Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 7

A #Storm + Conversations, Organization, And Other Aspects Of My Week

We had a terrific thunderstorm on Tuesday.  It lasted a couple of hours, and the peels ofthunder were impressive.  Unfortunately,since I was trying to finish up on the cooking call during the start of  the storm, and then eating dinner (we made enchiladas on the call this past week) and feedingthe petkids during most of the rest, I didn’t give getting a video a thoughtuntil afterwards.

 

Yes, my dogs are calm enough during storms that I could geton and feed them even while an impressive storm was going on.  I don’t know if it’s the fact I enjoy the storms,or the fact my singing apparently has a soothing effect on dogs (to the pointwhere my Mam has called me for me to sing to her dogs over the phone to calmthem in the past).  But I used to sing tothem during storms when they were scared as tiny puppies, and they learned notto be afraid of storms.  I used the sametechnique to teach them not to be so afraid of fireworks, and it’s only superloud ones that suddenly happen very close that they take notice of (and eventhen it’s just to bark a little before settling down again).

 

Anyway, besides the storm, it’s been a week of conversationsand organization.  At least, that’s whatit seems like; it definitely feels like conversations and organization has beenthe main theme of the past week.

 

Conversations, because I’ve been involved with at least oneZoom call every day, not to mention phone calls and messages I’ve been dealingwith.  Nothing urgent.  Just one of those weeks where it seems themoment you sit down to have some quiet time the phone rings, or you rememberyou needed to talk to so-and-so about such-and-such and don’t want to forgetagain so figure you better send the message now – while you’re thinking aboutit.

 

Organization, because I de-cluttered and organized somestuff in the kitchen, needed to set up some Tweets to make sure they’ll go upon time for the ACB Crafters’ Twitter account, and some of those messages Ineeded to deal with were about needing to arrange and re-arrange some stuff forthe schedule for the upcoming episodes of the cooking call I do with Herbie viathe ACB.

 

To be honest, since there wasn’t much to deal with in thekitchen (just removing a few things I’d been given I knew I wouldn’t use, sowanted to box up to send somewhere where someone else could potentially usethem, and re-organizing a few things once the spaces those things had taken upwere empty) I feel like I’ve spent an awful lot of the past week glued to myphone or computer.

 

I mean, there were other aspects to my week: housework andother day to day chores, playtime and snuggles with Lilie and Logan, playtimewith Artemis, some reading time (though not as much as I’d hoped to have, and alot of it was done by making use of the option to enjoy an audiobook whiledoing housework – I did finish one book, and start two others though, one ofwhich was the book for the 18th and 19th century bookclub) and working on some crochet (my blanket managed to gain another round).  I even managed to sneak in abit of time to watch the first episode of “Wednesday” on Netflix with Kelly,which I’m enjoying so far, but will give you a proper opinion of once I’ve seenmore than one episode of it.  But I definitelyfeel like I spent more time doing the things on my phone and computer thananything else combined, and am hoping the coming week involves a bit lesscomputer and phone time, and a little more crafting, reading, and TV show watching.  Perhaps even some writing time? Though that might be too much to hope for when I'm still dealing with trying to tackle the organizing and de-cluttering project.  I can hope though, right?

So, how about you? How was your week?

#AmWatching + #AmReading + #AmWriting + #Beltane + A Birthday + Weather

I finally started watching “Anne With An E” on the weekend.  Ended up watching all of season 1.  I think it’s obvious to anyone who knows thebooks reasonably well that they’ve made some changes to the plot to keep thingsaction-packed and dramatic for viewers, which I was a bit disappointed aboutgiven how many times I’ve heard people insist it’s so much like the books.  However, I am enjoying it well enough – even ifI think the old version I had on VHS was better, and the books were betterstill.  Still, I am enjoying it, as Isaid, so I will give it a four out of five stars.

 

*~*

 

I enjoy seeing people’s posts about what they’ve beenreading, and I keep meaning to tell you what I’ve been reading too.  But then I forget.  Maybe I’ll do a mid year round-up of what I’vebeen reading at the start of July?

 

In the meantime, if you’re interested, I’m currently reading“The Borrowers Avenged” (the 5th Borrowers book) by Mary Norton, and “GoTell The Bees That I Am Gone” (the 9th Outlander book) by DianaGabaldon.

