Talk About Tuesday

 

Buckle Up Kids, It's Been A Few Weeks

So.

A few weeks ago I stopped updating.

I can explain.

So much has happened! I mean it! A lot!

At first, I wasn't posting because I was busy busy busy prepping for King Richard's Faire and the road trip leading to it! So much crochet! Tea-staining! Planning! Packing!

Then I was on the road. That will be its own section, trust me.

Then I was at the Ren Faire! So much fun! So many exciting things!

And then I was on the way home!

And then I was home, but exhausted!

And then we had a tropical storm!

And now here we are!

So first things first - Ren Faire prep was hectic.

I had two pouches and an undershirt to crochet, tea-staining to attempt on one pouch and the undershirt, frantic packing and repacking and unpacking and repacking again (I really did try to travel light and still ended up with two bags plus a tote full of snacks), and yes, anxiety, because I cannot enjoy anything without nature's caffeine (adrenaline) making my heart squeeze and pound.

Turns out I was maybe a little right to be anxious, because it turns out RVs hate me just as much as any other electronic.

We were maybe 2/3 of the way to our campground when the skies opened up, pounding heavy and hard on the car with raindrops so frantic and oversized I was convinced they were hailstones for a hot minute. That would've been fine, honestly, if the RV didn't quickly stop working, causing us to coast to a stop along I-95, where we would not be able to move from for over 8 hours. Turns out that Good Sam's RV Insurance isn't worth the half second it took for me to type their name. They left us disabled and stranded for twenty four freaking hours. The Massachusetts State Troopers, on the other hand, got us moved in like an hour.

So yes, we missed our campsite. And my poor friends, who were in charge of all the logistics, had to spend nearly the whole 24 hours we were stranded desperately trying to get a hotel, a rental car, a tow truck, etc. And fate and crappy call centers fought them every single step of the way.

Shoutout to the exhausted, overworked AVIS/Budget guy who ended up having to rent us what we strongly suspect was the van he had been using for his own family, because that poor guy got just as shafted as we did, since the dorks at the call center rented us a vehicle that did not exist on his lot. In fact, no vehicles existed on his lot. Hence the probably-was-personal van.

That being said, while waiting for the tow truck to take the RV to get fixed, we went on a little road trip to a mall where we tried Mochinuts for the first time!

A Three-Pack of Oreo, Fruity Pebble, and Matcha mochinuts

A fried mozzarella stick with French fries

Mochinuts are, apparently, donuts made with mochi flour, which makes them delightfully crisp & chewy and just all-around tasty. The Oreo was my favorite - it was intensely chocolatey on the top, not overly sweet, and that chew was super satisfying. The Fruity Pebble mochinut was also fantastic, though the cereal was a bit dampened (big surprise, it was like 86% humidity that day and hot as hell). Unfortunately the matcha mochinut was... stale-tasting, which disappointed every one of us.

The fried mozzarella sticks were practically a religious experience, though.

See, they're called Cheesedogs, because they're the exact same size and shape as a corndog (which they also sell and are also delicious). Which means they're BIG. Yes, I was murmuring Big & Chunky in my head the whole time I was eating the one Z got for us to share. They can come with different toppings - the one shown above has French Fries and my buddy T got that one. Our friend S was the one who got the mochinuts! But Z & I had a cheesedog with crushed ramen noodles on it.

100000000/10 strongly recommend. I went from feeling exhausted, overheated, and ill to feeling deeply satisfied and happy in only 4 bites.

You know what's not satisfying?

Spending six bucks on this junk.

I like cotton candy as much as the next fatty, but these kiosks are a waste of your time (something like 7 minutes) and money. It was roughly the size of a tennis ball when it came out, screwed up several times, and tasted like chemical farts.

Minus five stars.

After the trip to the mall, we picked up J, who had taken the task of making sure the tow truck came for the RV, and we all went to a motel. It was a nice little place just outside Carver, and while there was a little nonsense with the showers, it was very very good to not be stuck on the side of I-95.

We even drove to a place for some shaved ice!

The views in Marshfield, MA were spectacular

100 flavors!!! 

If Z & I hadn't been 100% stuffed with mochinuts, cheesedogs, and Sweet Frog frozen yogurt (and pineapple Dole Whip), we'd have tried a lemon-lime ice or possibly a plum-grape ice. As it was, T got a Pretty Princess and it looked fantastic (it was pink & purple!).

We finally retired for the night in fine spirits, ready for our adventure at King Richard's Faire the next day!

The Faire....

My God, that was the Faire to start with, in my opinion. None of us had ever been to one, and among the five of us we had T in a cloak, S in a lovely black dress & cloak, J as an absolutely precious gnome (we're talking full-on, unintentional Nana cosplay from David the Gnome, 100% homemade), me in my emerald green Torvi top from Holy Clothing (plus crocheted accessories), and Z in his shockingly comfy outfit of a cream-colored cotton top and a pair of white linen pants with very thin gray stripes (plus the crocheted bag I made him!).

Of the 5 of us, I think Z was the most comfortable the whole day - it was upper 70s and 86% humidity.

None of us got heat exhaustion, however, because 1) we all hydrated obsessively (don't use the tap near the Mud Show, it's rusty, use the ones near the Privies near the Queen's Stage!), 2) most of us were wearing at least one breathable garment, and 3) the whole of King Richard's Faire is in a forest (except for the jousting field).

The temperature difference between the sun-soaked parking field and the pine-shaded Faire was nearly like air conditioning.

If you've never been to a Ren-Faire, King Richard's is... a great introduction. You enter through a portcullis after being greeted by the Royal Court, and you're immediately in dappled shade with what feels like a true medieval village! There are permanent buildings for every shop, some done in that Tudor architectural style that everyone thinks of when they think Ren-Faire, and others in adorable fantasy shapes (a kiosk shaped and painted like a mushroom was selling tails, ears, and other costuming supplies; one hut was shaped like a witch's pointed hat with the tip curled slightly and had a stained glass window with the Hylian crest on it!). 

