#it's the second year in a row i feed him delicious cake and he loved it <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[zsofiarosebud]

hello i'm back from the bbq that my ex-workplace holds every summer and we slayed*

*my ear-dog nara, my oreo cake and me

[mae-gi-writes]

Une Premiere | Ju Haknyeon (The Boyz Christmas Series)

La Joie De Noel Series.

Sangyeon | Jacob | Younghoon | Hyunjae | Juyeon | Kevin | Changmin | Chanhee | Haknyeon | Sunwoo | Eric

'Une Premiere' : A First, included in the expression ‘That’s a first’. 

In which you and Haknyeon go on a first date on Christmas Eve.

things to know:  - moelleux au chocolat : molten chocolate cake. It has a liquidy chocolate sauce inside. 

I dedicate this story to:  @atbzkingdom​ , Dee, thank you for always bringing me comfort and for always having my back. Being friends with you on Tumblr has helped me so much this year and I wanted to write this fic for you as a gift. So I hope you like it <3 

-♡-

The warmth of Haknyeon’s hand on yours was burning through your palm and making it sweat bullets even though the cold was busy biting at the rest of your body. 

You were surprised that he hadn’t pulled away in disgust yet. Your mind was internally screaming at you: you had one job Y/N, and that was not to make a fool of yourself! 

You wouldn’t have been in such a state if not for the sudden inclination of such events tumbling one after another so that they left you feeling dizzy with euphoria, in a mess of feelings that made you want to squirm in place.

When Haknyeon had proposed to you that it was about time you’d had a first date with him -- he had confessed his feelings a few weeks ago and ever since there was this unknown, unspoken feeling that teetered between the two of you as though you were constantly balanced on a plate about to crash at any moment -- you had agreed wholeheartedly without thinking twice about the consequences that followed. 

Like right now, when you were practically unable to function because he’d intertwined his fingers with yours like it was the most normal thing he could’ve done. 

You wondered whether he could hear the way your heart seemed to palpitate within your chest like a ping pong ball.

Y/N you loser. Get a grip.

The Christmas Eve market was bustling with people and shining with lights that were strung, multi-coloured LEDs adorning the pedestrian cobblestone and turning the scene in a fairytale wonderland. You could hear music, Christmas jingles that floated through the air, and managed to somewhat relax despite your initial nervousness around the said young man. 

"Oh look, they have Christmas cookies,” Haknyeon tugged you along to one of the stands where a multitudes of red, green and white Christmas cookies were displayed for the occasion. 

“Three for five dollars!” The girl beamed while handing out samples.

“Woah it’s good,” your eyes rounded in surprise as you looked at Haknyeon, who chuckled at your expression, “we could buy some for your grandma. She likes Christmas cookies doesn’t she?” 

His thoughtfulness for your own grandmother made your heart soften. He was so considerate that you wondered how someone as angelic as Haknyeon could walk this earth.

Precisely one of the reasons why you’d fallen for him so hard. 

After thanking the cookie seller and stuffing one of her Christmas cookies boxes in your bag, you followed the string of people down the line of stands filled with various Christmas-themed items; decorations for sale, gift ideas already wrapped up in their respective bags, food items that would make good appetizers for your own family dinner if you hadn’t already prepared anything. 

"Oh my gosh they’re all so pretty!” You couldn’t stop yourself from exclaiming as you crouched along the row with barely restrained excitement thrumming through your veins, “what do you think? Look at this one!” you held out a glittering gold angel silhouette, “your sister would love that.” 

“Yeah. Unfortunately she’s at that stage where she likes to shove everything in her mouth, edible or not,” Haknyeon grumbled softly, causing you to giggle as you tried to hang it off his ear.

He eyed you with amusement, “Do I look like Christmas tree material?”

"More like boyfriend material,” the words slipped from your mouth before you could stop them, though he just burst out laughing before tugging you closer to drop a kiss at your temple, “you’re so cute.”

Face burning with heat at his bold action, you tried your best not to show your embarrassment, which proved to be useless since he noted the way you ducked your head away and how your hands seemed to pick at your nails in that adorable way of yours whenever you weren’t sure of what you should be doing. 

Deciding to warm yourselves up, you decided to stop by one of the cozy coffee shops that sold only Chocolate-themed desserts. Haknyeon’s excitement doubled when you confessed you’d never actually been to this place, quickly whipping the menu from your hands and promising that this was going to change your life forever.

“You’re in for the biggest surprise of your life,” he stated upon spotting the waitress making her way to your table. You had not failed to notice, in all this flurry of excitement, that his hand had entangled once more if yours under the table and was now currently rubbling circles over your palm. 

You hoped that your face didn’t betray the way your heart was racing about hundred miles an hour.

“Y/N,” he probably noticed your expressions, “you okay?” 

“Y-Yeah,” oh shit. Were you that obvious? “so what’s so special about that place anyway?” 

“I’ll tell you later,” and his hand squeezed yours softly, almost making you gasp at his tenderness.

A few minutes later your table was filled with a moelleux au chocolat and a macha-dark chocolate infused crepe garnished with bananas and snow sugar, accompanied by two hot macha lattes decorated with foamy little kittens.

Haknyeon didn’t hesitate to feed you, even folding the crepe nicely so that there was no need for you to open your mouth wide. Though you made a face at being babied (especially in public), he just insistently kept on urging you until you gave in.

“Good?” he tilted his head, watching you with affection practically brimming through the corners of his eyes. 

You nodded, taking a quick sip of your latte and sighing in bliss, “okay, you win. This is really good.” 

“Told you it would.” 

You cut into the moelleux as the chocolate oozed out of the cake, a delicious sight really. You reached over the table, “your turn now.” 

Haknyeon accepted your offered fork though from the reddish tips of his ears, he was just as embarrassed as you were. This was the first time you two were out in public, officially anyway. Still, you couldn’t help but coo at how cute he was.

“I’m not cute,” he scowled while unable to keep the grin off his face, “you’re the cute one in the relationship.”

“That’s debatable,” you take another bite of the crepe, “have you seen yourself?”

“Actually I have, and I disagree with you.” 

Without warning, he reached over to pinch your cheek, “look at you, so adorable,” he said, laughing as you swatted him away.

It was getting closer to midnight by the time you two hopped off the last night bus to walk towards your house, the streets alight with golden hues cast by the light posts and the snow that bathed the entire scenery in magic. A muffled silence rang through your ears, only interrupted by the soft stomping of your boots up your porch as you looked up and perceived the darkness coming from your humble abode, meaning that everyone was already asleep and no prying eyes would be peeping out at you.

Haknyeon’s grip on your hand tightened ever so slightly when you finally reached your door. Turning to meet his gaze, a small smile tilted your lips upwards when you are met with his eyes that seem to shine brighter than the snowflakes falling to the earth.

“I had a lot of fun today,” you murmur out, scared that speaking too loudly would break the magical bubble you’ve created with Haknyeon by your side, “thank you.” 

"Would you...” he tilted his head to the side, eyes averting for a second before locking with yours once more, “would you be okay to do this again?”

You knew it was eating him up on the inside, but you decide to drag it out of him, pressing your lips and drawing out a hum as if you were thinking it over. 

Haknyeon just shuffled uncomfortably, glad that the darkness was hiding the red flush creeping up his neck.

“Sure,” you grinned then, “why not? I quite liked it--”

And that was when you spotted a gleaming sliver of leaf atop Haknyeon’s head. Your mind stuttered to a stop, heart jumping up through your throat.

“What?” Haknyeon frowned at your shocked face, before tilting his head up. You scrambled to stop him, “don’t!--”

Too late. He gaped at the mistletoe hanging atop his head, blinking slowly. 

And when his head dipped back down slowly to gaze at you, something in his eyes had shifted. His orbs a darker, glimmering obsidian as he seemed to trace your features for a full minute.

Silence. You wondered whether he could hear how your heart was beating a thousand miles an hour.

“It’s just a petty tradition,” you finally found your voice and hoped you didn’t sound so desperate as you struggled to string a coherent sentence together, “I mean, really. Think about it--”

But he only tugged you closer, causing your words to die in the back of your throat as he leaned down so that his nose brushed yours softly, “should we just...” he gave you a look, hesitantly licking his lips and making you swallow, “humour it?” 

It felt like all air had constricted inside your lungs so that no words could make their way out of your mouth. He was so close, chest brushing yours and his hand entangled with your own in a firm grasp that had goosebumps skitter up along your arm. 

Your head dipped into a nod.

Haknyeon’s sigh was shaky. His other hand softly skimmed along your waist to pull you closer still, before he tilted his head and softly, tenderly allowed his lips to touch yours.

Your heart skipped a beat. He was so warm. His lips so soft. 

It was impossible not to melt slightly.

When it was clear that you had no intentions of pushing him away, Haknyeon proceeded to pull you even closer so that your curves blended into his frame, causing your lips to part with a soft gasp, one that he swallowed as he proceeded to kiss you a little deeper, a little longer. He massaged your lips with his own plush ones, catching your lip, kissing it, before going to your lower lip and letting his teeth nibble on the patch of skin with growing endearment. The sensation had sparks fly through your chest, butterflies practically rocking through your body as your lips gently moved back against his, as shyly as a baby fawn taking its first steps and Haknyeon would be lying to say that his own heart hadn’t leapt in excitement at how innocent you were, at the purity of your kiss, your lips.

When you parted, it was only to come up for air and he took this chance to run his thumb over your lower lip in adoration.

“Merry Christmas Y/N,” he breathed, nuzzling the side of your face before burying his nose into your hair.

Your hands wound around him in a gentle hug and you closed your eyes, allowed yourself to feel his warmth encircle you, “merry christmas Hak.”

--

[punkcupcakestyles]

Love Song

Part 15

Catch Up!

Sofia Welsh-De La Rosa and Timothée Chalamet will star in new Amazon series and, honestly, I won’t talk about anything else ever again

Amazon Prime has just announced the release of its new original series set in 1970’s New York. According to Hollywood Reporter, the new series will be lead by Sofia Welsh - De La Rosa, Timothée Chalamet, and Logan Lerman, and will be produced by Jordan Peele (Get Out and Us) and directed by Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey). The ambitious project is in talks with some other big names in Hollywood, such as Meryl Streep and even Robert de Niro, to join the series.

Honestly, I’m gagging. 

This might come as a surprise as both Sofia, who has been enjoying lots of Oscar’s buzz for the third year in a row, and Timothèe are on the prime of their movie careers, as two of the most prominent young actors in Hollywood, but according to many sources, Sofia has been looking for a way to work with Peele for a long time, while Timothèe is excited to add some action to his resume, after his role in Hostiles and The King. Also, rumor has it, Amazon is willing to pay a hefty (and I mean hefty) amount of money to sign the young stars. 

As for Logan Lerman, this is his the actor’s first TV role since 2005 and is set to be his comeback after his career faded a bit to the background. With the star-studded cast, Amazon is hoping this to be the platform’s next big hit. 

There is no doubt that Sofia, Timothèe, and Logan are three of THE most talented young actors today, with Sofia being the reigning queen of the pack. Recently, the actress has played a pirate, a thief, a devious courtesan and a feminist writer trying to bring down love, and she’s been rumored to have just signed a deal with Disney to play her very own princess, as well as an undisclosed character in MCU’s highly anticipated Black Widow. She truly has the range, Darling!

Sofia was seen having coffee with Timothèe early in the week, before the show’s announcement, which sparked rumors that the actress had ended things with Harry Styles after he had dinner with his ex in London. She was also seen leaving the James Corden Late Late Night’s studio with Logan...

@BobbyC I’m sorry but all of them are gay...

@Peanutbuttah Eh, she can’t act anyway

@Loveisloud @peanutbuttah She can act, she has been in commercial and art-house movies and has received rave reviews every time. You just don’t like her because she’s dating your fave. 

@Arewethereyet she’s an sl*t. So glad Harry’s done with her…

@Soph Are you drunk Buzzfeed? One does not leave Harry Styles for anyone!

****

Harry was cooking. 

The air smelled like garlic and butter and I breathed in deeply, just realizing how fucking hungry I was, as I followed him to the kitchen. It just occurred to me that I hadn’t eaten anything that day, other than a cup of coffee that Harry had made me in the morning. It was a little strong for my taste, I liked mine with sugar, even when my mom kept telling me I was being violently disrespectful to coffee. I didn’t care, not one bit. 

I never really ate on interviews or auditions days, it made my tummy feel funny and I was usually afraid that my clothes wouldn’t fit like they were supposed to after, so, no food for me, thank you. Usually, D would force-feed me as soon as we were done, practically shoving fruits, nuts, and salads down my throat (sometimes even a burger!), but today I was way too anxious and excited to even pay attention to her efforts. I was going on a date with Harry, I couldn’t care less about anything else!!!

And now, I was fucking hungry and it smelled even better in the kitchen.

“I didn’t know you cooked,” I smiled, looking at the pasta that was boiling on the stove and the bubbling alfredo sauce. Grilled prawns and a green salad were carefully plated in rustic blue and gold plates.

My eyes traveled to him, and I saw him hesitate for a second before he gifted me with a shy smile. He was so lovely, it was no surprise that my head became fuzzy every time I was around him. Even the most superficial thought struggled to grab a hold to my brain. I wondered if anyone could keep their wits around him, but somehow, I doubted it.

“It takes my mind off of things,” he finally said. “And I kinda wanted to impress you, I guess.” 

The admission made my heart soar in my chest and I beamed at him as he stood in front of me. I admired his beauty for a second, his skin was slightly tanned and it looked almost delicious against the white fabric of his shirt, and his smile was warm, making me feel giddy as he trapped me against the counter with his arms on each side of my body. 

I wanted to kiss him, so so badly, but instead, I let my fingers brush over his neck until they reached the tips of his hair. It tickled and he laughed softly with the most wonderful smile.

“Really?” I asked him softly, cause I didn’t want to break the intimate moment we were sharing. 

“Yeah. A bit silly, innit?”

“No, it’s not silly. But, if you wanted to impress me, then you should’ve made a chocolate lava cake,” I teased. “You would’ve gotten me, then.”

“Chocolate, uh?” The right corner of his lip shot upwards, and an adoring feeling hit me right in the chest like a tidal wave. 

“Yeap.”

“I’ll keep it in mind for next time,” Harry muttered, his words getting lost in the air as he leaned down to kiss me.

I realized that it was all I wanted: To kiss him slowly, maybe even for hours. But I knew I had to stop him. I was under his spell and there was nothing I could do about it, nothing I wanted to do, anyway. But even I could admit that this was just a dream, one that I wanted to remember every second of. So when he was gone, I would still have those memories. 

So before his lips could brush mine, before he could melt my brain with his kisses, I pressed my forehead to his and dropped my hands to his chest, right where his heart was beating rapidly. 

“Sorry,” I said shyly, casting my eyes down so I wouldn’t have to look at him, not a few more seconds, not until I had gathered the will to stand strong by my decision. 

“Is there something wrong?” His voice was full of sincere concern, a little bit rougher as well, which made his accent more noticeable. 

“No,” I shook my head, finally looking into his green eyes. “Everything’s perfect.”

“You just don’t want me to kiss you?”

“It’s just...I want to remember every bit of tonight,” I said, as I tried to ease the utter embarrassment that was crawling over my chest. Who said stuff like that? Writers in cheesy movies or bad teen shows. Fuck. 

“Except for my kisses?” He insisted, almost like a little boy fishing for reassurance. I brought my fingers to his cheek and grazed them it until he smiled at me. 

The answer was “fuck, no”. His kisses were a memory I wanted to carry with me forever. But I also wanted to have that night, so I could carry it with me, and compare it to every other date, every other person that would come my way. 

“I want to remember the little details,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “The dinner you made, which is really close to burning, the grandpa pants…”

“Hey! These look cool! And the sauce, I have it under control!”

“If you say so,” I sneered mischievously, twisting my lips into a mocking smile as he pretended to be offended. “And I want to remember everything you did to make me feel special”

Harry’s arms looped around my waist as he pulled me to his chest and I hugged him back and looked at him, battling the need to just lean in and kiss him. His lips were so pink. 

We both sucked at the whole “no kissing allowed” thing, and somehow that made me feel a lot better. For once, I wasn’t the needy, dreamy one. 

“What do you think?” I asked in a whisper, smiling against the brush of his lips as he bumped our noses together.

“I want to kiss you, Sof, all fucking night long,” he pouted. “Been thinking ‘bout it all day.”

“I’ll make it up to you. Just...lemme have this, yeah?”

“Why?”

“Cause…” I laughed embarrassedly. “I already have your kisses in a little folder in my brain. Now I wanna have this.”

“Is it just me in that folder?” Harry asked, suddenly interested in some other thing that frowning. Curiosity and amusement were burning in his stare and I rolled my eyes at him, almost scoffing at the fact that was the only thing that had managed to catch his attention. 

“Mostly you…” I conceded, even though the petty part of me was all for rolling out with a long list of names before I got to his name. “And Sebastian Stan…” I said, not being able to resist it. 

“Bucky Barnes?” His eyebrows twisted in confusion and he looked at me as I licked my lips, considering just how weird I wanted my answer to be.  

“And the cartoon, too...” I replied, a little bit too casually for it to go unnoticed, but Harry didn’t seem to notice, cause as he was nodding thoughtfully, his hands traveled to my neck again, making me look at him as he dipped his head down to reach the curve of my neck. 

“That’s a bit greedy, baby,” He whispered against my skin, pressing soft kisses down to my pulse point. I wasn’t sure if that was technically a kiss, and I didn’t care, it felt so good. “Someone else?” He was cheating, and we both knew it. I could feel his smile growing bigger, and I sighed as he grazed his teeth over the curve of my neck and let his tongue soothe my skin. “Babe?” He insisted, just to tease me. It was hard to think, and he knew it, but I wasn’t going to admit it just yet. 

“Uh.” I licked my lips and struggled for a second, as I struggled to remember what was it that I was going to say. “Chris Evans, “ I began. “and uh, Michael B. Jordan. Mmm… and Logan Lerman.”

“Isn’t that the guy you’re gonna work with?” He asked, stopping suddenly to look at me. I fluttered my eyes open and smiled when they could finally focus on him. 

“Yeah, him and Timothée Chalamet.”

“Mmmm...I don’t know if I want to share my folder with them,” Harry pouted, which made me laugh. I realized it was no laughing matter, but still, a warm, almost giddy, laughter kept bubbling out of my tummy. 

“Why? Does it make you jealous, H?” I teased.

“Should I be?”

“Mmmm...I don’t know. I honestly think I would let Logan fuck me...those eyes, man.”

“So funny, S…” Harry rolled his eyes. He was not as amused as I had expected him to be. 

“You shouldn’t be,” I said softly, looking him in the eyes, serious and sincere.  

“You sure?” He asked and I was sure he wasn’t talking about Logan Lerman anymore. 

“I’m sure, baby.” I wasn’t even lying. “So, who’s in yours?” I asked, cause maybe that’d take attention away from myself. I didn’t think things through though, cause he had a whole bunch of options for his answer. Who could it be? One of his supermodel exes? His singer ex? This wasn’t a fun game at all. 

“You.”

“Oh, so THAT��S how you answer that kind of question!!” I exclaimed, which made him laugh, and, as he did so, his dimples showed on his face, making him look a little boyish. He was fucking pretty, Jesus. 

“I’m not even trying to be a good boyfriend here,” Harry chuckled, and I relished on the way the word `boyfriend” sounded out of his lips. So pretty, so fucking pretty. “My folder is called “When Sof’s not around”, and I think we need to fill it up, so I don’t run out of thoughts.”

“Oh, we don’t want that,” I scrunched up my nose and shook my head at him as a smile played on my lips. I was so fucking happy and I couldn’t even figure out why. 

“No, we don’t.” The tip of his tongue lapped across his pink lips, and I followed it with my eyes, taking a second or two before I peered up to him again. “I was hoping we could kiss all night,” he said softly. “and maybe I could eat you out by the pool.”

“I didn’t bring a swimsuit…”

“You wouldn’t need one, baby,” Harry laughed, a mix of mischief and endearment lacing with it. I couldn’t stop staring at him, and my knees wobbled a bit as he leaned down, bumping our noses together one more time, as the soft brush of his lips against my skin made me shiver. 

“Don’t cheat,” I whispered and his soft laugh echoed down in every inch of my body. His lips grazed over my forehead, as he pressed a soft kiss to my skin. 

“Ok, baby. We’ll do it your way.”

“Thank you.”

“I think it’s silly, y’know?” He started, pushing me back so he could look at me with his bright green eyes. “We’re just starting, Sof.”

****

I wanted to kiss him. 

I looked at him, licking a spoonful of dessert with my head propped on my hand as I listened to him talk, but all I could think of was how much I wanted to lick the trace of chocolate out of his lips. 

“Is there something wrong, S?” I noticed there wasn’t much concern in his voice, not like there usually was when he asked me if I was ok. This time, there was a hint of mockery, almost as if he knew exactly what I was thinking and that all I wanted to do was to sit on his lap and press soft kisses from his jaw to his lips. 

Fuck.

“No,” I smiled sweetly, cause I wasn’t one to go down without a fight, and I took his hand in mine and pressed it to my lips before I looked at him again. 

“Were you distracted?” His smile was turning more devilish as the seconds went by and I felt myself get warm as he leaned closer, his hands dropping to my thigh and pressing softly to it.

He wasn’t gonna win. I was not going to let him. 

“Nope,” I said, letting the ‘p’ pop between my lips. “Tell me about your album, I promise I’ll be a grown-up about it.” 

“Nice save…” Harry chuckled. “I think you’re gonna like it.”

“I have recently discovered that I’m a very jealous person. I don’t think I’ll like it, but I’ll be happy for you.”

“You shouldn’t be jealous.” A smile tugged on his lips and I felt warm, so warm inside, I couldn’t help but smile as well. “And I think you’re like it, especially since I made a few last-minute changes, against Jeff’s will.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he kept saying I had the guts, the audacity to change the album when we’re about to drop the first single.”

“What changes?” I insisted, because Jeff’s feelings were the least of my concern at the moment. 

I wished I could have played it cool. Maybe that would’ve made me look more interesting, aloof, unapproachable, and all those things a girl should be in front of her crush. But my heart was racing and the world was turning chaotic as my head ticked, like a tiny little bomb. 

I needed to know. 

Tick, tick. 

“You’re already sure you’re not gonna like it,” Harry smirked, surely unaware of the mess inside my head. “You might as well wait for it.”

No!!! TIck tick. 

“Oh, please, please, pretty please?? What’s the advantage of this if I can’t get a tiny sneak peek?”

“Well, for instance, you get me to cook for you…”

“It was delicious, thank you.”

“And you get me to eat you out at night when you’re not being stubborn and imposing kiss-bans.”

“I like that very much, too,” I giggled, looking at his green eyes as he got just a bit closer, just an inch away from me. 

“So it’s not such a bad deal, is it?”

“I guess not.”

“Good.” His bottom lip rolled into his lips and he bit it thoughtfully for a couple of seconds as his eyes kept burning little holes into my soul. That’s how it felt. “Let’s watch a movie, baby. Are there any bans on cuddling?”

“No, not yet.”

His fingers squeezed mine and he got up swiftly from the table, smiling brightly as we covered the few steps to a different room near the pool, where a giant screen awaited for us. There were a bunch of individuals blue chair, blue and velvety, and a larger one, that was meant to comfortably fit two. The room was dark, only lit by the lights coming from the screen, and I followed him blindly until we were sitting side by side. Slowly, we found each other, and as Harry sat against the armchair, I settled between his legs, cuddling up to his chest while his large hand rested on the curve of my waist. 

He smelled like a lazy Sunday morning when the rain is lightly tapping on your windows and all you can hear are the chirping birds when still early, so the world hasn’t woken up just yet and you get to focus on that feeling, on the promise of what’s coming. 

He also smelled like pasta and chocolate, and I didn’t mind that at all. 

He felt soft, comforting, and sweet, but above all, he felt safe. I was safe with him. 

And, I struggled for a bit, trying to understand what came next, what was the warmth and giddiness that settled in my tummy every time I looked at him. 

“You ok, baby?” Harry asked and I nodded absentmindedly, not ready to let my thoughts go just yet. What was it? “Wanna watch Set It Up?”

“Yeah, whatever you want. your choice.”

“Are you sure you’re ok? You don’t say that often.”

“Oh, shhh, Harry I always do whatever you want.”

“We definitely have different definitions of ‘Whatever Harry wants’” He mused and I propped myself up to look at him, almost suspiciously, almost angry.

“Do we? What do you want?” I asked. 

“To kiss you. And for you to stay the night.”

“I have a bed, y’know?” I quirked my eyebrow, looking at him as I had already won the argument. 

“Yeah, unfortunately…”

“And we promised we would behave tonight.”

“You can stay in a different room,” he offered. “Or I will.”

“What’s the point then?”

“You won’t have to miss me in the morning…” he shrugged. I laughed out loud, despite my best efforts to look offended. “And I won’t have to miss you.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Love. 

He looked a lot like love. 

And love looked a lot like him. 

***

Harry Styles and Sofia Welsh were out grabbing Fro-yo and I’ll never be as cool as either of them

Yes, I know what you’re gonna say: Are they paying you to write this sh*t? And the answer is yes! someone’s paying me to write this sh*t! Alas, neither Harry nor Sofia is. I wish. 

The usually private couple, and bear in mind I am using the word couple loosely here as they haven’t confirmed to be dating, gave the world a glimpse of their relationship as they stepped out in Los Angeles to grab ice-creams and bubble teas, along with friends.

Ever since the rumors of their relationship spread around, the couple has been mostly keeping a low profile - which is not very surprising as Harry Styles is not very open about his personal life since he was a member of One Direction and a large part of his fans believed him to be romantically involved with one of his bandmates (that was a mouthful! And also very true, there has been a lot of conspiracy theories about it)

Sofia, who’s in the middle of an Oscar campaign (and has been showing us just how much designers adore her), sported a pair of leggings, a crop top, and a large blazer, a perfect outfit for the ever-changing LA weather, and looked happy and relaxed as she waited for Harry to get their orders. Both stars took photos with fans and left together in Styles’ classic car…

****

We were made out of good intentions. 

We slept together that night and every night after that for an entire week. We didn’t do much, we kissed and cuddled, and spent our mornings lazily together until one of us had to go out to the real world. We even went out and we kept stealing looks and smiles at each other, like two little kids that were too shy in front of their crushes. 

Photos were taken. Articles were published. Midge was elated. 

Harry’s new single was coming out that night, and there was going to be a party to celebrate it. If it was a hit, they were going to celebrate their success and all the hard work that went into it. It was a flop, and it was not going to flop, they were going to drink for better times ahead. 

“Fuck!!!” 

I stared at the ceiling, willing my body to move and failing miserably at it as every little muscle in my body contracted painfully. My arms hurt, and my legs felt like they were on fire. 

I just needed 5 more minutes before I got up and got ready to leave. 

It was day 4 of “my new life” as my trainer liked to call it, and after another lunch of grilled chicken and steamed broccoli, I was ready to quit. I had trained and dieted before for different roles, but this time, I had a feeling she wanted to suck the life out of me. It even made me reconsider if I needed to be in a Marvel Movie. Would Midge kill me if I quit?

“Sof…” The male voice scared me just a little, as I thought I was alone in my house. I turn around just slightly, as much as my tired poor body could handle and smiled as I saw Sam standing by my door. “Can I come in?”

He was holding a tray, with something that looked like a sandwich, coffee, and a glass of water, along with a white bottle of medicine. I nodded, grunting even at the soft movement, and he walked quickly to my bed, setting the tray down before me as he stood awkwardly. 

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I struggled to ask while I propped myself up and sat criss-cross on my bed. I sounded angry, and maybe I was, why would he bring me a sandwich? It was all I wanted to eat and all I couldn’t eat at the same time. 

“I’m off work today, and I wanted to check on you. Cat told me you’ve been feeling under the weather. I called your mom and she told me you should “just eat a sandwich and take an aspirin”, so here they are,” he said, offering me a childish smile as he pointed the tray with a little too much joy. 

“I can’t eat a sandwich,” I sulked. “And I need to get ready, I have to go to Harry’s.”

“You can eat a sandwich. And he can wait 5 minutes, you’re always there.”

I realized we hadn’t talked about the kiss, not really. I avoided being alone with him, and whenever the occasion presented itself, Sam would go out of the room, giving me space and maybe waiting for me to be the first one to reach out. I had never done that. Honestly, I didn’t think I would.

“You’re right, Sammy,” I said, picking the sandwich in my hands and noticing that he had already cut the crust off. “Thank you.”

It was weird between us, tense and quiet, and I didn’t like it. I bit into the bread looking at an empty spot on the wall as I waited for him to say something. Anything, I would take it. But Sam remained silent, pressing his palms on his thighs as he went to get up. 

“Sam,” I called for him and I smiled shyly when he finally turned around. He took his time, though, and for a moment there, I was scared he was going to leave. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s not what you want to hear when someone you like kisses you.”

“I shouldn’t have…”

“Did you want to?”

“Yes,” I breathed and I realized I wasn't lying. I did want to kiss him, there was no use in denying that. 

I put the sandwich down on the plate and moved closer to Sam until I could see the golden freckles that were hidden in his light brown eyes.

“Do you remember that night when you came through my window and stayed the night with me?”

“Yeah, I heard your dad scream, and I wanted to be there in case…”

“I know, Sam. I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since then,” I admitted and he kept staring at me as if he was considering what his next move would be. Would he kiss me? Did I want him to kiss me?

“You’re not being fair to me, Sof.”

“I know. You haven’t been fair to me either, but here we are.”

There was a moment of panic, cause for a second, I thought he was going to kiss me. He leaned over me and I held my breath as I looked at him, not able to stop him just yet. But as his lips brushed over my forehead, I closed my eyes, smiling as he pulled away from me. 

“Eat the fucking sandwich, Sof,” he replied and it wasn’t enough. I took his hand before he could leave and I licked my lips, peering up to him with something more than just fear pressing up to my chest. 

“Are we good?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess we’ll talk about it again when he gets back with his ex.”

That was a low blow, and we both knew it, but I just stayed quiet as he left the room, wondering if I deserved it. 

****

It took me a while to get ready, so I was late for Harry’s party. I went straight to the pool, where a large screen had been set up and the new video seemed to be on a loop. I couldn’t find Harry anywhere, but at the same, he was all I could see. I stared at the screen, looking at his golden skin as he was surrounded by the adoring crowd, at the way they kept touching and the expression on his face as he leaned into them. The song didn’t even matter, cause all I could focus on was his stupidly beautiful green eyes. 

I mean, I had watched his videos before. I had seen him fly through the sky and be surrounded by kids, but this was different. Those were entertaining and beautiful, and I felt the emotion in my tummy simply because it was him, and somehow, just seeing him made me happy. But in this one he meant to capture your attention and a little bit of your soul. He wanted to be desired and to be free along the way. And it was such a fucking sexy video.  

I lost count of how many times I allowed myself to watch the video, but it was probably too many times. After a while, I decided it was time to look for the real Harry, who was still nowhere to be seen, so I left the pool, smiling and greeting everyone as I passed by. 

I hoped he was alone, cause I wanted to fucking kiss him like no one else was looking. I wanted to tell him how lovely, talented, and amazing he was. I was going to kiss him a lot and praise him, it couldn’t get better than that. 

I looked for him in the living room, where a small crowd was throwing back cocktails and beers and went out to the front door, where people were lounging about, a bit drunkenly. But he wasn’t anywhere, and I was starting to feel uneasy. 

It took me more than a few minutes to make my way to his room because people kept getting in my way. I did my best to smile and engage in silly conversations about nothing, but my heart was growing heavy and my brain was too anxious to even remember if I had succeeded. 

I heard him talk even before I stood by his door. I couldn’t quite tell what he was saying or who he was talking to, but I noticed that his words were a little bit slurred, and his accent dripped thick in his low voice. The door was slightly ajar and I pushed it open and stood by the frame as I saw him talking on the phone. He had his back to me, so he didn’t notice that I had arrived, not that it mattered. 

“C, you’re drunk,” I heard him say and I wished he had just said a different name. “No...I know I told you it was just a PR relationship...Cause I need time to figure out...Really, C? Wanna know if I still love you? You’re not being fair...” The last part came out as a dry laugh, and I knew I had to leave, it was rude and inappropriate, but, most importantly, it was breaking my fucking heart. But my feet seemed like they were made out of cement, and my legs had chosen that moment to numb out of pain. So, I was still standing there when he turned around, and probably saw the tears that were threatening to spill down my eyes. 

I wanted to know the answer too. Could I know it? It’d save us a lot of pain. 

“Bye, C.”

He dropped his phone to the bed and I looked at him as he walked quickly to me. He looked flustered and worried, but it all seemed so distant, that it didn’t matter. 

“Baby,” Harry said, but that wasn’t my name. Did her call her baby too? He probably did, he was a ‘baby’ kind of guy. “Are you ok?”

“Yes, I was looking for you cause I wanted to check if you wanted me to post something on Instagram,” I lied. “D already drafted a tweet, it’s really simple.”

“Sof, how much did you hear?”

“Nothing. I’m gonna get a couple of photos and uh, I’m gonna go home, I think I need a rest day.”

His hand went to grab mine, but before he could do it, I turned and walked away rushing down the stairs until I could get lost in the crowd. 

Fair? None of us was being fair. 

[leechtwinsfling]

Twisted Wonderland @ DISNEYLAND  [ Chapter 3 ]

✨ Twisted Wonderland FanFiction ❤

[ Disneyland Date Series - HEARTSLABYUL ]

-----------------------------------------------

We are lead another portion of the garden as I find decorated tables inside the tall wall rose bushes. A few people are already seated as a server dressed similar to a butler heads our way before bowing.

“Welcome, for two?” 

“Ah, no, we actually have five more coming. So it’ll be a total of seven.” I answer getting the butler to nod before leading us to an empty table of eight. 

The table has a black tablecloth with three rounded plants in a row on the middle of the table. Each golden seat has a red ribbon wrap around with roses behind. There are three sets of different size plates, and neatly organized cutlery along with tea cups.  

Since the size of the table is similar to the seating back at the Heartslabyul’s Unbirthday Parties, I take my seat at the middle of one side as Riddle takes the head. We wait patiently for the others to come as I find small snacks already on the table.

Trying not to drool at the appetizing food, I hear familiar voices nearby getting me to look over to the entrance to find Cater and Trey. Smiling, I wave them for their attention as they are looking around. Seeing us, they inform one of the butlers who was welcoming them before heading over. 

“Hey guys.” I greet.

“Hey, the Queen of Hearts mentioned you two.” Trey informs with a chuckle, “Said that it’s a shame Riddle doesn’t have a lover.”

I laugh hearing this as Riddle sighs, “If I have a relationship, I don’t want it to affect my learning.”

“What, is there a rule that doesn’t allow you to date?” I ask.

“Actually -” 

“WOW! THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!” a distinct voice shouts getting all of us to instantly know who it is. 

Looking over to the entrance again, we find the three stooges grabbing everyone’s attention. I couldn’t help stifle a laugh watching them running everywhere as the butlers try to calm them down. Seeing Riddle getting annoyed, it seems like the three could feel his glare as they stop and look over to us. They halt their crazy running before heading over to us quietly. With how they act reminds me of children who know they’re in deep trouble from their parents. 

“There are other people here, don’t bother them.” Riddle lectures them for minutes as I find Cater sitting between Riddle and I. 

Trey sits across from him having an amused smile on his face watching the three as usual getting a scolding. When the second year finally finishes with a huff, the three take their seats. Grimm sits beside me as the other two sit across, all with guilty glum faces.

“So where did you go?” I ask Grimm wondering where he went when we were at the theater. 

“I smelled tuna, but in the end it turned out to be tuna scented eraser.” the cat sighs as I react with a horrified face.

Tuna what eraser?!

Just when I am about to comment about such an absurd product, trumpet horns ring as I realize that every table is now full of people. A red carpet rolls down the entrance as the mascots that we saw minutes ago walk down towards the larger table at the end. It’s design is near the same replica as all the other tables except for the parts where it’s bigger for the mascots’ hands and size.

“Presenting! Queen of Hearts!” a soldier-like dressed staff shouts as the Queen is the last one to walk down the red carpet.

When everyone is seated, the Queen stands up, “I welcome you all to my Unbirthday Party. Please enjoy yourself!”

With that, people dig into the tea and food offered getting me to wonder how do we pay for all this.

“I’m pretty sure all this is not free, so where do we pay?” I ask Cater who’s munching on a bite-size sandwich.

“Oh, we paid it beforehand. Trey reserved it once we were told we’re coming to Disneyland for a field trip.” he answers.

Okay, not a shock.

“Isn’t she amazing?” Ace asks staring at the Queen like a love-struck boy.

“Ace... you do know she ain’t real, right?” I ask concern for his well-being.

He dramatically gasps at me, “Don’t say that! What if the children hear you? It’s like saying Santa is not real!”

Turns out, someone must have heard him as a nearby table a child begins crying saying that Ace said Santa isn’t real. The parents look over to our table before giving a disapproving glare.

“Good job, Ace. You ruined a kid’s childhood.” I shake my head disappointingly at him.

“Hey! You’re the one who started it!” Ace blames.

“Quiet, let’s all just enjoy the tea please?” Riddle sighs already used to our bickering during times like this. 

With us enjoying some small talk about our experiences so far, along with the tea and snacks, I hear Cater soon humming along with the music which I recognize is the ‘Unbirthday Song’. Couldn’t help myself, I decide to hum along getting his attention. He breaks into a smile before singing along with the music and raising his tea cup to me. Laughing, I clink my tea cup with his as we both begin singing the song.

“A very merry Unbirthday to me !” he begins singing loudly that other people look over to us.

“To who?” I sing back deciding that it’ll seem fun despite being embarrassing. 

“To me!” 

“Oh you!” I point to him looking shocked.

“A very merry Unbirthday to you!” he offers me a hand which I take after putting my tea down.

“Who me?” I question.

“Yes, you!” he quickly touches my nose.

“Oh, me!” I gasp in surprise.

“Let's all congratulate us with another cup of tea! A very merry Unbirthday to you!” he cheers as people begin applauding and cheering.

Laughing at how he amazingly hit that high note, he then pulls me off from the table as he continues singing. Instead of being a small show to each other, it then becomes a huge performance for the whole party.

“Now, statistics prove, prove that you've one birthday.” I speak looking over to a group of children enjoying the unplanned performance.

“Imagine, just one birthday every year!” Cater adds.

“Ah, but there are three hundred and sixty four Unbirthdays!” I cheer.

“Precisely why we're gathered here to cheer!”

“It’s also my Unbirthday!” a child from the crowd raises his hang getting Cater and I to look over at each other before smiling and heading over to the small boy.

“It is?” Cater asks picking the child.

“What a wonderful world this is!” I pat the boy’s head.

“In that case!” Cater puts down the boy.

He puts the boy’s hand with mine before grasping the other boy’s hand and mine. We begin dancing in a circle as we continue to sing.

“A very merry Unbirthday!” we sing as children become rushing over to join the circle.

“To me?” the small boy asks.

“To you!” I smile finding the circle growing big as adults are cheering from the sidelines.

“A very merry Unbirthday!” the audience then begins singing.

“For me?” the children asks.

“For you!” we all shout.

“Now blow the candle out my dear and make your wish come true! A merry merry Unbirthday to you!” we all sing together.

Once the music ends, I can’t help but laugh as the children demand another performance from Cater and I.

“One more time! Can we please?” a child begs pulling down my shirt.

“Please!” other children chorus.

“Okay! Okay!” Cater agrees, “Everybody get ready!”

Everyone heads back into a circle as another child grabs my hand. I smile at the small girl who smiles widely back at me.

“You have a nice boyfriend, Big Brother/Sister.” she speaks.

Okay, stop right there. How many times has it been that people mistaken me to be with these boys.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I laugh.

“Eh? But you’re holding hands with him!”

“Yes, and everyone else is holding hands with others too, right?”

“Ah!” she realizes, “Yeah!” 

After many repeats of singing and dancing, the parents decide to help us as they see the exhaustion on Cater and I. Giving a relief sigh, I feel Cater lean on top of me with his chin on my head.

“Ah~ I didn’t expect to be so tired this early in the morning.” he  hugs me, “[N/A]~ Carry me~!”

“You think I can carry your heavy-butt?” I ask feeling tired on my own.

“So mean~”

“Can’t help but tell the truth.” I laugh before feeling him actually put all his weight on me, “Ugh, oh my god, what did you eat?”

“Trey~! [N/A] called me fat!” Cater tattles as I’m trying to support us from not falling face down on the ground. 

“I didn’t! How do you expect me to carry a grown man?! I’m still growing!” I argue dragging us towards our table.

“I’m still growing!” Cater gasps.

“Ha, not with your age.” I laugh obviously fooling around.

“I’m only two years older than you!” 

“Two years! You’ve eaten more than 2190 meals than me!” 

“How did you get that number?” 

“Well, there’s 365 days, and the average amount of meal is three. So 365 times three is 1095. Then multiply with two since it’s two years, and that’ll be 2190.” I easily explain.

The boys can only stare at me as the first years look at me like I’m talking gibberish as the older two didn’t expect this from me.  “Okay, I might be not that smart at school but that’s only because everything I’m learning is entirely new to me! Remember, I’m from a different world than you guys.” I remind getting them to snap out of their daze.

“Awe, our little transfer student continues to surprise us all still.” Cater hugs me tighter. 

I let out a choking sound, “Can’t breath. Can’t breath!”

He releases me allowing me to gasp for air before relaxing, “I thought I was gonna die just then.” “Am I that strong~?” “With the addition of your body weight, then sure~” I continue to tease getting him to gasp and sulk before slapping me playfully.  Laughing, I sit back onto my seat as he does the same. The party continues as the mascots visit each table to talk with the children. I, personally, am stuffing myself with this delicious food in front of me.

“Y/N~! Try this!” Cater offers a bite of his small chocolate cake on his fork. 

Without hesitation, I take a bite and can’t help but moan from the richness it melts on my tongue.  “Right~! It’s so good! Here, have another bite.” he offers another spoonful which I once again eat from.

“This scene reminds me of a mother feeding her baby.” Grimm comments.

“Don’t be jealous that Mother loves me more than a stray cat.” I stick my tongue out at Grimm playfully. 

“Ah! There’s chocolate on your cheek.” Cater takes a napkin and gets ready to wipe it but stops.

Instead he smirks and leans in before licking the chocolate off my cheek. My eyes widen as I can’t help but blush like a tomato. The others saw this and are frozen into place as they can’t believe what happened. “There~” Cater smiles acting like nothing happened but knows what chaos he just started.  And the party ends with a food fight started by the first years. 

[ to be continued ] 

[ephemelody]

everyone knows my love is you

commission for @/interstelklance on twitter! the prompt was: no one believes keith & lance are dating until their engagement, gasp!

“Pidge, look.” Lance wiggles into a seating position on Keith’s lap, settling in as Keith loops his arms around his waist. “You’ve spent the whole morning with us at our apartment today, watching us do the laundry together and feed each other waffles and cuddle on this couch. I’m wearing Keith’s shirt right now, too, if you haven’t noticed. Do you really think I would do all that if I wasn’t head over heels in love with him?”

“I could kiss him if that helps.”

Keith sounds entirely too hopeful voicing that suggestion. Lance shoots him an admonishing — yet disgustingly giddy — look.

“Holy quiznak,” is all Pidge can push out in the end, realization crashing into her like two terabytes of code. “You guys are engaged.”

They tell Pidge first, because for all her brains and computer smarts, she couldn’t figure out the most obvious answer.

“Hey Lance, when did your photoshop skills get so good?” Pidge asks, staring at a picture of Lance holding his left hand up to the camera, Keith hugging him from behind. They’re on one of the beaches of Cuba, the setting sun casting a golden-pink glow behind their backs, and it’s honestly the perfect picture, with their smiles so broad and bright. “You almost got me!”

“Got what?”

Lance is sprawled on the couch on the other side of the coffee table, his stomach cushioned over Keith’s thighs. He’s working on a stack of Garrison reports, feet kicking up and down as he types away at his tablet. Keith, sitting comfortably beneath his weight, is quietly reading a book.

“This, your Instastory.” Pidge waves her phone in the air. Lance tilts his head sideways to take a look. “That ring almost looks real.”

“Oh, you mean this?”

Lance flicks out his wrist, and resting on his finger is the exact same ring in the picture, red jewel bright as a flame against the band of gold.

Pidge gapes. Lance gloats.  

For several long moments, no one says a word.

Then, Pidge hollers — “Since when?!” Her brain furiously processes through the last several months, wondering how a literal engagement sprung out of nowhere. “When did you guys even start dating?!”

“Since June?” Now Lance looks affronted. “Pidget, I literally announced it everywhere, even on Facebook!”

“But— that? Was a joke?” Pidge feels like a wire in her brain has fried up, gone kaput. Only snatches of memories fizz weakly in the wreckage now: Lance and Keith holding hands, kissing each other good morning at breakfast, hugging each other intimately beneath the soft glow of street lamps. Those had all been for show, as she and the other paladins had collectively believed. “This whole time everyone thought you guys were just messing around! Both of you told us you were better off as friends last year when we tried to set you two up!”

“That was before we got together,” Lance clarifies matter-of-factly. “We’re very much happy boyfriends, partners, future hubby and husband now, thank you very much! I can’t believe that hasn’t been obvious from the start.”

Pidge continues gawping like a fish. Lance flops onto his back, giggling when Keith runs a hand across his stomach.

“Pidge, look.” He wiggles into a seating position on Keith’s lap, settling in as Keith loops his arms around his waist. “You’ve spent the whole morning with us at our apartment today, watching us do the laundry together and feed each other waffles and cuddle on this couch. I’m wearing Keith’s shirt right now, too, if you haven’t noticed. Do you really think I would do all that if I wasn’t head over heels in love with him?” 

“I could kiss him if that helps.”

Keith sounds entirely too hopeful voicing that suggestion. Lance shoots him an admonishing — yet disgustingly giddy — look.

“Holy quiznak,” is all Pidge can push out in the end, realization crashing into her like two terabytes of code. “You guys are engaged.”

Everything made so much more sense now. The way Keith and Lance would always disappear together in the middle of Garrison meetings. The nonstop flirting, touching, gag-inducing nickname calling—

They were meant for each other, in all the best ways.

“Awww, is the little pigeon crying for us?”

Lance makes his way around the coffee table to sit down next to her, bundling her into his arms. Pidge doesn’t dignify him with an answer, but she hugs him fiercely back, wrapping her other arm around Keith when he joins them, a gentle palm patting her head.

These two became her closest friends in the lonely infinity of space; her most trusted comrades on the battlefield, and now the brothers she loves so dearly as they grow older and wiser together. 

She couldn’t be more happy for them.  

❦

Hunk comes next, with his culinary and engineering skills in dire need for the planning of the wedding. Lance and Keith visit him during his restaurant off-hours, walking through the backdoor into a tidy, well-lit kitchen. They find Hunk elbows deep in a line of bakery orders.

“Hunk, will you make us a cake for our wedding?”

“Uh-huh, sure Lance,” Hunk agrees absentmindedly. His brows are deeply furrowed, jaw clenched in perfect concentration as he shapes the loveliest blossom of icing with a nozzle tip. “Who’s wedding?”

“Mine and Keith’s.”

A row of buttercream piping veers jaggedly to the side, streaking the otherwise faultless cake. Hunk lifts his head slowly and blinks at them, as if emerging from a dream.

“You… and Keith?”

Lance nods excitedly as Keith pilfers some of the icing. “Yeah! We were thinking maybe chocolate and peanut brittle, or red velvet in case anyone has allergies. Oh, and a mini rollercoaster going in and out of the cake, with the Lions as the rides!”

“But—” Hunk struggles for words, utterly flummoxed by this sudden turn of events. “You guys aren’t even dating?”

At that, Lance visibly deflates. Hunk grasps for an apology, struck by the distraught on his friend’s face, but the younger man quickly smooths his expression over. “Hunk, I’ve been calling Keith my boyfriend for over a year now.”

“You call me your baby daddy,” Hunk rejoins.  

Keith chokes. Lance scrambles. “Food baby daddy. And there’s a difference Hunk! Have I ever kissed you?”

“Well— no, but—”

“Fondled your pecs?”

“Uhhh—”

“Sucked your dick—?”

“Okay no! I get it now, I get it!”

Lance huffs, satisfied with Hunk’s admission. Meanwhile, Hunk is reshaping the last one and a half years of his life, based on the belief that this entire time, his two best friends had only been messing around with each other, acting overly affectionate just for jokes. Somehow, he and all the other paladins had convinced themselves of that, after watching these two dance around each other for years and years, before announcing that they were perfectly fine staying friends.

But maybe things had changed after that.

Understanding dawns on him, like a giant vat of batter pouring over his head. On instinct, Hunk grabs the nearest loaf of brioche and cuts two slices from it, slapping them over his ears.

“I,” he says gravely, “am an idiot sandwich.”

A beat of perfect silence. 

And then Keith doubles over with laughter, clutching his stomach and the edge of the counter, nearly kneeling on the flour-dusted tiles. Meanwhile, Lance gently takes away the slices of bread from Hunk’s hands, eyes twinkling with fondness and mirth.

“You,” he says very seriously, “are the most delicious sandwich to ever exist. And I know you’re gonna make the best cake Keith and I could ever dream of for the wedding.”

An hour later, after Lance and Keith had left, Romelle walks in, inspecting the state of the kitchen with eyes round as marbles.

“Hunk, what happened?” she asks, staring baffled at the war zone of icing, the lopsided, teetering cake, and the random loaf of brioche sitting on top.

“Started making it, had a break down.” Hunk dusts his hands off on his apron, his shock gradually morphing to a shimmering excitement and happiness for his newly engaged friends. “Bon appétit.”

❦

In retrospect, announcing the news at dinner to the family probably wasn’t the best idea. Shiro’s reaction to it certainly wasn’t expected.

“Don’t you think you’re taking this joke a little too far?” the retired space veteran asks, ladling a plate of bolognese as Keith and Lance regard him with matching bewildered expressions. Next to his side, Adam shifts in his seat, taking a long sip of wine without coming up for air.

Keith manages to answer first. “Joke?” Against the table, his hand wraps tight around Lance’s, the gold bands on their ring fingers twinkling beneath the light, one red star to link the blue. “We’re engaged, Shiro. As my mentor and my brother, I’m asking you to be my best man at the wedding.”

Shiro sets the plate of food down and falters on filling up the next, a waver in the train of his thoughts. True — it wouldn’t be like Keith to joke about something like that. He had been Shiro’s best man at his own wedding after all, and Shiro had promised Keith to return the gesture once it was the younger man’s time. But everyone knows he and Lance haven’t been dating these past few years. Shiro knows he would’ve realized it.

Or…

Had he?

“Shiro, we’ve been dating for over year now,” Lance says, cheerful and tinged with a breath of laughter. “Man, and I thought Keith was the dense one in the family. When we got together I literally had to take off all my clothes before he—”

“Lance,” comes the fond, exasperated rasp of Keith’s voice, just as Adam chokes on his second glass of wine.

“We tried setting you guys up last year, though,” Shiro says, sitting down as his mind swirls with confusion. “You guys came home from the date and said that you’d rather remain friends.”

A wry smile crosses Keith’s lips. “I was scared,” he admits, in a moment of vulnerability, “of ruining what I already had with Lance. Loving him in whatever way I could was better than not being able to love him at all.”

Lance’s heart squeezes at the open honesty of his words. He lifts the back of Keith’s hand to press a kiss there, pouring the breadth of his emotions into that light, warm touch. Shiro stares at them, unable to believe that he hadn’t seen it before, the utter love and devotion between them.

“But— but I’m your brother.” How could he not have realized? “I would’ve—”

“There, there, Takashi,” Adam soothes, setting down his wine glass.

“Did you know?”

Adam doesn’t even hesitate. “I did,” he says, and Shiro lets out an anguished, betrayed gasp, burying his head into his arm. “It was obvious, dear.” He gently runs his fingers through the nape of Shiro’s hair, smiling fondly at his husband before turning his gaze to the couple across the table.

“Congratulations, Keith, Lance. Takashi and I will look forward to your wedding.”

❦

Later that night, Lance is oddly quiet as they go to bed.

They had just gotten off the phone with Allura, who was currently staying in Altea with Coran. She had taken the news of their engagement with grace and excitement, though she too had been surprised at first as well.

Keith turns around to take Lance’s hand before shutting off the light.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asks, noting the spider-line crease between Lance’s brows and his soft, pursed frown. His blue eyes seem to glisten like a lake beneath sunset, rippling with a sheen of tears.

“Do you know why none of them realized we were dating this whole time? All their combined brain cells, and yet no one connected the dots.” Lance pauses, the frown folding deeper. “Is it because I don’t show my love for you enough?”

Keith’s heart eases from its worry, settling into a familiar, gentle affection. He pulls Lance into his arms, dropping a kiss to the corner of the younger man’s brow.

“Pretty sure all of them combined equals one braincell,” he says, smiling when he hears Lance’s aborted laugh, breath feathering hot across his collarbone. Lance nuzzles into him, nosing the curve of his throat. “We literally made out in front of them for ten minutes during the New Year’s Eve party, remember?”

A leg is thrown over his hip, and Lance tilts his head back just a little to gaze up at him, eyes now twinkling with a brighter, easier light. “I think they were all too drunk to pay any attention to us ravishing each other.”

Keith cocks a brow. “We fucked in the shower when they were all having breakfast the next morning, and you weren’t exactly quiet.” He thinks of the memory fondly, while Lance’s face colors crimson with heat.

“Allura’s walls are soundproof, just so you know. And I can’t believe you kiss me with that filthy mouth, yeesh.”

“You’re marrying this mouth,” Keith counters childishly, boldly, because it’s the truth, and it fills with him joy like none other. In the low light of their bedroom, Lance’s engagement ring shines next to his.

“I know,” Lance whispers, soft and adoring. “I love this mouth,” he presses a finger to Keith’s lips, “I love you, more than anything in the universe.”

And they would have the rest of their lives, sharing that love, together. 

[chronicbatfictioner]

JayTim Week 2018

Day 2: Friends/Enemies to Lovers // Supernatural AU Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

Tim Drake was a better detective than he was as a Robin. He was small, lithe; not as agile as the original Robin, Dick Grayson, or as massive and strong as the second Robin, Jason Todd. His investigative and deductive skills, however, is often said to be second only to the Batman.

Him finding where Jason has been staying would not have been counted as a surprise for those who know him. Like Dick Grayson, like Bruce Wayne, Bruce's butler, Aflred Pennyworth. Like his Titans teammates.

Like Jason Todd.

"What do you want." Jason's voice rang out even before Tim stepped in through the window.

"I should've asked you that. You've been sending me things." Tim replied, carefully walking in to the small apartment, unsurprisingly located at the Skid Row area of the Tenderloin district. Tourists avoided the area like the plague, having heard of tales and lores of the unsavoryness that is the Tenderloin District.

For Jason Todd - as well as Tim Drake - the city being San Francisco, not Gotham, even the worst part of the district looked like Gotham's standard parts. Jason would have felt right at home here, Tim thought idly, before remembering his own apartment that used to be the Theatre at Crime Alley where Bruce's parents were murdered.

The Red Hood's helmet was staring at him from a bedside table right next to the four-poster bed. The apartment itself was a loft and not overly large, and there was only a partition that would separate the bedroom from the living room. But it has a functioning oven, apparently. And Jason was baking something in it right there and then.

"I'm testing recipes." Jason deadpanned.

"What's in it." Tim retorted. "Why me."

Jason shrugged and turned back toward the oven. "You're here, and you have friends who could devour them, so nothing would be gone to waste." Jason reasoned.

"There are lots of people around here who could eat them, anyway."

Jason scowled at him. "And have them confuse French pastry with Persian pastry?"

"What Persian-- wait. No. That's not the point. I want to know why you're... feeding me."

Jason scowled at him, again. Tim started to wonder if it was his default expression setting or if the Lazarus Pit had warped his face from the grinning, happy Jason Todd of the past to this perpetually scowling-or-frowning expression.

"You have friends." Jason repeated. "I'm not just feeding you. And they're hella healthier than the junks you people have been feeding on."

"You've tried to kill us."

Jason gave him a withering look. "No I didn't. Just you." he corrected.

Tim rolled his eyes. "You've tried to kill me." he elaborated. "And now you're... what the hell are you doing, Jason?"

Jason just lifted an incredibly delicious smelling Shepherd's Pie out of the oven. "Dinner." he said. "Mine. You want?"

In spite of only recently finishing a large piece of chocolate cake that Tim hoped has not vanished to the abyss that is Bart Allen's belly by now, Tim's stomach rumbled loudly and unabashedly - and unsolicited-ly. Jason put the pie on the table and cut it to six equal pieces.

"Six?"

"Two for each." Jason said.

Tim had to look around, in spite having checked and recon-ed the entire block three times before he got in. "There are only two of us."

Jason just glared at him and handed him a spoon. "Your pick. I'll eat first." he said. And then louder, "last person here don't get to pick!"

Sure enough, a blue-black clad body practically slithered from the vents. "No fair. What if you put glass bits in where I'm gonna bite?"

"I'd have them as visible garnishes if I'd wanted to kill you, Grayson." Jason groused. Dick pointedly ignored him and took a plate and handed it to Tim. "I'll start billing you louse tomorrow." Jason added.

Tim placed a large one-sixth of the pie on the plate, and handed it to Dick, who promptly forked a large mouthful. "No poison. But if I die in the next hour, I want you to avenge me, Timothy." he said in all seriousness after swallowing the pie.

Tim blinked as he placed a second piece - picked randomly, and handed it to Jason. And another one for him. He was a third ongoing when Dick - already halfway through his piece - commented, "Tim actually hated Shepherd's pie."

Jason groaned. "And you didn't tell me this before, why?"

Dick grinned impishly. "I want to see how you'll change his mind to come to love this wonder of this English cuisine."

Tim was still shoveling the pie into his mouth quietly, savoring each and every piece of mystery meat in it. Jason caught his eyes and asked, "converted, yet?"

"Considering it." Tim replied without thinking. "The sorbet was a hit, though. Especially with the girls." he added, then shook his head and refocused. "Seriously! What. You planning to make a bakery or something, maybe? Supplementing your ill-gotten income with a more..." he looked at his plate and was quite surprised to see it kind of only have a few forkfuls remaining, "...sweet-and-savory flavored?"

Jason gave him a dirty look. "Gee, nice to know you have such nice thoughts about my income. I suggest you get off your high horse once in a while, though. Even the almighty Oracle's 'income' aren't all squeaky clean." he pointed out. "The sorbet was good?"

Dick, Tim realized, was already on his second slice of the pie, and was watching the banter with such mock-interested expression that made Tim wanted to slam the pie dish onto his face.

"It was. But that's still not answering my question. Why are you sending me and my friends food?" Tim persisted. Because if anything, persistence is his middle name: Red 'Persistent' Robin. "You've tried to kill me. And now you're wine-ing and dine-ing me. Metaphorically. Except for the 'dine-ing' part. Why."

Jason winced. "Growing pains?" he offered lamely.

Tim did not groan. Even at Dick's snicker. "You mean my pains?"

Jason was still wincing as if the pie was coming out of his sitting end in the form of jagged rock. Tim internally grimaced at his own vicious and petty thought.

"Okay," Jason said, pausing. Glared at Dick, who gave him a hand signal of encouragement. Glared at Tim. "You want seconds?"

"Probably in a minute. You were saying? --that's pertinent to my question?"

Jason sighed dejectedly. "You're persistent." he finally said after a few dozen heartbeats.

"I didn't get this job by being pretty, contrary to popular beliefs. And I will slam the pie dish to your face if you snicker again, Grayson!" Dick was visibly trying to wipe the smirk off his face, Tim could handle that, he thought. Kind of. At least Jason agreed on the face-slamming idea. 

Jason's answer, he was not sure about. "I think you're pretty. But also pretty good with this..." Jason made a repetitive circle over the pie that Tim took as his generalized gesture that meant 'everything or something', "...job."

"Of course." Tim retorted, watching the second slice of the pie landed on his plate, and realizing that Jason's fork suddenly came too near to his jugular to his liking. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

"He's got a point," Dick agreed.

Jason punched Dick's shoulder. "Well I didn't leave by choice, did I?"

A little pang of hurt stabbed at Tim's heart. "I didn't, either... technically." he said, his voice suddenly soft as he avoided Dick's eyes.

"Oooh, no, no, no, no. I've said my apologies. And you two aren't going to make this about me now." Dick suddenly protested. "Back to the matter at hand," he prodded Tim, momentarily dazed and lifting an eyebrow to complete his bitchface. But it was Jason who spoke next.

"Okay. Yeah. I'm not good with it. So I'll just..." he grimaced. Twenty heartbeats later, he muttered under his breath. "I'm sorry."

Tim blinked. If he had blinked earlier, he might have missed Jason's lips moving. He was also certain that he hadn't heard the words as much as he'd read Jason's lips.

"You..." he croaked, and then cleared his throat before continuing, "baked me stuff to apologize."

Jason was clearly blushing. "Yes. No. Well, kind of. I baked because I'm not good with words. Dessert, anyone? I've only got wine as sweets."

"I'm eighteen." Tim replied automatically, because he'd had this part of the conversation with Jason before. He'd had this part of the conversation multiple times with Jason before in the past few years, to be exact.

"You're legal in Australia."

"We're not in Australia."

"We can pretend. I won't tell if you won't." Jason continued.

"Bake. Words. Why. We're not done here." Tim pressed his lips for emphasis. And opened them again to allow his last forkful of pie in.

"I said it already! I'm sorry!" Jason huffed, picking up his and Dick's empty plates. Tim automatically followed with the empty pie dish and his own plate. Jason dumped both plate into the sink, and said, "Just put 'em there." and went to get some soda and bottled water from his fridge. And Tim just watched him after he finished placing the dishes into the sink. "Soda or water?"

"Whatever won't kill me." Tim replied. Jason handed him the water bottle.

"Less sugar. Won't kill you." Jason said. Tim observed the bottle for signs of tampering, found none, and chugged down the water rather gratefully.

He also figured that if he were to die now, at least he was wearing clean underwear.

Besides, Dick took the soda. Tim was always sure that Dick would defy all expectations and actually die of diabetes at a very old age.

Tim shook his head again and tried to focus. But his belly felt healthily full for the first time in-- well, since he'd stopped residing at the Wayne Manor.

"I need to go on home, now." Dick announced. "You two derps promise not to kill and/or maim each other, yeah?"

Jason sighed out loud. Tim just shrugged. Hey, he's not the killer around here.

Still, their nonconformity seemed to satisfy Dick. "Okay," he said. "Thanks for dinner, Jay. Superb pie I'm sure Alfred would be proud of." Jason just smirked as Dick climbed out the ventilation shaft he had came in from.

"He parked the Titans' invisible jet on the roof." Jason explained.

"I didn't see or hear him comin'." Tim admitted, gingerly took a seat next to Jason on the couch as Jason started channel surfing.

"He's Grayson, whaddya expect." Jason remarked. "Anything in particular you wanna see? Other than counting my freckles, maybe?"

Yes, Tim was still gawking at Jason. His brain was still trying to compute the 'I'm sorry', delicious shepherds pie and other baked goods, and 'less sugar, won't kill you'. And Jason. And the fact that all of the above came from Jason.

"Does this mean the baked goods will be a thing?" he wanted to know and promptly smacked his head internally. No, mouth. His brain did not want to ask just for the baked goods. He wanted to know if Jason being nice and have dinners and just plain 'ole being nice to him would be a routine of some sort. Because Tim's conscience was starting to imply that he could get used to it and feel alright about it. Maybe even be a little happy at it.

Jason shrugged as he settled on a 'how-to-make' something program on TV. "If you want."

Tim scratched his head. "I..." he started. Jason's eyes were glued to the TV and Tim wondered how the hell he'd kept his emotions so much in check. Except when he was furious about something. And Tim definitely know about the furious Jason, he'd been on the receiving end one time too many. "...do you take requests?"

"If I have the recipe, sure." was Jason's reply. "You going back to the Tower?"

"Yeah." Tim answered, forcing back a yawn, his body's signs that it is contented. "I better get going..." he said, starting toward the window. "Thanks for the dinner. And the baked stuff."

Jason got up and followed him to the window. "You have my number. One of it, at least, or a dozen. Let me know you got there safe." he said before Tim slipped out of the window to the fire escape.

Tim nodded, "sure." he said. He caught jason's eyes, And if asked later, by anyone - short of by extreme and copious use of some kind of truth serum and/or mind-reading - Tim would not admit of what brought in the impulse to hug Jason. But he did. He felt Jason tensed a little, and then relaxed under his arms and hugged back awkwardly.

Nope, definitely not saying anything.

[benjamingarden]

This Month On The Farm: October 2020

  Our first snow has arrived!!  Ok, so it was only about an inch, but, nonetheless, it arrived on the second to the last day of October.  And with it came some significantly colder weather including our first below 30 degree night. 

While the majority of our summer garden ended in September, we were the happy recipients of additional garden goodness throughout October in the form of cabbage, broccoli, green beans, squash, beets, carrots, peppers, tomatoes (the first half of the month), and herbs.  Needless to say, our freezers are chock full.

Garden Wins And Fails

Let's start with the fails and get those right out of the way. Eggplant, for some reason, did not do well for me this year.  I've never ever had an issue with it but 2020 was no ordinary year.  Cucumbers, too, did not produce well for some reason.  I've always struggled with melons, and this year, of course, was no different.  They did ok, not great.  And, of course, because of the early-on visits by the whistle pig (with the enormous appetite) who adored all things green, we had a rough start with greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and carrots.  Many eventually came back and others were replanted.

And the wins......  My peppers did outstanding this year as did my squash, tomatoes, beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and pretty much everything else in the garden.  Partial credit, I'm sure, goes to the soil that we continue to amend.  Partial credit also goes to the fact that I had time to weed, pick bugs, water, and do all of the things that make a garden happy.

On October 30th, the night temps dipped into the 20's, so I pulled of all remaining veg except for greens (kale, chard, arugula, mustard, and loose leaf lettuce).  I've left them growing but we did not get our tunnel made for the raised bed they are in so, unfortunately, I don't think they'll last long with just a cloth row cover.

Oliver & Jackson

Well, back to the specialty veterinary clinic we go.....  

Poor Ollie has been having some issues, come to find out he has multiple herniated discs.  He is doing well and it's nice to know what we're dealing with instead of guessing.  Initially we all thought (us and his neurologist) that he may have a brain tumor like Emerson as well, but it was ruled out with an MRI (thankfully!).

And then there's Jack.  Wouldn't you know that Mr. Jackson has a heart murmur, discovered at his annual check-up, and is now scheduled to see a cardiologist?  That guy must have been jealous that Oliver got to travel to see specialists......  Unfortunately they are booked until February, so as long as he doesn't show any signs of distress, he will go at that time (they will get him in as an emergency if need be).  

We expected this would likely come at some point as one of his litter mates has had some heart issues for a few years and is now on medications to keep it under control.  So, Jack will, at the very least, have annual appointments with a cardiologist to keep an eye on his heart.  And in case you're wondering, no, his heart murmur does not stop him from harassing Oliver or biting our toes at night.  

Some things will never change.

delicious apple cake

In The Kitchen

We haven't been out to eat or purchased food to-go since February so our kitchen stays quite busy.  Breakfasts remain fairly simple although I did make Cinnamon Swirl Bread and Blueberry Scones this month, just because.  For lunch we didn't make the switch to soups because of the moderate temps.  Instead, we continued to use the outdoor grill, make quick sandwiches or salads, and of course enjoy leftovers.

Dinners were fairly standard since we've been busy with our soap business.  I did try this recipe for Chicken Fajita Rice for Jay and he loved it. 

For dessert I tried this Apple Cake recipe and it is soooooo good.  As I've noted before, we very rarely use processed sugar, however, we do make exceptions from time-to-time and this cake is worth it.  I did cut the brown sugar used in the actual cake batter in half because I knew it would be way too sweet for us.  It was still definitely more then plenty sweet in our opinion.  I also substituted out the egg, used oat milk & vinegar for the buttermilk, vegan butter, and reduced the oil to make it something I would eat as well, but I'm positive if you are interested in making the recipe exactly as is it will be amazing.  

Jay has asked if it could be made for Thanksgiving so I will be whipping another one up today!

In The Coop

Absolutely nothing is happening in the coop.  The girls enjoy their feed and snacks but are still on their egg laying break.  Jay has been rationing his egg consumption and we did purchase a dozen eggs from our farmer's market a few weeks back so he could make omelets and scrambled eggs frivolously.  At that time we were getting 3-5 eggs per week but now we are getting none.  So we will be buying them again....

What I've Been Reading

I've continued to enjoy reading in the evenings.  I have realized that there are a few new (to me) authors whose writing I love - K.A. Tucker, Elizabeth Berg, Louise Miller, and Heather Webber.  All write very differently but I just really enjoy what I've read by each of them so far.

Here are some of my favorites read this month.  Actually I LOVED each of these (affiliate links):

The Simple Wild: A Novel and the second in the series Wild At Heart: A Novel - by K.A. Tucker (the third and final in the series is available December 1st)

Say You Still Love Me: A Novel - by K.A. Tucker

The Last Time I Saw You: A Novel - by Elizabeth Berg

The Late Bloomer's Club: A Novel - by Louise Miller

Midnight At The Blackbird Cafe: A Novel - by Heather Webber

One that I was surprised to really like, because it's not a book I would have normally chosen, was Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb.  I really enjoyed it and am so glad that I read it.

If you have some favorites that you would recommend, I would love for you to leave it in the comments!

soap curing on the shelves

The Soap & Skincare Business

We are incredibly blessed to be quite busy despite the craft shows being cancelled and having limited tourists in our town to shop at our weekly farmer's market.  Our online store continues churn out the orders and our local regulars continue to come out.  And, the holiday Artisan Market at a museum one town over is going to be able to open so we are thrilled to have our products there again this year.

Our farmer's market usually moves indoors in November, however, we are trying to stay outside as long as possible this year.  It's been chilly, I'm not going to lie.  A couple of Sundays ago we barely made it to 40 degrees and this past Sunday we were at, I believe, 41 degrees.  We did invest in a portable heater that is fueled by propane so that will be nice.  We can put our tent walls up and turn on the heater to get warm.  It's nice because it gives shoppers much more space to shop and makes them feel a lot more comfortable as our areas COVID numbers continue to rise.

Although this post was about 2 weeks late, I wanted to give you an October update.  Thank you to those of you who have reached out asking for this and other posts.  I'm hoping to get back to posting more often soon!  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we certainly have a tremendous amount to be thankful for.  Although we usually host a small gathering for friends, we will be celebrating just the two of us (and critters of course) this year.  It will be a great day off (except for cooking) that we've looked forward to.

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

This Month On The Farm: October 2020 was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

[nikigdoesthings]

Favorite Moments of 2019

Felix Felicis Tattoo

In January I finally did something I had been wanting to do since high school; I got a Harry Potter tattoo! This was my second tattoo and I decided on a bottle of Felix Felicis, also known as liquid luck. A good friend of Tim’s, who has done most of his work, did the piece for me. I expected this to be more painful than my first tattoo (which is on my thigh) but it was surprisingly easy. I’m happy with how it turned out, and am planning on getting more Harry Potter themed work. 

My New Vlog

Before our Honeymoon in February, I decided to try my hand at vlogging. I was spending a lot of time watching theme park vlogs on YouTube and my husband suggested I make some of my own. Anyone that knows me is familiar with my obsession with roller coasters and theme parks. We had full intentions of making a video at Universal Studios Orlando but we didn’t have the right equipment. We did a few home vlogs about our Universal trip after we returned. I found it difficult to be at a park like Cedar Point and not be riding non-stop. So we didn’t vlog as much as I had hoped or anticipated, but we made a few Cedar Point vlogs that I am proud of. Here is one of my favorites. I have since gotten a GoPro and I think that will make vlogging in the parks a lot easier for me. So look for more in 2020.

Cedar Point in 2019

2019 was the most trips to Cedar Point I had ever made in one season. Tim got us Platinum passes which enabled us to go as many times as we wanted. We try to go on Fridays because it is the only week day I don’t work, and crowds are usually lower in attendance. We did some vlogging and the pass came in handy because on the days we didn’t ride as much and vlogged, it didn’t feel like we were wasting money. We rode Steel Vengeance as much as we could, and are obsessed. There is nothing else like it that I’ve ever ridden! We also had a season FunPix pass, and we loved all the ride photos. 

Clean Beauty Switch

I made the decision last year that I was going to start using green beauty products, and eliminate products with toxic ingredients. If you are careful with what you put into your body, why wouldn’t you be careful with what you put on it? I started realizing more and more green beauty companies appearing on my Instagram feed. I had an issue with my skin last year that spanned six months. After that, it was even more important to know what I was putting on my face and body. I discovered the company W3ll People and began using their products. They even ended up asking me if I would complete a survey, and after I received a $100 gift card. They are my favorite clean beauty makeup brand and I really love their products. My favorite products are the Bio Base Baked Foundation, and I also enjoy the Optimist Lipstick in the Choose Love color.

New Garden Boxes

We had ambitious plans for our garden in 2019. Tim built new planter boxes closer to our house. It was a cold Spring so things started out slow but when it started to get warmer, the garden grew like crazy! We planted way more than we needed and put the plants too close together. Next year we will plot the garden differently. We were successful at our first attempt to can pickles. I was nervous that they wouldn’t turn out, but they were really tasty! We had been busy during the summer riding coasters on the weekends so a lot of the cucumbers weren’t harvested properly. It was a good lesson on how we can improve things next season. 

One Year Anniversary in Paducah

Paducah is a town in western Kentucky that is very special to us. Tim and I had a beautiful, intimate wedding there in October, 2018. We planned to make a trip back to celebrate our one year anniversary. We stayed at an adorable Airbnb downtown which was in the perfect location because we could walk to most of our favorite places. We met up with some of our friends, did a haunted ghost tour, ate a delicious replica of our wedding cake, made an emotional visit to our wedding venue, and of course ate at Just Hamburgers! I can’t describe how happy this town makes me, and every time we leave I can’t wait to come back. Our first year of marriage has been amazing, and I love him more every day.  I hope Tim and I will continue to make yearly visits and, maybe someday even make Paducah our home.

First Trip to Dollywood

Dollywood has been on my theme park bucket list for a long time, and I finally got to visit in October. We had a wonderful experience, and the park exceeded my expectations. It was a gloomy Monday and I was very concerned the rain would ruin the experience. All my worrying was in vain. Everything ran perfectly all day, and ride wait times were 5 minutes or less. My top priorities were riding Lightning Rod, and eating cinnamon bread from The Grist Mill. A back row ride on Lightning Rod had things off to a rough start (literally) but after moving to the front row,  the ride experience was much smoother. It’s a short, but intense ride that took me by surprise. The cinnamon bread was as good as I had imagined. I will dream about that until I have it again!  I was impressed by the theming on all the rides, the staff was very friendly, and the park was clean. I even enjoyed checking out things that were not roller coasters like touring Dolly’s bus and the Chasing Rainbows Museum.  We had fun with our photo pass, and took as many pictures as we could! 

Rucking

Before I met my husband, I had no idea what rucking was. He taught me the basics and this last year, we spent a lot of time rucking. Rucking is walking with a weighted backpack, and you can do it anywhere! It’s a great cardiovascular activity but also helps build strength and posture.  When he went to GORUCK HQ to shoot an event called Selection, he brought me back my very own ruck and weight plate. He got me a GORUCK Echo in my favorite color, Java. Soon after, I started rucking with my 20 lb plate in my ruck. It’s an activity that is really fun for Tim and I to do together. We can spend quality time and also be active and healthy. I signed up for a monthly rucking challenge in November and earned my first patch. The pledge was to ruck 10 miles and I did that plus many more. This year I want to challenge myself more and try an event with Tim. 

Rucking My First 10k

In November, one of the offices I work for decided to do a 10k. My boss is a competitive runner and triathlete, but the rest of the staff decided to walk. I’ve walked a few 5k’s before but never a 10k. To add an extra challenge since I had been rucking, I told myself I would carry my ruck with weight (20+ lbs). Thankfully, there wasn’t any snow on the ground yet, but it was chilly! This was also the first time doing this type of distance with weight and not having Tim with me. It was a challenge, and at times very discouraging. I was the only one rucking and everyone else was walking or running so I felt like I was dead last. Maybe I was dead last, but I finished. I look forward to taking on new challenges in 2020. 

Universal Orlando Honeymoon

It’s no secret that Tim and I are huge Harry Potter fans.  When we were deciding on where to honeymoon, we originally had plans to visit Scotland. When it came down to it, we decided to go to a place we were familiar with and  where we knew we would have fun. We chose to spend a week at Universal Studios Orlando, Florida!  It was a dream to spend a week here! An exhausting dream come true. The staff made us feel so special and everyone congratulated us on our marriage multiple times a day (thanks to our buttons!). Staying on-site is perfect! Loews Royal Pacific is a beautiful hotel, and it’s very convenient to the parks and Citywalk. February is off season but with the Unlimited Express Pass we walked on every ride. It was sunny and upper 70’s every day! Perfect weather for me and comfortable for Tim. We started out our mornings immersed in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and enjoyed bouncing back and forth from Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios all day long. We can’t wait to make  a trip back in 2020, so we can ride Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure!

[sandybrownjensen]

The Greenhouse: An Alchemical Fable

When Marta, our new neighbor, came over to visit my gGrandma Sophia, she caught sight of Grandpa down in the orchard. “So young and handsome,” she said slyly to Sophia, “my dear, you must tell me your secret!”

“No secret there,” Sophia replied, “You must know he is my second husband?”

Sis and I looked at each other and waggled our eyebrows in a silent communication. Sophia looked at us sternly. “You girls run along now.”

We made like smoke and slid around the corner into the hall, but that far and no further. Staying within earshot was essential when it came to Grandma Sophia’s stories. We could hear them settling in for a comfortable coze--the pour of coffee, the rattle of cutlery delivering the over-sized slices of apple coffee cake.

“Do you remember the tree of Golden Delicious apples in the greenhouse, the same apples you are eating here?”

“Stunning,” Marta murmured around a mouthful of cake.

Sophia’s greenhouse had always been the envy of the township. It was one of those faux Victorian affairs of brass and glass with a dome and three wings.

The greenhouse was Sophia’s pride and joy. As children, my sister and brother, and I found it a magical playhouse as we played hide n seek among the rows of veggie starts, the potted lime trees and cascades of flowering jasmine that perfumed the air and drew in the butterflies from outdoors. Anything could happen in such a place.

The Golden Delicious apple tree had pride of place in the center under the dome where its carefully trained branches followed the brass ribs of the house not up, where tiny Sophia couldn’t harvest the apples, but around, reaching branches horizontally in each direction creating a spiral or twist. She had a circular bench around its base and a fountain of her namesake, Sophia, goddess of wisdom pouring water into a basin at the feet of another figure, a dusty traveler, a young man my sister and I were both more than half in love with. Of course, we thought he looked just like our father and grandfather, but we had not yet reached the age of distinctions.

Our older brother insisted that before we were born there had been an earlier Grandfather. “He was really old,” Julian told us once when we were hiding in a fort behind the lime tree. “He had a long white beard and wore farmer’s overalls. He died during an ice storm. He was in the greenhouse when everything was covered with ice, it was so cold. He leaned over to make sure the water was still trickling enough to keep the pipes open when there was a huge cra-ack!”

We girls jumped a mile when Julian made the cracking sound.

“A branch from the Golden Delicious apple tree broke off, fell and bam! An icicle to the heart and Grandpa #1 was dead.”

Sis looked at Julian with disdain. “Julian, you are so, like, ghoulish.”

“What’s ‘ghoulish’ mean?” I asked her, but she just said, “Never mind. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Back in the kitchen hall, we dropped to our knees and crawled in behind the dining room chairs. Grandma Sophia gave us a stern glance not to be sneaky but to live our lives in the open then continued with her story. Marta forked up another bite of coffee cake and didn’t look at us. Yes, she said, she’d had the tour of the greenhouse and remembered the magnificent tree of golden apples--eating some right now she was. Delicious.

“Well, my Amphion had a twin brother whose name was Zethus.”

Marta looked confused by the foreign-sounding names. “Your husband is your brother-in-law?”

“Exactly. As you know, Amphion was much older than I. I was his student, we fell in love, there was a scandal, but what of that? He was a good husband, and when he died, his twin brother Zethus offered to take his place.”

“Oh my,” said Marta, “How very Italian. But wasn’t he, er, quite elderly, too?”

“Yes, of course. But a  woman needs to work with the materials at hand. Dross into gold, and all that.”

Marta looked a little lost at the direction this conversation was going but gamely offered up her plate for just a sliver more coffee cake.

“Zethus,” I said to him, “I love you like a brother, but I need a younger man in my golden years.”

“‘You must charm me, Sophie,’” he said to me, “‘I know you have the secrets of the Old Ones.’”

“Come to me by moonlight then,” I said, “and I’ll meet you at the greenhouse.”

Sophia looked slyly at Marta to see if she was following and continued. “So I met the old man just before dawn when the greenhouse is full of dew. The apples at that hour are so cold and so sweet! Every night we met by the fountain under the tree in the greenhouse before dawn, and night after night he became younger and younger until I could not distinguish him from the statue in the fountain. “Zethus, you have become the young man in the fountain!”

“Oh, Sophie,” he said, feeding me yet another bite of the golden apple, “Don’t you know love makes the heart grow young again?”

Ah, Sentimental Sophie! She and Marta were holding hankies to their eyes when we heard Grandpa kicking his boots off in the mud room. He came into the kitchen and caught Sophie blowing her nose. He winked at us girls, then reached one arm around Sophie’s shoulders and reached the other hand out to the wide-eyed visitor. He really was the most handsome man in the world.

“Has my Sophie been telling you her tales of my enchantment?” he asked, “All true! Not even a god of Olympus can resist when such a woman as Sophia calls him to eat the golden apple of eternal youth.”

                                      END

Note: I recolored a medieval image that Laura Gibbs posted online along with her translation of a an accompanying “poem” on her blog called “Alchemical Musings. Here is the text I from which I extracted my little fable:

Arbor inest hortis Sophiae dans aurea mala, Haec tibi cum nostro sit capienda sene; Inque domo vitrea claudantur, roreque plena, Et sine per multos haec duo juncta dies: Tum fructu (mirum!) satiabitur arboris ille Ut fiat juvenis qui fuit ante senex. In the gardens of Wisdom (hortis Sophiae) there is a tree (arbor inest) bearing golden apples (dans aurea mala); you should take this tree (haec tibi sit capienda) together with our old man (cum nostro sene) and let them be enclosed (claudantur) in a house made of glass (inque domo vitrea) and full of dew (roreque plena). Allow these two to be together there (sine haec duo juncta) for many days (per multos dies); then — amazing! — (tum mirum!) that man will be fed (satiabitur ille) by the fruit of the tree (fructu arboris) so that he who was previously old (qui fuit ante senex) will become young (fiat iuvenis).

[benjamingarden]

This Month On The Farm: October 2020

  Our first snow has arrived!!  Ok, so it was only about an inch, but, nonetheless, it arrived on the second to the last day of October.  And with it came some significantly colder weather including our first below 30 degree night. 

While the majority of our summer garden ended in September, we were the happy recipients of additional garden goodness throughout October in the form of cabbage, broccoli, green beans, squash, beets, carrots, peppers, tomatoes (the first half of the month), and herbs.  Needless to say, our freezers are chock full.

Garden Wins And Fails

Let's start with the fails and get those right out of the way. Eggplant, for some reason, did not do well for me this year.  I've never ever had an issue with it but 2020 was no ordinary year.  Cucumbers, too, did not produce well for some reason.  I've always struggled with melons, and this year, of course, was no different.  They did ok, not great.  And, of course, because of the early-on visits by the whistle pig (with the enormous appetite) who adored all things green, we had a rough start with greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and carrots.  Many eventually came back and others were replanted.

And the wins......  My peppers did outstanding this year as did my squash, tomatoes, beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and pretty much everything else in the garden.  Partial credit, I'm sure, goes to the soil that we continue to amend.  Partial credit also goes to the fact that I had time to weed, pick bugs, water, and do all of the things that make a garden happy.

On October 30th, the night temps dipped into the 20's, so I pulled of all remaining veg except for greens (kale, chard, arugula, mustard, and loose leaf lettuce).  I've left them growing but we did not get our tunnel made for the raised bed they are in so, unfortunately, I don't think they'll last long with just a cloth row cover.

Oliver & Jackson

Well, back to the specialty veterinary clinic we go.....  

Poor Ollie has been having some issues, come to find out he has multiple herniated discs.  He is doing well and it's nice to know what we're dealing with instead of guessing.  Initially we all thought (us and his neurologist) that he may have a brain tumor like Emerson as well, but it was ruled out with an MRI (thankfully!).

And then there's Jack.  Wouldn't you know that Mr. Jackson has a heart murmur, discovered at his annual check-up, and is now scheduled to see a cardiologist?  That guy must have been jealous that Oliver got to travel to see specialists......  Unfortunately they are booked until February, so as long as he doesn't show any signs of distress, he will go at that time (they will get him in as an emergency if need be).  

We expected this would likely come at some point as one of his litter mates has had some heart issues for a few years and is now on medications to keep it under control.  So, Jack will, at the very least, have annual appointments with a cardiologist to keep an eye on his heart.  And in case you're wondering, no, his heart murmur does not stop him from harassing Oliver or biting our toes at night.  

Some things will never change.

delicious apple cake

In The Kitchen

We haven't been out to eat or purchased food to-go since February so our kitchen stays quite busy.  Breakfasts remain fairly simple although I did make Cinnamon Swirl Bread and Blueberry Scones this month, just because.  For lunch we didn't make the switch to soups because of the moderate temps.  Instead, we continued to use the outdoor grill, make quick sandwiches or salads, and of course enjoy leftovers.

Dinners were fairly standard since we've been busy with our soap business.  I did try this recipe for Chicken Fajita Rice for Jay and he loved it. 

For dessert I tried this Apple Cake recipe and it is soooooo good.  As I've noted before, we very rarely use processed sugar, however, we do make exceptions from time-to-time and this cake is worth it.  I did cut the brown sugar used in the actual cake batter in half because I knew it would be way too sweet for us.  It was still definitely more then plenty sweet in our opinion.  I also substituted out the egg, used oat milk & vinegar for the buttermilk, vegan butter, and reduced the oil to make it something I would eat as well, but I'm positive if you are interested in making the recipe exactly as is it will be amazing.  

Jay has asked if it could be made for Thanksgiving so I will be whipping another one up today!

In The Coop

Absolutely nothing is happening in the coop.  The girls enjoy their feed and snacks but are still on their egg laying break.  Jay has been rationing his egg consumption and we did purchase a dozen eggs from our farmer's market a few weeks back so he could make omelets and scrambled eggs frivolously.  At that time we were getting 3-5 eggs per week but now we are getting none.  So we will be buying them again....

What I've Been Reading

I've continued to enjoy reading in the evenings.  I have realized that there are a few new (to me) authors whose writing I love - K.A. Tucker, Elizabeth Berg, Louise Miller, and Heather Webber.  All write very differently but I just really enjoy what I've read by each of them so far.

Here are some of my favorites read this month.  Actually I LOVED each of these (affiliate links):

The Simple Wild: A Novel and the second in the series Wild At Heart: A Novel - by K.A. Tucker (the third and final in the series is available December 1st)

Say You Still Love Me: A Novel - by K.A. Tucker

The Last Time I Saw You: A Novel - by Elizabeth Berg

The Late Bloomer's Club: A Novel - by Louise Miller

Midnight At The Blackbird Cafe: A Novel - by Heather Webber

One that I was surprised to really like, because it's not a book I would have normally chosen, was Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb.  I really enjoyed it and am so glad that I read it.

If you have some favorites that you would recommend, I would love for you to leave it in the comments!

soap curing on the shelves

The Soap & Skincare Business

We are incredibly blessed to be quite busy despite the craft shows being cancelled and having limited tourists in our town to shop at our weekly farmer's market.  Our online store continues churn out the orders and our local regulars continue to come out.  And, the holiday Artisan Market at a museum one town over is going to be able to open so we are thrilled to have our products there again this year.

Our farmer's market usually moves indoors in November, however, we are trying to stay outside as long as possible this year.  It's been chilly, I'm not going to lie.  A couple of Sundays ago we barely made it to 40 degrees and this past Sunday we were at, I believe, 41 degrees.  We did invest in a portable heater that is fueled by propane so that will be nice.  We can put our tent walls up and turn on the heater to get warm.  It's nice because it gives shoppers much more space to shop and makes them feel a lot more comfortable as our areas COVID numbers continue to rise.

Although this post was about 2 weeks late, I wanted to give you an October update.  Thank you to those of you who have reached out asking for this and other posts.  I'm hoping to get back to posting more often soon!  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we certainly have a tremendous amount to be thankful for.  Although we usually host a small gathering for friends, we will be celebrating just the two of us (and critters of course) this year.  It will be a great day off (except for cooking) that we've looked forward to.

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

This Month On The Farm: October 2020 was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

[benjamingarden]

This Month On The Farm: May 2018 - Kitchen Reno & Chick Updates, A Whistle Pigs Wind Tunnel, Jack's New Bath Mat, and More!

If you’re just tuning in, this is a brand new ongoing series in which I document each month of our lives in our transition to a simple, homemade life on a modern homestead. We ditched town and moved to the country in 2008 and we blog about both our successful and not-so-successful ventures in homesteading, switching to natural products, and embracing a whole foods lifestyle.  Check out the entire series here.

Oh, the weather.  It's been quite a blend of beautiful days, a sprinkling of humid days, and a day here and there of rain (also deemed a beautiful day - particularly to the garden!!).  While April ended up being one of the warmest on record, May was a bit cooler than normal overall.  It was a lovely month though and we were even able to get the garden in early and without row covers to keep it warm.

we've been eating a LOT of asparagus lately

herb box on the back deck

potato plants

The Garden The dehydrator has now taken it's summer position on the pellet stove.  We leave it there all summer and the first part of fall so we can throw fruits and veggies in as they come in season.  It's annual reappearance actually came about a bit early this year to ensure apples didn't go bad.  I had a few apples from our local orchard that were starting to go past their prime so I wanted to slice them up and dry them out.  So, it's all set for it's first in-season produce which will be strawberries! I did restrain myself on the garden and did not plant as much as I would have liked to.  I'm a sucker for seeds!  I really wish I had the time to plant it all as it's so gratifying to nurture it to harvest.  Instead, I resisted the urge and only planted sugar snap peas, spinach, kale, tomatoes (a LOT of tomatoes.......), peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, zucchini, green beans and cucumbers.  Most of our garden will be for putting up.  Green beans, spinach, sugar snaps, broccoli, kale and peppers will be frozen, what cukes we don't eat fresh will be transformed into pickles and canned, and tomatoes will be made into sauces and salsa and canned as well as canning them as whole tomatoes and diced tomatoes.  This is if the critters stay away - I did not plant enough for us AND them...... We have a small asparagus bed as well, which we will be expanding.  We are going to add more once the harvest is complete for the year - should be over next week.  Our blueberry bushes are still small so we'll be picking at a local field again this year.  I removed our strawberry plants last year because I just couldn't keep fighting the critters for them so I'll be picking those at a local field as well in another week or two.  We'll also do u-pick for winter squash rather than growing it this year.  Our pear tree is looking good so, fingers crossed, we shall see some delicious pears, and our elderberry bush will produce a generous amount of berries that we will need to make time to dehydrate (so we can make elderberry syrup throughout the winter for amazing immune system boosting). Our farmer's markets will keep us in supply of the remainder of veggies & fruit. Rhubarb is in season right now.  I don't grow it, however, we're able to buy it at our farmer's market.  I've made Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (using up some of our frozen strawberries), and super moist Rhubarb Cake.  I also plan to make and can a few rhubarb recipes for use this winter. I was thrilled to be able to weed and mulch our flower beds.  Well, I have 3 to go, but it's almost completed.  I haven't had time to do this in a couple of years and it looks really nice.  We added a few plants too, just to bring a bit more life to the front yard.  I also moved my zucchini plants to the front yard.  I'll be interested to see how this works.  We've struggled with squash bugs for 2 years so I'm hoping that moving them 1/2 acre away will help. Whistle Pig vs. The Wind Tunnel Ground Hogs, a.k.a. Whistle Pigs (I like this name better so I'll be using it) are quite bountiful in these parts.  They are cute little things who completely terrorize my garden from time-to-time. I haven't seen any this year, although I continue to keep a lookout, knowing they must be around.  I've seen wild bunnies, but no whistle pigs.  Until last week.  I was walking up the driveway to retrieve the garbage cans.  Although we've had whistle pigs live in our front ditch before, it didn't even strike me that there could possibly be one there.  Until we almost collided. I had grabbed both the recycling can and the regular trash can, but the recycling can was falling over.  As I leaned into it to catch it, a whistle pig whizzed by me at top speed, narrowly missing my leg.  I jumped, causing the recycling can to fall into my leg and lodge the can's edge into it before I was able to grab it and keep both it and myself standing up.  My leg hurt a bit, my heart was racing a bit, and I headed up the driveway, pushing one can and pulling the other. I shared my near collision with J who shared the same concern that I had.  It's likely to get hit by a car if it stays in the drainage pipe in our ditch.  Every single year, for the past few years, we've had a whistle pig hit and killed.  We're assuming they were the ones who took up residence in the drainage ditch.  So, it was decided that J would try to relocate it.  Off he headed to the barn and came out holding the have-a-heart cage in one hand and the leaf blower in the other.  Leaf blower?  What is THAT for?  I followed behind him, inquiring about the tactic.  His thought process was to blow into one side of the drainage ditch and leave the trap at the other end.  This way, when he runs out, he runs right into the trap.  Oh boy, I said silently.  I just don't think this is going to work. The leaf blower was turned on and the wind went through from one side to the other.  Leaves came out, a few sticks came out, a random piece of trash came out, but no whistle pig.  He tried it again.  No whistle pig.  I suggested that the poor guy was probably traumatized and wouldn't come out for days as J began to start round 3.  He finally agreed and gave up on the wind tunnel theory. We haven't seen the little guy again.  I'm not sure if he packed his little whistle pig suitcase up and left on his own or if he's just hunkered down waiting for Armageddon to come to an end.  Only time will tell.

 a work in progress......

Kitchen Renovation/Projects Well, it's not done.  We still have painting left to do but everything else is completed.  For now....... I have one final project on the calendar for next year which is to open up the wall a bit more between the kitchen and the dining room.  Because of this, we made sure we had extra hard wood flooring of both the dining room (that was installed last year) and the kitchen (the kitchen is a vinyl "hardwood" flooring). We absolutely LOVE the larger window, the countertops, the stove, the backsplash, the sink, the faucet (who knew I would love a faucet?) and the flooring.  Love, love, love it all.  The window is only inches taller than the previous window but it feels even bigger!! I will share more photos once it's completed. We are hoping to go through the garden shed in the next week.  This isn't a huge project, although I'm sure it will be time consuming.  The garden shed has, unfortunately, become a catch-all building and because this "catch-all" will be going away this year, well, we need to go through it.  Anytime you need to go through things and assess "keep", "sell" or "give away" and then box up the "keep", it seems to take more time than one would expect it to, doesn't it?  It's not, for the most part, my stuff, it's mostly J's, so I'll just be there to help organize.

the chicks are getting big!

The Coop Girls The "littles" are getting so big!!!  They are so sweet.  It's really enjoyable to watch them as they figure out what their wings are for, as they realize grass and bugs are delicious, as they learn to roost, and as they see and react to new things in their world (seeing the dogs for the first time was quite scary for them - something, I swear, they chatted about all day long). The big girls stand and glare at them.  Actually, only a few of the big girls do, but it is really funny to watch.  They are so disgusted by them and their cute little chirping - you can just read it on their face.  Egg production is up, however, and that's a good thing. We continue to get jumbo eggs about twice per week.  Still not sure who's laying these marvels, but we love to collect them.  It's always fun to see their shape (one actually looked very much like a football in shape) and size.  About a month ago we switched them to a new Certified Organic feed from Green Mountain Feeds.  They seem to really like it.  It's non-GMO and soybean free.  We are able to get it from our local feed store which makes it very handy.

Oliver

Jack

Emerson

The Dogs + Jack Oh Jack.  A guy who discovers new obsessions from time-to-time.  He has a new one.  The new bathroom rug.  He believes it was purchased for him and gets very upset when anyone else dares to step foot on it.  He's a guy who loves texture so, apparently, I selected a nicely textured rug.  I bought a second one once we knew we liked it.  This way it doesn't get worn out so quickly.  J joked that we should give one of them to Jack and put it upstairs so we can once again use the bathroom in peace and without his attitude. The dogs are doing well.  They LOVE the sunny weather so there can be more outside time. More time to supervise the school buses, UPS man, and postal delivery guy.  And any white vehicles.  Oliver hates white vehicles.  I have no idea why, he has since we adopted him.  There is also some construction going on a few properties away so anytime the back-up beeping starts he jumps up and listens.  Our previous Fed-Ex guy used to back up our driveway when he would deliver to us.  It's been about a year since he's left our route but Oliver still remembers this and waits for "Mr. Mark" to come and visit him.  The poor guy is always disappointed.  So, back to napping he goes.

The Business Although it's not technically summer, to us this is the start of our summer season so we are in full swing!  We are trying to keep production running smoothly.  We start our second farmer's market next Wednesday.  It's a market we did two years ago and loved it.  Last year we were too busy to attend.  Since we are now both working for the business we can pick it back up again and we are thrilled!  It's a beautiful market.  It lasts from June through September, making it a nice addition to our week.

How was your May?

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This Month On The Farm: May 2018 - Kitchen Reno & Chick Updates, A Whistle Pigs Wind Tunnel, Jack's New Bath Mat, and More! was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)