 

Plus, I'm about to start reading “Villette” by Charlotte Bronte, and “TheChocolate Cat Caper” (the first book in the Chocoholic Mystery series) by JoAnnaCarl, which are this month’s reads for the book clubs I’m in; those books arethe May books for the 18th and 19th century book club and craftersbook club respectively.

 

I’m also slowly – very slowly, since I’ve been focusingmore on new to me books, so not picking it up often – reading the “Harry Potter”books by J K Rowling.  Yes, I’ve readthose multiple times, but they’re something I enjoy re-reading; they're my comfort read go-to books.  Besides, this is the first time I’ve readthem in Braille, and I have to read them in Braille too, because then I can sayI’ve read them in all formats (I’ve already read them in print – in the case ofthe first book, in both English and Welsh - as eBooks, and as audio books).

 

Yes, I have a lot of books on the go.  I guess it's what happens when you're trying to read for two book clubs, and still want to read something you're just reading for your own pleasure rather than because the group is reading it.  It's a good thing I can keep things straight even when I'm reading multiple books, isn't it?

 

*~*

 

I actually got some writing time in.  Yes, I know, it’s a miracle! I mean, it wasonly a few minutes, so it wasn’t much, but I’ll take it!

 

I didn’t get any work done on any of the stories I’d like tofinish writing, but I did add a couple of poems to the ones I have yet topublish, which brings me a little closer to having enough to publish a newpoetry collection.  I still have some wayto go to have enough poems for it, but every poem I write brings me that bitcloser.

 

Like I said, it wasn’t much, but I’ll take it!

 

 *~*

 

We had two reasons to celebrate during this past week: Monday was Beltane, and Tuesday was Kelly's birthday.

 

~

 

Beltane - or "May Day" - actually fell on the early May bank holiday this year, so a lot of people were considering it a holiday, even if they didn't celebrate Beltane, since they got a long weekend because of the bank holiday.

 

Our Beltane celebrations were very minimal; all we really did to celebrate was to have a themed meal.  That seems to be how a lot of our celebrations have been going this year.  That and whatever ritual we decide to do (mine usually consisting of some kind of meditation ritual, since that's the kind I prefer) but I don't generally mention those, because we learned years ago that it suits us - me especially - better to do rituals quietly and privately, mostly not even including each other in them.  I shared a couple of rituals we did together on here several years ago, but these days I keep them to myself.

 

Anyway, our holiday meal was most definitely a really simple one.  It consisted of cheese on toast (vegan cheese for me, of course, but it's the symbolism that counts) and oatmeal biscuits (as in cookies, for those outside the UK).  A simple meal, like I said, with minimal cooking, and minimal cleanup, which we were both in favour of.

 

~

 

Kelly wanted chocolate cake for his birthday, but I don’tlike chocolate cake and he didn’t want me to not have any cake, so we broughthim some chocolate cake and I made myself some blueberry and lemon cupcakes (with fresh blueberries).  That way he got the kind of cake he wanted,but neither of us got left out, so everyone was happy.

 

Kelly also wanted to order pizza for dinner.  The pizza place he wanted to have from doesn't do anything I can eat - we have that issue with a lot of places, to be honest - but I told him to go ahead and have it anyway.  Besides, I was making spicy buttermilk tofu on the cooking call that afternoon (veganizing the chicken recipe that was officially being done this week) so it would only be a matter of cooking up some veggies of some description to go with it to turn it in to a full dinner, which I could do while the tofu was cooking.  So, Kelly got his birthday dinner of pizza, and I got to try a new tofu recipe, which made us both happy.

 

*~*

 

The weather still hasn’t quite settled, but even the wetdays have been warm-ish.  The temperaturefluctuations have been enough to irritate my asthma, but it’s been consistentlywarm enough to make my already low hopes they’re wrong about a hot Summer fadeeven more.  Oh well, so it goes.  At least I can be grateful for fans andfreezers, which will mean I can do something to help me deal with the heat whenit comes.  At least, I can be gratefulfor them right now, even if I’m going to struggle to remember to be gratefulfor those things while wishing we had air conditioning when I’m actually in theposition of dealing with the heat.

 

In the meantime, since I was washing the blankets we have inthe living room now that my brother has the other sofa (most of which then either got put back on the sofa and chair we still have, or put within easy reach for those days when I just want to curl up with a blanket on the sofa and read) and the weather hasbeen staying warm even on the days that are kind of rainy and damp, I just keptgoing and washed the blankets from the bedroom too, and then put away theheavier ones we only need in colder weather. They’re easy to grab should the weather get cold again, but right now wedefinitely aren’t using them, so don’t need to keep them out.