If you're into leather, there are at least 3 shops there to cater to your needs. If you want weapons and armor there are several places, including a working blacksmith! If you like pottery I saw a few spots for it, including one that let you do your own Raku pottery! You could hatch your own dragon egg to win a prize in a little house that had a dragon shop in it! You could have the Washing Well Wenches help you find missing party members! Do you want elf ears? There's a lady who has every kind of ear known to fantasy. Do you want an ocarina? There's a very sweet lady who sells ocarinas (you'll know her by her excellent playing and the Triforce branding on her signs).

And of course let's not forget the food.

My god, the food.

So I'd heard that the turkey legs were huge.

We were undersold.

Our turkey leg probably weighed at least 2lb
And was mostly meat.

I 100% recommend the food. We didn't have anything that wasn't delicious - the turkey legs are sublime (they truly do taste somewhat hammy, but there's still that turkey undertone and they're meaty as can be!), the bloomin onion was crispy and hot, the Cobbler's Corn is a Mexican Street Corn that Z & I each had an ear of and could have easily eaten six or seven more lol. S got a caramel apple with all the fixings and it was a whole, cored & sliced apple in a bowl with hot caramel in the bottom instead of being a sheet of sticky stale caramel wrapped around a stale apple on a stick like I'm used to. We also had some candied nuts (The King's Nuts), and those were delicious - we had cashews & almonds.

The food is pricy, but... not as bad as at the Maine Lobster Festival, to be honest. You get good value for your cash, and the water taps are free, so you don't even need to pay for water if you don't want to.

Pro Tip: Don't buy your food tickets at the gate if the line is long, there are plenty of kiosks in the first few hours where you can pay your cash to get your food tickets. Each ticket is worth $1, and turkey legs were 17 tickets, so be prepared.

Still, that's a 2lb in-character meal for 17 bucks, so uh... worth it in my estimation.

After you eat, you should definitely check out the many shows in the area - Jacques Ze Whipper was at the Faire when we were (in fact, that vid was taken while I was there!!!) and his shows are always worth the while!

Yes, He's cracking a flaming whip.
Yes it was incredible.

He's got a friend named Ses Carny who runs the Torture Show on the Queen's Stage, which involves knife-throwing and fire eating, and that was a great show, too.

I had a very sore throat on Monday because of screaming "TORTURE!!!" back at him lol.

I Am A Great Photographer LOL

Now, after Ses's Torture Show was...

A dog trainer.

J really loved the dog trainer's show, because he had very cute Jack Russell Terriers.

Z & I were in awe of the guy's show for... entirely different reasons.

I'm sure he's a great guy. He went to Clown College around the same time as Penn Jillette! He's been training dogs since the 1970s!

He's the reason Z & I were paralyzed with giggles for an hour and a half that night.

I do not recommend hysterical laughter.

Sure, we both felt some catharsis from the giggle fit, but uh...

It's scary when you cannot. stop. laughing.

Anywho...

We were all excited to see the Jacques Ze Whipper/Ses Carny Secret Show but...

The sky had other plans.

We received a deluge reminiscent of the one that disabled the RV, forming ankle-deep puddles in minutes. I'm pretty sure almost everyone fled the Faire at that point, and we were soaked 100% of the way through. That night I learned that, yes, Holy Clothing does indeed bleed. Fortunately it didn't bleed onto Z's white shirt and pants.

We voyaged back to the hotel in shockingly high spirits, Z & I were overcome by the giggles, we slept, and then we went back home.

The ride home was shockingly smooth for having to drive over 220 miles (365km or more) before 4pm.

It was close, but we made it (after quickly dropping Z & I off at my house so that the van could get to the AVIS/Budget center nearest us).

And thus I was home.

And I crashed.

Boy did I crash.

I crashed so hard that I basically did nothing until recently when Lee decided it wanted to try to visit.

And boy do I not like rain now.

We overprepared for Lee, I'll confess. We bought batteries, we battened down the hatches, Z & I planned to spend the day on the internet until the strong winds inevitably killed our power and internet.

And then Lee was a delightful little wet fart for us.

It was loud, it was damp, but it was not the 70mph gusting, 3 inches of rain spilling nightmare we feared.

Sure, there was storm damage around town (and yes, someone died, unfortunately). A tree landed on a house I walk past. Another tree landed on a car. But our power never did more than flicker briefly, our internet stayed strong, and we had a long day of watching YouTube videos together.

And now here I am, staring down at some soft yarn that I'm hoping I can find another skein or two of (I think it's Red Heart Soft in a dark brown color, I legit cannot remember?). I am trying to make an autumnal hex cardigan.

I'm also trying to get up the gumption to do art tomorrow.

We'll see how well I do!

For now, though, I'm still somehow sleepy, despite it having been 9 days since the Ren Faire. And despite having dozed all day.

It's just that kind of day.

The plan for the week is:

Art for Thursday.

Something crochet-related for Monday.

Blather for Tuesday.

I... think I have pics of when I was tea-staining everything? At the very least I'll talk about that next Monday.

For now though, it's time to relax.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

PS: Z, I know you're reading this.

Please, Peppah, just one more jump! Please! We gotta pay off the car loan! Just one more, Peppah, please, oh god....

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Have Had A Week(end)
(A Pretty Great One In Fact)

This weekend was fantastic. On Friday, Z took me to the Farnsworth Art Museum to view the collection of paintings & sketches Edward Hopper (the painter of Nighthawks, my favorite painting!) did in my hometown. It was incredible, especially since, despite having lived in Rockland, Maine throughout my entire childhood, I had never gone to the museum. It was $20 for adults to get in, but locals get in for free.

I am obsessed with Edward Hopper's work. I love that he focused on people and buildings (but mostly buildings), and I love the sense of emptiness in his work.

Since the Farnsworth Museum's bread & butter are their Wyeth collections, they had plenty of pieces by Andrew Wyeth that they showed alongside the Hoppers, and those had that Andrew Wyeth stormy, desaturated appeal. He didn't use a lot of focal colors, eschewing N.C. Wyeth's use of aquamarine, turquoise, and teal in favor of umbers and ochres. Andrew Wyeth's art seemed to be all captured during overcast and dark days, whereas Hopper's pieces tended to be in strong sun. Both had a moodiness about their work, but I think Hopper really nailed the way light works on a sunny day in Rockland.

