Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 6

Lilie On The #Dogs June 2023's Vet Trip (Finally)

Hi everyone.  This isLilie the Westie.

 

I’m finally going to tell you how our vet trip went lastmonth.

 

We had to stand outside for ages and ages, because theperson with the car came a bit late. Luckily Mummy always allows for late pick-ups, so we still made it tothe vet (though Mummy called them on the way there, in case we did get there abit late, so they knew we were still coming).

 

I didn’t know the person driving.  And it was a strange car to me too.  But it wasn’t a taxi.  I know it wasn’t a taxi, because the taxidrivers go away and we have a different one to go home, but this person waitedfor us like Nana does.  But it wasn’tNana either.  It was strange.  But Mummy and Daddy told us to get in thecar, and they got in too, so it must have been alright.  And we did end up at the vet, and then homeagain, so there you go.

 

Anyway, me and Logan got weighed at the vet.  I now weigh 9.2 kilos, and Logan weighs 16.2 kilos.  That means I lost about a kilo, and Loganlost about two.  The vet waspleased.  It didn’t matter so much forme, because I was already in my safe weight range (even if only just).  But Logan had been a little over his, so thevet was glad he’s now in his safe weight range again with his weight.

 

Also, other than the issues we knew about with my itchiesand my legs – which are staying under control right now – Logan and I areperfectly healthy.  Everyone was happyabout that too, of course.

 

So, all in all, it was a pretty successful vet trip.

 

And I love that Daddy came with us.  I love my Daddy!

 

Lots of licks,

Lilie

#SW2023 - Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale Still On!

It’s Summer in the Northern Hemisphere and Winter in the Southern Hemisphere. That means it’s time for Smashwords’ largest mega sale of the year, The 15th annual Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale, which runs July 1 through July 31.

 

In other words, all this month, you can find most of my books – poetry collections and children’s stories - available for a promotional price at Smashwords as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale!

 

Find my books -  and many more - at https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos all month!

 

Or go directly to my Smashwords author page at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/toriz

 

And remember: Smashwords makes their books available in multiple formats, which means there will be a format that works for you, regardless of your preferred method of reading eBooks.  In fact, since one of those formats is html, if you can read this post, you can read my books!

 

Tell your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, pets, random people you meet on the street... Basically, tell anyone and everyone you think might be interested, or who will listen while at least pretending to be interested.

#AmReading - The Books Of The First Half Of 2023

We're half way through the year, and so far it's been a pretty productive reading year for me.  I'm something like 13 books ahead of schedule on my Goodreads reading challenge goal, having now read 38 of the 52 books I pledged to read in 2023.  At least, that's how it stands at the cut-off point for this post.

 

Anyway, since I keep forgetting to post what I’ve been reading eachmonth, I thought I’d catch you up on what I read during the first half of theyear all in one post.  Though I’m notgoing to include my ratings and reviews, or the post will get way too long.  So, if you want to know what I thought of aparticular book, you can either check out my reviews over on Goodreads (whichyou don’t need to be a member of to see my reviews) by going to my Goodreads page, or ask me about it in the comments section of this post or something.

 

There's quite a variety of genres on the list, such as historical, classics, mystery, children's stories, poetry, fantasy, paranormal romance, and post apocalyptic, for example.  In other words, this post is a perfect example of how diverse and eclectic my reading tastes are.

 

Anyhow, here’s what I’ve read so far this year, whether for book clubs, because I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review, or just because I felt like it, in the orderI read them.

 

~

 

The Amish Groom (The Men of Lancaster County, #1) by MindyStarns Clark & Susan Meissner

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen, #1) by JoanneFluke

American Demon (The Hollows, #14) by Kim Harrison

Magical Selection by Katrina Cope

A Sicilian Romance by Ann Radcliffe

The Amish Blacksmith (The Men of Lancaster County, #2) byMindy Starns Clark & Susan Meissner

Dragon Moon (Dragoria: The Lost Dragon Realm, #1) by KatrinaCope

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Million Dollar Demon (The Hollows, #15) by Kim Harrison

Immortal Rising (Argeneau, #34) by Lynsay Sands

The Lost Lands (The Horn’s Hoax, #2) by Hector Cantu Kalifa

Trouble with the Cursed (The Hollows, #16) by Kim Harrison

The Amish Clockmaker (The Men of Lancaster County, #3) byMindy Starns Clark & Susan Meissner