 

*~*

 

I think, all in all, it was a pretty good – and fairly busy - week.

 

 So, how was your week?

#AmWatching + #Crafting Projects + #Dog Groomers + De-Cluttering + Weather Reports

Since I'm ahead on my reading for this month, I felt like I actually had some quiet time to watch a TV show and amovie on the weekend.  So I worked on mycrochet blanket while I watched season three of “The Mandalorian” – which, Iadmit, I enjoy more for the antics of the baby Yoda than anything, even thoughI am a Star Wars fan.  And also while I watchedthe “Cruella” movie which I give a four out of five, since I didn’t think itwas nearly as good as “101 Dalmatians” but did think it was a pretty good movie.

 

Needless to say,I’ve made quite a bit more progress on my crochet blanket.  One of these days you’ll get a nice surpriseand I’ll be telling you it’s finished. Not yet though, since there’s still a way to go before thathappens.  But there’s progress, and it’sgrowing.  Slowly.  But it’s growing.

 

In the meantime, I made this little bunny in loom knitting:

 

 

It’s meant to be a wooly representation of the marshmallow “Peeps”you can get around Easter.  At least,people in the US can get them. Apparently they come in rabbit and chick shapes.  Well, mine is a rabbit shape, and made with arandom white yarn with blue flecks in it I had in my stash, since that’s what Igrabbed (probably because it was near the top from doing the crochet rabbit appliquéI made a few weeks ago).

 

*~*

 

Last week was the last time the groomer we’d been using forLilie and Logan could come, because he’s moving, and where he’s moving to istoo far for him to continue coming to this area.  But he gave us the number of a local groomerhe recommends, and she says she can take us on, so I've arranged their nextappointment with her now so I can be sure to get them done when they’d be dueto be groomed again in July (I get them done every three months; the vet doestheir nails if they need doing in the meantime, and I brush them regularly inbetween as well, so it’s often enough in my opinion).  So they're booked in for Monday July 24th at 10:15am with Nicola at Tailtastic.

 

She’s not a mobile groomer like the previous one was, so we will have to start takingthe dogs there, rather than having the groomer come to us, but it’s only a shortwalk from our house, so it’s not a big deal. Although, I’ll miss Anthony, who has been an excellent groomer in thetime we’ve been able to use him. I’ll also miss the convenience of the groomer coming to us.  But it can’t be helped.  Better for them to have a groomer we have togo to than none at all, right? And even better if she comes recommended by agroomer we know is good.  I also think "Tailtastic" is a fun dog groomer name.

 

*~*

 

The de-cluttering project continues.

 

I sorted through the contents of a box of stuff of my Dad’sthat I was storing in my craft room, since he said I could just put the stuffwith my own.  It’s all sewing stuff, witha couple of leatherworking tools among it. So I did that, and in doing so was able to clear a little more space inmy office/craft room – despite still having the stuff in the room – just by nolonger keeping it separated.  I was alsoable to empty a storage box, which is going to come in handy for Kelly to putsome of his stuff in when we get to dealing with his office/gaming room, whichwill hopefully be something we start dealing with pretty soon.

 

I got my braille books put in the right order on my shelves in my office/craft room too.  I sorted them while listening to the audiobook for the book I'm reading for one of the book clubs I'm part of.  Making use of the option of audiobooks while working on de-cluttering and household chores is how I'm keeping up with my reading well enough to be ahead on my reading goal for the year.  I mean, I do also read a little in braille, just to have that quiet time settled with a book in my hands.  But I'm glad of the option to listen to a book while I do other things with my hands.  When the de-cluttering is done, I can make use of that option more often than I currently do to get craft projects done quicker.  That and watching some of the movies and TV shows I want to watch.  I'll still want to make use of my Orbit and read in braille.  Sometimes even read a physical braille book.  But still... Audiobooks definitely make it easier to fit in more of the things I want to do while finding the energy to do what I need to do.