In short, if you want to know what my childhood hometown looks like in full sun, look at Hopper's sketches & paintings of the area. If you want to know what the same area looks like in darker weather, check out Andrew Wyeth. If you want to see what memories of this town feel like, though, you go with N. C. Wyeth. His weirdly Mediterranean palette really captures the way Maine feels in more carefree memories.

We spent a great deal of time in the museum, looking at the exhibits and oohing and aahing over paintings like Emilie Stark-Menning's Strawberry Moon, or a fantastic Enamel on Canvas painting of a semi-psychedelic forest whose artist I sadly cannot remember the name of, or even a pair of Grandma Moses paintings! I just about lost it when I found out there was a pair of Chihuly glass pieces, too!

After the museum we headed back to my place where we found my dad hard at work replacing the deck.

Which he was still working on today.

The concept of a new deck is very nice, since we've had rotten boards and broken steps for a while. The problem with building a new deck is... my yard is 100% clay and rocks and roots. The auger is struggling. My dad is struggling. It took him 4 hours just to get the supplies. The cable for the railings came faster than he was able to find all the hardware & wood.

It's not going the best, especially since until today the weather has been uncooperative - rain every day but today and at random weird times. They're also building the deck on the side of our house that is close to our next door neighbors' bedrooms, so they kind of have to stop construction after dark.

Regardless, this has been an adventure and a half.

Saturday had me wandering down to my Fiber Circle and enjoying my hour outside immensely. I got so much crocheting done, and I'm continuing that trend today by getting several inches of top done (on the front of the top). I'm cruising along.

I haven't drawn yet this week, though, so we'll have to work on that.

In fact, that might be what I do after this row I'm working on...

If you'd like to be the source of inspiration for a finished piece on Thursday, feel free to send me a coffee over on Ko-Fi with a message telling me what category (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Food, Location, Geometric, Word) you'd like to see, and I'll make something based on that!

My plans for this week are:

Art for Thursday

Crochet Progress for Monday

Blather next Tuesday.

For now, though, I'm going to finish that row, throw down a sketch or two, and then play more Stardew, because dang it I am going to get my butt down to the 100 level of the Skull Cavern...

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Have Been Playing More Video Games

That's right I'm obsessed with Stardew Valley again. I've made it all the way to Ginger Island, now! Krobus is my roommate, which made for an interesting time while I was unlocking the Witch's Hut on the mainland and confirms, for me, that no, Krobus, Rasmodius has no friggin clue you're now his northern neighbor. In fact, my lil shadow-bro roommate has been super helpful! He makes me fried eel and strange buns, with the occasional lucky lunch, and he even brought in a couple of houseplants and an end table! What a cool dude!

I've found Professor Snail, helped Birdie (that's a fun quest!), and I've even done a few of the minigames on Ginger Island for golden walnuts - turns out I'm better at Simon than I ever thought I was.

And... yeah... I think I've maybe been spending more time in the game than I probably should - I haven't done art since Thursday, for instance. And I really wanted to do more today. Like... I wanted to actually work on the modesty fishnet top I'm planning to wear under my Torvi top from Holy Clothing. It's lovely, don't get me wrong, it's just... a very open neckline, shall we say.

And I don't like it when my chest gets sunburned.

This does mean that I'm going to have to get some black dye, though, because the choker I have is black, so the undershirt should probably also be black. Dye is less than $4, and the cotton crochet thread I prefer to use is anywhere from $5-8 on any given day, so the dye is the better option for me, sadly. The hard part will be finding an appropriate Dying Receptacle. Possibly a 5 gallon bucket no one's using, or a couple cheap dish pans (one for the pouch, one for the top). The things I'm planning to dye will be small and light-weight, but I'll probably use the whole dang bottle just to be safe.

Now I'll be honest, one of the other reasons to make a mesh top is that the embroidery on the Torvi top's neckline is horribly scratchy, and I want to have something between it and my skin to minimize irritation.

It's my only complaint about my dear Torvi.

It has pockets!

Anywho, I've got silk to spin, a mesh top to create, and a week to plan out.

I'm not 100% sure what I'll be doing for Thursday's blog, but it'll be art of some sort!

Next Monday I'll show you all the progress I've made.

Next Tuesday I'll be back to blather :)

If you'd like a say in what I draw or paint on Thursday, hit up my Ko-Fi and send me a donation with a message telling me what category (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Food, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word) you'd like to see, and I'll do something based on that prompt!

Other than that, it's back to work (or just as likely, more Stardew lol) for me!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which This Week is Heavy

So. My father has COVID.

I live with my parents.

Thus, I am currently in Quarantine, hoping I don't catch it.

It'll be hard to tell - my allergies are awful lately (the damp really aggravates them), and hand sanitizer/cleaning supplies make my sinuses itch & ache, so uh... yeah. Not gonna be fun.

We're taking precautions - Clorox everywhere, hand sanitizer, masks, hand-washing, ventilation (despite the rain) - but man, could we, collectively, catch a break, here?

I've got friends down with the 'Rona, my dad's down with it, my mom and I are doing our best to avoid it, and I don't get to hang out with my partner this week, which makes sense but sucks, and all of this is not fun at all.

I'm trying to stay upbeat and trying to keep my mind occupied. I have crochet, Tears of the Kingdom, books, art...

And I should be fine. Vaxxed to the gills, taking precautions, avoiding standing too close to people.

If I can, I think I'll go outside tomorrow. I might be able to sneak in some outside time between thunderstorms.

Besides brief forays outside, my plans for tomorrow include... art, really. I have some ideas I'd like to try out - some are fanart (not all Zelda-related, believe it or not), and some are just ideas I've had. We'll see. Optimally, I'll get some sleep tonight and wake up refreshed enough to paint like crazy. Maybe I'll even be able to finish some really good ones and scan them!

Maybe nothing will get done - maybe I'll stare at blank pages and wish for better luck.

I'll probably paint though.

Regardless, you'll hear from me on Thursday with *something* to post.

And if I finish my art in a way I'm satisfied with, I'm going to read, dammit.

And write. I've been neglecting both since May.

