A lot of the time, when you're writing, you're writing into a void. No one sees your words but you for months and months while you draft and do the first round of revisions. It's lonely. It's hard to see what you have on your hands because you have no distance from it. Is it … Continue reading When You Write, You Write Into a Void
We made our last stop at the apple orchards today for the season. Most of the building was closed, the bakery was closed, and apples were 2 for 1. I have a lovely bit of apples to tide me over. I'll probably make apple crisp although I'm working on ways to reduce the amount of … Continue reading Last Orchard Visit of the Season
I've started slowly going through my stuff in the basement. You know how it is - you pack to move, move, and then just never get to the last few boxes. No multiply this by ten moves now, and there are QUITE a few boxes that made it into my basement and no further. I … Continue reading What Have I Got in My Boxes?
This is a long story but there are cute puppy videos at the end, I promise! My parents have been looking for a new female Alaskan Malamute to keep Joe, their Husky, company. When he came to their house, they had Mariah, who was elderly. They got along after she put him in his place … Continue reading Meet My Parents’ New Fluffer, Nova Scotia!
I had an interesting conversation with my dad the other day, and I mentioned some of the best decisions I've ever made, ones that have paid forward and paid forward and make my life better today, so here's some musings on that. Warning: It's a long one. The choices: Reading the Dave Ramsey book my … Continue reading The Best Decisions I’ve Ever Made
We've been to the Apple Orchards several times this year, usually stopping at the Fleming Orchard as we traditionally do. The owner wasn't on site this year, and it was completely empty on several of our visits. Seriously, my dad or husband, me, a bakery lady, and a cashier. No customers. I'm hoping this year … Continue reading Mrs. Anderson’s Apple Crisp
It's that time of year again! Tundra turned 10 on Saturday, so we took him on his yearly trip to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. It's about an hour and 15 minutes away from us, so it's a bit of a drive, but he loves it! He even got to meet a nice lady who pet … Continue reading Hiking in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve for Tundra’s Birthday
As I've mentioned before, I've been playing a lot of Guild Wars 2 with my husband and friends. It's a Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game, and Guild Wars is one that's buy once and then free to play. You can buy game items with real money, but you don't need them to play. Generally … Continue reading What Do You Mean You Didn’t Get Credit?
It's that time of year again, so my family and I have been going to the apple orchards. We always go to the same orchard every year, and while the owner has moved to assisted living this year, the orchard is still open, albeit with a few strange faces. We buy Honeycrisp apples usually, and … Continue reading Off to the Apple Orchards!
Here's another Interesting Thing Just for You post! This time I'm covering Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, a YouTuber who covers such topics as disabilities and LGBT rights. She's interesting to me, not only because she's charming and funny, but because she has the same genetic disorder I do: Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It took quite a few years to … Continue reading ITJFU: Jessica Kellgren-Fozard YouTuber
I adore Micarah Tewers' YouTube channel. She's charming, and quirky, and random, and she has a variety of birds/chickens/whatever that white one is. She makes 'sewing tutorials', but they're more slice of life with random interrupts to her sewing? And she uses ridiculous measurements and gives silly instructions for them. All of this is narrated … Continue reading ITJFU: Micarah Tewers YouTuber
Another week of Interesting Things Just For You! I'll look at three more YouTubers that I enjoy watching that I think you might enjoy as well. Today's video is on the Dollightful YouTube channel where we can watch doll face ups and, well, a variety of dismembering and re-assembling dolls in new and exciting ways. … Continue reading ITJFU: Dollightful YouTuber
Another YouTube artist! You'd almost think I spent a lot of time the last few weeks sitting on YouTube or something. Ha. Yes, that's totally what I was doing. This one is Angel Ganev, and his channel is a little different than the others. He's a fantastic artist, and he's good at teaching and breaking … Continue reading ITJFU: Angel Ganev YouTuber
Today's spotlight is on LavenderTowne's adorable YouTube Channel and Comic on Tapas. She's soft spoken and upbeat, and her artwork is both stylized and adorable. I LOVE the way she changes the shape of the pupil in her characters' eyes to reflect how they're feeling, what they're doing, the general situation - it's so cute! … Continue reading ITJFU: LavenderTowne YouTuber + XP-Pen
There has both been a ton of stressful things going on in my life that I can't talk about yet and nothing of interest otherwise. Thus, this week will be Interesting Things Just for You posts. The first is GinjaNinjaOwO on YouTube. She's an animator and artist with cute illustrations, a super cute representation of … Continue reading ITJFU: GinjaNinjaOwO YouTuber
We finished Guild Wars 2, Path of Fire! So the griffon mount quests became available. And it was a total pain, but... GRIFFONS! We got the griffons for my husband and I! See: And showing the pretty pattern from above: Not really news, and just a silly, but I'm pretty happy. Do you play MMORPGs? … Continue reading Just a Silly
Are you an author? Forget all the snobby definitions of what you Must Have To Be An Author. If you write, you're an author, and if you write more than once in a blue moon, a writing tracker is a HUGE HELP. For years, I've fumbled along with my excel spreadsheets, constantly breaking them, but … Continue reading Writing Trackers
No photos here, just an anecdote. My parents needed a new roof and a new septic holding tank. They solicited bids, and the holding tank went well. They tore up the lawn, and it's all mud, but huzzah for being able to flush the toilet! The roof, not quite as well. They were waiting for … Continue reading Oh, Wisconsin Weather
I am delighted. I just saw the new trailer for Guild Wars 2, and there's going to be a third expansion! It's not due to come out until 2021, but I'm excited, and I'm hoping they'll explore the asian continent from the first game. You can find the trailer here. The logo: And there's a … Continue reading Guild Wars 2: A New Expansion?
