The Inspection + #MothersDay And #SpringEquinox Celebrations

Sunday (March 19^th) was Mother’s Day here in the UK.

 

I’d made this scarf with a stitch pattern we did in loom knitting earlier in the month, and I thought my Mam would like it, so I planned to give it to her.  I literally only just finished it in time because of putting almost everything on hold to focus on the de-cluttering and organizing.  When I say, “literally” I mean it.  I was just weaving in the ends when she called to say she was on her way over.  Anyway, I don’t know how well you can see the ripple pattern in it because of the kind of wool I used, but here’s a photo of the finished scarf, which I had her take for me before she left with it, because I wanted to be able to post a photo to share with you.  LOL!

 

 

And here’s a photo of me holding the cuddly toy Kelly got me from the petkids.  It’s a cuddly nut that’s holding a heart that says, “nuts about you,” on it.  He thought it was cute, and I agree.  Anyway, here’s the photo:

 

 

 

*~*

 

Monday was the home inspection.

 

We moved things along as much as we could with the de-cluttering and organizing, and put what couldn’t be sorted as nicely as possible.  Clearly it was enough, since the woman from the rental agency had no issues, and left happy with how we’re taking care of the place.  There are some maintenance issues she’s going to report for us, but none of those are our fault or responsibility to deal with, so all she’s doing is saving us the trouble of getting in touch with the relevant people ourselves, which is totally fine by me.

 

Since our original plan of me taking Lilie and Logan for a playdate with Izi and Cai ended up turning in to Mam taking us for a ride-along to run some errands, the rental agency woman did briefly meet Lilie and Logan through the car window when we arrived back just as she was about to leave.  They were still strapped in the doggy carseats, but she said, “Hi,” to them, and told them they were adorable, much to Lilie’s delight (Logan seemed glad he was on the other side of the car to her, so she didn’t come too close to him).

 

Oh, and she was very glad to discover that Artemis was a tortoise and not a snake.  LOL!She’d assumed, on seeing the vivarium, that we had a snake, and was incredibly relieved to learn otherwise.  Kelly told me about it afterwards, and I have to admit I found it amusing, even while being glad for her sake that it was a tortoise and not a snake, since she clearly has a fear of them.

 

*~*

 

The actual astronomical event known as the Spring Equinox fell on Monday March 20^th 2023 at 9:24PM UK time.  However, for consistancy’s sake, Kelly and I always celebrate Ostara on March 21^st, whether the event itself occurs on the 20^th, 21^st, or 22^nd (or, as it does on very rare occasions, the 19^th) even though we do pay attention to when it actually is.  It’s just easier when none of the rest of the family celebrate it.  Besides, traditionally celebrations lasted at least from one sunset to the next, sometimes lasting for a couple of days, which some people still observe.  So, even though we do the main things on the 21st, that didn't stop me acknowledging the Equinox the on the 20th, and technically kicking off our celebrations the evening before.

 

I mean, not that we do much to celebrate anything, since quiet celebrations suit us best – me especially.  But we like to try and do something to acknowledge the Pagan holidays.  Even if it’s just something small like exchanging a gift, having a themed meal, etc.  Basically, just finding some way to do something with the day in mind, even if only something very small.

 

In this case, we exchanged some chocolate eggs (vegan-friendly Moo Free ones for me, of course) and made the meal I was making on the cooking call tie in to a Spring-themed menu as much as possible by adding some cheese (dairy-free for me, obviously) and greens to our dinner of spaghetti and sauce.

 

And, no.  I didn't end up making the Welsh cakes.

 

Anyway, even the petkids got in on it, of course, as they always do.  We can’t leave them out, can we? So, Artemis got to share some of the greens, and we got a package of dried sausage treats for Lilie and Logan (which aren't Spring-themed in any way, but we thought they'd enjoy having those to eat while we had our chocolate eggs).

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.

*~*

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.

*~*

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:

~

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:

*~*

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.

Celebrating #Mabon And #HobbitDay

Mabon - more commonly refered to as the Autumn Equinox - was last week.  In fact, the exact date and time of the astronomical event known as the Autumn Equinox took place at 8:21pm UK time on September 22nd 2021.  But for simplicity's sake I always celebrate the Equinox on September 22nd anyhow, even though it can fall any day between September 20th and September 23rd (in rare years even as early as September 19th).  I'm going to go ahead and assume I don't need to explain what this particular holiday is, since most people know of the existance of the Equinox and its link to harvest time, and - depending on your beliefs - the start or middle of Autumn.