For now, I'm just very sleepy (I did not sleep well last night because of the thunder, rain, and sticky air). I hope I sleep well tonight - it'd be nice if my brain would politely slip into dreamsville on command lol.

With how much I've been crocheting, I'll have the 2nd leaf finished for next Monday, plus I could even get the pouches themselves finished... that's probably overambitious, though, so I'll just aim for leaves lol.

I might also make a leaf crown for myself (or a leaf necklace...), and I am still trying to figure out my Shoulder Dragon concept...

I'll post whatever crochet I do next Monday, then I'll give you life updates next Tuesday.

Tonight is for silly videos and snooziness.

Tomorrow is for art.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which My Energy Has Been Sapped

I went for a walk today. I went for a much longer and warmer walk on Friday, but I walked today, too. It was probably about 3/4 mile round trip, had some hills, and it wore me right out.

Sure, I'll be the first to admit, I'm out of shape, but I'm more tired from today's 3/4 mile walk than I was after Friday's 3.5 mile walk in hot sun. I had to drink three whole bottles of water on Friday, whereas two small glasses satisfied me today. I was sore on Saturday, sure, but I wasn't still tired. Today I'm tired. And it all hit at once about three hours ago. 

I was working on some crochet (which, yes, I flaked on yesterday) when all of a sudden my whole body felt soft and slumped like it usually does when I finally start feeling sleepy around 1AM. It was 5PM. It was not bed time. My mind didn't feel sleepy, either. Strange.

None of my muscles are sore. I don't feel sick, nor do I feel like I'm getting sick. I'm just tired. This is not ideal.

I wanted to read tonight.

I wanted to finish this owl panel I'm working on (not sure what for, just yet).

I wanted to sketch something for Thursday.

I wanted to write more.

What I'll do instead is lie on my back with my laptop balanced on my knees, shoulders & neck propped up by comfy pillows. I'll pour myself a big bottle of water. I'll watch videos with the sound low. I'll do as little as possible until I feel sleep call me, at which point I'll simply obey.

Maybe it's the weather? It's been unusually gray and damp for June. I wore a flannel shirt today, which has been impossible in previous years at this point.

Whatever it is, I'm just going to have to wait til tomorrow to work on art, writing, reading, etc. And that's okay.

What I cannot do now, I will do later. That is life.

Regardless, I do have plans for Thursday's blog, so we'll see how far I get!

And Who knows what next Monday will hold?

If you have any requests for Thursday, don't forget to send me a coffee over on Ko-Fi along with a message telling me which category (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Food, Geometric, Word) you'd like to see, and I'll get it done!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Am Fried

I spent the last week or so out-of-office, as it were, cat-sitting for my sister & her husband as they honeymooned abroad. The apartment was delightful, the cat was a precious hauspanther with the cutest white spot on his chest, and the town was marvelous. Z & I had a blast! But...

Tiny, the cat, prefers to get fed at 3am.

And neither Z nor I are morning people, naturally. So today was a recharge day.

Not that I slept in - I got up at 8 and was out the door by 9:15 to run some errands.

You would think, that, having not slept for 7 or 8 nights, I'd have gone to bed early last night.

Lol no, I was playing Tears of the Kingdom. It took until this afternoon for me to reach the surface and I just got my paraglider.

I did get to keep Chonkers the Giant Horse, though, so that has been fun!

Also I do keep falling to my death. Shocker.

Also I suck at Recall.

While Away, I did actually figure out how to write part 2 of my wrestling story! I will keep writing the other story, too, but it felt so good to figure out where I was going!

I'll get back to doing wordcounts next week, but for this week, I'll just get on with writing and resting and arting.

I do have at least one finished piece that I'll be showing next week, and I'm making progress on a hilariously oversized piece. I may also try to do some fanart this week, but we'll see.

For now, I'm going to change into pajamas because it's basically bedtime, and hopefully wake up early enough tomorrow to actually do things.

The plan for this week is to write a bunch, read a bunch, have art done for Thursday, and take some pictures of the small progress I made crocheting for Monday. It's a weird project and I don't know if I can actually make it work, but I'll try.

If you'd like to have a say in what I draw/paint/pixel this week, feel free to go over to my Ko-Fi and send me a coffee with a message Recommending one of the following categories: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Location, Dedbert, Geometric, or Word. I also take commissions as seen in the sidebar!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Have Been Busy lol

I say that I'm busy a lot. This week was a little busier than some, and next week will be even busier - in fact you might not see anything up here next week, because I'll be out of town. As it is, this week, I was busy figuring out ways to get some exposure here in town. I took my art down town and gave some paintings to some cool shop owners and also to the library. I also painted on Main Street, sitting in front of a local tavern and dabbing away with my watercolors.

I even printed off some silly little business cards in case anyone had questions about where I had art.

I have started putting my finished pieces in a binder so they're all together, in case someone wants to ask me about a piece's availability. I've gotten a little more active on Instagram. I've written out my Commission pricing & basic guidelines.

I also finished that pouch yesterday and started on something else. Not sure what it'll be yet.

As for writing, I'm afraid I haven't gotten anywhere near what I'd like. Only 440 this week. That's a full 260 words below what I'd prefer.

On the other hand, I did start a new art shop over on Threadless! I've been thinking about switching from Redbubble ever since they announced their new fee structures, and now I've got a shop live. It only has 6 images so far, and I'm not putting any fan art or Dedbert-related art up there (though I'll take commissions for either!), but it's a fairly decent start. Threadless has a few different requirements for file sizes than RB did, but I can and will make it work. It just means me having to make art... bigger.

Aside from crochet, art, and shopbuilding, I also watched the cat this weekend, so that was a handful, especially when she gave me a heart attack when she vomited and there was blood in the vomit. Yeah, that wasn't fun.

Then I realized that the little dingaling just cut her mouth with some of the sharp sawgrass we have in the yard. At least, we call it sawgrass. It sure sliced us up enough to earn the name. Evie was playing at being a sheep for a bit outside, and I guess during a moment of distraction she'd wandered up to a patch of the sharp stuff and gave it a good chomp. The combo of bleeding gum and rough grass was probably what led to her throwing up. She barfed a couple of other times after the pinkish puddles, and those were all clear. Her appetite is back, too, so that's a good sign.