For the first time in a few years, my medications have changed. I thought I was doing okay with all the stress, the pandemic, everything, but I was getting shorter and shorter tempered and melting down more and more frequently. Then I had a Zoom meeting with my psych doctor. She's easier to talk to … Continue reading A New Antidepressant
So, I forgot that tomorrow (Monday - I'm writing Sunday) is a holiday, and I feel like taking a break. See you later this week!
EDIT: I've been corrected - they won't be mystery tomatoes until next year, so they're strange this year but not because of cross pollination. My neighbor pointed out that my tomatoes were ripe, which I had somehow missed. I assumed, seeing yellow, they weren't ready, but turns out there were a whole bunch of yellow … Continue reading So, I Forgot My Tomatoes Were All Heirloom Varieties…
I've been pretty lazy about my pantry lately. I've just put what I buy wherever it fits, which has caused annoyance when we can't find things or buy things we already have. This is especially frustrating because we're doing our best not to go out shopping because of the pandemic! So I set aside a … Continue reading Reorganizing My Pantry
I commissioned some artwork from Ina Wong on DeviantArt for the cover of my Young Adult Urban Fantasy novel, 'Still Water'. You can find her here on DeviantArt, and her work is AMAZING. I gave her a basic description of the main character, indicated she would need to be muscled like a swimmer, and let … Continue reading Take a Sneak Peek at My Cover Art!
So, there's no photos here because I'm wiped. I woke up today and went straight into a cleaning spree. Washed all the dishes, wiped down counters, put items on counters away. Cleared and wiped down center island which is where I found the source of our Mysterious Smell. That would be rotting onions in a … Continue reading Clean ALL the Things!
If you know us at all, you know we have an adorable floof that we dote on. (cute artsy picture of floof) (actual photo of floof) Now that I've shown you his cute, I want to talk about the Vaccine Trial he's in. Three Universities are testing a Cancer Vaccine for dogs, and we signed … Continue reading Participating in a Cancer Vaccine Trial for Dogs
Just a SQUEE! from me because this blog has hit 500 posts! I've been posting since the middle of 2017! I'm not sure exactly which day I started, and I initially had someone who was supposed to help me set up the blog, but that fell through so it was stop and go and start … Continue reading We Hit 500 Posts!
I'm working on getting back to Keto eating. This is THE heaviest I've ever been, and I need to cut down on the amount of junk I'm eating. The first fun thing I did was post Keto magnets all over the fridge: They show net carbs which is what I really need, and I don't … Continue reading Keto Fridge Magnets and Ketofy.Me Challenge
I bought a used freezer, and my brother and dad were nice enough to bring it over. We'd been having issues with items getting lost in the bottom of the freezer. Now I have everything sorted into three freezers: 1. Meats and Meal Prep, 2. Veggies 3. Bread, seafood, dairy, and fruit. The last being … Continue reading New-to-Me Freezer
I'm a fan of Taylor Swift, and she dropped a CD a few weeks ago with no warning. I bought it, of course. There were apparently different versions for collectors, but I don't care about anything but the music. It had a cute surprise in the packaging which is great personal touch for her brand. … Continue reading Taylor Swift: Thank You! This Was Cute!
You didn't think our camping test run went smoothly, do you? Something ALWAYS goes wrong, even when you're camping in your backyard. Friday night, we all piled into the tent. (It says it's a 6 person, and I can believe it!) I even brought a fan out and ran a cord from the garage because … Continue reading No Camping Is Complete Without an Early Morning Crisis
If you know me at all, you know I'm not really a 'camping' person. I dislike lack of running water and electricity, and the one time I really DID go camping in Girl Scouts, the River flash flooded and we evacuated the campsite at two in the morning in rising water that reached shin deep … Continue reading Test Run of Our Tent Setup
For a long time, my husband and my Friday night involved going over to my in-laws and grilling out with them. We'd have good food and drinks and relax. But with COVID, they're self isolating, and we're in contact with a lot of people through our job, so we're limiting contact. This last Friday was … Continue reading First Grill Out and Beans From My Uncle
I've expanding from watching Royalty Soaps a little bit. I saw GypsyFae Creations post in Royalty Soap's comments on YouTube and have watched quite a few of her videos. She's more restful than Royalty Soaps - I love Katie Carson, but she's very upbeat, and some days that's not what I'm looking for. On GypseFae's … Continue reading GypsyFae Creations
Every year I post about my birthday, and it never gets old. My mom and father-in-law share a birthday, and two days later I share a birthday with my father-in-law's dad. We were birthday presents for each of our parents! I celebrated early with my father-in-law because we were only going to be in town … Continue reading Celebrating Our Joint Birthdays
My mom made it through her surgery and is home! She has a foot long incision down her hip that's glued shut with tape over it, but she said her pain went from an 8 to a 2 just from the relief of having the new joint. Huzzah! I was ridiculously worried about her to … Continue reading Home Safe!
