Of Hot Weather And The Various Events Of My Week

It was my Dad's birthday this past Tuesday (June 13th) and will be Fathers' Day this coming Sunday (June 18th).  So, happy birthday, Dad, and happy father's day to both my Dad and Kelly's.  Though I doubt either of them will see this.

 

~

 

The hot weather has arrived.  Apparently this isn’t as hot as it will get, but it’s already hotter than I’d like; temperatures that are hitting the high 70s and low 80s F are too much for me.  So my week has been a combination of trying to deal with the heat, Zoom calls and phone calls, and the usual day to day chores and pet care (for Izabel as well as my own petkids).

 

Yes, my Mam is still in hospital, though they hope to have her stable enough to go home soon.  She’ll never be fully better, but I’m sure she’ll be glad to go home.  Anyway, my brother, Wayne, and I went to see her yesterday (Thursday).  We got a ride from Wayne’s downstairs neighbour.  We didn’t tell her we were coming, so it was a nice surprise for her.

 

Just as I was getting ready to leave, one of the landlord’s maintenance guys asked if he could come do the couple of smaller jobs that the other guys didn’t do (different kinds of repair guys… I’m sure you know how that goes).  I figured Kelly would rather not deal with that and the house full of dogs by himself, so asked the guy if he could come today (Friday) or some time next week.  He’s meant to be coming some time this morning, so might even be here, or – if I’m really lucky – have been and gone already, by the time this goes live.

 

It doesn’t look like much when you put it in a blog post, but this is one of those times when a short post covers a lot of stuff, because there really is nothing else to say about this past week.

 

I hope you’ve had a good week, and that you’re staying cool – or hot… Depending on which applies to you.

Celebrating #Halloween 2022

Halloween.  Samhain.  Nos Calan Gaeaf.

 

Whichever you prefer to call it – or even if you have another name for it - it happened this past Monday, as anyone who hasn’t been hiding under a rock, or isn’t newly arrived on the planet, could tell you.

 

~

 

I put up a few of my Halloween decorations on Saturday.  Not all of them, because I didn’t feel like going all out this year.  But some of them.

 

The bat Kelly and I painted together a few years ago…

 

 

The ghost I crocheted a couple of weeks ago…

 

And some of my hanging decorations (a ghost, a skeleton, and a “BEWARE” sign) which are pictured here first during the daytime and then during the evening when it was getting dark:

 

 

On Sunday, before the second of the above photos was taken, I carved this year’s jack-o-lantern, who was in the window by the time the evening photo of the window decorations was taken.  Here’s a closer shot of 2022’s Mr. Pumpkin-Head:

 

 

And here’s Artemis the tortoise with Mr. Pumpkin-Head:

 

 

Lilie and Logan’s holiday photos were in last week’s post.

 

~

 

Monday’s dinner (for me anyhow; Kelly had something different, and I'm not sure what he had) was pasta with pumpkin sage sauce, followed by baked apple with homemade caramel sauce.  Followed by some of the candy left once I knew it was late enough that we’d get no more trick-or-treaters, which I ate while curled up with the dogs and a book, and listening to the storm that arrived during the evening.

 

It was an awesome storm with a lot of rain and a fair bit of wind.

 

We had about 15 trick-or-treaters this year, in case you’re interested.  Including one little one who was utterly confused about the whole thing, though delighted to be getting some treats – even if he wasn’t sure why.  LOL!

 

~

 

So, did you celebrate Halloween? If so, what did you do? And did you get any trick-or-treaters?

Celebrating #Halloween / #Samhain / #NosCalanGaeaf 2021 (Includes A #Holiday #Pet Photoshoot)

 Halloween.  Samhain.  Nos Calan Gaeaf.

Call it whichever of the three you want, or even something else.

 

Whichever you call it - and however you feel it should be acknowledged, honoured, or celebrated, or even if you don't feel it should - it happened this past weekend, as even those who don't celebrate it will know.

~

I kicked our celebrations off last Thursday (October 28th) by putting up our decorations, decorating the front door and living room window with the small selection of decorations I have. Then carved my pumpkins the following day, and added them to the display.