Sorry for the graphic cat tale, but I had to get it off my chest. Again, she's absolutely fine. She even kicked me off of my own bed today because I couldn't hold my position where she was sleeping on me and in her ire, she kept pushing at me until I got up and gave her my seat lol!

What else happened this week?

Oh! I got an early birthday gift from my mom! She got me a Torvi top from Holy Clothing and it's absolutely gorgeous. I can't believe it's mine!

My goals this week are:

make some more art for Thursday

pack everything I need

do as much as I can to have some blog updates while I'm away

I'd also like to read, though I've been very distracted lately. I want to finish Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper and write a review. It's been amazing so far.

I'm pretty tired tonight, though, so I think I'll let y'all go!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which This Has Been A Week

So, I have to be honest - I'm running out of space to keep my physical art. Sometimes I give art away to friends or family, I've even sold one piece for ten bucks before (which was a physical exchange, so I didn't have to consider shipping), but the pages are starting to collect, and I have finite space. This means I should probably figure out a way to sell this art, right? Would anyone else be interested in that? It'd help me out on multiple levels, to be honest.

I'm just tossing ideas around, but if there's interest, I'd get more serious about it. Maybe I'd introduce a second tier on Ko-Fi where you can pay a flat fee to get either a digital file (if the art is digital) or a hardcopy of the category you request? So if you request an Animal image via Ko-fi, you'd include the category (ANIMAL) and a way to contact you (probably e-mail or Twitter because I don't understand Instagram and I'm not on most other social media), and I'd let you know when the art was done. If it ends up digital, I'd send it to you online. If it ended up being a physical painting, I'd send you a message asking for a mailing address. Most of what I use for paper is fairly small, so it would probably fit pretty easily in a mailbox.

Does that seem like a good idea? Any better ones? I don't currently have the funds to make prints, and clearly my scanner is... not the best for making copies, so I cannot offer prints yet. I do have a Redbubble but with the advent of their new price gouging (they get to keep up to 50% of what was originally my profit), I'm reconsidering letting them have my art, so I haven't uploaded in a while.

I'm also considering having a thing where, if someone asks me via a Ko-Fi donation using "Haiku" instead of an art category (as well as including their email or Twitter handle), I'd write them a random little Haiku and send it to them.

Here's a sample Haiku I'll call "Feline Wakeup Call":

Raspy chirped hello

a warm fuzzy good morning

demands must be met

I don't know, man, I'm just trying to branch out here.

I'm not 100% sure how, but I'd like to start selling crochet projects as I finish them. I'd love advice, because Etsy fees and shipping costs mean that's not a very viable place for me to sell right now, sadly.

Now, all of that aside, I should mention that the haiku was based entirely on the way my cat acted this morning. She greeted me with a raspy little chirp and was doing her best Velcro impression until she fell asleep in a sunbeam.

Hard to believe that it was so pretty this morning when it's drizzly and wet now.

Anywho, that's all some stuff I'm considering.

As for this week, I've got some art to work on! In addition to my guaranteed Word, there's been a Request for a Dedbert! If y'all have any other requests, feel free to step on over to my Ko-Fi and buy me a coffee with a message letting me know which category you'd like to see (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word) and I'll make it for Thursday!!!

Next Monday I should have something crocheted, though I'm still a tiny bit lost as to which thing I should make.

Next Tuesday, I'll be back here to blather a bit more.

As for my wordcount, today's was 147 words. This week's total was 1151 words. The document total is now a whopping 16.7k words! I'm pretty pleased with this week's progress despite missing a day or two here or there as exhaustion set in.

On a final and unrelated note, I'm finding myself missing Dungeons & Dragons, a bit. I was really into it in the 00s-10s, but I fell out of it and have fallen far behind all these new editions. I started in 3.5e, and honestly, I'm weirded out by all the ways things have changed since those halcyon days of my idle youth. Stereotypical Grown Up Stuff, I suppose.

I might start looking into writing up a campaign at some point, though, just to clear the rust off.

Alright, I think that will probably do it for me tonight. I'm pretty sleepy and I have a lot of art to finish up tomorrow!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Have Gotten Some Work Done This Week!

Make no mistake, I've missed several writing, crochet, and art days this week. I have good excuses, I think - insomnia, feline interruptus, and just plain getting distracted (please note I started writing this blog at 7PM, if that gives you an idea) - but boy have I done a lot.

I have been working on a 3k by 3k pixel piece in Paint.net, and I'm maybe 1% finished with that.

I finished the shawl yesterday and started looking into my next pieces to crochet.

I experimented with polishing some of my rocks again (the weather was forgiving until yesterday/today)

And I wrote nearly 2100 words this week, bringing the total up to just over 15.7k words!

Yeah.

Heck of a chunk of writing. One of those writing chunks was a whole chapter!!!

All of this while only managing between 2-7hr of sleep a night.

And I've cut my caffeine consumption by 2/3.

I know. Crazy.

Regardless, this has been a super productive week, and I'm really hoping to keep up the hard work - possibly with some more art thrown in.

My plans for this week are, of course, to work on my art until Thursday, crochet until Monday, and then blab again on Tuesday.

If I write another 2100 words next week, that would also be incredible. I also hope to get one of the rocks I'm polishing smoothed out enough to showcase. Currently I'm still figuring out the various grinding wheels/sanding disks/etc that I have access to these days for my toolless Dremel.

I still struggle to understand what each element in my new kit does.

Regardless, I've got work to do this coming week, and I'm proud of what I accomplished in the last seven days, but for now, I'm very tired.

It's nearly midnight.

If you want to direct my art, you can recommend a category to draw from by sending me a coffee over on Ko-Fi with a message telling me which category you'd like (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Deadbert, Location, Geometric, Word), and I'll draw it up and add it to the blog!

That'll do it from me tonight!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Continue To Work on The Blue Shawl.

