#Storms + #Crafting + Random Ramblings

Storm Eunice, which hit at the end of last week, was bad enough that the MET office issued a red warning for severe weather, and I'm told stories of the damage from it were mentioned on the news outside the UK.  There was a bit of rain and hail with it (and a little snow in some areas, though not anywhere near me) but mostly it was the winds that were the problem, and the cause of all the damage.

 

Schools were switched to remote learning the day it hit, and the rubbish collection didn't happen.  It's possible there was no post delivery that day either, because I don't recall hearing any sounds of the postman/woman (we have both, and I'm not sure which would have been delivering that day) and something I'd been expecting to arrive that day didn't come until the following day, when the winds weren't quite so strong, though the rain and hail were heavier, and the storm was definitely still around.

 

The noise from the wind tossing things about, and making our letterbox bang, was driving the dogs nuts, so they were barking a LOT.  Though I was struggling to remember it while dealing with the constant barking, I'm incredibly grateful things weren't worse for us - we only lost power very briefly, and the only damage we needed to worry about was to a drain pipe that somehow got bent in the wind (which we're now waiting to have fixed... Unless it gets done between when I'm putting this post together and when it goes live).  A lot of people weren't so lucky.

 

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The milder storm Dudley had been here before Storm Eunice, and then Eunice was followed on Monday by Franklyn, which hit further North, so things were even milder in my area than with Eunice, with just a little wind and some rain.  They say there's yet another named storm on its way in the next day or so though, so we'll see what happens with that one.

 

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I finished some more craft projects.

For one thing, I worked on an enamel jewelry kit I got from Cosy Craft Club, and made a necklace with three red and white flags and two blue flags on it, as well as a bracelet with a round circle that's blue with white flecks.  Had to get Dad to help me with atatching the chains, because it was rather fiddly, and I was struggling to manage it.  Anyway, here are photos of them:

I also went to a Future In Sight quilling class, which is part of the Zoom sessions they do for their Kaila's Craft Corner podcast.  And I made this picture of a flower, which also has two hearts and two stars in the corners of the canvas.  The colours are kind of random, because I didn't know which colours I was grabbing for each piece (and didn't really care, hence not asking Kelly to help me make sure I knew which was which before I started).  Anyway, here's my quilling picture:

And I made this good luck card, just as an excuse to play with the Celtic knot and shamrock stamps I got recently.  Yes, I wrote the, "Good luck," on the card.  Anyway, here's a photo of it:

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I love getting my happy post, as I call it, but I've decided not to continue with the Cosy Craft Club and Makerly Crafts boxes any more.  Though I'll be continuing to get the subscription boxes I have for other things.

 

They're fantastic kits, and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a craft subscription box.  However, it's harder for me to do those kits because of instruction accessibility, so for the most part they're just piling up while I work on other crafts.  And even when I have accessible versions of the instructions - like I got from Rachel of Cosy Craft Club for the jewelry kit... Thanks for that, Rachel (if she happens to see this post, which is doubtful, but you never know) - they're still really tricky for me to do without calling in sighted help, because they're designed with sight and the ability to see the pictures in the instructions in mind.

 

So I decided to stop those, and use the money I'm spending on those each month to ensure I have the supplies for any projects I want to do with the ACB Crafters group or Future In Sight, which are spacifically designed with visual limitations in mind, so are much more accessible to me.

 

I will, of course, get someone to help me get the Cosy Craft Club and Makerly Crafts kits I do have done - Dad and Kelly have both agreed to help - but I won't have those coming every month now, and they'll just be done whenever time and availability of sighted help permits in between other projects.

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There's new content on my YouTube channel, with hopefully plenty more to come in the not-too-distant future.

 

The new stuff this time is all music videos and poetry readings, but you might like to check it out.  If you would like to check it out, and aren't subscribed to my channel, you can find it here.

I'm thinking of possible ideas for other things to put on my YouTube channel, but not sure what I'll do yet.  Suggestions and requests for content are welcome, so feel free to post those below, or eMail me.

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On February 13th I did host training with the ACB.  Now I'm officially an ACB trained Zoom host, and can host calls as well as facilitate them.  Well, not at the same time, since the two roles have to be held by separate people if it's on an ACB call, but you get the point.

 

I had my shadow session this past Sunday (February 20th) which is when an experienced host acts as co-host for a newly trained one, just to make absolutely certain they know what they're doing.  It's something all new hosts do for their first time hosting, just to be sure someone's on hand if they have issues.  And tonight (Friday February 25th) I do my first solo hosting session.  It was going to be tomorrow, but I got a message asking if I can fill in tonight, and I'm available at that time, so I said I could.

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On February 15th Kelly had his Covid booster.  Now he's tripple vaccinated.  He was a bit more tired than usual for the first 24 hours after it, but otherwise you wouldn't have known he had anything done.  He's been really lucky with jab reactions every single time, even with him being given the Maderna vaccine this time for some reason, despite having had the Pfizer one for the other two.