 

Here's this year's Mr. Pumpkin-Head, and a second Mr. Pumpkin-Head, since I did two this year:

 

And here are all my decorations:

 

 

Most of my Samhain decorations are decorations from previous years, except for the maple leaf lights decorating the glass of the front door, which were new additions to my decorations this year.  I spotted them on Amazon a couple of months ago, and couldn't resist.

 

~

Mam and I did a photo shoot with the three dogs before I carved my Mr. Pumpkin-Heads.

First, here's my sad looking - but utterly adorable - wizard, Logan, who didn't mind the dressing up, but wasn't happy about our choice of photoshoot location (he's not usually allowed up there, and was clearly convinced he'd get in trouble for it, despite me putting him there myself) hence him looking so unhappy.

 

 

Next, here's our happy cute little witch, Lilie, who doesn't usually like to play dressup much, but was really in to the idea of playing dressup for a photoshoot this year, and was most enthusiastic of all the petkids.

Finally, here's Mam's sweet and nervous little witch, Izabel:

Later, we got a nice photo of Artemis with my Mr. Pumpkin-Heads:

 

 

I'd have loved to have included Mollie too, but with her personality there really isn't a way to do it without causing her stress, so we didn't even try.

 

~

 

On Saturday and Sunday morning I did some baking, making chocolate pumpkin spice cookies, savory pumpkin pasties (most of those pasties became Saturday's dinner, and Sunday's lunch, but I froze a couple for another time) and pumpkin pie - all vegan.  Here are some photos of those, including a photo of a slice of the pumpkin pie with some soya squirty cream on a plate:

 

 

~

Sunday afternoon and early evening I watched Halloween movies while enjoying some of the goodies I baked, and several cups of the pumpkin pie spice tea I had in my tea subscription box.  I had the tea in my new "Nightmare Before Christmas" mug, which Kelly told me to buy myself when I observed recently that I didn't have a Halloween mug for the seasonal teas to be served in (which I only commented on because it mentions using your favourite Halloween mug in the brewing suggestions for the tea).  Here are photos of the mug, taken at different angles so you can see the images on it fully:

~

The movies I watched were "The Addams Family" which is a movie I've seen loads of times and love, "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" which I hadn't seen before and is an OK movie I give four out of five only because I'm rounding up, and a couple of short Disney Halloween movies called "Micky's Tale Of Two Witches" and "Toy Story Of Terror" which were both cute and entertaining and get five out of five stars from me (even if I'm not exactly their intended audience... LOL!).

 

I was going to watch more movies than that, but my Kindle died, the charger for it was upstairs, and I couldn't be bothered to go get it, so I switched to having Alexa read my book to me.  I'm currently reading the "Skulduggery Pleasant" series by Derek Landy - in case you'd like to know.  It's a very amusing and entertaining series, and I've so far given every book I've finished in it five out of five stars.

~

 

I brought a packet of ghost crumpets when I did my grocery order.  There were six in a packet, so I had two for breakfast each morning on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, with some vegan butter and orange marmalade on them.  Here's a picture of two of them on my Harry Potter plate:

 

~

 

For my Samhain feast I had a baked potato with pumpkin sage sauce, topped with some vegan cheese.

 

 

Having pumpkin sage sauce for my Samhain feast has become a bit of a tradition for me since I discovered the recipe several years ago.  Originally I had it with pasta - which was the recipe's serving suggestion - but I've not enjoyed pasta so much since becoming vegan, and was never a huge fan of it anyhow, so I've started serving it with a baked potato.  Even when I note down on my menu for the week that I'm planning to serve it with pasta, which is what I'd done this time.  Either way, it's a wonderful creamy pasta sauce, regardless of the milk you make it with, vegan or otherwise.

 

~

With this being our first year here (we moved here last December) many people still not allowing their children to go trick-or-treating because of Covid, parents who just don't allow it anyhow, the knowledge there were several events organized by local schools as alternatives to trick-or-treating, and the bad weather we were having (it was quite cold, extremely windy, and rather rainy) I wasn't sure whether we'd get any trick-or-treaters this year or not.  But I got some treats in - just in case.  Though I made sure they were something I could eat if no children came trick-or-treating.  I wanted to be prepared for both outcomes, since I didn't want to not have anything to give them if any children came calling, but also didn't want anything I brought to go to waste if nobody came.