I have reached the point where, despite working for nearly 2.5 hours this week on the shawl, there's not a huge difference in what it looks like this week. I'll have to go hunting for one of my many and sundry rulers/measuring tapes in order to measure it out, but currently it's pretty darn wide but not very deep. I don't think it'll ever reach all the way down my back, which is too bad but not unexpected. These are the hazards of using up leftover yarn lol.

As for the total time spent on this shawl, we're at just over 17 hours now. And it doesn't quite reach my waist from my shoulders. *sigh* I should've known that something made of thread and a small hook would be an eternal slog, but boy, this one's kicking my butt.

I've started three side projects - one is blue, another is multicolored/brown, the last is white. That is all I shall say about them beyond this: I doubt at least one of them will be finished because my attention wavers like a timid twelve year old giving a monologue during a play they didn't want to perform in but was handed the lead role because no one else could do it.

I also have a few other projects I'll probably be starting, including something that will require.... cabbage. Of the fabric variety. Basically, I'm gonna look for scrap fabric around town (I'll see if anyone's left anything viable in the local fabric store's cabbage bin) and start teaching myself how to sew patchwork. Specifically French Seamed Patchwork.

Because I'm insane.

And also because it just seems fun! And cheaper than buying yardage...

Anywho, there's no picture of the shawl this week because it's only a couple of rows longer and I don't have a good background for it right now (I usually use my bed and my sheets are about the same color as the shawl lol).

I think I'll put my yarns away for the night now and start thinking about tomorrow's blog :)

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which It's So Warm I Don't Know What To Do With Myself.

If you live in the US, you probably know that in the northeasternmost states, it gets... really cold during the winter. And that spring tends to dally and not show up in a timely manner.

We had snow not too long ago.

Today it nearly reached 60℉ (15,6℃), even with the wind chill. The breeze felt balmy. The sky stayed cloudy and gray all day but it was glorious after so long without being able to have windows open due to bitter cold and worse wind! I am wearing capris and a t-shirt! My window is open!!!

And it's going to be just as nice tomorrow!!!

I am gonna go for a walk. Art be damned, tomorrow morning I'm going for a walk!

Or not, we'll see.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

I do have a history of Not Walking When I Say I Will.

THERE ARE PEEPERS OUT TONIGHT

IN THE SECOND WEEK OF APRIL

I am very happy about this. Fall is my favorite season, but the first notes of spring are to be savored, too!

I only did 865 words this week, since I skipped one night and only wrote a sentence on another night, but 206 of those were tonight, so I'm pretty proud of myself.

I did zero crochet or art today, despite my errands not even taking my time all the way to noon. Most of today has been spent being sleepy and warm and finishing off leftovers from a delicious Easter Dinner.

Art will be worked on probably tomorrow afternoon into evening, maybe Thursday morning. If you have a last minute addition you'd like to throw on, feel free to send me a category request over on Ko-Fi. I'll make it after this week's Mineral piece. Request categories are: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, and Word.

I... may also be a bit distracted by the book I've been reading - "Everybody Knows" by Jordan Harper. It's freaking. Great,

Great writing, great story. If you love Hollywood, intrigue, noir, and amazing writing, it's the book for you.

I will be crushed when I run out of book lol.

Anywho, the plan for the week is:

Art for Thursday (Mineral guaranteed)

Crochet for next Monday

Blather for next Tuesday.

I'm gonna post this blog so that it's not accidentally a Wednesday entry lol.

Also gonna take off this overshirt I put on when I turned on my ceiling fan.

It's toasty in here.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which Today Was Supposed To Be Productive

I was supposed to start writing early today. I was supposed to read. I was supposed to draw. I was supposed to crochet.

I did, predictably, none of this.

Instead, I slept til nearly 11AM, overcaffeinated, took the cat for a walk, and shed eyelashes directly into my eyeball like a dingus.

That being said, I have a couple of hours left to do some writing in at least lol.

I wrote 149 words tonight and have written over 1100 words since last Tuesday! I'm back on track :)

I do still need to draw - I have standing orders to do a Mineral and a Location this week (one is mine, the other was requested via Ko-Fi) so that's what I'll be finishing up tomorrow and Thursday. I'm actually pretty excited for these pieces. I have ideas.

As for the rest of the week, I'll be, as I said, doing art for Thursday. For Monday, I'll have more crochet done (possibly with pictures this time), and next Tuesday I'll be back to give y'all a rundown of my week.

Hopefully I'll also be more awake. I think the warm-but-not-warm weather today (high of 52℉/11,1℃, but windy and cloudy so it felt much cooler) really messed with me. I mean, I have my fan running and I'm still planning to change into summer pajamas.

What an odd April.

I'd like to be able to actually be conversant next week lol.

As for tonight, I'm going to go brush my teeth and go to bed. This blog should've been finished two hours ago!

That'll about do it for me.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I'm A Sleepy Birb Again (Still)

Today was strange. We got sleet and snow and rain at different points, and I was comfortable in my capris and flannel shirt, but I slept in shorts and a tank top under a top sheet and a light woven cotton blanket. I even kicked my socks off. My ceiling fan was running. There's no reason I should be so toasty at night...

Except that this is a brand new set of sheets, so they haven't softened up much yet. They'll be cooler over time, I think.

Regardless, today was wet and slow and my cat kept asking to go out and then being offended that I dared hold her in the rain instead of turning the weather dial to sun like a good cat person would. When things did clear off, in the afternoon, she lay in a beanbag chair in the sun, so I think I'm forgiven.

I got pants today, too. They're good pants. I'll enjoy wearing them.

Oh yeah, I also went for a ride in an RV weekend before last - that was super fun! And uh... I am maybe not brainy today. I honestly just feel super tired lately.

I'm pretty sure it's because I'm not sleeping well due to the season change, but hopefully I'll be sentient again soon. I'm basically a pool of demi-intelligent goo.

As for writing, it's been a slog lately. I keep staring at the cursor, knowing where the story needs to go, and then I'll get distracted by something not writing-related and fluff off, and by then it's past midnight and I've missed the day's wordcount again.

I wrote 139 words today. I'm only down by about 100 words this week, but man, I have felt off my game. 