Anyway, as usual my celebrations were pretty quiet, with a private meditation-based ritual and a themed meal being the main things I did to celebrate.  I'm nowhere near as good as I used to be at meditating regularly, and don't do it daily any more (despite frequent attempts to restart that habit) but I make more effort for special dates.  Even then there have been times I've failed to do it, but I do mostly at least do a meditation ritual for the holidays I acknowledge (or try to acknowledge) even if I do little or nothing else to celebrate them.

 

I'm also doing something that could be considered a month long Mabon celebration in the form of a "Small Things September" challenge I'm participating in, since gratitude is a big part of Mabon, and being grateful for those small things that give me pleasure and a feeling of hygge is the whole point of that challenge, so I'm counting it as part of my Mabon celebrations.  I'll tell you more about that on Friday.

 

For those who might be curious: my meal was a vegan adaptation of a recipe my Mam mentioned remembering doing us for Halloween several years ago - way back before I stopped eating meat, so it's got to be at least close to 15 years ago now, if not further back than that.  It was called a "Hubble-Bubble Cassarole" and involved sausages, bacon, mushrooms, onions, and some seasonings we couldn't remember (though when I looked up the recipe it said garlic and paprika) cooked with tinned tomatoes and baked beans.  So I veganized it by leaving out the sausages and bacon.  I also decided to use sage as the seasoning (even though I'd looked up what it was meant to be) since sage is a herb associated with Mabon.  The actual recipe also calls for the addition of sugar and worcestershire sauce, but I decided not to add sugar to my version, and didn't have any vegan worcestershire sauce (normally I'd use soi sauce in place of that, but decided not to bother in this case).  Anyway, then I served it over baked potato.  I also had some grapes as a dessert, which are a fruit associated with Mabon.  Apples would have been a better dessert choice, but I neglected to add those to the shopping list, so grapes had to do.  The potatoes and onions that were involved in my meal are also foods associated with Mabon - in case you're interested.

 

Artemis and Mollie got to have some of the sage and grapes as part of their food that day too, which both of them were extremely pleased about - I think they were especially glad they got to share my grapes.

 

September 22nd was Hobbit Day too.  So I celebrated that with some cake and tea in the afternoon - just because I could.  For those who like to know these things: the cake was some of the lemon cupcakes I had left from the ones I'd made a few days before, and the tea was peppermint tea.

#Poetry #Book "Born From Stardust And Other Poems" Now Available As An #Audiobook

 

A selection of poems of various lengths and styles, exploring a variety of themes and subjects.

 

Topics explored in the poems that make up this collection include – but are not limited to – animals and nature, writing and creativity, death and grief, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

 

"Born From Stardust And Other Poems" is now available as an audiobook, narrated by Giselle M Chatelain.

 

If you'd like to get your hands on a copy of the audiobook, you can grab your copy via Audible, iTunes, Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, and the Amazon sites for several other countries.

 

However, if you'd prefer an eBook, you can buy the eBook from Smashwords in all formats they offer, which means there's a format that will work for you, regardless of your prefered method of reading eBooks, whether it's with a Kindle, Nook, your computer, or whatever.  In fact, if you can read this post, there's a way you can read the book.  Alternatively,if you prefer to buy your eBooks elsewhere, you can grab your copy via other retailers such as Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and a few other places my books get distributed to, including many of the Amazon stores for other countries.

 

Or, if you're one of those people who prefers a paperback, you can grab your copy via Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, as well as the Amazon sites for several other countries.

 

Regardless of your format of choice, to grab your copy, just click on the link for your prefered retailer, or go there and search for it if I haven't listed it in this post.

 

Also, if you'd like to add the book to your Goodreads to-read shelf, you can find the book's Goodreads page here, where all available formats will be listed.

Oh, and... Yes, the cover image is an actual NASA image.  One of the ones the public is free to use however they want, as long as NASA gets credit for it.  So, here's the copyright information for it:

Cover art Hubble Discovery of Runaway Star Yields Clues to Breakup of Multiple-Star System © NASA

A Final #EBook #Sale Reminder, Barely Acknowledged Holidays, And #Roleplaying Games

Time's almost up for you to get four of my books at $0.99 each in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale!

 

In case you've forgotten, the titles included are:

Pawfect Pet Poems

Snowlilie's Brother

Where's Noodles?

Puppy Poems And Rodent Rhymes

 

All four of which either feature, or are inspired by, Lilie, and two of which also feature, or are inspired by, Logan.