 

Anyway, if you’ve been following my blog long enough, youmight remember how we ended up acquiring two sofas last year while waiting forone we’d been promised? Well, we’ve decided not to keep both after all.  I mean, given how often we have company over, and how few people wehave over at a time when we do have company over, there’s no real need for usto be able to seat so many people, and we’re trying to do the de-clutteringthing properly.  Plus, as it turns out,Wayne was looking to replace his sofa, which has needed replacing for awhile.  So, when he learned we plan ongetting rid of one, he asked if he could have it, and I said yes.  I think he was especially glad to learn it’sthe bigger corner sofa we plan to get rid of. I know some people think we should have done it the other way around,but the smaller one meets our needs, and I find it more comfortable.  Not to mention, the corner one takes up a lotmore space.  The extra seating it wouldallow compared to his old sofa is ideal for Wayne’s social habits, butunnecessary for us.

 

The sofa went to Wayne on Tuesday, so we spent Wednesday re-arranging the living room to have things where we want them, andto be able to actually access the DVDs we have on shelves without climbing overfurniture to do so.  Now we can actuallyaccess the DVDs properly, we can go through them and get rid of any we don’treally want to keep, since I know there are definitely some we’ve acquired thatwe don’t necessarily want.

As it turned out, it was a good thing we did get to work on the living room on Wednesday, since on Thursday morning the landlords sent someone to look at - and give a quote for - the work that needs doing that we mentioned to them back when we had the inspection.  They did call first and check Thursday was fine for them to come, but I was glad I was able to say, "Yes," since we've been waiting more than a month for them to start dealing with it.  Now we have to wait some more, and maybe soon the work will get done.

 

*~*

 

The weather here still can’t make up its mind, and keepsswitching from chilly and damp to sunny and warm.

 

They’re predicting another scorching hot Summer.  I hope they’re wrong, but can’t help agreeingwith their predictions.  Maybe we won’tget as many hot days as last year, or it won’t reach quite as hightemperatures.  But I’m pretty sure they’reright that we’re in for another hot Summer.  It'll be hot by my standards at the very least. Ugh!

 

I think I’ll make the most of the cooler days while theylast.

 

*~*

 

So, that pretty much sums up what’s been going on around here over the past couple of weeks, besides routine stuff like household chores, regularly scheduled Zoom calls - mainly, but not exclusively, crafting related - I like to attend, etc.

 

What’s been happening in your world lately?

Logan The #Cavapoo Turns Four + The #Dogs Get Groomed

Hi everyone.  This isLogan the Cavapoo.

 

Guess what?

 

Last week (on April 14th) it was my turn to haveone of those birthday things!

 

Mummy says I’m four now. I don’t understand how numbers work at all, but everyone seems to thinkit’s a good thing, even if they seem surprised I’m that many. All I know for sure is it got me an extra treat, and lots of attention,both of which I absolutely loved.  I evengot to share some pizza toppings at dinner time, which I was so happy about thatI literally howled with joy.

 

Because I got treats instead of toys, Mummy just had me posefor a birthday photo.  So, here I am saton the bottom of the big bed - looking super handsome, if I say so myself - onthe morning of my 4th birthday:

 

 

~

 

Also, me and Lilie got groomed this past Wednesday (April 19th).

 

We thought you’d like to see photos of usfreshly groomed, which Mummy always likes to get as soon as possible once we’redone.  Something about getting themquickly before we get dirty.  I have noidea why she’d worry about that.  Anyway,here they are.  First Lilie, and then me.

 

 

~

 

Lots of licks,

Logan

Decisions + #StormNoa + #Easter + #Crochet Projects

This is going to be one of those posts where I jump fromtopic to topic to catch you up on a couple of things, so bear with me.

 

*~*

 

I’m no longer part of the morning crew that does ACBPresents for the ACB Community calls.  Idecided to step down so I can focus my energy – what I have of it – on helpingout in other areas, in particular the crafting and cooking calls.  Though I enjoyed being part of the morningcrew, crafting and cooking are passions I had long before the ACB Community waseven a thing, and I feel like it would be better for me to focus my energies inthose areas.  My last day on the morning crew was this past Saturday.

 

*~*

 

On Wednesday we had one of those named storms: Storm Noa.

 

From what I can tell we only got a mild dose of it where Iam.  But even here there were prettystrong winds, lots of rain, a fair bit of hail, and some thunder.  It was impressive and kind of fun to listen to.

 

I know some people would disagree, but I can’t help it.  Ienjoy listening to storms.  Even if partof me feels guilty for enjoying listening to them knowing what damage theycould be causing out there – especially in the areas that have it worse than wedo.  But they always sound so fascinating, and there's something soothing about listening to howling winds and other storm conditions while curled up in a blanket indoors - bonus points if a cup of tea or cocoa is also involved.