As it turned out though, despite only giving one thing to each child, I came pretty close to running out of treats, which has only happened once before.  I mean, we didn't have nearly the kinds of numbers those in the US and Canada get.  We never do.  For some reason, despite the origins of Halloween being from over here, it seems to be a bigger thing over there.  But we did get a couple of dozen kids, and might have had a few more if I hadn't decided to turn off the lights before we actually did run out of treats (and, more to the point, so we could have dinner, which we'd been holding off until the doorbell stopped ringing).  I'll have to bear that in mind and get more treats in for next year.

~

Later in the evening - before I went to bed - I did a private meditation ritual, which is my prefered way of doing rituals, no matter the circumstances.  Kelly likes the props and incantations that go along with certain types of rituals, but I prefer the silence and solitude of meditation, and use nothing sometimes, though other times I'll maybe burn a scented candle or some incense, and perhaps have a crystal or other focus object to hold in my hands.  It's an indication of our different forms of the Pagan path, and why our attempts to do shared rituals never stuck, and those attempts were quickly abandoned.

 

~

 

On Tuesday Dad was here for gaming and dinner, and I made us a stew using leftover pumpkin sage sauce as the liquid part, which contained potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, swede, butternut squash, leeks, and onion.  Later, before he went home, we had some of what was left of my pumpkin pie with some of the soya squirty cream, and I sent him home with a couple of the cookies.

 

~

 

So, that's how I celebrated.

 

And now both Mr. Pumpkin-Heads are in my Dad's garden providing food for the wildlife who might consider pumpkin to be a tasty treat, since I sent them home with Dad on Tuesday.  I'm sure some of the wildlife will be glad of the food, especially given how Wintery the weather has become recently, but his garden is more suited to putting them out like that than our yard is.

 

How about you? Did you do anything to celebrate, and if so what?

#Dog #Photos, Technology Frustrations, Wedding Anniversaries, Organization Progress, Power Cuts, And Weather

 

The above photos are a couple of recent photos of Lilie and Logan, just taken because we could earlier this week (they were taken in the early evening of May 31st 2021, if you want to be exact).

 

~

 

So... Following the instructions in a post Jeanie directed me to - which you can check out for yourself here, if you want- I was able to figure out how to export my Feedburner subscribers, and attempted to then sign up for Mailchimp to use that for blog post delivery.  However, it turns out Mailchimp is very much not screenreader friendly, and after a lot of arguments between it and JAWS, which made me incredibly frustrated (even when Kelly was doing his best to help me figure it out) I got annoyed with it and decided I didn't want to do it any more, so closed the recently created account.

Sorry.  I know it would be easier for many of you to have something like that to have my posts delivered to your eMail.  And I did try... Really! But it's not happening.  I'm not going to continue giving myself something more to get stressed and frustrated over, which is all I was achieving with attempting to set up Mailchimp.

 

So, you still have the option to sign up via Bloglovin', or follow me on Goodreads if you happen to be on there, both of which allow the option to have my posts delivered to your inbox.  If you don't want to do either of those things though, I'm afraid you'll have to either keep an eye out on Twitter or Facebook for me sharing my posts, or check in when you can.

~

 

On a more cheerful note: May 22nd was mine and Kelly's 18th wedding anniversary.

 

I'm not sure why he still puts up with me, but he insists he's not sick of me yet.  LOL!

 

We didn't do much to celebrate, but had Chinese food for dinner.  That's about it really.  We didn't feel like we needed to do anything special.  I mean, sure, it's a special date that needs acknowledging, but we do things to show each other we care all the time, regardless of what day it is, so we didn't feel we needed to do anything more for our anniversary.

 

And though some of the family gave us money - thanks to those who did - mostly people take their lead from us and don't bother with our anniversary, so the only card we got for it was this one from my Grandma:

 

~

 

I had it down to just a few things I needed to sort in the craft room.  So I was going to do those few things and then show you it all sorted.  And then Dad found more craft stuff, so now there's a mess of bags and boxes all over the floor in need of sorting again.  But at least having so much of the rest sorted means I have places where I spacifically know most of it will go, and it's just a matter of finding the time and energy to sort them, which would be a lot easier if the weather wasn't so hot, and if I could sleep normal hours.  But I'll get it done... Eventually.  Stuff usually gets done in the end.

