Talk About Tuesday

 

Happy New Year, Y'all!

And just where have I been since October?!?!

Buckle up, Buttercups!

So, you might've noticed that I utterly failed my art challenge this year. That triggered an Apathy episode - I stopped caring about doing art, to be honest. I'm getting back on the horse, but man, I was super bummed. And then I started doing Christmas-Related Stuff, and that... well...

I finished my gifts at 4AM on Christmas Day.

Again.

So yes, I have been working hard the whole time I've been gone...

Except for the end of December/into this month.

My family rang in the New Year by my mom & younger sister plus her husband all contracting COVID.

Since I live with my parents, this meant that I've been quarantining.

And I'm sure you've all guessed it - it's hard to focus on anything except COVID when you're quarantining because one of your household family members - the one who basically keeps everything running smoothly because she's basically a superhero - has COVID.

I've basically been in a constant state of Anxiety for 3 weeks.

Because that's about how long it's taken for her to test negative. I know. It's not fair, and she deserves far better.

Thankfully whatever strain she & my younger sis + husband caught, it was symptomatically mild.

Unfortunately, I had pretty much all the symptoms the entire time, but consistently kept testing negative.

So it's been a weird and uncomfortable start to 2024.

On the other hand, I got some fantastic gifts this year - Z got me that cool wooden shoulder bag that's been so popular (I had one on my wishlist, and he nabbed it for me!!!). I'll be using that with some of the watercolor paints & papers I was given by my folks! I got gift cards for Dunkin and a local bookstore, some of the crochet books I've been lusting after (I GOT THE ONE WITH DRAGONS I'M SO STOKED), flannel sheets, thick cashmere blend socks, and an unforgettably wonderful Christmas with my family.

It's no one's fault that the dumb virus got its claws in some of us. I'm so glad it wasn't worse.

That said, this storm tonight and tomorrow is going to test me.

I HATE power outages, and we're almost certainly getting one. Our wind band is somewhere in the 60-80mph (96,5-128,7kph) gust range, which... alarms me.

I still remember what the roof sounded like when it was torn off by that windstorm so long ago.

I still remember the panic of trying to find things to put under the leaks as they formed on the ceiling.

It's not comfortable, man.

And I feel for my dad - the siding is broken on his side of the house and it's going to spend all night slamming around.

I feel for my mom because this is the first night she doesn't have to feel like a pariah in her own house... and it's during a shitty storm.

I went and got myself a bunch of snacks - Doritos (BBQ and Sweet Chili), Cokes, Nerds (did you know their serving size is 1 Tbsp?!), and Skittles.

I still have the onion I bought for Z right after Christmas lol.

Basically, I am just going to be a little anxious until the storm ends. And possibly beyond, because let's be real, that's what I do. I worry.

At least I have a zipper repair to worry about and keep my mind off of things. I'll have to find a smaller, sturdier needle than the one I started using because it's just hurting my fingers and my stitches are... not great.

And yes, I'm trying to sew it by hand. Our sewing machine does not have good tension and I'd take just as long with that as I do by hand between the snapped threads and the cursing lol.

I might post again tomorrow if we have power/internet. I honestly haven't even begun to think about goals for this year.

Until next time, though,

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Don't Even Know, Man...

I have not felt like doing much of anything lately. It's not laziness - laziness is a delicious and hedonistic desire to stay still, and what I've been feeling is absolutely not delicious or hedonistic.

I've been stuck.

I'm back to chugging too much coffee, back to losing time, back to being tired all the time, back to losing interest, back to anxiety at weird times when nothing's wrong.

In short, I think I'm having a very annoying depressive episode.

I'm not in any danger, though. No Bad Thoughts or anything, just... meh. Not feelin it, lately.

I'm pretty sure it started when I realized at the end of September that my wrists ache. There's a feeling of stiffness and soreness just above the knob of my wrists, and it's worse on the left than the right. I started feeling a little melancholy - mid-30s is a bit early for arthritis, and there's no inflammation or swelling. They're just a little stiff and sore. They've always sounded like they've got gravel in them when I rotated them. Same with my ankles, though they're not sore yet.

The discomfort isn't too much, but it does interfere with my art and crochet, so I'm very behind on Cozytober and haven't done too much crochet lately.

Aching wrists aside, we're fixing the deck this month, and I absorb other people's stress like a sponge. The deck repairs have not been going well, and there's been a lot of upset on my parents' part as they work to make sure it's both sturdy and good-looking. It does look very nice, so at least all that hard work has been worthwhile! Still, that's been stressful for me by transference.

It's been raining a lot since I got back from the Ren-Faire, which makes it very frustrating to get around and do things, so I've been stuck inside.