Conduct Books and the History of the Ideal Woman by TabithaKenlon

Demon’s Reign (The Bloodwood Saga, #1) by David Estes &Ben Galley

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

The Borrowers Afield (The Borrowers, #2) by Mary Norton

The Amish Widower (The Men of Lancaster County, #4) byVirginia Smith

The Borrowers Afloat (The Borrowers, #3) by Mary Norton

More Poetic Meanderings by K. Morris

King of the Wastes (Hell Divers, #8) by Nicholas SansburySmith

The Borrowers Aloft (The Borrowers, #4) by Mary Norton

Poor Stainless by Mary Norton

Ivanhoe by Walter Scott

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (Outlander, #9) by DianaGabaldon

After the Bite (Argeneau, #35) by Lynsay Sands

Shadebound (The Last King, #1) by David Estes & G.D.Penman

Bloodbound (The Last King, #2) by David Estes & G.D.Penman

The Chocolate Cat Caper (A Chocoholic Mystery, #1) by JoAnnaCarl

Radioactive (Hell Divers, #9) by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Fallout (Hell Divers, #10) by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

The Borrowers Avenged (The Borrowers, #5) by Mary Norton,Joe Krush, & Beth Krush

Demons of Good and Evil (The Hollows, #17) by Kim Harrison

 The Chocolate Bear Burglary (A Chocoholic Mystery, #2) by JoAnnaCarl

My Friend's Robot Girlfriend and Other Humorous Verses by K Morris

False Colours by Georgette Heyer

The 15th #Smashwords Summer/Winter #EBook #Sale - #SWSale2023

It’s Summer in the Northern Hemisphere and Winter in theSouthern Hemisphere. That means it’s time for Smashwords’ largest mega sale ofthe year, The 15th annual Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale, which runsJuly 1 through July 31.

 

In other words, starting tomorrow, you can find most of mybooks – poetry collections and children’s stories - available for a promotionalprice at Smashwords as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale!

 

Find my books -  andmany more - at https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promosall month!

 

Or go directly to my Smashwords author page at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/toriz

 

And remember: Smashwords makes their books available inmultiple formats, which means there will be a format that works for you,regardless of your preferred method of reading eBooks.  In fact, since one of those formats is html,if you can read this post, you can read my books!

 

Tell your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, pets, random people you meet on the street... Basically, tell anyone and everyone you think might be interested, or who will listen while at least pretending to be interested.

June 23rd 2023 Random Ramblings

The landlords' repair guy I mentioned last week came near the start ofthe time slot he gave us, and he wasn’t here long, so he had been and gone bythe time last week’s post actually went live, but not with enough time for meto come in and edit the post.

 

It turned out one of the issues we could have dealt with ifwe’d known what to look for: we thought the heater in my craft room/office wasn’tworking.  But it turned out it was onlyturned off (though why it was turned off we have no idea).  But, hey, the person doing the inspection on behalf of the landlord didn't figure it out either, so at least it wasn't just us.

 

We hadn’t noticed that it wasn't working before this past Winter, because it wasmore a storage space than a functioning room for most of the first two years wewere here, but I definitely noticed this past Winter when I was in thereregularly.  All Winter I’d been making dowithout it, making use of blankets whenever it got cold enough in there that Ineeded to do something to keep warm while working in my room, and learning itwas for nothing was both funny and frustrating – especially frustrating.

 

I’d checked, and thought I’d found and tried all the knobsthat controlled whether it’s on and how high. Apparently I’d missed one I didn’t know to look for, because it was onthe opposite side to the rest, and not so easily spotted.  Now that one is turned to the “on” position,my heater works.  Not that I need itright now, since it’s been pretty hot most days (though thankfully cooled down a bit after we had some rainstorms at the start of the week). But at least I’ll be able to make use of it when the cold weather comesthis Winter.

 

*~*

 

My Mam came out of hospital Friday evening.

 

They had things to the point where there wasn’t reallyanything they could do at the hospital that couldn’t be done either at home orvia outpatient appointments, so didn’t see the point in keeping her in thehospital any longer.  I’m sure I don’tneed to tell you how happy she was to get to go home, even if she does need people coming in every day to help her do things she can no longer manage for herself, which I know she finds frustrating.