Anyway, the plan for this week is to draw some stuff tomorrow to post on Thursday, work on too much crochet, and drink more coffee than the human body should be able to withstand in the vague hopes that I'm alive enough on Friday to enjoy the family trip Z and I are taking to a planetarium and a really good diner.

I am exciting lol.

I hope y'all are having better luck holding on to your brains than I am.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Could Do Without All This Wind

It is a wild, wet and wooly world out there right now. The wind is howling and rattling the siding and the roof, the snow is slapping the windows like it has a vendetta against us, and power keeps flickering. My mother thinks she might have seen lightning, but considering that the green flashes came from towards the distant power station, it might have been an overload or a transformer or something. Regardless, it's nuts out there. It's a bit frustrating, really.

I know I missed yesterday's blog - I haven't actually crocheted at all this week. For whatever reason, I've felt pretty bad all week. I've been tired - bone tired - and cranky, and a few days ago, I woke up and had to vomit. It sucked and I hated it, but after I went back to bed, I felt fine.

So yeah, no crochet blog this week. I hope to finish up the shawl by next week, but we'll see. I'm hoping that this week was a fluke and I feel better. I just get the feeling that what I need is about 12 hours of sleep and I'll reset just fine. I'll try it.

As for the rest of the week, I'll be making a fun drawing for Thursday - haven't decided the medium yet, but I'm starting with a sketch. If anyone else wants to have a say in the art department, there's still time to shoot me a coffee over on Ko-Fi with a message telling me what category you'd like to see (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word) and I'll make something from said category!

I've had some more progress on my manuscript, though I've missed a couple of days, sadly. Today's wordcount is 187 with a weekly count of 895. I've got a total word count of 10400! I'm very pleased. Even missing a few wordcounts here and there, I'm doing great!

I'll work on the manuscript some more, make some chamomile tea, settle in, and rest I think. Today's storm is awful and I hate it, but for now I'm safe and sound, snug and secure.

I hope you guys are having a good week! I hope your projects are going well, that if you've had setbacks you don't take them to heart and can keep moving forward.

For now, though, 

Go Enjoy Something

FC

Thursday Art Walk

In which I Discover I must change my schedule...

 Don't be alarmed - when I say "change my schedule", I'm not talking about how often/what I blog about. No, I am talking about the order of operations I have throughout the day.

Currently, I wake up, have my coffee, get washed & dressed, and then set about the hard work of... trying to figure out what to do next. I always mean to do more than just crochet a bit and doomscroll, but somehow I always end up just doing that. And then I write in the evenings. I have been intending to also do art at night, which is when I usually feel at my most productive.

But I've never been a spectacular multitasker.

In fact, I'm rather terrible at performing multiple trained skills in the same time blocks.

So I will have to add something to my mornings.

I'm going to try, starting tomorrow, to sketch while I drink my coffee.

Usually, I've been playing armchair for the cat, parsing out random story ideas, or grumbling at wildlife during my morning joe, but that clearly needs to change if I want to ever get a consistent art schedule down.

Besides, the light is so much better during the day, and for the next couple days, I won't be going outside at ALL.

No, sir, I'm not interested in experiencing what a Real Feel of -63℉/-52.8℃ day feels like. Not in the least.

The frigid temperatures are, of course, being caused by the same weather that's icing over the southern US right now. My heart breaks for everyone trapped in that mess. Mainers like me will remember the Ice Storm of 1998 - this disaster to our south is that, but in states that have no infrastructure or citizen preparations for such weather! It's nuts!

Up here, we're just getting wind and bitter cold.

I cringe at 14℉/-10℃.

Anywho, I only managed one measly sketch this week. At least it's a fun one!

"Assemblage"; mechanical pencil on sketch book; 2023
[VEGETABLE, MINERAL, ANIMAL]

This little sketch is of some random, gravity-defying twigs, a cherry, a bottle, a beetle, and a small rock. I started sketching it as kind of a mindless image, just letting shapes form. I kind of like it!

I hope to do more art next week (sound familiar? lol) but we'll see if me changing up what time of day I draw works!

As for tonight, I'm sleeeeeepy as heck. Keep staying up way too late reading dumb stuff, doomscrolling, YouTube bingeing. It's silly. I'm silly.

So what I'll do is get cozy, and actually try to sleep tonight.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which A Lot Has Happened!

This past week has been quite the marathon of action! My guy had his birthday, my family went on a trip, and we had a major household mechanical failure! All in the last seven days!

On Wednesday, my guy and I went out with some friends to celebrate his birthday and had a magnificent feast. It was a blast, and I loved every minute of it! 10/10 would do again lol.

On Friday, we had a wonderful time hanging out, watching YouTube together and planning out the next day's Family Trip to Boston. We parted ways and I stayed up all night anxious for our trip.

Why was I anxious? Because every single time I've been on a family trip, something always goes wrong. Usually someone throws up, has a meltdown, and/or gets lost, or something we were supposed to do fails or isn't actually as fun as we'd hoped.

So of course it starts with someone getting sick and not being able to come at all, leaving two party members without a ride. That was handled with my dad going to get them (yay!) and finding out on the road that his car desperately needs oil when we're running 10 minutes behind (not yay!).

We make it to the train station. Everything's cramped, I don't do well with crowds, and there's no one at the ticket counter. No worries, the tickets were purchased online! My dad printed them out and handed them out to... most of us.

One of our groups hadn't arrived yet - including the person who the trip was planned for, my eldest nibling. They were running late.

Thankfully, so was the train, so when they arrived 2 minutes before our train was originally supposed to depart, there was still a 20 minute delay. In the train's defense, it had dumped almost a foot of snow on the track in places. In my family's defense, it's hard to get young kids up and at em on a Saturday morning!

Boarding was just as stressful as I feared - since Amtrak doesn't do assigned seating in Coach, we kind of had to fend for ourselves, and the train was 100% sold out, so there was absolutely zero room for error. My boyfriend and I ended up staying in the first car we boarded while everyone else ended up in another car.

It turns out that their car had absolutely no intercom, so they didn't hear any of the stops and had no idea that we'd had to slow down at one point because the storm knocked out the signal from Amtrak to our train. They also didn't know that, due to our delay, we'd had to stop in the middle of nowhere for another train to pass us, since we were on a double track heading into a single track.