And then Evie got sick again. It's a chronic infection, so we were given the same antibiotic as last time and we're pilling her at both 8 AM and 8 PM, so that's been fun.

The most recent demotivator has been the fact that pretty much every time I venture outside something goes poorly for me. My local fiber circle canceled this month's meetup and I didn't find out until I'd already crossed town. On some attempts I made at being social, I was chased by hornets. When I try to go outside and get some sun on the few days it's here, I'm buzzed by my neighbor's honeybees. Heck, I've even been hearing more people yelling rude stuff while I'm out walking! It's a residential neighborhood, you weirdos, don't yell at the preteen girls who are jogging past me that they'd better keep going or you'll kill them!

Seriously, don't do that. If you try that again, I'll unhinge my jaw and eat you. I'm getting grumpier in my middle age.

The weather has been nice and chilly, at least, which I prefer to hot and sticky. I just wish there had been more nice days that I could go down to Main Street and paint.

It's going to be too cold for that, soon, and I'll have to switch to sketchbooks. I really should get a soft-cover drawing pad with detachable sheets - it'd be fun to be able to sell sketches as I work.

But hey, enough morose nonsense - I do have good things to talk about!

I made iced tea this week! I've never made iced tea from teabags before! I dumped 7 Meyer Lemon teabags in a pitcher full of cold water and left it overnight in the fridge. The resulting tea was just a touch sweet, a touch bitter, a touch sour, and incredibly pinkish-orange. The Meyer Lemon tea I have is made with rosehips and hibiscus, so the pink was expected. What was unexpected was how freaking delicious it was with a splash of Cranberry & Elderberry juice to sweeten it. The color deepened to a regal purple-red and all of the sweet/bitter/sour notes soared. Just lovely!

I also got to have my first taste of cider for the season, which was also delightful. Early apple cider is better than winter apple cider and I will fight you on this. It has none of the mealy undertones of a winter cider.

And when I say cider, I mean the pressed apple kind, not the alcoholic variety.

I'm being needlessly pedantic sorry lol.

Oh! And today, after years of trying to fan-cast a new Kolchak series, my guy & I came up with the perfect new Kolchak - Bob Odenkirk. I dare you to disagree. You'll be wrong lol.

Anywho, I am still planning on catching up on my missing Cozytober pieces, despite having missed... a lot, so I'm going to need to get back to the drawing pad.

Go Enjoy Something, folks!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Promise I Have Been Working On Stuff

So uh... it's been a hot minute, huh.

I have been a bit caught up in my Cozytober prompts, and I've neglected taking pics of anything like the two dragons I'm crocheting, the Autumnal cardigan I'm crocheting, the approximately 7k cups of coffee I've consumed, etc.

In fact the only reason I remembered to do anything relating to this blog today was that I... had a bit of an accident.

See, I have this table easel.

It's not the most robust thing - not like a proper pochade box or a full sized easel, but it's great for holding stuff up and letting me get a sketch down.

I don't have a dedicated place to put it. I don't have a whole lot of dedicated storage, to be quite honest. It generally gets put on top of my dresser or on the corner of my desk. Unfortunately, I stack a lot of things in these areas, including a tiny little squirrel-sized picnic table my dad made for me.

My dumb butt thought laying the easel down on top of the mini table was a good idea.

Gravity and me trying to fish some socks to sleep in out of the drawer directly under the table disagreed.

Somehow something got wrapped around something else and levered the easel in such a way that it launched itself at my face and came down on my glasses. Hard.

Which means that I just essentially punched myself in the nose with my glasses with a bunch of extra steps.

And since I can never ever resist telling the world about the increasingly bizarre ways I hurt myself, here we are.

Like I mentioned, I'm working on a bunch of Cozytober stuff, I've crocheted a few things since last we met, and I've been keeping busy by guzzling coffee and cuddling my cat (she wanted to be held like a baby today and wouldn't stop pestering my folks til I scooped her up and snuggled her in front of them lol). I will continue to do these things after tonight, probably with a stupid bruise on my stupid nose.

Just thought y'all deserved to know about this nonsense lol!

For now, though,

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

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 It Is Raining

Today's weather has been absolutely fall-like (which I'm very okay with). I'm in terry capris and a flannel shirt over a tank top, and I have been holed up in my room most of the day.

I'm so okay with that!

Today was rainy and windy and gray, and it was the perfect day to cozy up in my blanket fort and untangle a skein of yarn that I am now splitting the strands of. It's a cake of It's A Wrap, so that's not exactly hard, since it's just four strands held together to begin with. I'm not looking forward to dealing with the damaged strands, but eh, that's life.