 

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Speaking of Kelly: he went to the shop for something the day before Valentine's Day, and came home with a present for me.  These white roses:

 

And he promptly apologized because they were white and not yellow.  He said there were all kinds of shades of pinks,  as well as both red and white, but he couldn't find yellow.  It bothered him because he knows yellow roses are my favourite kind of flower.  I told him the white ones are close enough, and anyway I appreciate the thought enough not to mind what colour they are.

#Paperback Now Available For #Holiday #KidLit #Book - "Jelena"

 

cover art composite by UPB

Coniferous tree macro. for branch close up. evergreen tree in park

© kle1njke@gmail.com/depositphoto

Forest dryads and their magic

© A_Petruk/depositphoto

 

Humans have forgotten the old ways, and no longer respect nature as they once did, or ask before taking what they want.  They’ve forgotten about nature spirits, and the strength of the bond a dryad shares with their tree.

 

When an excited family come to the woods to choose their Christmas tree, and end up choosing the Frazer Fir to which Jelena is bonded, they make no attempt to warn her to find herself a new tree.  Now all Jelena can do is watch in tearful dismay as her tree is cut down and taken away; feeling its pain through their shared bond as though it were her own.

 

Distraught and in pain, Jelena can do nothing to save her bonded tree.  But she doesn’t have to share its fate; there’s a chance she can save herself.  Will Jelena find the inner strength to survive the experience, and bond with a new tree before it’s too late? Or will she follow her bonded tree to the place where spirits are reborn?

 

*NOTE: this story – while not overly violent or graphic in nature – is not your average cheerful holiday story, so may not be suitable for younger or more sensitive readers.

 

Previously made available in eBook - purchase links for which can be found in this post from December 2021 - "Jelena" is now also available in paperback via Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon US, many other Amazon sites, and anywhere else Amazon distributes its paperback books to.

An audio version will be made available for those who prefer that format as soon as it can be arranged.

 

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Regardless of your format of choice, if you're on Goodreads and would like to add the book to your shelves, you can find the book's Goodreads page here, where all available formats will be listed.

If you buy a copy, I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a review somewhere - either where you brought it, on your blog, on the book's Goodreads page, or anywhere else you happen to review books - and tell your friends, family, or book club members about it.  Remember: reviews and word of mouth help authors sell books, and I appreciate any review, no matter how long or short it may be.

Random Ramblings - February 11th 2022

When Logan was a puppy and we were having a very hot Summer, the vet advised us to put him in the bath to stop him keep getting dehydrated.  At first he wasn't a fan - he wasn't keen on the whole idea of water in general, which was actually the problem to start with.  But after a while he started to love it, and it wasn't long before he started getting excited about baths, and learned how fun it could be drinking waterout of the tap.  And, when he got big enough to do so,he started jumping in to the bath to ask for the tap to be put on.  This had the unfortunate side-effects of making him use a bowl even less than he already had been, and meaning I couldn't have a bath or shower without first giving him a few moments to drink from the tap (at least, not unless I wanted him to attempt to join me in there).  He does now drink from a bowl regularly, but not nearly as much as he should, because he still prefers to get his water straight from the tap.  Just like he's doing in the below photo, which was taken a couple of weeks ago.

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I still don't know what my blood test results actually were.

 

Nobody who can get access to them sees any reason to tell me, because apparently if they're fine it shouldn't matter what the numbers are, and those who would tell me - even though they also find it odd I want to know when the doctors are clearly saying there's no immediate issue - don't have the authority to discuss them, not even with me.

 

The best I could get is the secretary of my doctor telling me I could find out from the doctor when I see him next (which will be in a couple of months time; date to be confirmed via letter closer, apparently) what the results had been, but to not worry about them in the meantime, because the doctor is satisfied my levels aren't a concern right now, so I shouldn't be concerned either.

 

Good to know, but frustrating for someone like me who likes to know the numbers.

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I technically finished the purple scarf that was my first loom knitting project a couple of weeks ago.  Then a mistake while casting off had it unravelling on me, and my attempts to stop that happening made it worse, so I ended up starting it over.  I suppose that's one way to get in some loom knitting practice.  Anyway, I finally finished it for real yesterday, so here it is:

I also finished this white needle knitted heart:

As well as this little red crocheted heart ornament:

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I'm also attempting to learn how to do something called a heart stitch with crochet.  I still need to work on that.  My first attempt, done while in the class, I wasn't at all happy with, but it seemed too pretty to unpick (despite not being quite right) so I used some of the loose ends that needed weaving in to make a sort of braided tastle on one end, and turned it in to this little red and white crocheted bookmark:

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February started with the Lunar New Year - so welcome to the Chinese year of the Water Tiger.  And Imbolc was at the start of February too, so a belated blessed Imbolc.  Also, Valentine's Day is coming up on Monday, so happy early Valentine's Day.