 

Hopefully she won’t end up back in hospital again anytime soon.

 

~

 

Because of my Mam's health, and what an energetic pup he is, itwas decided that Cai should be re homed.  So,the woman who had been taking care of him while Mam was in hospital this secondtime has him.  She's a friend of a friend.  The woman was given the optionof keeping Cai, or us re homing him elsewhere, and she decided to keep him.  I hope he gives her many happy years of companionship.

 

Izabel went back to my Mam though, since Izi is more manageable.  She was picked up on Saturday, shortly before lunch time, by one of the people currently helping my Mam.  Izi was very happy to see her Mami again.

 

I think Lilie kind of misses Izi, since the two of them werebecoming great friends.  But Logan is definitelyglad Izi has gone home.  I'm sure he's glad not to have her joining forces with Lilie to gang up on him.  Plus, he shares my feelings about keeping socializing to smaller groups as much as possible.  He did a sort of doggy happy dance when she left, and then stretched out on the bed for a long nap.  LOL!

 

*~*

 

Lilie and Logan have a vet appointment on Monday (June 26th)at 3:45pm and 4:00pm respectively.  Don’tworry.  It should just be a smoothroutine visit; it’s time for their annual shots and health checks, that’s all.

 

Normally we’d get a ride from one of my parents, or pay fora taxi, but with neither of them driving right now for various reasons, we’retrying a new transport scheme for disabled and low income people that’srecently started up around here, which will be a lot cheaper than the taxiwould have been (which is one of the main points of having the scheme, theother being help with transport for disabled and elderly people).

 

I like the fact it's an option for more than just those of us with disabilities, since most places with schemes like this will only take people who don't come under the disabled or elderly labels if they happen to be traveling with someone who does.

 

It sounds like a great scheme, so I hope it’s as good as itsounds, since it will come in handy for us a lot if it is.

 

It should be fine though, since it was recommended by myAunt Bev (who mans their phones sometimes, was the person who gave my Dad thenumber to give to us, and also happened to be the person who answered the phoneto me when I called to learn more about it) as well as a family friend namedLaura who I’ve known since childhood (who is related to the guy who runsit).  Ah, the joys of living in arelatively rural village where it seems like everyone either knows or is relatedsomehow to everyone else.  LOL!

 

*~*

 

My spoon reserves are still pretty low from the events of the past couple of months, but I did manage toget some rest time in during the past couple of days, which helped a little.  Just as well really, since I’m one of the peoplewho have been chosen to host for the virtual parts of the ACB’s 2023 convention,starting with the virtual only portion that’s currently going on, andcontinuing throughout the first week of July with the hybrid convention.

 

So, if I’m slow replying to comments, visiting blogs, etc,it’s because I’ll be resting when I can between hosting assignments, since I’mpretty sure I’ll need to if I’m going to  make sure I have the energy to do them well.

Of Hot Weather And The Various Events Of My Week

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

 

~

 

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

 

Yes, my Mam is still in hospital, though they hope to haveher stable enough to go home soon.  She’llnever be fully better, but I’m sure she’ll be glad to go home.  Anyway, my brother, Wayne, and I went to seeher yesterday (Thursday).  We got a ridefrom Wayne’s downstairs neighbour.  Wedidn’t tell her we were coming, so it was a nice surprise for her.

 

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

 

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

 

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

Of #Tortoises & #Dogs, Workmen, And Virtual Parties

The photos at the top of this post are of when Artemis and Izi met face to face when Arti was out of the vivarium on Wednesday.  In the first one they're looking at each other up close, and in the second one they're nose to nose.

 

For those who might be worried: yes, this meeting was strictly supervised.  The dogs are never left in the room alone with Artemis.  In fact, I think you can see me a little in the photo.  Actually, Artemis is always supervised when out of the vivarium regardless of where the dogs are, just to be on the safe side.

 

Anyway, neither Izabel nor Artemis are sure what to make of each other at the moment.

 

As you may have figured out from how I'm starting this post - or may have seen in my reply to a comment on last week's post yesterday - yes, we still have Izabel here right now, because Mam is still not in a position to take her back.  Cai is still with someone else though.