I did 100 more stitches on each of the parts to the pouch today, too.

I also played a lot of Stardew Valley.

My farmer has a roommate! Yeah, I chose the bachelor option with having Krobus the Shadowguy merchant move in with you! Which means I demolished that friggin crib posthaste. Krobus is a premium roommate - he makes breakfast (fried eel! strange buns!), he brings in a little house plant to share with you, and he gives great hugs.

10/10 would roommate again.

I kind of wish that you could get Linus to move into one of your little multiplayer cabins for the winter or something.

I've made this playthrough specifically to make friends with The Weird Ones - Linus, Krobus, Rasmodius, etc. I have accidentally also maxxed out Friendship with Sandy, but that works for me. I'm always a bit alarmed by how easy it is to get Emily to her first cutscene.

Anyway, all I need are 2 more apples and I'll be done with the Community Center by the end of Year 2! Sadly, no one is willing to sell me apples, and my bats are apparently obsessed with Salmonberry, Blackberry, and Spice Berry...

Also I have a chicken named Frozzy and a Duck named Junabell. I love them.

But enough about the game, here's the plan for the next couple days:

1) paint something for Thursday!

2) work on more crochet!

3) sew the pocket linings for both Z's pouch and mine.

4) cuddle the cat.

I have great plans :P

I think that'll about do it for tonight!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

In Which I Learned A New Skill!

 Ages and ages ago, I bought a pack of silk mawata and a drop spindle off of the Internet Shopping Monopoly and swore I was going to learn to spin yarn.

Today I was working on the back/flap and gusset sections of the pouch that never ends and saw it sitting across the room. In a moment of impulse, I grabbed them and started setting to work.

They're so pretty, too!

Pulling one mawata from the pile is... not easy. And with my rough hands and fuzzy arms, it means that I now feel like I'm constantly under attack by spiders lol.

First you have to delicately tease one of the layers loose, then you need to find a point near the middle and wiggle your thumbs through, creating a hole. Next, you widen that hole with your thumbs, then your hands, then your wrists, pulling and smoothing until you like the thickness of the hank. Once you like how thick the big ol circle of silk is, you find a weak point and pull until it separates. With a long, wispy piece of silk roving at your side, you now get your drop spindle.

I looped the thin, wispy end of the silk around the hook on mine, holding the hank about 6" from the hook, and then I gave my spindle a, well, spin.

It took a bit for me to figure out how to draw the fibers to the right thickness, how to manage the thread, how to smooth the thread, and all kinds of other things, and I'm sure I still did it wrong, but I'm a little less than halfway through my stack of silk and, well....

I'd say that looks a lot like silk thread to me...

Is it even? No. Is it consistent? NO. Is it thread? Sure looks like it!

I'm... shockingly pleased with this. From some cursory research, apparently I can just... use this? But I'd really rather let it relax itself on a niddy noddy or something.

I do not have a niddy noddy.

I will have to improvise. I have some ideas, one of which is to use my easel, or possibly the tiny picnic table my dad made me. If there are enough leftover pipe bits in the basement I might use some of those. Hell, a long stick with two shorter sticks would do in a pinch.

So that was my Tuesday. I'm planning to do some fun art tomorrow for Thursday's blog, and also to work more on my various fiber projects for next Monday. For now, though, I'm going to go put some soothing lotion on my hands because I've got a hot spot on my left pointer finger (on the right hand side of my first knuckle from the tip) from pulling the hanks for spinning. Today was a blast, though, even with the intermittent downpours.

Actually, I have to talk for a minute about the weather.

We went from a day where the high felt like 94℉/34,4℃ to having the last few days being an ambient temperature of around... 74℉/23,3℃ . Sure, we've had rain every single day, and sure, the power keeps going out around town, but the weather has felt glorious.

If every single summer day could hover between 70-78℉/21,1-25,5℃  I would be very happy.

Especially with lower humidity.

Weather rant over lol.

I'm gonna go take care of that hotspot.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which Heat And I Are Not Friends

I could not sleep at all last night. Between the heat and how hard it was for me to find my collection of tank tops, I was exhausted. I got up at 4:30AM to go to the bathroom and just... gave up. The sun was rising, the birds were singing, the cat was curious.

I got some coffee and went back to bed. The second time I got up, I went down for a second hefty mug of coffee and curled up on the couch while my head sloshed. It honestly felt like my skull was filled with hot water, I was so tired. Eventually I dozed until around noon, then I got my day started.

Today's temperatures were about the same as yesterday, but we had about 20% more humidity so it really just sucked.

