleen - milloin se sitten onkaan.

    #Lime #LimeDomino #Domino #Dominot #keksi #keksit #herkku #herkut #vegaaninen

  20. Mint Chocolate and Shadows

    Chapter 5: The Alchemy of Shadows

    The hidden drawer in the hearth of the Mint Chocolate House did not contain a simple map. That would have been too pedestrian for a mind as labyrinthine as Sir Alistair Finch’s. Instead, we found a collection of translucent vellum sheets, brittle with age, covered in what appeared to be nonsense: botanical sketches of deadly nightshade overlaying architectural diagrams of Speranza’s sewer system, and chemical formulas for synthetic diamonds written in the margins of a recipe for ganache.

    “It is chaos,” Anna whispered, the steam from her earlier espresso seeming to have evaporated into the cold tension of the room. “Just scrawls and madness.”

    “No,” I corrected, adjusting my glasses as Toe, my black cat, jumped onto the table and placed a paw precisely on a sketch of a Datura flower. “It is not madness. It is a transparency cipher. Marisa, bring the light.”

    Marisa, pale but steady, brought a heavy kerosene lamp from the counter. When we held the vellum sheets up against the flame, layering them one over the other, the chaotic lines merged. The botanical sketches faded, and the architectural lines aligned to form a perfect, three-dimensional geometry of a specific object.

    It was not a building. It was a humidifier. specifically, the grand, walk-in humidor at Altea’s Cigars House.

    “The gear,” I murmured, pulling the brass cog we had found in the poisoned snuff box from my pocket. “It wasn’t a piece of the Raven’s Kiss dagger. It is a key for a different lock entirely.”

    Suddenly, the scent of almonds—the cyanide trace from the box—hit me with a new, terrifying realization. I grabbed the snuff box and scraped a tiny amount of the crystalline powder onto the table. “Altea, do you have any lemon juice? Or vinegar?”

    “I have a lime for the cocktails,” Altea replied, confused but handing me the fruit.

    I squeezed a drop onto the white powder. It hissed violently, turning a vibrant, shocking violet.

    “It’s not cyanide,” I breathed, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. “It’s a reactants-based dye, used in the 19th century to mark fools’ gold. The poison was a bluff. A distraction to keep us looking for a killer while the thief walked right past us.”

    “The thief?” Anna asked.

    “The man in the gray coat,” I said, the realization dawning like a cold sunrise. “He didn’t have a limp because he was injured. He walked with a heavy step because he was carrying something incredibly dense in his lining. He didn’t bring the box to threaten us. He brought it to trigger us. He needed us to find the notes. He needed us to solve the puzzle he couldn’t.”

    A crash echoed from the street outside—the sound of breaking glass. It came from the direction of the Cigars House.

    “He’s already there,” I said, blowing out the lamp. “And he’s waiting for us to bring him the gear.”

    Chapter 6: The Smoke and the Mirrors

    We moved through the back alleys of Speranza, avoiding the main cobblestone streets bathed in moonlight. Ashwaganda, usually a creature of kinetic chaos, moved low to the ground, a silent orange streak leading the way. The air grew heavier as we approached Altea’s shop, thick with the scent of unlit tobacco and aged cedar.

    The front door of the Cigars House was ajar, the glass pane shattered. Inside, the shop was a cavern of shadows. The moonlight caught the drifting smoke—not from cigars, but from a small canister rolling on the floor, releasing a disorienting, white fog.

    “Stay close,” I whispered to my friends. “He wants the gear. He won’t strike until he sees it.”

    We pushed through the fog into the back room, where the massive walk-in humidor stood. It was a masterpiece of engineering, lined with Spanish cedar and temperature-controlled dials. Standing before it, silhouetted against the faint light of the streetlamps outside, was the figure in the gray coat.

    He turned. The limp was gone. In his hand, he held a heavy, silenced pistol. But it wasn’t the courier we had interrogated at the Coffee Taverna. It was Inspector Salomone.

    The shock was physical, a punch to the gut. The weary, cynical policeman who had dismissed my theories for years stood there with a cold, calculating smile.

    “Dr. Hopes,” Salomone said, his voice stripped of its usual fatigue. “I knew you couldn’t resist a puzzle. You and your wretched cats are better than any hound.”

    “The courier…” I started.

    “A hired actor,” Salomone scoffed. “Paid to tremble and deliver a prop. I needed you to find the location. Sir Alistair’s notes were too encoded for a simple policeman, but for a doctor with a penchant for history? Child’s play.” He extended his hand. “The gear, Moira. Now.”

    Altea stepped forward, her eyes blazing. “You monitored us? You betrayed the village?”

    “I protected this village from boredom for twenty years,” Salomone snapped. “Do you know what is inside this humidor? It is not just cigars. Sir Alistair didn’t trust banks. He trusted climate control. The ‘Star of Speranza’ isn’t a diamond, Altea. It is a seed. The last viable seed of the Silphium plant, thought extinct since Roman times. Worth more than any diamond. A botanical miracle that could rewrite history—and make its owner a billionaire.”

    He raised the gun. “The gear.”

    I held up the small brass cog. My mind raced, flipping through the pages of Days of your Dreams. ‘When the enemy seeks the time, give him the bell, not the clapper.’

    “Catch,” I said, and tossed the gear high into the air, towards the open door of the humidor.

    Salomone’s greed was a reflex. He lunged for it, his eyes tracking the glint of brass. In that split second, Toe dropped from the top of the humidor shelves. He didn’t aim for the man. He aimed for the open canister of fog Salomone had kicked aside.

    With a precise swat, the black cat sent the canister spinning between Salomone’s legs. The Inspector stumbled, his shot going wild, shattering a jar of Cuban Leafs.

    Chapter 7: The Sweetest Trap

    “Now!” I screamed.

    Marisa, fueled by adrenaline, grabbed a heavy jar of rock candy from a display shelf and hurled it. It wasn’t a precise throw, but it was effective. The jar smashed against the humidity controls, releasing a pressurized blast of water vapor designed to keep the cigars moist.

    The room instantly turned into a blinding white cloud. Salomone roared, firing blindly into the mist.

    “The floor!” Anna shouted, pulling a lever near the counter. It was the trapdoor to the cellar, usually used for coal deliveries.

    Salomone, disoriented and blinded by the steam and fog, took a step back to steady his aim. His heel caught on the edge of the open trapdoor. There was no scream, just a surprised grunt and the heavy thud of a body hitting the coal pile twelve feet below.

    Altea slammed the trapdoor shut and threw the iron bolt.

    Silence returned to the Cigars House, save for the hissing of the broken humidifier.

    I leaned against the counter, shaking. Ashwaganda trotted over to the brass gear, which had landed safely on a velvet chair, and sat on it, purring loudly.

    “Silphium,” Altea whispered, looking at the locked humidor. “He was willing to kill for a plant?”

    “For the history,” I corrected, picking up the gear. “And for the power of being the one to bring it back.”

    I walked to the humidor. The brass gear didn’t fit into the keyhole. It fit into a small, decorative ventilation grate near the floor—a cat-sized opening. I placed the gear onto a hidden spindle and turned it.

    The floor of the humidor didn’t open. Instead, a small panel inside the wall slid back. There was no seed. There was no diamond.

    Inside sat a single, dust-covered bottle of wine, labelled simply: Speranza, Year Zero.

    Next to it was a final note from Sir Alistair:

    “The Silphium was a myth I invented to test the greedy. The true treasure is the soil of this village, which grows friendship deeper than any root. Enjoy the vintage, ladies. It is the only one in existence.”

    I looked at my friends—Altea, Anna, Marisa—covered in soot, steam, and chocolate dust.

    “A myth?” Salomone’s muffled voice shouted from the cellar. “You mean I broke my leg for a metaphor?!”

    I smiled, picking up the bottle. “It seems,” I said, channeling the finality of Hitchcock’s closing shots, “that the Inspector fell for the oldest trick in the book. Never trust a treasure map written by a man who loved stories more than gold.”

    We left Salomone in the cellar for the real police to find. The night air was crisp, and as we walked back towards the Coffee Taverna to finally open the bottle, the stars above Speranza seemed to wink. Or perhaps it was just the reflection in the golden eyes of the cats, who knew all along that the best twists are the ones you never see coming.

    #19thCentury #alchemical #alchemy #architectural #art #bloganuary #bloganuary202401 #bloganuary202402 #bloganuary202403 #bloganuary202404 #bloganuary202405 #bloganuary202408 #bloganuary202409 #bloganuary202411 #bloganuary202416 #bloganuary202428 #bloganuary202429 #bloganuary202430 #books #botanical #castles #chemistry #cipher #cocktail #cryptography #culture #curiosity #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1804 #dailyprompt1805 #dailyprompt1806 #dailyprompt1807 #dailyprompt1808 #dailyprompt1811 #dailyprompt1812 #dailyprompt1814 #dailyprompt1819 #dailyprompt1832 #dailyprompt1839 #dailyprompt1840 #dailyprompt1851 #dailyprompt1859 #dailyprompt1860 #dailyprompt1891 #dailyprompt1975 #dailyprompt1976 #dailyprompt1978 #dailyprompt1981 #dailyprompt1982 #dailyprompt1983 #dailyprompt1984 #dailyprompt1985 #dailyprompt1987 #dailyprompt1988 #dailyprompt1990 #dailyprompt1993 #dailyprompt1994 #dailyprompt1995 #dailyprompt1997 #dailyprompt1999 #dailyprompt2007 #dailyprompt2008 #dailyprompt2010 #dailyprompt2011 #dailyprompt2012 #dailyprompt2013 #dailyprompt2014 #dailyprompt2017 #dailyprompt2089 #dailyprompt2099 #dailyprompt2112 #dailyprompt2113 #dailyprompt2115 #dailyprompt2124 #dailyprompt2125 #dailyprompt2126 #dailyprompt2127 #dailyprompt2129 #dailyprompt2132 #dailyprompt2134 #dailyprompt2137 #dailyprompt2138 #dailyprompt2145 #dailyprompt2146 #dailyprompt2152 #dailyprompt2153 #dailyprompt2159 #dailyprompt2167 #DANCESPIRITCOLOROFPEACE #distraction #DOLOMITES #drinks #dye #EmotionsFeelingsSundayPowerOfASmileMyLifeWithYouSOULCHEERFULNESSFEELINGSHOPETearsSometimesAKissIsAllYouNeedTheSilenceLifeSelfWords #Evernote #everyday #Facebook #facts #fashion #food #hiking #HISTORY #humidor #IFTTT #Instagram #Ireland #Irish #Island #Italy #kitchen #language #learning #lemon #LifeAndAGIRLINTERRUPTEDFriendshipAndPoisonBULLIEDKLDONNOneDayAtOfficeESSENTIALFORSURVIVINGTheBreathOfASoulMePastPresentFutureYesUAreIGotItSome #lime #LoveAndAdventureAreIntricatelyConnectedInASummersimoSymphony #mountains #MYCOCKTAILWORLD #mystery #noMatterHow #noMatterHowBadIsTogetherWeCanWin #photography #pictures #Pinterest #poison #RECIPE #RECIPES #snuff #social #SUMMER #SUMMERBOMB #summersimoBestTouristGuidesAreYourTasteBuds #SUMMERSIMOTHEUNDERWORLD #SUMMERSIMOCOMPASS #SUMMERSIMOSCOCKTAILS #SUMMERSIMOSCOMPASS #SUMMERSIMOSGLITTERWAR #SUMMERSIMOSRECIPES #technology #TheBestTouristGuidesAreYourTasteBuds #TheCaseOfTheSilentNightingaleAndTheEtruscanDeception #ThePurringPage #TheSoundOfSmile #thief #TOURISM #tradition #travel #TRENTINOALTOADIGE #vellum #WithASummersimoSmile
  21. Mint Chocolate and Shadows

    Chapter 5: The Alchemy of Shadows

    The hidden drawer in the hearth of the Mint Chocolate House did not contain a simple map. That would have been too pedestrian for a mind as labyrinthine as Sir Alistair Finch’s. Instead, we found a collection of translucent vellum sheets, brittle with age, covered in what appeared to be nonsense: botanical sketches of deadly nightshade overlaying architectural diagrams of Speranza’s sewer system, and chemical formulas for synthetic diamonds written in the margins of a recipe for ganache.

    “It is chaos,” Anna whispered, the steam from her earlier espresso seeming to have evaporated into the cold tension of the room. “Just scrawls and madness.”

    “No,” I corrected, adjusting my glasses as Toe, my black cat, jumped onto the table and placed a paw precisely on a sketch of a Datura flower. “It is not madness. It is a transparency cipher. Marisa, bring the light.”

    Marisa, pale but steady, brought a heavy kerosene lamp from the counter. When we held the vellum sheets up against the flame, layering them one over the other, the chaotic lines merged. The botanical sketches faded, and the architectural lines aligned to form a perfect, three-dimensional geometry of a specific object.

    It was not a building. It was a humidifier. specifically, the grand, walk-in humidor at Altea’s Cigars House.

    “The gear,” I murmured, pulling the brass cog we had found in the poisoned snuff box from my pocket. “It wasn’t a piece of the Raven’s Kiss dagger. It is a key for a different lock entirely.”

    Suddenly, the scent of almonds—the cyanide trace from the box—hit me with a new, terrifying realization. I grabbed the snuff box and scraped a tiny amount of the crystalline powder onto the table. “Altea, do you have any lemon juice? Or vinegar?”

    “I have a lime for the cocktails,” Altea replied, confused but handing me the fruit.

    I squeezed a drop onto the white powder. It hissed violently, turning a vibrant, shocking violet.

    “It’s not cyanide,” I breathed, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. “It’s a reactants-based dye, used in the 19th century to mark fools’ gold. The poison was a bluff. A distraction to keep us looking for a killer while the thief walked right past us.”

    “The thief?” Anna asked.

    “The man in the gray coat,” I said, the realization dawning like a cold sunrise. “He didn’t have a limp because he was injured. He walked with a heavy step because he was carrying something incredibly dense in his lining. He didn’t bring the box to threaten us. He brought it to trigger us. He needed us to find the notes. He needed us to solve the puzzle he couldn’t.”

    A crash echoed from the street outside—the sound of breaking glass. It came from the direction of the Cigars House.

    “He’s already there,” I said, blowing out the lamp. “And he’s waiting for us to bring him the gear.”

    Chapter 6: The Smoke and the Mirrors

    We moved through the back alleys of Speranza, avoiding the main cobblestone streets bathed in moonlight. Ashwaganda, usually a creature of kinetic chaos, moved low to the ground, a silent orange streak leading the way. The air grew heavier as we approached Altea’s shop, thick with the scent of unlit tobacco and aged cedar.

    The front door of the Cigars House was ajar, the glass pane shattered. Inside, the shop was a cavern of shadows. The moonlight caught the drifting smoke—not from cigars, but from a small canister rolling on the floor, releasing a disorienting, white fog.

    “Stay close,” I whispered to my friends. “He wants the gear. He won’t strike until he sees it.”

    We pushed through the fog into the back room, where the massive walk-in humidor stood. It was a masterpiece of engineering, lined with Spanish cedar and temperature-controlled dials. Standing before it, silhouetted against the faint light of the streetlamps outside, was the figure in the gray coat.

    He turned. The limp was gone. In his hand, he held a heavy, silenced pistol. But it wasn’t the courier we had interrogated at the Coffee Taverna. It was Inspector Salomone.

    The shock was physical, a punch to the gut. The weary, cynical policeman who had dismissed my theories for years stood there with a cold, calculating smile.

    “Dr. Hopes,” Salomone said, his voice stripped of its usual fatigue. “I knew you couldn’t resist a puzzle. You and your wretched cats are better than any hound.”

    “The courier…” I started.

    “A hired actor,” Salomone scoffed. “Paid to tremble and deliver a prop. I needed you to find the location. Sir Alistair’s notes were too encoded for a simple policeman, but for a doctor with a penchant for history? Child’s play.” He extended his hand. “The gear, Moira. Now.”

    Altea stepped forward, her eyes blazing. “You monitored us? You betrayed the village?”

    “I protected this village from boredom for twenty years,” Salomone snapped. “Do you know what is inside this humidor? It is not just cigars. Sir Alistair didn’t trust banks. He trusted climate control. The ‘Star of Speranza’ isn’t a diamond, Altea. It is a seed. The last viable seed of the Silphium plant, thought extinct since Roman times. Worth more than any diamond. A botanical miracle that could rewrite history—and make its owner a billionaire.”

    He raised the gun. “The gear.”

    I held up the small brass cog. My mind raced, flipping through the pages of Days of your Dreams. ‘When the enemy seeks the time, give him the bell, not the clapper.’

    “Catch,” I said, and tossed the gear high into the air, towards the open door of the humidor.

    Salomone’s greed was a reflex. He lunged for it, his eyes tracking the glint of brass. In that split second, Toe dropped from the top of the humidor shelves. He didn’t aim for the man. He aimed for the open canister of fog Salomone had kicked aside.

    With a precise swat, the black cat sent the canister spinning between Salomone’s legs. The Inspector stumbled, his shot going wild, shattering a jar of Cuban Leafs.

    Chapter 7: The Sweetest Trap

    “Now!” I screamed.

    Marisa, fueled by adrenaline, grabbed a heavy jar of rock candy from a display shelf and hurled it. It wasn’t a precise throw, but it was effective. The jar smashed against the humidity controls, releasing a pressurized blast of water vapor designed to keep the cigars moist.

    The room instantly turned into a blinding white cloud. Salomone roared, firing blindly into the mist.

    “The floor!” Anna shouted, pulling a lever near the counter. It was the trapdoor to the cellar, usually used for coal deliveries.

    Salomone, disoriented and blinded by the steam and fog, took a step back to steady his aim. His heel caught on the edge of the open trapdoor. There was no scream, just a surprised grunt and the heavy thud of a body hitting the coal pile twelve feet below.

    Altea slammed the trapdoor shut and threw the iron bolt.

    Silence returned to the Cigars House, save for the hissing of the broken humidifier.

    I leaned against the counter, shaking. Ashwaganda trotted over to the brass gear, which had landed safely on a velvet chair, and sat on it, purring loudly.

    “Silphium,” Altea whispered, looking at the locked humidor. “He was willing to kill for a plant?”

    “For the history,” I corrected, picking up the gear. “And for the power of being the one to bring it back.”

    I walked to the humidor. The brass gear didn’t fit into the keyhole. It fit into a small, decorative ventilation grate near the floor—a cat-sized opening. I placed the gear onto a hidden spindle and turned it.

    The floor of the humidor didn’t open. Instead, a small panel inside the wall slid back. There was no seed. There was no diamond.

    Inside sat a single, dust-covered bottle of wine, labelled simply: Speranza, Year Zero.

    Next to it was a final note from Sir Alistair:

    “The Silphium was a myth I invented to test the greedy. The true treasure is the soil of this village, which grows friendship deeper than any root. Enjoy the vintage, ladies. It is the only one in existence.”

    I looked at my friends—Altea, Anna, Marisa—covered in soot, steam, and chocolate dust.

    “A myth?” Salomone’s muffled voice shouted from the cellar. “You mean I broke my leg for a metaphor?!”

    I smiled, picking up the bottle. “It seems,” I said, channeling the finality of Hitchcock’s closing shots, “that the Inspector fell for the oldest trick in the book. Never trust a treasure map written by a man who loved stories more than gold.”

    We left Salomone in the cellar for the real police to find. The night air was crisp, and as we walked back towards the Coffee Taverna to finally open the bottle, the stars above Speranza seemed to wink. Or perhaps it was just the reflection in the golden eyes of the cats, who knew all along that the best twists are the ones you never see coming.

    #19thCentury #alchemical #alchemy #architectural #art #bloganuary #bloganuary202401 #bloganuary202402 #bloganuary202403 #bloganuary202404 #bloganuary202405 #bloganuary202408 #bloganuary202409 #bloganuary202411 #bloganuary202416 #bloganuary202428 #bloganuary202429 #bloganuary202430 #books #botanical #castles #chemistry #cipher #cocktail #cryptography #culture #curiosity #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1804 #dailyprompt1805 #dailyprompt1806 #dailyprompt1807 #dailyprompt1808 #dailyprompt1811 #dailyprompt1812 #dailyprompt1814 #dailyprompt1819 #dailyprompt1832 #dailyprompt1839 #dailyprompt1840 #dailyprompt1851 #dailyprompt1859 #dailyprompt1860 #dailyprompt1891 #dailyprompt1975 #dailyprompt1976 #dailyprompt1978 #dailyprompt1981 #dailyprompt1982 #dailyprompt1983 #dailyprompt1984 #dailyprompt1985 #dailyprompt1987 #dailyprompt1988 #dailyprompt1990 #dailyprompt1993 #dailyprompt1994 #dailyprompt1995 #dailyprompt1997 #dailyprompt1999 #dailyprompt2007 #dailyprompt2008 #dailyprompt2010 #dailyprompt2011 #dailyprompt2012 #dailyprompt2013 #dailyprompt2014 #dailyprompt2017 #dailyprompt2089 #dailyprompt2099 #dailyprompt2112 #dailyprompt2113 #dailyprompt2115 #dailyprompt2124 #dailyprompt2125 #dailyprompt2126 #dailyprompt2127 #dailyprompt2129 #dailyprompt2132 #dailyprompt2134 #dailyprompt2137 #dailyprompt2138 #dailyprompt2145 #dailyprompt2146 #dailyprompt2152 #dailyprompt2153 #dailyprompt2159 #dailyprompt2167 #DANCESPIRITCOLOROFPEACE #distraction #DOLOMITES #drinks #dye #EmotionsFeelingsSundayPowerOfASmileMyLifeWithYouSOULCHEERFULNESSFEELINGSHOPETearsSometimesAKissIsAllYouNeedTheSilenceLifeSelfWords #Evernote #everyday #Facebook #facts #fashion #food #hiking #HISTORY #humidor #IFTTT #Instagram #Ireland #Irish #Island #Italy #kitchen #language #learning #lemon #LifeAndAGIRLINTERRUPTEDFriendshipAndPoisonBULLIEDKLDONNOneDayAtOfficeESSENTIALFORSURVIVINGTheBreathOfASoulMePastPresentFutureYesUAreIGotItSome #lime #LoveAndAdventureAreIntricatelyConnectedInASummersimoSymphony #mountains #MYCOCKTAILWORLD #mystery #noMatterHow #noMatterHowBadIsTogetherWeCanWin #photography #pictures #Pinterest #poison #RECIPE #RECIPES #snuff #social #SUMMER #SUMMERBOMB #summersimoBestTouristGuidesAreYourTasteBuds #SUMMERSIMOTHEUNDERWORLD #SUMMERSIMOCOMPASS #SUMMERSIMOSCOCKTAILS #SUMMERSIMOSCOMPASS #SUMMERSIMOSGLITTERWAR #SUMMERSIMOSRECIPES #technology #TheBestTouristGuidesAreYourTasteBuds #TheCaseOfTheSilentNightingaleAndTheEtruscanDeception #ThePurringPage #TheSoundOfSmile #thief #TOURISM #tradition #travel #TRENTINOALTOADIGE #vellum #WithASummersimoSmile
  22. Mint Chocolate and Shadows

    Chapter 5: The Alchemy of Shadows

    The hidden drawer in the hearth of the Mint Chocolate House did not contain a simple map. That would have been too pedestrian for a mind as labyrinthine as Sir Alistair Finch’s. Instead, we found a collection of translucent vellum sheets, brittle with age, covered in what appeared to be nonsense: botanical sketches of deadly nightshade overlaying architectural diagrams of Speranza’s sewer system, and chemical formulas for synthetic diamonds written in the margins of a recipe for ganache.

    “It is chaos,” Anna whispered, the steam from her earlier espresso seeming to have evaporated into the cold tension of the room. “Just scrawls and madness.”

    “No,” I corrected, adjusting my glasses as Toe, my black cat, jumped onto the table and placed a paw precisely on a sketch of a Datura flower. “It is not madness. It is a transparency cipher. Marisa, bring the light.”

    Marisa, pale but steady, brought a heavy kerosene lamp from the counter. When we held the vellum sheets up against the flame, layering them one over the other, the chaotic lines merged. The botanical sketches faded, and the architectural lines aligned to form a perfect, three-dimensional geometry of a specific object.

    It was not a building. It was a humidifier. specifically, the grand, walk-in humidor at Altea’s Cigars House.

    “The gear,” I murmured, pulling the brass cog we had found in the poisoned snuff box from my pocket. “It wasn’t a piece of the Raven’s Kiss dagger. It is a key for a different lock entirely.”

    Suddenly, the scent of almonds—the cyanide trace from the box—hit me with a new, terrifying realization. I grabbed the snuff box and scraped a tiny amount of the crystalline powder onto the table. “Altea, do you have any lemon juice? Or vinegar?”

    “I have a lime for the cocktails,” Altea replied, confused but handing me the fruit.

    I squeezed a drop onto the white powder. It hissed violently, turning a vibrant, shocking violet.

    “It’s not cyanide,” I breathed, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. “It’s a reactants-based dye, used in the 19th century to mark fools’ gold. The poison was a bluff. A distraction to keep us looking for a killer while the thief walked right past us.”

    “The thief?” Anna asked.

    “The man in the gray coat,” I said, the realization dawning like a cold sunrise. “He didn’t have a limp because he was injured. He walked with a heavy step because he was carrying something incredibly dense in his lining. He didn’t bring the box to threaten us. He brought it to trigger us. He needed us to find the notes. He needed us to solve the puzzle he couldn’t.”

    A crash echoed from the street outside—the sound of breaking glass. It came from the direction of the Cigars House.

    “He’s already there,” I said, blowing out the lamp. “And he’s waiting for us to bring him the gear.”

    Chapter 6: The Smoke and the Mirrors

    We moved through the back alleys of Speranza, avoiding the main cobblestone streets bathed in moonlight. Ashwaganda, usually a creature of kinetic chaos, moved low to the ground, a silent orange streak leading the way. The air grew heavier as we approached Altea’s shop, thick with the scent of unlit tobacco and aged cedar.

    The front door of the Cigars House was ajar, the glass pane shattered. Inside, the shop was a cavern of shadows. The moonlight caught the drifting smoke—not from cigars, but from a small canister rolling on the floor, releasing a disorienting, white fog.

    “Stay close,” I whispered to my friends. “He wants the gear. He won’t strike until he sees it.”

    We pushed through the fog into the back room, where the massive walk-in humidor stood. It was a masterpiece of engineering, lined with Spanish cedar and temperature-controlled dials. Standing before it, silhouetted against the faint light of the streetlamps outside, was the figure in the gray coat.

    He turned. The limp was gone. In his hand, he held a heavy, silenced pistol. But it wasn’t the courier we had interrogated at the Coffee Taverna. It was Inspector Salomone.

    The shock was physical, a punch to the gut. The weary, cynical policeman who had dismissed my theories for years stood there with a cold, calculating smile.

    “Dr. Hopes,” Salomone said, his voice stripped of its usual fatigue. “I knew you couldn’t resist a puzzle. You and your wretched cats are better than any hound.”

    “The courier…” I started.

    “A hired actor,” Salomone scoffed. “Paid to tremble and deliver a prop. I needed you to find the location. Sir Alistair’s notes were too encoded for a simple policeman, but for a doctor with a penchant for history? Child’s play.” He extended his hand. “The gear, Moira. Now.”

    Altea stepped forward, her eyes blazing. “You monitored us? You betrayed the village?”

    “I protected this village from boredom for twenty years,” Salomone snapped. “Do you know what is inside this humidor? It is not just cigars. Sir Alistair didn’t trust banks. He trusted climate control. The ‘Star of Speranza’ isn’t a diamond, Altea. It is a seed. The last viable seed of the Silphium plant, thought extinct since Roman times. Worth more than any diamond. A botanical miracle that could rewrite history—and make its owner a billionaire.”

    He raised the gun. “The gear.”

    I held up the small brass cog. My mind raced, flipping through the pages of Days of your Dreams. ‘When the enemy seeks the time, give him the bell, not the clapper.’

    “Catch,” I said, and tossed the gear high into the air, towards the open door of the humidor.

    Salomone’s greed was a reflex. He lunged for it, his eyes tracking the glint of brass. In that split second, Toe dropped from the top of the humidor shelves. He didn’t aim for the man. He aimed for the open canister of fog Salomone had kicked aside.

    With a precise swat, the black cat sent the canister spinning between Salomone’s legs. The Inspector stumbled, his shot going wild, shattering a jar of Cuban Leafs.

    Chapter 7: The Sweetest Trap

    “Now!” I screamed.

    Marisa, fueled by adrenaline, grabbed a heavy jar of rock candy from a display shelf and hurled it. It wasn’t a precise throw, but it was effective. The jar smashed against the humidity controls, releasing a pressurized blast of water vapor designed to keep the cigars moist.

    The room instantly turned into a blinding white cloud. Salomone roared, firing blindly into the mist.

    “The floor!” Anna shouted, pulling a lever near the counter. It was the trapdoor to the cellar, usually used for coal deliveries.

    Salomone, disoriented and blinded by the steam and fog, took a step back to steady his aim. His heel caught on the edge of the open trapdoor. There was no scream, just a surprised grunt and the heavy thud of a body hitting the coal pile twelve feet below.

    Altea slammed the trapdoor shut and threw the iron bolt.

    Silence returned to the Cigars House, save for the hissing of the broken humidifier.

    I leaned against the counter, shaking. Ashwaganda trotted over to the brass gear, which had landed safely on a velvet chair, and sat on it, purring loudly.

    “Silphium,” Altea whispered, looking at the locked humidor. “He was willing to kill for a plant?”

    “For the history,” I corrected, picking up the gear. “And for the power of being the one to bring it back.”

    I walked to the humidor. The brass gear didn’t fit into the keyhole. It fit into a small, decorative ventilation grate near the floor—a cat-sized opening. I placed the gear onto a hidden spindle and turned it.

    The floor of the humidor didn’t open. Instead, a small panel inside the wall slid back. There was no seed. There was no diamond.

    Inside sat a single, dust-covered bottle of wine, labelled simply: Speranza, Year Zero.

    Next to it was a final note from Sir Alistair:

    “The Silphium was a myth I invented to test the greedy. The true treasure is the soil of this village, which grows friendship deeper than any root. Enjoy the vintage, ladies. It is the only one in existence.”

    I looked at my friends—Altea, Anna, Marisa—covered in soot, steam, and chocolate dust.

    “A myth?” Salomone’s muffled voice shouted from the cellar. “You mean I broke my leg for a metaphor?!”

    I smiled, picking up the bottle. “It seems,” I said, channeling the finality of Hitchcock’s closing shots, “that the Inspector fell for the oldest trick in the book. Never trust a treasure map written by a man who loved stories more than gold.”

    We left Salomone in the cellar for the real police to find. The night air was crisp, and as we walked back towards the Coffee Taverna to finally open the bottle, the stars above Speranza seemed to wink. Or perhaps it was just the reflection in the golden eyes of the cats, who knew all along that the best twists are the ones you never see coming.

    #19thCentury #alchemical #alchemy #architectural #art #bloganuary #bloganuary202401 #bloganuary202402 #bloganuary202403 #bloganuary202404 #bloganuary202405 #bloganuary202408 #bloganuary202409 #bloganuary202411 #bloganuary202416 #bloganuary202428 #bloganuary202429 #bloganuary202430 #books #botanical #castles #chemistry #cipher #cocktail #cryptography #culture #curiosity #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1804 #dailyprompt1805 #dailyprompt1806 #dailyprompt1807 #dailyprompt1808 #dailyprompt1811 #dailyprompt1812 #dailyprompt1814 #dailyprompt1819 #dailyprompt1832 #dailyprompt1839 #dailyprompt1840 #dailyprompt1851 #dailyprompt1859 #dailyprompt1860 #dailyprompt1891 #dailyprompt1975 #dailyprompt1976 #dailyprompt1978 #dailyprompt1981 #dailyprompt1982 #dailyprompt1983 #dailyprompt1984 #dailyprompt1985 #dailyprompt1987 #dailyprompt1988 #dailyprompt1990 #dailyprompt1993 #dailyprompt1994 #dailyprompt1995 #dailyprompt1997 #dailyprompt1999 #dailyprompt2007 #dailyprompt2008 #dailyprompt2010 #dailyprompt2011 #dailyprompt2012 #dailyprompt2013 #dailyprompt2014 #dailyprompt2017 #dailyprompt2089 #dailyprompt2099 #dailyprompt2112 #dailyprompt2113 #dailyprompt2115 #dailyprompt2124 #dailyprompt2125 #dailyprompt2126 #dailyprompt2127 #dailyprompt2129 #dailyprompt2132 #dailyprompt2134 #dailyprompt2137 #dailyprompt2138 #dailyprompt2145 #dailyprompt2146 #dailyprompt2152 #dailyprompt2153 #dailyprompt2159 #dailyprompt2167 #DANCESPIRITCOLOROFPEACE #distraction #DOLOMITES #drinks #dye #EmotionsFeelingsSundayPowerOfASmileMyLifeWithYouSOULCHEERFULNESSFEELINGSHOPETearsSometimesAKissIsAllYouNeedTheSilenceLifeSelfWords #Evernote #everyday #Facebook #facts #fashion #food #hiking #HISTORY #humidor #IFTTT #Instagram #Ireland #Irish #Island #Italy #kitchen #language #learning #lemon #LifeAndAGIRLINTERRUPTEDFriendshipAndPoisonBULLIEDKLDONNOneDayAtOfficeESSENTIALFORSURVIVINGTheBreathOfASoulMePastPresentFutureYesUAreIGotItSome #lime #LoveAndAdventureAreIntricatelyConnectedInASummersimoSymphony #mountains #MYCOCKTAILWORLD #mystery #noMatterHow #noMatterHowBadIsTogetherWeCanWin #photography #pictures #Pinterest #poison #RECIPE #RECIPES #snuff #social #SUMMER #SUMMERBOMB #summersimoBestTouristGuidesAreYourTasteBuds #SUMMERSIMOTHEUNDERWORLD #SUMMERSIMOCOMPASS #SUMMERSIMOSCOCKTAILS #SUMMERSIMOSCOMPASS #SUMMERSIMOSGLITTERWAR #SUMMERSIMOSRECIPES #technology #TheBestTouristGuidesAreYourTasteBuds #TheCaseOfTheSilentNightingaleAndTheEtruscanDeception #ThePurringPage #TheSoundOfSmile #thief #TOURISM #tradition #travel #TRENTINOALTOADIGE #vellum #WithASummersimoSmile
  23. Mint Chocolate and Shadows

    Chapter 5: The Alchemy of Shadows

    The hidden drawer in the hearth of the Mint Chocolate House did not contain a simple map. That would have been too pedestrian for a mind as labyrinthine as Sir Alistair Finch’s. Instead, we found a collection of translucent vellum sheets, brittle with age, covered in what appeared to be nonsense: botanical sketches of deadly nightshade overlaying architectural diagrams of Speranza’s sewer system, and chemical formulas for synthetic diamonds written in the margins of a recipe for ganache.

    “It is chaos,” Anna whispered, the steam from her earlier espresso seeming to have evaporated into the cold tension of the room. “Just scrawls and madness.”

    “No,” I corrected, adjusting my glasses as Toe, my black cat, jumped onto the table and placed a paw precisely on a sketch of a Datura flower. “It is not madness. It is a transparency cipher. Marisa, bring the light.”

    Marisa, pale but steady, brought a heavy kerosene lamp from the counter. When we held the vellum sheets up against the flame, layering them one over the other, the chaotic lines merged. The botanical sketches faded, and the architectural lines aligned to form a perfect, three-dimensional geometry of a specific object.

    It was not a building. It was a humidifier. specifically, the grand, walk-in humidor at Altea’s Cigars House.

    “The gear,” I murmured, pulling the brass cog we had found in the poisoned snuff box from my pocket. “It wasn’t a piece of the Raven’s Kiss dagger. It is a key for a different lock entirely.”

    Suddenly, the scent of almonds—the cyanide trace from the box—hit me with a new, terrifying realization. I grabbed the snuff box and scraped a tiny amount of the crystalline powder onto the table. “Altea, do you have any lemon juice? Or vinegar?”

    “I have a lime for the cocktails,” Altea replied, confused but handing me the fruit.

    I squeezed a drop onto the white powder. It hissed violently, turning a vibrant, shocking violet.

    “It’s not cyanide,” I breathed, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. “It’s a reactants-based dye, used in the 19th century to mark fools’ gold. The poison was a bluff. A distraction to keep us looking for a killer while the thief walked right past us.”

    “The thief?” Anna asked.

    “The man in the gray coat,” I said, the realization dawning like a cold sunrise. “He didn’t have a limp because he was injured. He walked with a heavy step because he was carrying something incredibly dense in his lining. He didn’t bring the box to threaten us. He brought it to trigger us. He needed us to find the notes. He needed us to solve the puzzle he couldn’t.”

    A crash echoed from the street outside—the sound of breaking glass. It came from the direction of the Cigars House.

    “He’s already there,” I said, blowing out the lamp. “And he’s waiting for us to bring him the gear.”

    Chapter 6: The Smoke and the Mirrors

    We moved through the back alleys of Speranza, avoiding the main cobblestone streets bathed in moonlight. Ashwaganda, usually a creature of kinetic chaos, moved low to the ground, a silent orange streak leading the way. The air grew heavier as we approached Altea’s shop, thick with the scent of unlit tobacco and aged cedar.

    The front door of the Cigars House was ajar, the glass pane shattered. Inside, the shop was a cavern of shadows. The moonlight caught the drifting smoke—not from cigars, but from a small canister rolling on the floor, releasing a disorienting, white fog.

    “Stay close,” I whispered to my friends. “He wants the gear. He won’t strike until he sees it.”

    We pushed through the fog into the back room, where the massive walk-in humidor stood. It was a masterpiece of engineering, lined with Spanish cedar and temperature-controlled dials. Standing before it, silhouetted against the faint light of the streetlamps outside, was the figure in the gray coat.

    He turned. The limp was gone. In his hand, he held a heavy, silenced pistol. But it wasn’t the courier we had interrogated at the Coffee Taverna. It was Inspector Salomone.

    The shock was physical, a punch to the gut. The weary, cynical policeman who had dismissed my theories for years stood there with a cold, calculating smile.

    “Dr. Hopes,” Salomone said, his voice stripped of its usual fatigue. “I knew you couldn’t resist a puzzle. You and your wretched cats are better than any hound.”

    “The courier…” I started.

    “A hired actor,” Salomone scoffed. “Paid to tremble and deliver a prop. I needed you to find the location. Sir Alistair’s notes were too encoded for a simple policeman, but for a doctor with a penchant for history? Child’s play.” He extended his hand. “The gear, Moira. Now.”

    Altea stepped forward, her eyes blazing. “You monitored us? You betrayed the village?”

    “I protected this village from boredom for twenty years,” Salomone snapped. “Do you know what is inside this humidor? It is not just cigars. Sir Alistair didn’t trust banks. He trusted climate control. The ‘Star of Speranza’ isn’t a diamond, Altea. It is a seed. The last viable seed of the Silphium plant, thought extinct since Roman times. Worth more than any diamond. A botanical miracle that could rewrite history—and make its owner a billionaire.”

    He raised the gun. “The gear.”

    I held up the small brass cog. My mind raced, flipping through the pages of Days of your Dreams. ‘When the enemy seeks the time, give him the bell, not the clapper.’

    “Catch,” I said, and tossed the gear high into the air, towards the open door of the humidor.

    Salomone’s greed was a reflex. He lunged for it, his eyes tracking the glint of brass. In that split second, Toe dropped from the top of the humidor shelves. He didn’t aim for the man. He aimed for the open canister of fog Salomone had kicked aside.

    With a precise swat, the black cat sent the canister spinning between Salomone’s legs. The Inspector stumbled, his shot going wild, shattering a jar of Cuban Leafs.

    Chapter 7: The Sweetest Trap

    “Now!” I screamed.

    Marisa, fueled by adrenaline, grabbed a heavy jar of rock candy from a display shelf and hurled it. It wasn’t a precise throw, but it was effective. The jar smashed against the humidity controls, releasing a pressurized blast of water vapor designed to keep the cigars moist.

    The room instantly turned into a blinding white cloud. Salomone roared, firing blindly into the mist.

    “The floor!” Anna shouted, pulling a lever near the counter. It was the trapdoor to the cellar, usually used for coal deliveries.

    Salomone, disoriented and blinded by the steam and fog, took a step back to steady his aim. His heel caught on the edge of the open trapdoor. There was no scream, just a surprised grunt and the heavy thud of a body hitting the coal pile twelve feet below.

    Altea slammed the trapdoor shut and threw the iron bolt.

    Silence returned to the Cigars House, save for the hissing of the broken humidifier.

    I leaned against the counter, shaking. Ashwaganda trotted over to the brass gear, which had landed safely on a velvet chair, and sat on it, purring loudly.

    “Silphium,” Altea whispered, looking at the locked humidor. “He was willing to kill for a plant?”

    “For the history,” I corrected, picking up the gear. “And for the power of being the one to bring it back.”

    I walked to the humidor. The brass gear didn’t fit into the keyhole. It fit into a small, decorative ventilation grate near the floor—a cat-sized opening. I placed the gear onto a hidden spindle and turned it.

    The floor of the humidor didn’t open. Instead, a small panel inside the wall slid back. There was no seed. There was no diamond.

    Inside sat a single, dust-covered bottle of wine, labelled simply: Speranza, Year Zero.

    Next to it was a final note from Sir Alistair:

    “The Silphium was a myth I invented to test the greedy. The true treasure is the soil of this village, which grows friendship deeper than any root. Enjoy the vintage, ladies. It is the only one in existence.”

    I looked at my friends—Altea, Anna, Marisa—covered in soot, steam, and chocolate dust.

    “A myth?” Salomone’s muffled voice shouted from the cellar. “You mean I broke my leg for a metaphor?!”

    I smiled, picking up the bottle. “It seems,” I said, channeling the finality of Hitchcock’s closing shots, “that the Inspector fell for the oldest trick in the book. Never trust a treasure map written by a man who loved stories more than gold.”

    We left Salomone in the cellar for the real police to find. The night air was crisp, and as we walked back towards the Coffee Taverna to finally open the bottle, the stars above Speranza seemed to wink. Or perhaps it was just the reflection in the golden eyes of the cats, who knew all along that the best twists are the ones you never see coming.

    #19thCentury #alchemical #alchemy #architectural #art #bloganuary #bloganuary202401 #bloganuary202402 #bloganuary202403 #bloganuary202404 #bloganuary202405 #bloganuary202408 #bloganuary202409 #bloganuary202411 #bloganuary202416 #bloganuary202428 #bloganuary202429 #bloganuary202430 #books #botanical #castles #chemistry #cipher #cocktail #cryptography #culture #curiosity #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1804 #dailyprompt1805 #dailyprompt1806 #dailyprompt1807 #dailyprompt1808 #dailyprompt1811 #dailyprompt1812 #dailyprompt1814 #dailyprompt1819 #dailyprompt1832 #dailyprompt1839 #dailyprompt1840 #dailyprompt1851 #dailyprompt1859 #dailyprompt1860 #dailyprompt1891 #dailyprompt1975 #dailyprompt1976 #dailyprompt1978 #dailyprompt1981 #dailyprompt1982 #dailyprompt1983 #dailyprompt1984 #dailyprompt1985 #dailyprompt1987 #dailyprompt1988 #dailyprompt1990 #dailyprompt1993 #dailyprompt1994 #dailyprompt1995 #dailyprompt1997 #dailyprompt1999 #dailyprompt2007 #dailyprompt2008 #dailyprompt2010 #dailyprompt2011 #dailyprompt2012 #dailyprompt2013 #dailyprompt2014 #dailyprompt2017 #dailyprompt2089 #dailyprompt2099 #dailyprompt2112 #dailyprompt2113 #dailyprompt2115 #dailyprompt2124 #dailyprompt2125 #dailyprompt2126 #dailyprompt2127 #dailyprompt2129 #dailyprompt2132 #dailyprompt2134 #dailyprompt2137 #dailyprompt2138 #dailyprompt2145 #dailyprompt2146 #dailyprompt2152 #dailyprompt2153 #dailyprompt2159 #dailyprompt2167 #DANCESPIRITCOLOROFPEACE #distraction #DOLOMITES #drinks #dye #EmotionsFeelingsSundayPowerOfASmileMyLifeWithYouSOULCHEERFULNESSFEELINGSHOPETearsSometimesAKissIsAllYouNeedTheSilenceLifeSelfWords #Evernote #everyday #Facebook #facts #fashion #food #hiking #HISTORY #humidor #IFTTT #Instagram #Ireland #Irish #Island #Italy #kitchen #language #learning #lemon #LifeAndAGIRLINTERRUPTEDFriendshipAndPoisonBULLIEDKLDONNOneDayAtOfficeESSENTIALFORSURVIVINGTheBreathOfASoulMePastPresentFutureYesUAreIGotItSome #lime #LoveAndAdventureAreIntricatelyConnectedInASummersimoSymphony #mountains #MYCOCKTAILWORLD #mystery #noMatterHow #noMatterHowBadIsTogetherWeCanWin #photography #pictures #Pinterest #poison #RECIPE #RECIPES #snuff #social #SUMMER #SUMMERBOMB #summersimoBestTouristGuidesAreYourTasteBuds #SUMMERSIMOTHEUNDERWORLD #SUMMERSIMOCOMPASS #SUMMERSIMOSCOCKTAILS #SUMMERSIMOSCOMPASS #SUMMERSIMOSGLITTERWAR #SUMMERSIMOSRECIPES #technology #TheBestTouristGuidesAreYourTasteBuds #TheCaseOfTheSilentNightingaleAndTheEtruscanDeception #ThePurringPage #TheSoundOfSmile #thief #TOURISM #tradition #travel #TRENTINOALTOADIGE #vellum #WithASummersimoSmile
  24. Australian finger #lime (Citrus australasica) proves an unlikely #hero in the battle against the devastating #potato #crop pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CLso).
    🥔doi.org/10.1111/jipb.70057
    Find the latest in #PlantScience right here!
    @WileyLifeSci
    #agriculture #JIPB #botany

  25. #India - How to Make #Lime From Scratch

    25/12/2018

    Making Lime from Scratch - An Overview

    1. Build a kiln from cob, or some other material that can stand 1000 degrees heat.

    2. Collect some oyster/clam shells, or limestone (see video below).

    3. Light a fire in your kiln and add your limestone/shells. Get the temperature up to between 800 and 1200 degrees.

    4. Extract the shells (if using) and put them in a vat.

    5. Put on protective clothing (mask, goggles, gloves, onesie etc)

    6. Add warm water to the burned shells and watch the mixture bubble and froth. Be careful. Lime is caustic and can burn.

    7. The longer you leave that substance slaking (submerged in plenty of water), the better quality lime you get.

    "Lime. Oh lime. So versatile. So useful. But sometimes so difficult to know which kind you’re buying. You may remember my beginners' guide to different kinds of lime I penned last time. Sometimes though, all the CaOs and NHLs in the world won’t help you, because you live in a place that doesn’t regulate too carefully, and your lime turns up in mysterious dog-eared bags which inspire anything but confidence.

    In that case you can always do what Gautam Singh in Mumbai did. Cut out the middle man, and make it yourself. He shared his process in our members' only Facebook Group last week, and I think it's fabulous.

    " 'Unsure and concerned about of the quality of lime we were purchasing, especially for some tadelakt work, we made a small kiln to make our own lime,' says Gautam, who is still battling on with plaster work over there in Mumbai. I’ve got to hand it to him, he’s not a quitter:)

    'It's specifically for tadelakt,' he says, and 'I’m happy to say it works, and wasn’t too complicated or time consuming either.' Oh...music to my ears!

    How did they create their own quick lime?
    First Gautam and his friends built the kiln out of cob (see above). Next, he collected a bunch of oyster and clam shells from seafood sellers. You don't crush the shells, they are left whole so they are easy to identify post burning, because the entire burned shell will be converted into Calcium Oxide or pure lime.

    'Research stated the shells needed to be fired between 800-1200℃. Any less and it wouldn't have the reaction that turns it into lime, and any more would melt the shells,' he informed us.

    I asked him how he measured the temperature. 'Figuring out the temperature was tricky at first, but luckily a professional #potter friend came to the rescue and we used a #thermocouple to measure the temperature for the first two trials. After that it became easier because then I knew it took between 40-60 mins to achieve that 800-1200 degrees required for my kiln.'

    Initial Troubles

    In the beginning Gautam thought he'd failed. But in fact it's a good example of how things are sometimes not what they appear. 'After our first firing attempt, we went through the burnt matter, extracted all the shells and put them in a pot. Then we tried adding water. But there was no reaction!'

    Our pioneer thought perhaps he hadn’t fired the shells at a high enough temperature. He prepared his kiln for a second attempt. It was then he chanced upon a golden nugget of online information advising the use of warm water (not cold) to slake the burnt shells. The Mumbai team decided to try it.

    'So we used the same shells, added warm water and voila! It started boiling and reacting violently,' he says."

    Read more:
    themudhome.com/mudbuilding/how

    #SolarPunkSunday #SustainableMaterials #Quicklime #AncientTechnologies #Science

  26. #India - How to Make #Lime From Scratch

    25/12/2018

    Making Lime from Scratch - An Overview

    1. Build a kiln from cob, or some other material that can stand 1000 degrees heat.

    2. Collect some oyster/clam shells, or limestone (see video below).

    3. Light a fire in your kiln and add your limestone/shells. Get the temperature up to between 800 and 1200 degrees.

    4. Extract the shells (if using) and put them in a vat.

    5. Put on protective clothing (mask, goggles, gloves, onesie etc)

    6. Add warm water to the burned shells and watch the mixture bubble and froth. Be careful. Lime is caustic and can burn.

    7. The longer you leave that substance slaking (submerged in plenty of water), the better quality lime you get.

    "Lime. Oh lime. So versatile. So useful. But sometimes so difficult to know which kind you’re buying. You may remember my beginners' guide to different kinds of lime I penned last time. Sometimes though, all the CaOs and NHLs in the world won’t help you, because you live in a place that doesn’t regulate too carefully, and your lime turns up in mysterious dog-eared bags which inspire anything but confidence.

    In that case you can always do what Gautam Singh in Mumbai did. Cut out the middle man, and make it yourself. He shared his process in our members' only Facebook Group last week, and I think it's fabulous.

    " 'Unsure and concerned about of the quality of lime we were purchasing, especially for some tadelakt work, we made a small kiln to make our own lime,' says Gautam, who is still battling on with plaster work over there in Mumbai. I’ve got to hand it to him, he’s not a quitter:)

    'It's specifically for tadelakt,' he says, and 'I’m happy to say it works, and wasn’t too complicated or time consuming either.' Oh...music to my ears!

    How did they create their own quick lime?
    First Gautam and his friends built the kiln out of cob (see above). Next, he collected a bunch of oyster and clam shells from seafood sellers. You don't crush the shells, they are left whole so they are easy to identify post burning, because the entire burned shell will be converted into Calcium Oxide or pure lime.

    'Research stated the shells needed to be fired between 800-1200℃. Any less and it wouldn't have the reaction that turns it into lime, and any more would melt the shells,' he informed us.

    I asked him how he measured the temperature. 'Figuring out the temperature was tricky at first, but luckily a professional #potter friend came to the rescue and we used a #thermocouple to measure the temperature for the first two trials. After that it became easier because then I knew it took between 40-60 mins to achieve that 800-1200 degrees required for my kiln.'

    Initial Troubles

    In the beginning Gautam thought he'd failed. But in fact it's a good example of how things are sometimes not what they appear. 'After our first firing attempt, we went through the burnt matter, extracted all the shells and put them in a pot. Then we tried adding water. But there was no reaction!'

    Our pioneer thought perhaps he hadn’t fired the shells at a high enough temperature. He prepared his kiln for a second attempt. It was then he chanced upon a golden nugget of online information advising the use of warm water (not cold) to slake the burnt shells. The Mumbai team decided to try it.

    'So we used the same shells, added warm water and voila! It started boiling and reacting violently,' he says."

    Read more:
    themudhome.com/mudbuilding/how

    #SolarPunkSunday #SustainableMaterials #Quicklime #AncientTechnologies #Science

  27. Ahhhh... Using a hand-drill to start a fire. Now that takes me back to my days at the Wilderness School! I'd love to try and make a pottery-kiln (I'll be researching that soon...)

    #Australia - Making #lime with Primitive Technology

    "When heated above 840 degrees Celsius, the lime decomposes into calcium oxide (CaO) or #Quicklime and releases carbon dioxide (CO2). When water is added to the quicklime it becomes calcium hydroxide Ca (OH)2 or #LimePutty. From here the calcium hydroxide can then be shaped into a form and allowed to set.

    Carbon dioxide enters the lime putty as it dries causing it to turn back into calcium carbonate. The new calcium carbonate has then set, remaining solid and water resistant.

    In my local geography, calcareous rocks such as limestone are absent leading to a difficulty in acquiring the feed stock for lime making. However, I was still able to make lime by collecting the shells of large terrestrial snails that are native to the rainforest here. The unoccupied shells of these snails were gathered up and stored at the hut. Fire wood was gathered and packed neatly into the kiln.

    Importantly, the firewood was stacked on top of the grate rather than underneath it in the firebox as is the normal procedure for firing pottery. Using an ordinary updraft pottery kiln in this configuration allows it to reach much higher temperatures than would be possible during normal use. The wood was lit from above and the fire burned down towards the grate. Alternate layers of shells and wood were added on to this burning fuel bed. After adding the last layer of wood to act as a 'lid' to prevent heat loss from above I left the kiln to finish on its own, unsupervised. The whole process took about an hour and a half.

    When the kiln had cooled down a few hours later, I took out the calcined shells. Not shown in the video was the fact that some shells got so hot, the dirt stuck to them turned into slag and fused to them, possibly with the lime acting a flux lowering its melting point. This extreme heat (+1200 c) should be avoided as the over burnt lime becomes 'dead lime', unable to slake in water. Most shells were still useable though. They were taken out of the kiln and had water added to them.

    An exothermic reaction then ensued. Heat was produced as the lime quicklime turned into slaked lime. The water heated up creating steam and the shells decomposed into a white paste. The paste was stirred and crushed pottery was added to it as an aggregate (sand is normally used for this, I just had a lot of old pot sherds lying about to dispose of).

    This lime mortar mixture was then formed into a block shape and left to dry. It took about a week and a half to set as we have had extremely humid, wet weather. The block was observed to have set demonstrating its properties.

    What I created is actually lime mortar, typically used for mortaring bricks and tiles together. It’s basically the ‘Glue’ that holds together the building blocks of masonry structures. From my research 20 kg of lime mortar is used on a 1 m square section of brick wall. 5 kg of lime to 15 kg of aggregate (sand, grog etc.) per a 1 m square section of bricks. The shells, though large, are not terribly abundant. A method for finding shells efficiently needs to be made before considering making lime mortar in this fashion. From my experience sand bars in a creek sometimes accumulate snail shells from higher up in the mountains. In these spots, water velocity decreases and shells in the water tend to drop out of the water column. Additionally lime may be partially replaced with ordinary wood ash in mortar without a corresponding decrease in strength. To conclude, making lime in a land without limestone is possible but can be problematic when trying to do so on a large scale."

    Watch:
    thekidshouldseethis.com/post/m

    YT:
    youtube.com/watch?v=Ek3aeUhHaF

    Wordpress:primitivetechnology.wordpress.

    Patreon page: patreon.com/user?u=2945881

    #SolarPunkSunday #SustainableMaterials #TraditionalTechnology #ZeroWaste #Mortar #LimeMortar #Snailshells #Adaptation #AncientTechnologies #Science #AnimalProducts #LocalMaterials

  28. How to Make #Lime (#Apog) from #Clamshells

    Aug 1, 2020

    "Eating seashells is one of your favorites?... Well, what you can do to the #clamshells?... Some of us, didn't know on how to make it into valuable product just like making lime or 'apog'. Find out in this video, saving shells to become waste."

    youtube.com/watch?v=UGdEYUj5LU

    #SolarPunkSunday #SustainableMaterials #TraditionalTechnology #ZeroWaste #Clamshells #Mortar #LimeMortar #Seashells

  29. #Hemp cultivation contributes to the European Green Deal objectives

    Excerpts:

    "Hemp has a number of #Environmental benefits.

    - #CarbonStorage: one hectare of hemp sequesters 9 to 15 tonnes of CO2, similar to the amount sequestered by a young forest, but it only takes five months to grow.

    - Breaking the cycle of diseases: hemp helps to break the cycle of diseases when used in #CropRotation. In addition, weeds are not able to grow due to the fast growth and shading capacity of hemp plants.

    - #SoilErosion prevention: dense leaves of hemp become a natural soil cover, reducing water loss and protecting against soil erosion. Hemp covers the ground just three weeks after germination.

    - #Biodiversity: flowering cycle usually occurs between July and September, coinciding with a lack of pollen production from other crops. Hemp produces large amounts of pollen. It also provides shelter for birds and hemp seeds are a food for animals.

    - Low or no use of #pesticides: hemp is susceptible to few pests because of the lack of natural predators, which means that the use of #insecticides, #herbicides, and #fungicides can be avoided in most cases."


    "Uses of hemp

    1. Textile industry (#HempFibre)

    Hemp fibre is very similar to linen and the interest of the textile industry in using hemp fibre is growing. The European Commission, in its circular economy action plan, considers the textile sector as one of the cornerstones in the transition towards a greener and more sustainable economy and it has encouraged stakeholders to seek new materials and new economic models. To this end, the EU has adopted a strategy for sustainable and circular textiles aiming to create a more sustainable, innovative, circular economic model.
    Hemp fibre and textile material
    Hemp fibre is a sustainable raw material for the textile industry.

    2. Food and feed (#HempSeeds)

    Hemp seeds contain high levels of protein and considerable amounts of fibres, vitamins, Omega-3, and minerals. As a result, de-hulled hemp seeds serve as a food for human consumption, while whole hemp seeds are used as feed for animals.

    3. #Construction (#HempFibre)

    There are three main hemp-based products used in construction: #lime hemp concrete (#hempcrete), #HempWool, and fibre-board insulation. The construction sector is responsible for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of GHG emissions, and 75% of that energy goes to waste. This has led to a search for construction practices and materials that are carbon neutral or carbon sequesters. Hempcrete is a carbon sequester as the amount of carbon stored in the material is higher than the emissions generated during its production, and it continues to store carbon during the building’s life. Improving energy efficiency in the building sector will play a key role in achieving carbon-neutrality by 2050, a goal set out in the European Green Deal. Hemp can play a significant role in reaching this objective.

    Hempcrete, hemp wool and fibre-board insulation are used in the construction sector due to their energy efficient properties.

    4. #Paper production (hemp fibre)

    There are multiple advantages to using hemp fibre to make paper: hemp stalks only take up to five months to mature, #HempPaper does not necessarily require toxic bleaching chemicals and hemp paper can be recycled seven to eight times.

    Hemp fibre paper is a more sustainable alternative to paper made from wood pulp.

    5. Other uses

    Hemp-derived products are used in different industries and for different purposes. Negative environmental effects of plastic have pushed manufacturers to seek alternatives. Hemp is a good option given its light weight and durability. As a substitute for plastic, hemp-derived products are used in different sectors such as car manufacturing, railway, aviation and aerospace.

    Other uses of hemp include #cosmetics (oils, lotions, shampoos, etc.) and energy production (#biofuels). There is also interest in the production and marketing of hemp extracts, notably cannabidiol (#CBD), due to its possible uses in cosmetics, health products and food. These possible uses are, however, subject to the relevant EU requirements. In November 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union determined that the marketing of legally produced CBD is permitted under EU law."

    Read more:
    agriculture.ec.europa.eu/farmi

    #SolarPunkSunday #HempFiber #HempUses #EUGreenNewDeal #EuropeanGreenDeal #Birdseed #HempFiberBoard #Cannabis

  30. So, I've been researching a few topics for this week's #SolarPunkSunday... Uses for #Hemp, combining #AncientTechnologies with #ModernTechnology for #ClimateChangeAdaptation , how to make #Lime, turning #Footsteps into electricity in Japan (based on a 19th century technique), and #RegenerativeAgriculture. We'll also be posting about #Rewilding, #RepairCafes, #VisibleMending, #Gardening and other related topics! We hope you'll join us!

  31. So, I've been researching a few topics for this week's #SolarPunkSunday... Uses for #Hemp, combining #AncientTechnologies with #ModernTechnology for #ClimateChangeAdaptation , how to make #Lime, turning #Footsteps into electricity in Japan (based on a 19th century technique), and #RegenerativeAgriculture. We'll also be posting about #Rewilding, #RepairCafes, #VisibleMending, #Gardening and other related topics! We hope you'll join us!

  32. So, I've been researching a few topics for this week's #SolarPunkSunday... Uses for #Hemp, combining #AncientTechnologies with #ModernTechnology for #ClimateChangeAdaptation , how to make #Lime, turning #Footsteps into electricity in Japan (based on a 19th century technique), and #RegenerativeAgriculture. We'll also be posting about #Rewilding, #RepairCafes, #VisibleMending, #Gardening and other related topics! We hope you'll join us!

  33. So, I've been researching a few topics for this week's #SolarPunkSunday... Uses for #Hemp, combining #AncientTechnologies with #ModernTechnology for #ClimateChangeAdaptation , how to make #Lime, turning #Footsteps into electricity in Japan (based on a 19th century technique), and #RegenerativeAgriculture. We'll also be posting about #Rewilding, #RepairCafes, #VisibleMending, #Gardening and other related topics! We hope you'll join us!

  34. So, I've been researching a few topics for this week's #SolarPunkSunday... Uses for #Hemp, combining #AncientTechnologies with #ModernTechnology for #ClimateChangeAdaptation , how to make #Lime, turning #Footsteps into electricity in Japan (based on a 19th century technique), and #RegenerativeAgriculture. We'll also be posting about #Rewilding, #RepairCafes, #VisibleMending, #Gardening and other related topics! We hope you'll join us!

  35. Lime szkoli nauczycieli z bezpiecznej jazdy na hulajnodze. To część większego projektu edukacyjnego

    Operator hulajnóg współdzielonych Lime, we współpracy z Fundacją „Drogi Mazowsza”, rozpoczął cykl szkoleń dla nauczycieli wychowania komunikacyjnego ze szkół podstawowych.

    Celem inicjatywy jest przekazanie pedagogom praktycznej wiedzy na temat zasad bezpiecznego poruszania się e-hulajnogami, którą następnie będą mogli wykorzystać w pracy z uczniami.

    Projekt jest elementem szerszej akcji edukacyjnej, w ramach której Fundacja „Drogi Mazowsza” przygotowuje nauczycieli do testów nowego narzędzia dydaktycznego – hybrydowej gry do nauki zasad ruchu drogowego, tworzonej na zlecenie Ministerstwa Edukacji Narodowej. Partnerstwo z Lime ma na celu uzupełnienie wiedzy teoretycznej o kluczowe umiejętności praktyczne, zwłaszcza w kontekście rosnącej popularności hulajnóg elektrycznych wśród młodzieży.


    Uczestnikami szkoleń są głównie nauczyciele ze szkół podstawowych z Warszawy i okolicznych miejscowości. Cykl zajęć podzielono na trzy etapy: teorię z zakresu przepisów i metodyki nauczania, dzień praktyczny obejmujący pierwszą pomoc i naukę jazdy na e-hulajnodze pod okiem ekspertów Lime, oraz finalne testy z wykorzystaniem gogli VR. Szkolenia odbywają się w październiku w Ośrodku Szkolenia Rowerzystów „R18” w Warszawie.

    „Kwestie związane z bezpieczeństwem są dla nas niezwykle istotne i dlatego zdecydowaliśmy się przeprowadzić praktyczną część szkolenia. Wierzymy, że zdobyta wiedza pozwoli uczestnikom szkolić inne osoby i prezentować zasady bezpiecznego korzystania z e-hulajnóg” – komentuje Wilhelm Munio, Senior Operations Manager w Lime Polska.

    Inicjatywa wpisuje się w długofalowe działania Fundacji „Drogi Mazowsza”, która od 2012 roku realizuje projekty edukacyjne z zakresu bezpieczeństwa w ruchu drogowym, skierowane zarówno do dzieci, jak i dorosłych. Współpraca z komercyjnym operatorem ma na celu podniesienie jakości i praktycznego wymiaru szkoleń dla kadry pedagogicznej.

    Lime rozszerza strefy w Warszawie i wchodzi do podwarszawskich miejscowości

    #Bezpieczeństwo #eHulajnogi #edukacja #FundacjaDrogiMazowsza #hulajnogiElektryczne #Lime #nauczyciele #news #Szkolenia #Warszawa #wychowanieKomunikacyjne