 

*~*

 

Since we focus our celebrations on the Spring Equinox, Kellyand I don’t bother with Easter.  But therest of the family likes to at least acknowledge it, and Carl was in Wales forthe Easter weekend (he hasn't been back here since this time last year) so some of us got together anyhow.

 

On Easter morning Carl and I spent some time with Mam.  Carl took us for a McDonalds breakfast(hash browns, a fruit pack with apples and grapes in it, and some orange juicefor me) and then we hung out at Mam’s house with Mam, doing a whole lot of playing with Izi and Cai.

 

In the afternoon Carl and I hung out at Dad’s house withWayne, and we played some word association games like we sometimes used to onlong car journeys.  Then Dad made us aroast dinner (I had roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and onions, served withsprouts) after which Wayne and I went home.

 

It was a long day, and I’m sure you can imagine how excitedLilie and Logan were when I got home, especially since I’d been gone for mostof the day.  Even Artemis seemed to beexcited to see me come home, judging by how he was trying to get through theglass at the front of his vivarium to get to me.

 

*~*

 

I’m still working on my crochet blanket, and have tried anew to me stitch pattern or two lately in both loom knitting and crochet.  Like with needle knitting, this just meansusing the stitches I already know to create a certain appearance.  I never bothered to keep the pieces where Iwas learning the stitches to be honest, but I had a go at them, and have theinstructions, so I can make use of them for future projects.  Maybe when I’ve finished the blanket I’mworking on I can do one of those fun kinds of blankets where you use differentstitch patterns for the different squares? I could do one all crochet, or oneall knitting, or – since it would work as long as the yarn and size of thesquares were compatible – maybe one that’s a mixture of the fibre arts? We’llsee.

 

In the meantime, I did finish a couple of small crochetprojects.

 

The first was this coaster made to look kind of like acheese pizza:

 

 

The pattern we were learning from had an option for addingtoppings to it, but I didn’t want to.

 

Anyway, the other thing I made was this white and blue bunnyappliqué:

 

 

I haven’t decided what I’ll sew it to just yet.  Although, I’m considering taking the bunnyand a couple of other little things – some shamrocks and some flowers – and stitchingthem to a cushion cover or something, so as to make a tactile throw pillow.  Again, we’ll see what I actually end updoing.

 

I did start working on a needle knitted scarf too,but I was literally only doing it to do it along with the group, and – since I actually wasn’t endingup working on it while on the calls anyhow – I decided not to bother with it for nowafter all.  I’d done very little, so Ijust frogged it, put away the needles, and put the yarn back in my yarn stash.  It's one less project to worry about for now.

April 7th 2023's Random Ramblings

The weather can't make its mind up.  It doesn't know if it wants to be warm or cold, wet or dry, or somewhere in between.  So it keeps changing.  It almost seems like from one minute to the next, though I know that's not quite accurate.  This is normal for Spring, even the warm weather is in my comfortable temperature range, and we're not seeing any of the terrible storms and severe weather some places are, so I'm making an observation rather than complaining.  Although, my asthma wishes it would quit, since it always takes me some time to adjust to weather changes, and when the weather keeps changing I don't get to finish adjusting to one kind of weather before it changes again and I'm back to square one.  I know I'm not alone in dealing with this right now though.  'Tis the season for allergies and asthma to be aggravated after all.

 

Anyway, we're already a week in to April.  Can you believe that? A quarter of the year has gone already!

 

During the last week in March I had a dentist appointment andKelly had a hospital appointment.  Bothjust for routine checks, and both went smoothly.  Kelly also had to go for a routine blood testthis past Wednesday (and it really is routine for him, since he’s one of thosepeople who they have no trouble taking blood from, so is in and out in fiveminutes; it takes them longer to process his paperwork than to take the blood).

 

I’ve also been pretty busy with Zoom calls, between the onesI go to regularly just because I want to, ones I do jobs on, ones I washosting, and a couple where I stepped in to fill in for someone who was awaysomewhere for a few days.

 

Plus, I went through some fabric, set aside the kinds thatwould work well for me for a project I have planned, and packed up the rest formy Aunt Bev to take, since she’s involved in a charity upcycling project wherethey make use of any spare fabric to make things like special pillows forpeople who have had mastectomies, tearing up what can’t be used for outer layersto make filling.  My Dad told me aboutit, and I thought it would be a good way to reduce the amount of fabric I havelying around.  Especially since some ofthe stuff I was unlikely to want to use, and only had because it came with thestuff Dad gave me with Nan’s old craft stuff.

 

With my energy levels pretty low lately, those things –along with those day to day tasks that always need doing, making sure the petkidsget attention, etc – have been enough to have me taking advantage of as many opportunitiesto rest as I can most days.  SomethingLogan is a lot more enthusiastic about than Lilie, since he’s much more of afan of nap time than she is.  LOL!

 

Although, I have managed to get some crafting in (mostly thestuff I’ve worked on during the Zoom calls, but I’ve also made some progresswith the crochet blanket I’m slowly working on) as well as managed to fit inenough reading time that I’m slightly ahead on my 2023 reading challenge goal(I’ve read 18 of 52 books) including being ahead with reading April’s book ofthe month for the ACB Crafters book club, and being on track with the book we’reworking our way through as part of the 18th and 19th centurybook club I also attend.  Admittedly thisis mostly because I can listen to an audiobook while either doing day to daytasks like housework, or during those times when I’m resting but notsleeping.  But it all adds up, and it allcounts, right?

 

Interesting how it all seems somehow to be a lot and verylittle at the same time when written down in a blog post like this.  I mean, on the one hand the fact there’senough for a blog post that’s a few paragraphs long makes it seem like so muchI can’t help feeling it’s no wonder I’m tired, while on the other hand I wonderhow I can have done so little that I can sum up two weeks in just a fewparagraphs.  Funny how that works.

Lilie The #Westie Turns Six

Hi everyone.  This isLilie the Westie.

 

Mummy finally let me have a turn on this thing again.  She’s been hogging the computer lately, so it’shard for me to get a turn.  Logan doesn’teven bother trying.  Then again, Logandoesn’t really do much of anything if he doesn’t have to.  Artemis does try and help me keep Mummy inline, but there’s only so much something that looks like a rock with legs cando.  That means it’s up to me to try andkeep Mummy in line, which is hard work, let me tell you!

 

Anyway, I had one of those birthday things this past Sunday(March 26th) so I came on here to tell you about it, since Mummy finally let mehave a turn on this thing again.

 

I got a new toy.  It’sa bear in a funny outfit.

 

Mummy says it’s the kind of outfit something called a palaceguard wears.  She says the humans whowear outfits like my new bear was wearing look after someone called the royalfamily.  I don’t know who they are - dogsonly know people we’ve seen and sniffed, after all – but Mummy says they’reimportant people, and being a palace guard is an important job.  I know looking after your people is animportant job, so I’m sure Mummy must be right.

 

Here are a couple of photos of Mummy giving me my new bear:

 

 

I also got to have some ham for dinner.  I like ham. Logan got a share of that, but he didn’t get a new toy.  I think he was a bit sad about not getting anew toy, but he soon forgot about that when he learned there was ham.  Logan forgets about everything else if there’sfood around.  Well, almost anything.  He does still keep check on where Mummy is,because he doesn’t want her to sneak off. But food does make Logan forget about everything else apart from Mummy.

 

Anyway, it was a great birthday!

 

And now I’m six.

 

Mummy says in one more year I’ll be considered a seniordog.  I have a lot more playing to dobefore I’m ready to be a senior dog though, thank you very much.  I might have to have medicine because of soreknees, and also because of my itchies, but that doesn’t stop me feeling asenergetic as a puppy inside, and still having lots of playtime energy in me.  I might be six now, but I’m not feeling evenclose to being ready to retire to a basket by the fire just yet, thank you.

 

Lots of licks,

Lilie

The Inspection + #MothersDay And #SpringEquinox Celebrations

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

*~*

 

Monday was the home inspection.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

*~*

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

#Snow Reports, Time, And De-Cluttering

Last weekend I swear the weather was trying to see how many seasons it could fit in to one day.  And it was doing a great job of getting them all from what I could tell.  Over the course of the weekend we had sun, light rain, heavy rain, strong winds, sleet, and even a bit of snow.  Here are a couple of photos of the light snowfall we got:

 

 

*~*

 

I've spent a large chunk of the week calculating times, thanks to the clocks in the US changing two weeks before ours do here in the UK.  The time change is annoying enough - not to mention totally unnecessary these days - but if they're going to insist on doing it, for whatever reason they still insist we need to do it, I really wish they'd have everyone change their clocks at the same time.  I'm not the only one trying to keep track of what time it is in multiple time zones, after all.  Some places - like Arizona, for example - have managed to stop constantly changing the clocks, so why can't the rest of us stop doing it as well?

~

 

Not much else besides the usual routine day to day stuff has been going on other than that, except for the fact we’ve finally been back to working on the organizing and de-cluttering project during the past week.  We hadn’t been making any progress on that for the past few weeks due to other things going on, combined with our attempts at keeping my to-do lists for each day short whenever possible.  Plus, we could do with a few things being removed before we can do much more.  But the landlord agency we rent through wants to do an inspection, so we wanted to have things a little less chaotic when they come to do the inspection on Monday morning.

 

My office/craft room especially got more attention, and looks so much better for it.  Kelly's office even got a little attention, but still needs a lot more of it.  But at least most of the rooms look a lot less cluttered and chaotic than they did.  I feel good knowing we’ve finally made more progress on the de-cluttering and organizing.  Well, I feel good from it mentally and emotionally anyhow.  We won’t talk about physically.

 

Anyway, I’m taking Lilie and Logan to my Mam’s while the inspection is going on, so they’ll get a playmate with Izi and Cai Monday morning.  I’m unsure on the wisdom of having all four dogs together for a few hours in Mam’s place, but it will keep them out from underfoot while the person from the agency is doing the inspection.  I’m hoping the trip to Mam’s place with a person and dogs he knows will be less stressful for Logan than a strange person wandering around his home.  Plus, with the lingering threat of Covid and my rubbish immune system, I’d kind of prefer not to be in the house when they’re here myself.  I have to admit to being glad it will only be for a few hours rather than a few days that all four dogs are together though, since it gets rather chaotic when the four of them are together, as I’m sure you can imagine.

 

~

 

That basically covers my week.  So, how about you? How was your week?

Of #StDavidsDay Passing By Uncelebrated, Updates On The #PetKids And Me, Plus #Snow Reports

I was going to make Welsh cakes for St David’s Day, which was last Wednesday (March 1st).  I love Welsh cakes, but usually only have them this time of year.  I don’t know why.  I didn’t make any though, because I was dealing with everything going on last week and didn’t have the energy to spare.  I thought about making them this week, but we made shortbread for the cooking call last week (which I haven’t finished eating yet) so I decided not to make any.  Maybe I’ll make Welsh cakes for the Spring Equinox or something, since that’s coming up in a couple of weeks anyhow, and I should have finished eating the shortbread by then.

 

*~*

 

For those who might be wondering:

 

Logan’s doing well, and seems to be back to his old self.  He was even more sleepy than usual (which is actually possible, apparently) plus was a bit sick last weekend – I assume from the stress of last week – but only once, and only a little, and he’s been fine since.  We’ve had a much quieter week this past week, so that’s helped him settle back down.

 

Lilie slept a lot for the first day or so after Izi and Cai went back to my Mam, but was otherwise her usual happy and yappy self, despite having had her tail and ears chewed on by Cai a few times during his visit. And, in case you’re wondering, she still appears to be doing OK with the Calpol as pain relief for the pain she gets with her leg issue, and the medication she has for her skin irritation problem still seems to be doing its job.

 

I think Artemis is missing Izi and Cai.  The tortoise was enjoying teasing them by coming up to the front of the vivarium and tapping on the glass until they ran over there to bark, and apparently enjoyed the game, because my silly tortoise seems to be looking for the other dogs, and seems disappointed when they don’t come running to bark at him.

 

We humans are in recovery mode, I guess.  We’re doing OK – Mam included – but feeling rather drained.  I’m trying to fit in plenty of relaxation time to counter it, but when I get like this easily to start with, and tired feels like my normal state, it takes even more out of me.  Thankfully this past week was a quiet one with few things I had to do, so that helped somewhat.  I could still go for a nap or ten though.

 

*~*

 

We had snow Wednesday morning (March 8th).  It started falling some time between three and four in the morning, and by about six this morning it looked like this outside our door:

 

 

We got photos of the snow-covered mountains, and a nearby house with snow on it, later in the morning when more snow had fallen but the sun was properly up and trying to melt the snow even as it hit the ground.  Anyway, here are those photos:

 

 

We technically got about two or three inches before it turned to sleet, but since it was falling very lightly and slowly, and the sun coming up made some of it start to melt, only about an inch or less was on the ground at any given time.  And then it turned to yucky sleety slush instead, which wasn’t so much fun.  At that point the dogs and I lost interest in it and stopped bothering to go out and play with it.