 

So, head over to my Smashwords page and grab your discounted copies of those four titles today.  But hurry, because the sale only runs through July 31st, so you're almost out of time.

 

*~*~*

 

Despite my intentions of acknowledging, and trying to do something for, all the holidays with any significance to us, I let several slip by barely acknowledged in general, and certainly ignored on this blog.

~

As I'm sure you know, Father's Day was June 20th, and - unlike with Mother's Day - that date applied to both Canada and the UK.  So we brought Kelly's Dad a present (a new mug, at his request) and gave my Dad a card and some money (the money was at his request, since he said that's what he'd prefer).  I didn't make the card, because time got away from me, but he appreciated the gesture, even if he knew it was a card I'd brought at the last minute while out running a few errands with my Mam the day before.

 

~

 

June 21st was the Summer Solstice.  In fact, the actual astronomical event known as the solstice fell on the morning of June 21st 2021, at 4:32 am UK time.  I wished everyone a blessed solstice on social media, but we didn't plan on doing anything, since that happened to be the day Kelly was having his second Covid jab, and we weren't entirely sure how he'd be doing afterwards.  As it happened, he reacted the same as the last time: exhausted with a sore arm for about 24 hours after having the jab, and then totally fine.

 

~

 

June 24th was Fairy Day.  I'd had a vague plan of doing something on Fairy Day that could work for both the Summer Solstice and Fairy Day at the same time, but somehow never got around to deciding what I was going to do.  So, just like with the Summer Solstice, I gave it a mention on social media, but it otherwise ended up with no acknowledgement, let alone any kind of celebration.

 

I later tried to make up for it a little by theming the menu for my mad tea party around Summery kinds of foods, hence the strawberry lemonade and lavender cookies.  As a bonus, since we had extremely high temperatures for a lot of July (as you might have seen in Artemis' post from Tuesday) it was incredibly hot when I was staging it, and they were ideal things for such a hot day.  It's actually still quite warm, though thankfully not quite as hot as it was, despite some mild storms.  Well, mild storms in our area anyhow, though they were worse in other areas.  They were bad enough along the coast in places that some of the seagulls came this far inland.  Bearing in mind, we're about 12 miles away from the nearest stretch of coastline as the crow - or seagull, I guess - flies (assuming I have my facts right, though geography isn't my strong point, and it could be a little more or less than that... It's somewhere around that number anyhow, and definitely at least 10 miles).

 

~

 

July 1st was Canada Day, which I'd intended acknowledging since Kelly's Canadian.  But that one crept up on me too, and was another holiday that was ignored beyond a brief  social media mention.

~

Now we're almost in to August, and two days away from Lughnasadh, which falls on August 1st.  I'm going to try to make sure I do something for Lughnasadh, especially after having ignored the Summer Solstice in particular.  Something other than just giving it a mention on social media, I mean.  Even making a point to theme my meal for it would be an improvement on what I've done - or not done, to be more accurate - for a llot of this year's holidays so far.  But we'll see what actually ends up happening.

~

I've really not been doing well with my plan of celebrating the minor holidays and sabbats as planned, have I? Still, at least I've been remembering to acknowledge them enough to give them a mention on social media on the right dates, which is something at least.  I mean, it's better than nothing, right?

*~*~*

The group I was playing Changeling The Dreaming with did decide to start playing The One Ring, which is a Lord Of The Rings roleplaying game, set a couple of years after the events in "The Hobbit" and a long time before the events in the actual Lord Of The Rings trilogy.  We gained two extra members too, since my brother, Carl, joined in, and so did Kelly.  So now it's me, Kelly, Dad, Carl, and five other people.  Eight players is quite a few for any GM to manage, but Greg - the friend running it - is doing an excellent job so far.  I'm playing a hobbit from The Shire, and Kelly's playing an elf.

~

Kelly and I are also roleplaying with another smaller group (there are five of us in total, rather than the nine playing The One Ring) who are still playing Aberrant, which is a superhero roleplaying game.  Though Kelly is playing a different character now, since he wasn't happy with the character he was playing.  He was going to just stop playing, but decided to make a new character instead.  Gareth - the friend who acts as GM for this one - was happy for him to do that, even if it did mean Gareth needed to work out a way to bring Kelly's new character in to the group in a way that made sense for the game's plot.  My character is a speedy and strong superhero, and Kelly's is a shapeshifter, in case you're interested.

~

Kelly is involved in a couple of other roleplaying games with people I don't know.  But I'm not even entirely certain what games he's playing with them.  He did tell me at one point, but I forget.