 

Lilie and Izi are becoming great friends, but they keepganging up on Logan – who would mostly rather nap than play, and tires ofplaying quickly when he does play – and he’s not happy about it, as I’m sureyou can imagine.  So, a couple of timesthis past week, I took advantage of the nice weather and took just him out inthe yard for a while, leaving both girls indoors with Kelly, and I sat on theswing seat while he alternated between sitting beside me and pouncing onunsuspecting rocks.  Plus, Kelly tookjust the girls for walks a couple of times, so they could burn off some energywhile Logan got some peace.  Logandefinitely seemed glad of the breaks. And I’m sure Lilie and Izi enjoyed having some walks at a faster pacethan walks usually are if Logan and I go too (Logan and I just like to slowly plod along; Logan and I don't do fast-paced walks... My leg can't handle it, and Logan's just not an energetic sort of dog).

 

With the issues Lilie has with her legs, as well as the factshe’s older than Izi and Logan (Lilie is six, Izi is four and a half, and Loganis four) you’d think Lilie would be the one who walks slowly and wants to be left alone.  But, no. Lilie’s very energetic, and almost always up for some play time, even at times when you cansee her issues with her back legs are causing her some pain.  We try not to let her get too carried awaywith pushing herself, but she’s happy and waggy-tailed while doing it, so...*shrugs*

 

~

 

As I said, we've been having really nice weather.  It's warm enough to be nice for sitting outside without the need for a jacket, and Kelly doesn't complain about my desire to keep the window open even at night (which I'd do most of the year, but he wishes I wouldn't do in colder weather) but not so hot I'm whining about it yet.  Still hovering around the 20C (72F) range in the day, and dropping a little at night.

 

*~*

 

Just to make things even more fun – and I use the word “fun”with a heavy dose of sarcasm – the landlord (or the agency we rent through, ormaybe both) decided now was a good time to do the repair work we’ve been askingthem to do since we showed it to them when they did the inspection back in March.

 

Technically, it was a good time to do it.  I mean, the nice weather means the damppatches have had time to dry, it’s a good time to need to have all the windowsopen, and the stuff they put on to treat the damp, as well as the fresh coat ofpaint needed on those walls, could dry quickly with the nice weather.  It just wasn’t fun for me being shut in aroom with three dogs who had a few things to say about strange men in the housefor the bulk of the two days the work was being done, and I could have donewithout that experience right now.  Logan wasn't happy about it either, since it was even harder than normal for him to get away from the girls during those two days.

 

On the bright side, they did work hard to get it done in twodays, and even not only moved things themselves to get to where they needed towork, but tried their best to put them back properly.  We’ll still have to go behind them and sortthem a bit better, but I appreciate that they tried, and am definitely glad thework has now been done, even if I have to admit to some frustration at needingto re-do some of the organization we’d literally just finished doing in some ofthe rooms.  Not to mention, thefrustration of trying to do the cooking call on Tuesday while surrounded bybarking dogs.

 

*~*

 

Last Friday there was a virtual Zoom birthday party forKaila.  Her husband, Jimmy, organized itas a surprise for her.  Kaila’s the onein charge of the ACB Crafters (sort of the boss of the ACB Crafters admin team,which I’m part of) and I consider her a friend, so I wanted to go.  The party was at midnight my time because ofthe time difference, and I’m not a big fan of parties as a rule, but since itwas online – and since I happen to really like Kaila – I went anyhow.  I know it made Kaila happy to have so many ofher friends there to help her celebrate her birthday, even if we could only bethere virtually.

 

Of course, I wanted cheesecake after Kaila said it was whatshe was having as a birthday cake, so on Saturday – after a long chat withCarl, since we hadn’t spoken much since Easter – I decided to try one of therecipes I had for a tofu-based one that requires baking.  I was making some adjustments because Iwanted to turn the blueberry cheesecake in to a lemon one (mostly because I didn’thave any blueberries) but I didn’t add enough extra lemon juice, so it came outmore vanilla than lemon.  It wasdefinitely cheesecake consistency though, and it tasted good, so that’s themain thing.  Sorry, but I didn’t take aphoto.

 

~

 

Speaking of birthdays...

 

It was my Grandma’s birthday on Wednesday (June 7th)and it’s Kelly’s Mom’s birthday today (June 9th).