It's the same with the computer room: we were just about done, and then Dad brought over more audiobooks for me, and more gaming books he thought Kelly would like (since Dad seems to be sorting his own stuff while sorting the stuff that was Nan's) so now we have some boxes to sort again, and just need to find the time and energy to deal with them.

 

Dad also brought over a dressing table I was given years and years ago by his previous neighbour shortly before she died.  They'd been looking after it for me, since taking it when I originally moved out was difficult, and - though I did want it - I knew it was being used at theirs, so didn't bother claiming it.  Well, now I have it, and it's in my bedroom.  I forgot to get you a photo though, sorry.

 

~

 

Though the weather has been dry and quite warm for most of the past week or so, we have had some very stormy weather over the past couple of weeks.  Enough that it's made our power go out a couple of times.  Not just us, but the whole area.  Luckily the longest it's gone off for has been about two hours.

 

Besides things like concerns about the fridge-freezer defrosting, etc, it mostly doesn't bother me when it goes off.  But I worry for Artemis when that happens, because of maintaining her temperatures.  I do have a heating pad I could activate if needed, but it's a one-use only thing that lasts up to 12 hours, so I'm reluctant to use it until she really needs it.  Luckily we haven't gotten to that stage with any of the power cuts we've had, and we've kept her warm enough that it seems to be bothering me more than her.

 

The heat we've had most of this week has definitely bothered the rest of us more than Artemis, that's for sure.  Though I think even she was glad for the rain coming and cooling things down a little Wednesday night, following the mild storm we had that afternoon.  The dogs and I definitely were, and were actually very pleased when we went out for our evening trip in to the yaard just right to be caught in a bit of a shower... It was very refreshing, especially after how hot the day had been.  That rain kept things cooler for a while, but I think it's meant to start getting quite hot again now.  It sure seems to be heading in that direction, and I'm back to sitting by a fan again.  Luckily for me, I also happened to find a handheld fan among some of the stuff Dad dropped off for me of Nan's, which I was sorting through during the cooler hours Wednesday evening, so that's an extra fan I can use to try and keep cool.  YAY!

Now, in the heat it's Mollie I worry about most, since she's the opposite to Artemis.  But she has a couple of fans to herself, her glass water bottle keeps her water cool for a while when we put cold water in it, she's in a good spot to get the breeze from the windows in both the living room and kitchen, has her cooling slab, and seems to be tolerating things well enough.  Although, I think she was probably even more relieved than the dogs and I were when the temperatures cooled off for a while.  And I know she was glad of the frozen peas I've been offering her sometimes, because she took them so enthusiastically.

#Pets, #Crafting, #Baking, #MothersDay, A Birthday, And Medical Mutterings

 

 

The above photo shows Artemis enjoying a bit of green bean, and is included just because she's cute, and because I took it (how much she was enjoying that bean made me feel I had to take a photo). Though I'm starting the post with it, it was a last moment addition to the post, since I only took it yesterday (Thursday). Sorry if it's not a great shot, but I was doing everything one-handed.  If you saw my post on social media, you'll know why.  If you didn't, you'll understand by the end of this post.

         

*~*~* 

         

Despite the fact it's still a little bit chaotic in there, I found an excuse to play in my craft room a little.  Well, technically two excuses: Mother's Day (which was March 14th here in the UK this year) and the birthday of one of my brothers (which was March 15th).

 

So, this past Saturday (March 13th) I spent a bit of time in the craft room to make them cards.  And here they are, for anyone who would like to see them:

    

            

~ 

        

Presentwise...

 

I brought Mam a new purse (wallet) as well as a magnifying glass with a light on it that would help her when she's trying to read things, since she's said a few times recently she could do with both things.  I made sure the magnifying glass was one that also has a light on it on purpose, since she says her living room is quite dark, so I thought that would also help her with seeing to read things, since good lighting can help in itself.  It's also lightweight and easy to grip (designed to be so for people, such as children, the elderly, or people with medical conditions that affect their hands or arms, who might struggle to hold anything heavy for extended periods of time).  She seemed really pleased with what I got her.

 

And I gave Wayne some money, because he said that's what he wanted.

         

*~*~* 

         

Mam and I cooked a roast dinner for Mother's Day. It was Mam's idea, so no comments about how I made my Mam cook on Mother's Day, please.  I didn't make her, she insisted, even though I asked her a million times if she wouldn't rather not do so.

 

Anyway, we were cooking for four, since Mam always cooks her next door neighbour dinner on a Sunday, so we made sure to make enough that she'd have one to take back to him as well as the meals for me, Mam, and Kelly.  As it happened, there was alsosome left that I put aside to have a couple of days later for a leftovers dinner, which meant it ended up being Wednesday before I had to worry about cooking again, since Dad provided my dinner for Monday (as I'll explain in a moment).

 

It was a chicken dinner for the rest of them, but we made me a vegan potato and beetroot gratin, which Mam had spotted the recipe for when looking for something for me to have with my potatoes, parsnips, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower.  I wouldn't have minded not having anything else with all that veg, but she insisted, and the potato and beetroot gratin did sound nice, so we made it.  It was beetroot, and potatoes, sliced, and then layered with some vegan cheese, with a white sauce (flour, vegan butter, and vegan milk... Oat in this case, since it's what I had open).  It was very nice too.  Here's what it looked like after it was cooked, both before and after we started serving some of it:

We also made pear and apple ccrumble, though I didn't get any photos of that.  There was regular vanilla icecream to go with that for Mam and Kelly (well, actually, Kelly just had the icecream, since he didn't want any crumble) and a coconut-based icecream alternative for me.  Mam took some crumble home for her neighbour too, but gave him custard with his.  I had Kelly's piece later, with more of the coconut-based icecream, since he insisted he definitely didn't want it, and crumble is a favourite dessert of mine.

    

~ 

    

Kelly got me a craft kit to make a needle book from the petkids for Mother's Day.  It's a felt needle book kit, which is meant to feature an embroidered design on the front.  So, there's another kit to add to my projects list.

 

It's a very useful one though, since a lot of Nan's sewing needles are just in a little pill pot, so having them in a book would be a good idea.  But I can't put them in mine, since the little needle book I made is already full.  That's another reason making another one would be a good plan: if I have any needles with any of the kits I have waiting to be done - which I likely do, since a couple of them do involve sewing, if I remember correctly - I'll need something to put those in too.

        

*~*~* 

        

Since Dad being the carer for my brother, Wayne, means Wayne's had to be part of my extended bubble anyhow so thatDad could still help us with a few things (like getting those food boxes) we all agreed it would be OK for me to get to see him on his birthday, which was the first time I'd seen him in person since early December... Last time I saw Wayne in person was when Dad was looking after both of us the weekend we moved back to Wales in early December, and took me and the dogs to Wayne's place for a large chunk of the Sunday.

 

We've been being cautious with physical contact even in our bubble, which is why I went so long without seeing him in person, but we figured it would be OK, especially with lockdown restrictions being eased enough that you're allowed to mix with another household - though only one other household - now.  A rule change here in Wales that came in on March 13th.  We're still being cautious - even with the rule change - but Dad's been going between us these past few months anyhow, caring for Wayne, and helping us with a few things, and has sometimes been close to all of us at one time or another without a mask during his duties, so if there was any risk we'd have already exposed each other anyway.

So, I went with Dad to see Wayne for his birthday.  And, to make sure it was vegan (so that I could have some too) I made Wayne a birthday cake.  I made a cinnamon cake, so we could have it sweet enough for me and Wayne, but without making it overly sweet for Dad (who's diabetic, so needs to be careful of sugars).  To make it a little more special for Wayne, but still keep sugars down for Dad, I dusted the top with a little nutmeg in the way people sometimes do with powdered sugar.  I made it on the morning of Wayne's birthday, so it had only been baked a few hours before Dad took me down to Waynes with him that evening.  Sorry, no photo of the cake, since I forgot to get one.

         

~ 

         

Dad brought us all Chinese food.  So we had that, and then Wayne let me play with Gizmo (his Leopard Gecko) for a few minutes.  After that we watched a movie, and then had some of the cake I made.

 

The movie we watched was "Carry On: Don't Lose Your Head" - which was Wayne's choice.  I'm not a huge fan of the Carry On movies.  They're funny in parts, so I don't dislike them, but they're definitely not something I'd pick if I was choosing the entertainment for the evening.  But it was his birthday, so he got to choose.  At least this was one of the better Carry On movies.

Since I need something to do with my hands when I'm watching a movie - especially if I'm tired - I took my crochet down with me to work on that while we watched the movie, so got a couple of rows of my crochet scarf done that evening.  I got a little less done than I expected, since Maya was rather pleased to see me, so I had to wait for her to calm down before I could work on it.  I don't mind though, since I was there to see Wayne (and sort of the animals too, because it's me).

        

~ 

        

It was a lovely evening... Until I shut my hand in the car door when me and Dad were leaving.

Luckily, the door didn't close properly, so only minor damage was done.  But - as we discovered when I finally relented and agreed to go to the hospital the following evening (so, this past Tuesday) - that was bad enough, and I did plenty of damage as it is.

 

I cracked the bone of my middle finger on my right hand.  It's only a small crack, though they can't tell exactly how small, because I also crushed the finger a little, so things are slightly compressed at the moment.

It could have been a lot worse.

Let me tel you though, this is bad enough!It's very painful, and my issues with taking most painkillers means there's not really anything to do but tolerate it, and hope it heals quickly so it will stop hurting.

 

My middle finger is strapped to my ring finger, and will be for the next six weeks, with only short breaks between changes of the bandaging.  I can only use the thumb and index finger on that hand, but have strict instructions to only do so when absolutely essential for the next few weeks, since it's only out of consideration for my lack of sight I was allowed that much use of the hand.

 

Yes, I've just been typing this with one hand.  It's been an incredibly slow process.

Needless to say, I haven't done any crafting since Monday, or made progress with organizing anything this week.  Unfortunately, I have several more weeks before that can change.

       

~ 

        

Anyway, those of you who know him - or read last week's post - probably won't be surprised to hear that Logan wasn't happy about me being gone all evening, and was overjoyed when Dad brought me home at what Logan considered a time that was much too long after the time I left.

 

Actually, he wasn't alone in his feelings.  None of the petkids were too impressed at me being gone, since I was out past the time we turn Artemis' lamps off for the night (9:00pm) so Kelly sorted the 'tortoise time' routine (which involves checking Artemis and making sure she's safely tucked up in one of her sleeping spots for the night, turning off her lamps, giving Mollie her evening snack, and starting to settle the dogs for the night).  It's usually me who does those things, and none of the petkids were impressed that Kelly did them instead.  According to my petkids, "At least someone did them for you," isn't a good enough answer, and the fact it was Wayne's birthday isn't a good enough excuse.

  

Logan - and Lilie, for that matter - were rather upset when I then disappeared for several hours again the following evening.  And crazy with excitement when I returned home.

        

*~*~*

        

For those who might be wondering: my Mam had her Covid vaccination on March 13th, and other than some pain in the arm they used for the shot, as well as a headache, is just fine.  Well, she's also feeling tired and drained, but since she suffers with chronic fatigue anyhow, I'm not sure if that's just her normal tiredness, from our late night because of all the time the hospital trip took (it was Mam who took me... Once she finally convinced me to go) or if it is part of her shot reaction.

 

Dad gets his tomorrow, so hopefully he'll have the same luck.

 

With how they're doing it over here though, they won't get their second dose until early June.

        

~ 

        

I was slightly reasured to learn that the first thing they did was ask Mam several questions, including what her allergies are - both to medicines and food items - and how she'd reacted to flu jabs in the past.  So, at least they are considering that.  She was going to ask them about it because of me, but didn't bother since they ask about it anyhow, so she figured she'd let me and them decide when I show up and mention my previous reactions and the list of things I'm allergic to whether or not I should get the new jab.

#StDwynwensDay + #Blind #Crossstitch + A #Knitting Project + #Snow + #Imbolc + #AmWriting + #Febookary

January 25th was St Dwynwen's Day (Dydd Santes Dwynwen) - as it is every year.  St Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, so it's basically the Welsh Valentines Day.  We didn't celebrate it though.  I mean, we barely do anything for Valentines Day, let alone the lesser-known Welsh equivalent... Valentines Day isn't really a big deal to us, since we think you should show the person you love that you love them all year, and not just lavish attention on them for one spacific day.  I just thought I'd mention it, in case anyone was interested.  Plus, I thought it would be nice if I at least acknowledged its existance.

~

 

I've learned a lot in the years since I lost the last of my sight, and one of those things is that - more often than not - the thing stopping me from doing something I want to do that I could do when I had some sight is actually often myself, and my refusal to try and find a way.  So, I decided to have a go at crossstitching for the first time since losing the last of my sight - especially since I just inherited a whole load of supplies from my Nan, and it would be a shame not to use them.  Nan was the one who taught me to knit, sew, and crossstitch.  I know she'd have wanted me to try.  So, I did.  For Nan, for those who need to learn what I learned about the limitations of a blind person, and for myself.

So, how did it go?

Well... It went OK.  I mean, I think it's going to take some practice - and a whole lot of patience - but I don't think I did too terribly for my first attempt, and think I can potentially make it work for simple designs anyhow.  Here's a photo of my first attempt.  It's supposed to have been three little Christmas trees... Even if they are red... I think I did best with the middle one.  What do you think?

~

I mentioned to Kelly that I wasn't sure where to startwith craft projects, so he suggested I start by knitting a cosy for my new teapot.  I agreed it was a good idea, so that's what I'm working on now.  Well, when I'm not busy attempting to organize all the crafting supplies, of course.  Hey, at least it's something I can do amidst the chaos that the craft room is currently in from Dad bringing over more of what used to be Nan's crafting supplies recently (which I haven't had a chance to sort through yet).

The cosy's got two colours in it: purple, of course, and a shade of off-white called vanilla.  Also, it's made from 100% cotton yarn.  There is some sheep wool among the things I got from Nan, which I'll use for future projects - since it's here - but this wool is from my own stash, and I've only been buying the 100% cotton yarn. It costs a bit more, but I personally think it's worth the extra cost.

 

Anyway, the tea cosy isn't finished yet, but I'll show you it when it is, which shouldn't be too far in the future, since it is coming along nicely.  Would have been even further along if I hadn't dropped my purple yarn and wasted a LOT of time untangling the mess it got itself in to. *sigh*

~

We got more snow!

 

Yes, more of it! It happened this past Sunday.

OK, so there wasn't much of it to enjoy, despite the fact it was drifting down for a couple of hours, so technically a couple of inches probably fell, because it was melting almost as fast as it hit the ground, and it was completely gone by the evening.  But still.

Here are a couple of photos of Lilie and Logan out in the yard during it:

And here's a short clip we got during the best part of the snowfall:

Sorry about the noise in the clip, but someone decided to come to the nearby shop while we were doing snow videos, and used what's meant to be one of our parking spots for the purpose, waiting there with the car running for a while.  They do that a lot, because of our proximity to the shop.  Any time they see us out there when doing it they ask if we need them to park elsewhere, but since they're only popping to the shop a couple of doors down, so gone pretty quickly anyhow, and we don't have a car of our own so aren't in any real need of our two parking spaces, we let them do it.  I mean, why not? After all, they aren't in our way, and they aren't hurting anyone being there, so... *shrugs*

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So... Last year I'd planned to make more effort with doing something for the Pagan holidays other than Ostara, Samhain, and Yule - something I've gotten abit lazy about in recent years.  I wanted to at least acknowledge those lesser-known and more commonly ignored holidays that are part of my beliefs.  But 2020 was... Well... We all know what 2020 was.  Anyway, I'm determined not to let the same thing happen in 2021, even if it tries to be another year like last year.  Wish me luck with that.  Ahem.  Well, at least I can say so far, so good.  I even remembered to acknowledge St Dwynwen's Day, which is one I generally always ignore (and counts as one I should acknowledge because of the Celtic influence in my beliefs, even without the consideration of the fact I'm Welsh by birth, and have now moved back to Wales).  And then there's Imbolc...

February 2nd was Imbolc - the first festival of Spring.  Well, technically people celebrate it any time from January 31st to February 2nd, sometimes literally celebrating from sunset on January 31st to sunset on February 2nd.  But since February 2nd is the most commonly recognized date (or, with a lot of Pagans, sunset on February 1st through to sunset on February 2nd, since sunset to sunset celebrations are common) and I don't personally feel like it's one of the holidays that needs to be celebrated for days - though I can totally see why people might have done so in the past - we just acknowledge and celebrate it on February 2nd.  Or try to anyhow.  Really though any date from January 31st through February 2nd is correct.

 

Either way, we don't go in for big celebrations anyhow, and our Imbolc celebrations especially have never been elaborate or fancy in any way - on the years we've remembered to celebrate it, I mean.  Sometimes we'll go on a walk to search for signs of Spring, and call it an Imbolc walk (even though we regularly go out with the dogs anyhow).  But beyond that we usually just have a special meal where at least some part of it is conciously being linked to Imbolc, and then do our own thing to celebrate.  In my case that generally seems to involve lighting a scented candle to enjoy while I write - and nine times out of ten also read - some poetry, often followed by a bit of quiet meditation, which has led to more poetry writing in the past.  The main difference between that and most writing days being the addition of the candle, which I wouldn't usually bother with for a writing session, and the concious thought of the fact it's Imbolc when sitting down to do it... It's all about the intentions behind the actions.

Anyway, traditional herbs, food, and drink for Imbolc include:bay leaves, cinnamon, basil, vanilla, blackberry, all dairy products, breads, cakes, scones, muffins, raisins, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, greens, bell peppers, onions, garlic, herbal teas, ale, mead and spiced wines. Of course, with my being vegan the dairy products were out for me, Kelly doesn't do raisins, and neither of us drink alcahol so those were out for both of us.  But that still left us with plenty of options for connecting our meals to Imbolc, especially since - while we might have similar meals sometimes - we almost never actually eat the same thing these days (our different diets makes it too complicated, so we just plan our own menus).

 

This year I decided to theme my Imbolc Eve dinner and Imbolc breakfast for Imbolc too.  So, Imbolc Eve dinner for me was a vegan omlet (consisting of tofu, vegan cheese, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, garlic, and turmeric) with chips and baked beans, Imbolc breakfast was homemade orange marmalade on toast with a handful of raisins, and Imbolc dinner was vegan cheesy mash with green beans and carrots served with onion gravy and a bit of bread (it would have been a bread roll, but I didn't have any, couldn't be bothered to make some, and decided to just have a regular slice of bread instead of sending Kelly to go look for some).  Simple food, quick to make, but still themed for the sabbat.  Kelly went for simple too, and only bothered making sure his Imbolc dinner was linked.  He had chicken and cheese wraps, plus a bit of chocolate cake, in case you're wondering.  I'd planned to do some baking so I'd have some cake for myself too, but a few bad nights in a row had me exhausted and needing a nap, and my planned hour to recharge turned in to a four hour nap.  Oops! Well, I obviously needed it.

Anyway, I finished up the day by spending about an hour writing some poetry while enjoying the scented candle I'd had for my birthday from my Mam, followed by reading "Pass the Turkey: The Small Dog's Christmas" by Sue Vincent, and a few minutes of meditation.  It had to be a few minutes only, since apparently that was a relaxing enough evening that I was ready to go to sleep at a decent time despite my longer than planned nap... Slept for a solid five hours afterwards too, which would have been a good night for me even without the four hour nap.

 

 ~

 

Other than the poetry I wrote on Imbolc, I also wrote a couple more poems so far this year.  I still haven't done any work on a story, but at least I've been writing again.  Hopefully I'll get back to working on one of my stories soon.  That's definitely the plan anyhow.

First though, if I plan to be a part of it, I need to write something for the Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic that's going on over at The Carrot Ranch right now (click here to see the official contest post at The Carrot Ranch).  Plus, I definitely need to either pick a couple of my new poems to submit to an anthology I'm contributing to, or write some new ones spacifically for it very soon, since I've got to have those sent over to the person arranging it before the end of this month.

~

I'm joining in with the Febookary reading challenge this month too.

 

Febookary is a challenge created by my friend Cat over at The Strawberry Post, which is designed to encourage you to try reading something outside your reading comfort zone, like a different genre, for example.

At Kelly's recommendation, I'm reading "Mech Warrior: Born of Steel" by James David Victor as my Febookary challenge book.  He picked well for me last year, so let's hope he did this year too.  The book's blurb makes it sound good anyhow, so I'm hopeful he's picked me another great read.