We didn't do anything of note for Imbolc, did even less for the Lunar New Year (AKA, did absolutely nothing for it; I only mentioned it because it happened and I could) and already did what we plan to for Valentine's Day, which was to treat ourselves to Dominos Pizza.

 

We don't have it often, because it's expensive.  But there's one near enough to us that they'll deliver to our door (and for a reasonable price) and they do a pretty decent vegan pizza, so we treated ourselves to that.  I haven't personally had take-away pizza since we left the Hastings area, which was more than 14 months ago, because most of the pizza places around here don't cater to vegans.

 

Anyway, we had it Wednesday, because we didn't want to be trying to have it over the long weekend with everyone else possibly wanting to celebrate Valentine's Day by ordering from various places too (estimated delivery times are around an hour here as it is) and since Wednesday's a pretty busy day it was a good day for a dinner that didn't require us to do any cooking.

Febookary Book Tag 2022! (Time For The #Febookary Book Challenge!) - #AmReading

Welcome to Febookary, which started on 1st February, and will take place during the whole of February!

 

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For those that don’t know, Febookary is a reading challenge Cat over at The Strawberry Post created two years ago with the goal of trying to encourage everyone to face their reading ‘fears’ and read something you never would have tried before.  The challenge is a flexible one, which doesn’t have any specific challenge board or mini goals to reach, the goal is simply try during February to read a book in a genre you’ve never read before, a book you’d never normally pick up but which sounds interesting, and for those who are reluctant readers, just try to read anything at all. 🙂
 

I hope you’ll all want to try and take part and get any children who are reluctant to read involved too.  You can read as little as one book for the whole month, but you might discover a new author and genre you’ve never tried before, or even a love of reading if you’ve never enjoyed it before. 🙂
  

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Below is a new Febookary tag Cat created, based on the old one from last year, but with some newer questions.  You can read Cat's answers in her post from last week, which you can find by clicking here, and - as I always say when doing these tags - I'd love to know what your answers to the questions would be, so feel free to join in with both the tag and the challenge.  And, if you do the tag on your blog or social media, make sure I know where to find your answers, because I'd hate to miss them.  For now though, let's check out the questions and my answers.  I hope you enjoy my answers and the whole of Febookary! 😀
 

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1. What books, if any, did you dislike reading when you were younger?
 

None.  I've loved reading since I knew how, and would read anything I could as a child.

 

2. What books, if any, did you like to read when you were younger?

 

I loved reading pretty much anything I could get my hands on, especially if it contained animals.  Bonus points if those animals were horses, since I was absolutely obsessed with horses as a child.  Still love horses a lot, and mention of a story being about a horse will still get my attention.  I also loved - and still love - stories where the children were in boarding schools, for reasons I'm not so clear on, but there you go.

3. What fiction genres, if any, do you enjoy reading?

 

I still enjoy reading pretty much anything I've tried besides Christian Fiction, though Fantasy, Science-Fiction, and Cosy Mystery are my absolute favourites, with Dystopian and Historical Fiction a close second.

4. What non-fiction genres, if any, do you like to read?

 

When it comes to Non-Fiction I enjoy books about any subject that interests me in its own right, so, for example, enjoy reading recipe books and blogs, books and articles on crafting, scientific papers, books and papers about certain periods of history, as well as articles and books on meditation and mindfulness.

 

5. What is the last book you DNF (Did Not Finish) and why?

 

There isn't one.  If I start a book, I finish it.

 

6. Are there any genres/books you just don’t like or have never tried reading?

 

I do not like Christian Fiction, or Christian Non-Fiction.  I'm sure the stories in the books are great - if you like that kind of thing.  But I struggle to enjoy them due to a conflict of beliefs.  Those beliefs sprinkled throughout something else I can deal with, and I have no problem with people believing whatever they want to.  But it's not for me, so I steer clear of anything in those genres.

 

7. What book(s) are you going to try reading for #Febookary this year?
 

The book I'm reading for Febookary this year is "The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity" by Julia Cameron, which I'm reading not only because it's one I've hesitated to read for some time - I have no idea why, but have passed over it without adding it to my to-read list or buying a copy several times, despite briefly considering it multiple times - but also because there's an ACB call for people reading it, which started up on February 2nd, so I can combine my reading for that with my reading for Febookary.

 

8. Any other goals for this month?

 

My other February reading goals are to read the review copy I got of "Leaving And Other Poems" by Kevin Morris, and read "Paper, Scissors, Death" (Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series, Book 1) by Joanna Campbell Slan, which is the book of the month for the newly started ACB Crafters Bookclub, as well as "Critical Role: Vox Machina - Kith & Kin" by the cast of Critical Role, who are a roleplaying group who game live via YouTube and a couple of other streaming platforms, who I've mentioned on here at least once before if I'm not mistaken, since I follow them on YouTube and often watch their sessions.