 

Grandma sometimes reads my blog, but I’m pretty sure Kelly’sMom doesn’t.  Still, happy birthday,Grandma, and Mom!

 

And, though I doubt she'll see this: happy birthday to Kaila too.

 

~

 

I went to another virtual party during the past week too:the ACB Crafters third birthday bash.

 

The ACB Crafters started as the occasional call on the ACBCommunity on June 7th 2020.

 

For those who don’t know: “ACB” stands for American Councilof the Blind.  They started doing communitycalls as a way for visually impaired people to connect with others during thepandemic, and it’s exploded in to a huge community.  The ACB Crafters – which I’m part of theadmin team for – is part of that community, and went from the occasional Zoom call to between three and seven calls a week.

 

So, to celebrate three years of crafty calls, we held avirtual birthday party this past Wednesday, (June 7th).  I don’t usually go to the crafty call thathappens on Wednesdays, but I went this time, since it was the birthday bash.

  

That means I went to more parties this past week than I usually go to in a year.  I'm glad they were virtual though.  I like virtual parties more than ones in person.  I'm not a big social gatherings and parties fan.

Stumbling From May To June

We're already a couple of days in to June.  Can you believe it? Where has this year gone?

 

Thankfully, we haven't yet seen any extremely hot weather, though the weather has remained warm.  I mean, it is sticking around the high end of my tolerance for heat, but hasn't yet gotten beyond that point.  It's been around 20C in the day, and around 11C at night (that's somewhere around 70F for the daytime temperature, and somewhere around 54F for the nighttime temperature).  I've got no complaints about the nighttime temperatures, and I'm even OK with the daytime temperatures at the moment, but my preference for cooler weather means I don't want it to get warmer.  This is perfectly fine, thank you very much! If it was up to me, it would stay like this until it's time for the cold Winter weather to return.  What? I can dream... Can't I?

 

Anyway, if I could have done exactly what my body wanted to duringthe past week, most of the time would have been spent in bed, resting.  The trouble is, when you spend an extendedperiod of time – such a    s a couple of weeks, for example - neglecting any taskthat isn’t completely essential, you eventually find yourself needing to tacklemany of those tasks, with the addition of any that crop up while you’re tryingto catch up.  And that’s the position Ifound myself in, so that I spent the week alternating between trying to rest enough to at least recover enough spoons to function, and trying to actually do all the things.  Resting enough to regain a few extra spoons would have been even better, but I’m justgrateful I was able to manage to rest enough to get enough spoons to have theenergy to just about cope with doing what I did.  I feel like I've been stuck in survival mode to make it all happen, which isn't ideal, but it got things done.  Sometimes thathas to be good enough, and this was one of those times.

 

So, despite everything, last weekend was mainly devoted to catching upon housework and blog posts and such, with a couple of phone calls and Zoom calls thrown in,and rests where and when I could.  Imight have skipped the Zoom calls, but they were my book clubs, one of which Iactually facilitate myself, so I didn’t want to not be there.  I mean, even the one I facilitate I couldhave skipped; I could have had someone step in for me and facilitate the ACBCrafters book club in my place if I needed to. But I wanted to be there, exhausted and in pain though I was.

 

If you're interested: we'll be reading "The Chocolate Bear Burglary" (A Chocaholic Mystery, #2) by JoAnna Carl in June for the ACB Crafters book club, and the June book for the 18th and 19th century book club is "False Colours" by Georgette Heyer.

Then, with the weekend not even completely over, my Mam ended up back in the hospital.

 

Still being beyond exhausted from about two weeks of dealing with both Mam’sdogs on top of our own, I knew there was no way I could deal with both of themcoming here again.  But Izi is a relativelycalm dog as a rule, so we agreed - with some reluctance, I admit, due to my level of exhaustion - to take her back if someone else would haveCai.  I mean, I feel bad for Izi and Caihaving to be separated from each other on top of being pulled away from Mam andtheir home again, but Cai is a very energetic pup, who becomes very easily overexcited, and having him here againwhen I’m already so drained from the last time would not have been a good plan. So Izi came back to stay with us Sundayevening, while Cai went to stay with someone else.  At the time of writing this, Mam is still in hospital, and Izi is still here.

 

Lilie and Logan are accepting the situation, though with some reluctance.  They like Izi, but are clearly not happy about their play date and sleepover lasting so long.  All three dogs are wondering when Izi will be going home, and hoping it will be soon.  They really don't understand.

 

Anyway, since I was hoping not to fall behind on things again, the rest of the week basically continued in asimilar manner to how the weekend had gone, with trying to catch up on – and keep up with – things bothonline and offline, attending a couple of Zoom calls, and resting when possible - which rarely seemed to be.  Only from Sunday evening onward we were doing so while having an extradog around the house.

 

Despite somehow - and please don't ask me how - being reasonably successful at getting things done, I feel like I've been stumbling through the past couple of weeks in a haze of exhaustion, and would just love a few days where I can just rest and not need to worry about doing anything else.  Unfortunately, things need to be done (and the things I'm doing by choice I feel like I need to do to retain enough of my sanity to be able to deal with the rest) so I don't see that happening any time soon.

*~*

 

In other news...

 

Just like basically everything else in the universe right now (or, so it seems) KDP printing costs are increasing, which means the price of the  paperback versions of my books will need to increase to reflect that if I want to get any royalties from paperback book sales, which - though I'm not publishing with any hopes of becoming rich - I would like to do, as I'm sure you can appreciate.

 

Thankfully, they had a “bulk update” option they wereoffering on the author dashboard, so I was able to take advantage of that,rather than needing to update the price of around 60 titles individually.  I do wish it hadn’t been necessary though.

 

I had hoped to say something before the update to the prices was completed, and to give you a chance to grab them at the original price before they actually increased in cost, but I forgot to mention it in last week's post, and then they did the update quicker than I expected after I clicked the "bulk update" button (they said it would take a couple of weeks, but I got an email saying it was done within a couple of hours).  At the time of writing this, the changes haven't been reflected on their pages, so they're still at the original prices, but the price may have increased to the new list price before you have a chance to see this and grab them.  Sorry.  If you hurry though, you still might be in time to grab them at the old price...I mean, it couldn't hurt to check, could it? If you want to grab copies, that is.

Random Ramblings - May 26th 2023

We’ve had several quite warm days recently, which they say will stick around over the next couple of weeks, and at some point after that it's meant to get hotter.  I'm glad it's not meant to get hotter yet.  But with it already at the high end of the temperature range I can tolerate,I’m not looking forward to when it does one bit.

 

*~*

 

    Anyway, as you likely figured out from last week's post attempt, May hasn’t been going quite as I planned.

 

It started OK.  Then we got to about the middle of the month.  I thought we might continue some of the de-cluttering and organizing.  Maybe even finally look in to getting thethings we need removed that need to be disposed of rather than given awayremoved from our house.  But none of thatended up happening after all, and I’m so drained from the past couple of weeksthat it won’t be happening any time soon, because my spoons are long since used up, and I don’t have the energy todeal with anything non-essential at this point.

 

My Mam ended up back in hospital.  This time she was there for ten days.

Ten days with four dogs (Lilie and Logan, plus Mam’s two:Izi and Cai) in the house is too much, especially when two of them (Izi andCai) aren’t used to hearing the comings and goings of people going to thenearby shop, two of them (Lilie and Cai) are easily excitable, one of them(Cai) is an untrained puppy, and one of them (Logan) isn’t a big fan of toomuch play time.

 

We ended up with me and the dogs camping out in the livingroom so that at least Kelly could get some sleep.

 

This is what it sounds like when four dogs are in the same room, barking because someone decided to use our driveway to turn a lorry around in (which is what the beeping you may be able to hear over the barking is).

 

 

At least, I hope the clip will work for you.  It wouldn’t go on YouTube properly, evenafter I converted it to a format that should work, and I haven’t tried doingthis kind of clip directly in to a blog post before.  I figured it was worth a try though.

 

Either way, by day four Artemis was hiding in his cave or tuckinghimself in his shell in an attempt to get away from the chaos.  By day six the dogs had decided they’d hadenough of each other’s company, and Lilie especially was opting for sleepingupstairs with Kelly rather than staying in the living room with the rest of us.

 

Don’t get me wrong, Izi and Cai are adorable dogs.  But, like I said, four dogs in one house istoo much.  Sure, we have a reasonablesized house.  But without a large backyard for them to tire themselves out in, and with people constantly forgettingthat a private driveway is not a place to park when you’re goint to the shop,even if it is very convenient to park there, four dogs definitely started tofeel like too many very quickly.  Soeveryone was extremely glad when Izi and Cai went home on Wednesday evening.

 

Anyway, my Mam is doing as well as can be expected.  That’s all I’m going to say about it though, because she specifically requested that nothing more than that was said, especially online.

 

*~*

 

In other news, I made these little flowers in a crochetclass a couple of weeks ago:

 

 

~

 

Also, they were teaching Tunisian Crochet in another crochetclass.  I wasn’t going to do it.  I mean, do I really need to learn anotherfibre art? After all, I already do needle knitting, loom knitting, and crochet,and want to learn tatting.

 

But it was the crochet group doing it, and I like spendingtime with them on their Zoom calls.  So Ifigured I’d go along to hang out with them anyhow.  I figured I’d work on my blanket while theylearned Tunisian Crochet.

 

For those who don’t know: Tunisian Crochet is a kind of hybridbetween crochet and knitting, which uses some of the stitches for both, plus acouple of its own, and where you often have several loops on the hook at anygiven time (hence needing special hooks, because they’re longer than the usualcrochet hooks, with a knobbly bit on one end like a knitting needle has to stopthe loops sliding off that end).

 

Anyway, I think you can guess where this is going.

 

Yep.  I ended upgiving it a go.

 

I had to use a regular crochet hook, since I didn’t have anyof the longer ones for Tunisian Crochet, but I wasn’t the only one doing itwith a regular crochet hook.  Here’s thelittle sample piece I did while learning:

 

 

Our wedding anniversary was this past Monday (May 22nd)and Kelly had been asking if I wanted anything specific from him for ouranniversary.  So I ended up asking him  buy me a set of Tunisian Crochet hooks.

 

Yeah, you saw that coming, didn’t you? LOL!

 

Of course, with dealing with the four dogs, I haven’t hadtime or energy to play with them yet. But when I can I’m going to make more little squares like the one I didto try Tunisian Crochet out, and then they can be part of the blanket withsquares done with the different fibre arts that I plan to eventually make.  "Eventually" being the key word here.

 

~

 

Oh, and... In case you're wondering... We had pizza for dinner for our anniversary.  With the dog chaos in full swing, we didn't have the time or energy to do more than that to celebrate.  Not that we do much anyway, if I'm totally honest.  We really aren't big on large celebrations, as regular followers of this blog likely already know.

 

*~*

 

I like having fun bottles to put water in to drink.  In a weird sort of way it encourages me to rememberto drink more, because I like the bottles. Whatever works, right? And I just got a new one.  It’s a Harry Potter one.  Spacifcally, it’s a Ravenclaw one, and hereit is:

 

 

One picture shows the whole bottle, and the other is a closeup on the Ravenclaw crest.

 

Kelly wants a Slytherin version, so I’m going to get him onesoon.

 

*~*

 

Speaking of Harry Potter things: one of Kelly’s birthdaycards was a Harry Potter themed one.

 

I actually meant to show you his birthday cards, but Iforgot.  So, here they are:

 The Harry Potter one is from my Dad, and the other one is from my Grandma.

 

Most people we know don't tend to bother with cards these days, hence him only having two birthday cards.

 

*~*

 

I think that covers the main points of the past couple ofweeks.  And I need a nap, so I’m going tolet this do regardless.

 

I hope you’ve had a more relaxing couple of weeks than Ihave.

 

Not much of a post... Sorry

 

It’s time for me to put a blog post together for this week.  If I don’t write something today, there won’tbe a blog post for this week, and I don’t like missing posting days.  So, I’m sitting here, trying to put a posttogether.

 

The trouble is, though I have a few things I could share –including an explanation as to why I’m about to say what I am - I’m exhausted,and my spoon reserves are so depleted I feel like I’m already trying to dip into next month’s spoon supply, which is making it difficult for me to put eventhis much together, because putting thoughts in to words feels like wadingthrough thick mud while carrying a heavy backpack.

 

So, I’ll just say that I hope you’re having a better, andmuch more relaxing, week than I have been having, and let this do for today.  Sorry it’s not much of a post, but at leastit is one.  That counts, right?