I'm sleepy, I'm annoyed at how little I've done on the crocheted pouch, and I'm creatively washed out. It's hard to write when all you can think about is the way your armpits are sticking to themselves or the way you can feel steam building under your spine where you lay on your bed.

It's hard to draw, too - holding a pencil makes my fingers hot, and frankly, I just can't think of something to draw.

I'll figure it out by the end of tomorrow, but yeesh.

I'm pooped.

And we are not getting relief until Sunday. Our daily highs are 80℉ (26,7℃) and up, power rates just increased by apparently enough to double our bill, and we already had a brownout yesterday so it's just gonna be a really crummy summer, I think.

I hope they don't jack up the water bill, too, because I foresee a plentitude of cool showers in my future.

We'll see what the rest of the week brings, but I'm not going to fight through a heat headache to do art. If I make art, I make art.

Meanwhile, I've just dug up a bunch of old black pants that don't fit me anymore (and won't unless I drop an unreasonable amount of weight - one pair is from middle school, when I was about 13), which I might turn into various projects, I've got a pair of shorts to repair the waistband of, a winter coat in need of a zipper.

I've got work to do, in short, and I don't think this is the week it will happen.

In fact, I think tonight is just going to be for watching videos and relaxing until the glowing hate ball (the sun) rises again.

I'll do my best to keep posting.

Go Enjoy Something (maybe the beach if it's hot where you are, too),

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 Today Was... Not That Productive...
Yes Because of Video Games

I'm gonna come right out and say I'm avoiding the Depths, specifically the Minshi Woods Chasm. Yeah, I'm at that point in the game. The reasons are many - I'm afraid of the dark, I don't want to fight the Gloom Hands, my controller drift makes using flying or driving devices really annoying, etc - but honestly, I just wanted to have some more fun in the overworld. Clearing monster camps? Super fun. Teaming up with the Monster Control Squad? A blast. Hunting critters for parts so I can have chonky armor? Delightful. I need more fireproof lizards. I drank most of them not realizing that Goron City doesn't catch you on fire anymore.

Now that I've given you an update on my Tears of The Kingdom progress I've got another confession to make:

I did not draw, paint, crochet, cook, or watch wrestling today. I haven't written. I haven't read.

I barely feel awake, and it's only 8:30pm.

Maybe I'm not at my best.

I am, however, going to be spending tomorrow doing a lot of things besides playing TotK. I plan to go for a walk, despite the mugginess we anticipate. I plan to draw. I plan to paint. I plan to add a few rungs to the belt, though as I continue, I begin to realize that maybe this is not the waistband I should use. I'm beginning to wonder if I should instead just go with a more traditional style of skirt or just make a pair of flaps since I don't really need a full on skirt.

I'll still try to finish that waistband - it can be used for another skirt another time, but I might try other patterns. We'll see.

In art news, the 2-in-1 is back up and running again (or it was yesterday). We replaced the battery (again) so it should be okay.

So if you have any Requests for me, send them as a message along with a coffee on Ko-Fi telling me what category you'd like to see - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Location, Food, Dedbert, Geometric, or Word - and I'll work on it for Thursday!

I am going to watch some vids and go to bed soon.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Am Very Sleepy, but Content.

Last week I was just returned from a trip out of town where I had a lot of fun but didn't get much done. I haven't done a whole lot this week either, unless you count playing Tears of the Kingdom for hours and serving as furniture for my cat. I did go for a nice walk today, added patches to a pair of jeans a couple days ago, painted a tiny piece of art, wrote all of about 1200 words since the 14th in two separate stories (I've gotten some more work done on that wrestling story I've been working on, plus I added more to the other one I've been keeping track of on here!)

Only about 330 of those words are from the piece I've been keeping track of, but that has brought the whole wordcount of that manuscript to a whopping 17650 words!!!

In other news, I got some Crocs as a belated birthday gift from one of my sisters! They're celery green and comfy as heck. Yeah, I'm one of those dorks who wears the Idiocracy shoes. They're comfy.

I'm still trying to figure out how to work on the skirt that I'm trying to make for the Ren Faire in September. Should I make panels and then shrink them down to fit on the waistband? If yes, then I'm thinking I'd make a few different panels, each separated by a braid detail. Maybe animal motifs? I still don't know. We'll have to wait and see how wide the waistband gets. I'm thinking the transition from waistband to panel would be v-stich double crochet, but I'm not sure.

The plan for the rest of the week is to keep making art for Thursday, especially if anyone makes a request via Ko-Fi or commissions me. I will also keep working on the crochet waistband and show any progress I make next Monday. Next Tuesday, I'll be back to blather!

For now, though, I'm probably going to go to sleep, because boy am I tired lol.

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