We were a full hour late to North Station in Boston, which was also stressful, but the worst stress for me was worrying if we were going to try to corral 3 kids and a herd of cat-independent adults onto the subway. Thankfully we decided to walk instead of trying to cram 7 people onto a subway at once. And I'm so glad we walked!

We trotted past the Charles River and said hello to some very unimpressed Canada Geese who were napping or strolling around in that area. The traffic was slow and sporadic at 11AM, and we were able to walk all the way to the Museum of Science easily! And once we were there, my younger sibling was able to handle our tickets and got us all in and stamped - mine was a lightning bolt. From there, we got a quick lunch in the cafe (I recommend the chicken tenders, but not the onion rings) and dispersed into the museum to roam in small groups until we'd meet back up at the planetarium for the show (which costs extra but is worth every penny).

My guy and I wandered around, taking in the Live Animal Care area (where we both cooed at the adorable lop-eared rabbit, Pancake, who was taking a nap in the corner of the exercise cage, and then I babbled endlessly about my love of Chuckwallas and Legless Lizards), the glory and majesty of the enormous fiberglass t-rex statue (clad in a comedically enormous custom scarf), and the awe-inspiring and fully articulated fossilized Cliff the Triceratops. Then I made a confession to him.

See... I have been to the Boston Museum of Science once before. And it traumatized me. Because I was very young and perhaps in the 1990s, the safety standards of the Lightning Show were a bit laxer and there were no warnings and also my parents loved to give me shit for being scared of things.

So watching someone intentionally electrify a cage they were sitting in while I sat in the dark (which I was already afraid of) and there was so much noise (which overwhelmed me) and the lightning was so bright...

It was maybe fully terrifying to Very Young Me.

And I figured, it's been more than 20 years. I should probably get over this.

And what better way to get over your phobia of lightning triggered by a lightning show than by watching that lightning show once more?

If you've never been to the Boston Museum of Science, they have a theater that was built around the largest Van de Graf Generator in the world. It was built in the 1930s to smash freaking atoms. It looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. It's HUGE. And it's gorgeous.

The theater has 3 levels accessible to all 3 floors of the Blue Wing, and it's packed by 15 minutes before the lightning shows. If you want to go there, go early, find a spot, and park yourself.

When I was a kid, they didn't have the lights on at all. You had one tiny spotlight on the museum employee who was controlling the Tesla Coils and the Van de Graf Generator. They didn't warn you when they were going to set off the sparks. It just... happened. Loudly and in the dark.

Now, your host (ours was Megan, who was wonderful) will introduce you, with all the lights on, to each part of the set and explain (along with lightning safety) what they're about to do. When they're about to do something, they'll tell you, they'll dim the lights only when they're about to bring on the lightning. And honestly? It was a restorative experience.

It was also FREAKING AWESOME!!!! I hope I can go again! 

Am I still scared of lightning? Oh, absolutely. To me lightning is no different than a bear or a volcano - I can't stop it, it'll kill me if it catches me, and it's really freaking cool.

After the Lightning Show, we explored a bit more, bought a bunch of water from the vending machines (which apparently belong to Wolfgang Puck?), and eventually met back up with everyone to go to the planetarium.

You go into a flying saucer-shaped room with a domed ceiling, settle into an unfairly comfortable chair, and a pair of sweet, funny museum employees will take you to the edge of the known universe while any small children in the room (and there will be a LOT, and they will be insanely adorable) lose their funny little minds.

I cannot explain the experience any better than this: It's a Ms Frizzle Field Trip without the peril.

It was worth every penny.

After the planetarium, we all took a final bathroom break, collected our things, and trotted back to the station.

The geese had all gone to bed, there was far more traffic, and I'm pretty sure we nearly lost half of our group because the front half was walking at 95 miles per hour, but there was a hawk in a tree on the way back, and there were pigeons in the station and it was just so much fun that it's impossible to complain.

Now the stress came back - we were going to have to get back on the train, and it wasn't late this time. We didn't have time to get dinner in the station, though we were considering it. Instead, we all bunched together at the doors to our Gate, and when we were given the Go Ahead, we surged towards the train. Some of us were better at surging than others, and I had to apologize to one of my niblings for nearly trampling her in my clumsy haste. We still ended up all together, and there were no delays on our return home aboard an also-sold-out train!

So obviously my panic was over nothing. We had a fantastic trip, we enjoyed ourselves, and aside from some minor logistical hiccups, it was awesome.

And then we got home.

I brushed my teeth, went to bed.

And woke up to a home with no hot water because apparently it broke at some point while I was trying to wash my face on Saturday night. Dandy.

Sunday was spent trying to get a water heater.

Yesterday, we picked up the heater and it took three people to get it inside and down into the basement. I am intensely grateful to whoever invented the Forearm Forklift because that damn thing weighed a lot. It was very unwieldy getting it through the shin-deep snow and into my cellar down a steep ramp we hastily added. I did lose my footing on the ramp as we were sliding the water heater down, so once it was out of the way, I let myself slide down behind it, which was actually pretty fun. Maneuvering it into place? Less fun.

I was basically useless once the heater was oriented correctly, and aside from pointing out where some pipes and wires terminated, I was pretty redundant, so I scampered upstairs to wait for hot water. Which took until this morning.

I had to wait from Friday morning to today in order to get properly bathed lol. As you might imagine, that first shower was heavenly.

Now, as for my other work - I haven't managed to draw since last Thursday, sadly. I plan to try to sketch something tonight, but we'll see if that's just idle want or if I can actually do it. I'm over 3k words into my manuscript right now, though, and I even managed to write on Saturday night!!!

Since last week alone I've written 810 words. Today's count was 113. I'm pretty dang pleased, to be honest. Heck, I've finished one chapter and part of the next!

As for the rest of this week, I hope to continue writing every night, and maybe I'll even draw! If you want a say in what I do end up drawing, feel free to hit up my Ko-Fi account in the sidebar and send me a coffee with a message telling me what category you'd like to see - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, or Word.

For now, I am going to finish this last cup of coffee (decaf) and try to figure out how to draw something.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC