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"Would you rather use the app? :)" I cannot begin to describe how much I wouldn't

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Buying you time

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It turns out the package hadn't arrived yet, so I misremembered things Drastically. I am horrified at my own memory, and a little impressed that I managed to convince myself of something like this. Self-gaslighting. Early senility. ADHD. Whatever- the human brain is Insane.

And now my parents, who are aware of the search I did for the item I ordered gor dad's birthday, are fairly sure I am.

(I gave dad an emergency gift and made lemon drizzle traybake. The emergency gift was Iron Brew scented soap- dad's english. His face was funny, but he is actually using it. I need to get better emergency gifts in future.)

I ordered something. I think it arrived- I remember looking at the items before I put them away.

Trouble is, I put them in such a safe place that I am no longer certain I didn't just dream the package up.

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I ordered something. I think it arrived- I remember looking at the items before I put them away.

Trouble is, I put them in such a safe place that I am no longer certain I didn't just dream the package up.

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Archaeologists will see your Skeleton and say-

Nothing, because the stone you share with your husband and brother and son has caskets of ashes beneath it.

But if they could have seen it?

They would know you had given birth.

They would not know that you lost your first baby after days of pain before the labour began, but you never went to the doctor because you didn't realise something was wrong. They would not know you give birth so early the doctor didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl. They would not know that your first child was born less than a year later, all the more beloved, after a month on bedrest.

They would know that you were elderly.

They would not know, without reading the stone, that you outlived both your husband and a son by twenty years and told everyone you had never planned on growing this old, that you hated how you'd outlived so many friends and family- that most of the time, any news of friends was their families telling you that they'd gone.

They would see that in your last years, you'd broken your hand twice, and both hips.

They would not know the fall that broke your hand led to you losing confidence in your steps, and staying home more. That you broke one hip falling down the stairs of the home you'd raised your children in, and the other just outside the bungalow your family bought and decorated to your tastes for your last years. They would not know it was your broken hand, from a fall out of bed in the care home you were moved to after an illness which killed your mind but not your body, that led to your death- quick, and without family around as you told the carers you couldn't breathe.

It seems odd to see the word 'suddenly' in an epitaph for someone well passed their eightieth- but it was sudden. They told us you'd been having a good day, that you'd been smiling and laughing. We were going to visit- you had a visitor almost every day, we made certain, even when illness made you believe you'd been robbed and abandoned, and you said horrible things about the people you loved.

There are so many things bones could say- but you hated the idea of bodies in the ground, and spending money foolishly. Not that that stopped you.

So we have your name on a stone, a casket of ashes beneath- and a bunch of ceramic flowers in the flower pot. Which were expensive, but look beautiful and tidy and will not need replaced, which you would have liked. And we weep as if it was a tragedy, even though your last months were spent wishing for your pain to end.

What would those archaeologists think, of this grave amongst a hundred graves? That you were one of a family. Beloved. And missed.

As will everyone who sees your grave.

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so my dad has just about finished his newest crewel work, and people had asked me some about how he does it, so this time I took some in-progress pictures!

step one is that he finds a photograph that he likes

step two is that he kind of sketches that photograph, lightly, in pencil, onto his base fabric

then it's just a matter of adding the yarn

and then adding more yarn

and then adding a zillion French knots because he's a glutton for punishment!

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Human error put me off even starting my family tree- I went to my great great grandmother's grave- and realised, based on a very specific WW2 bombing I know she was alive for, either it was wrong, or my Grandmother's memory was worse than we knew.

Except Granny had been legitimately traumatised by that event and had talked about it the Exact same way for longer than she'd had memory issues.

My second cousin ended up breaking the news to me that Every death date on that stone was a year off, from 1913 to 1945. I have no idea how or why that happened but it successfully killed my desire to research further back. Afterall, all the starting your family tree articles recommended checking out the graves you knew about as a starting point.

on one hand it’s nice to know that even two centuries ago people made mistakes/lied on/wrote a different name down on the census

on the other hand you fuckers im trying to piece together a family tree as a present and trying to figure out if someone is the same person is hard enough without you bouncing between edwin/edmund/edward on different census’s

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Sara Mrad Fall Winter 2024- 25 Haute Couture Botanical Alchemy Collection

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I have delivered🫡

Based on my HC from… literally half a day ago blasting 600 strikes on repeat can do wonders apparently

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Wunk is NOT trapped

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Bless my dog, for she is dumb and I love her.

And it took her until today to forgive me for her vet appointment two days ago where she got stabbed four times.

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I have to transpose my box of loose-leaf recipes into a book I got for recipes, so I'm gonna share my favorite one. Solyanka.

It makes enough to feed an army, and it's a go-to for if you're getting over a sickness and are not throwing up.

Make Ukha for if you're that sick.

Anyways.

Ingredients;

2 liters water

4 pickles, kosher

1 glass of pickle juice

2 onions

20-ish black olives

150 grams of beef

150 grams of ham

150 grams of doctors sausage

4 hot dog wieners

2 tablespoons capers

3 potatoes (mid-small)

like a palmful of dill

same for parsley

2 carrots

2 bay leaves

1 can tomato paste

2-3 tablespoons salt (no that's not a typo, you need that much cuz ur making ur own broth)

Cut the beef into fist-sized chunks.

Fry it so that all sides are browned. This will make it taste better and be more tender.

Put water in pot, a BIG pot. No, bigger. This is gonna make more than you think. Now add the beef to the water. Now boil for 30 minutes.

Cut up sausage, wieners, and ham into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

Cut up pickles, onions, carrots, olives and potatoes. Separate the olives and potatoes from this mix. Now separate the olives and potatoes from each other.

DO. NOT. THROW. AWAY. THE. DISGUSTING. BEEF. WATER.

Check if beef is cooked all the way through. When it is, cut it into bite-sized pieces. Fry it with the other meat in a pan. You may need a wok.

In fact, save yourself the trouble and just get a wok.

In another pan, fry the onions, carrots, pickles, and tomato paste for about 5 minutes. 6 if you're not a coward.

Boil disgusting beef water again, but with potatoes in it this time. Boil for around 15 minutes.

ALL ingredients in the pot now. Your fried veggies, olives, meats, bay leaves, dill, salt, all of it.

Boil for 40 minutes. Not a roiling boil, but like, a soft chill one. Best results; roiling boil on medium-high, slap lid on it, and take that down to medium.

Does not freeze well, keeps for 4 days when refrigerated, so I hope you like it because you'll be eating it for breakfast lunch and dinner.

I am not joking this makes way more than you think it will.

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All the new pride unicorns are up!! These guys have needed a refresher for ages, but I'm so happy with how they turned out! They're up in my Redbubble and Teepublic if you wanna support a little queer artist you can get them on a bunch of cute stuff!

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This post had me looking up buses to Edinburgh- shame the exhibitions over.

Also, all I can picture is space invaders where your enemy gets booped instead of shot.

just went to the national museum of scotland, looked thru the video game exhibit they have on, learned so much about the history of video games and their development and got to try and genuinely enjoy many types of video games I'd never thought I'd like.... and the whole time I just thought about the fucking tumblr boops. I am addicted to the boop. they got me. they fucking got me

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There were two commenters on my most popular multichapter fic who 'reviewed' every time exactly the same way.

I would get excited about seeing what someone thought of my work, if they liked it, if it made them laugh or tear up or whatever, and then I'd open the email...

update

Fandom Problem #6036:

All of this endless hatred directed towards fanfiction readers who dare to engage with the author’s work and ask them politely to continue (because they like it so much they want it to continue.) What should be a compliment is instead treated like the worst insult in history and they flip out and throw tantrums like babies about how people dare to even comment on their work. Then no one leaves comments out of fear of angering the author. Just…accept that people like your work and want to see you make more of your stuff, damn. It’s like yelling at a person for buying your book or reviewing it, you’re acting like a Dobson and will alienate whatever fans you have by acting like a giant jerk. Appreciate your fans before you bite their heads off because they innocently ask questions like saying how much they enjoy your fanfic, or asking if you’re gonna make other stories or not. It’s an honest question, and sometimes it’s just someone expressing how much they want to see more from you. You ought to appreciate people noticing your work. It means you’re doing something right and you are a good writer, so people WANT to see you write more. Take it as a compliment and stop this attitude of being passive aggressive towards reviewers who could be innocent teens.

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Disney princesses in traditional hanfu clothing

Rapunzel 🐎