When I hear an animal or bird has gone extinct I'm sad, but in a distant way. Have I ever seen or heard of this species? Am I sad just on principal? I've never cried over it. More often I'm angry about it. Until I found this bird species' last song. This is the Kauai … Continue reading Kauai O’o: Extinction
My mom began having hip pain and difficulties walking about three months ago, and it progressed so that she could barely stand even with a walker. She was in a LOT of pain. She had me check, and when I pressed where she said it hurt it went 'crunch'. Nothing in your hip should go … Continue reading EDS – Even I Can Tell Something’s Wrong Here
Hey, so I'm in a downswing, my mom has a necessary major surgery coming up Tuesday, the world is stressful, there's a pandemic, and my 'can deal' gusto wimped out today. See you later this week, hopefully with good news about the surgery.
I decided I wanted to give my father-in-law soap for his birthday. Is this a spoiler? He doesn't read my blog, so it's probably okay. Anywho, time to drag out the supplies! I had some new colors and scents arrive earlier this week that I had been waiting for, so it was time to play … Continue reading Mint and Sage Soap!
Yesterday was hot. I mean, really, REALLY hot for this area. It was humid and sticky and got up to the mid-nineties, which may not be a big deal to you, but this is Wisconsin. Our shtick is snow. If you know me personally, you know I spent my elementary years living in Texas, and … Continue reading No One Says You Can’t Use a Sprinkler
We normally visit our family cemetery earlier in the year, but with some health problems in the immediate family we didn't get a chance until this last week. I went with my dad, and we put in Shepard's hooks and hung baskets of fake flowers we had arranged from them. We did spray the flowers … Continue reading Visiting the Family Cemetery
My aunt passed after a three year battle with cancer. She had lung cancer, we thought it was beat, it returned and spread. They got to a point where further treatment was futile and a struggle for her, and she stopped treatment. We visited her a few times before Christmas, but then Covid came, and … Continue reading Goodbye to My Aunt
This month, when Royalty Soaps opened their shop, I was READY. I was refreshing the page, put the two soaps I wanted into my cart, tried to check out less than three minutes after open... and one of the soaps was already out of stock. The other soap was fine though, and I added some … Continue reading Royalty Soaps – I Couldn’t Resist
My supplies finally came, and I got to make some soap bars! I picked melt and pour soap making rather than cold process because I don't have a safe, well-ventilated, dog-free space to handle lye. The soap comes in big blocks having already turned oils and lye into soap. Like so: The white base will … Continue reading Trying Out Melt and Pour Soap
I have a job that, this time of the year, is requiring I do a lot of 'field work'. By which I mean, working outside in miserable weather. Growing up in Texas, I learned a variety of tricks to handle this type of weather, and I have a good idea of when I'm heading into … Continue reading Hot Weather Working
Weeds wait for no one, even when the weather is miserable. Last year, my dad found a solution - he brought over his canopy tent, we brought a barn fan outside to blow on us, and we weeded comfortably despite 95 degree weather. His canopy is on its last legs this year though, so I … Continue reading Hot Weather Gardening
Mary has been a very sick dog with what we thought was a herniated disc, and we were struggling to get her to eat. Early last week she stopped eating, and she started not drinking. We got a syringe (NOT one for injections, one for feeding baby birds) and fed her water through it, rubbing … Continue reading Mary Didn’t Make It
If you know me at all, you know that I have a favorite author: Auryn Hadley. You can find her Amazon account here. I follow her on Facebook, and she's charming and funny, and I got my mom into reading her as well. She wrote one of my favorite series of all time: Rise of … Continue reading Changing Those Covers: Rise of the Iliri
I fell in love with this song, 'Crush' by Tess Violet. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that I fell in love with the music video. The micro expressions she makes during it are just plain charming. I've watched it a ridiculous number of times, even though the song isn't really my … Continue reading ITJFU: Tessa Violet YouTube Channel
Ope, I'll see you on Monday because I blanked on posting today!
I woke up this morning to my phone chiming. I have it set to ping me if any transaction over a certain size passes through our bank accounts. I had a deposit. I had a deposit from SSA on a day that is not my deposit day. It didn't match any amounts I should have … Continue reading A Good Surprise, I Assure You
