#so i am hunting for craft supplies today i guess

[satans-knitwear]

leaving the house 😮🫣✨

Treat me ~ Tip me (buy me a cold beverage as positive reinforcement)~ More of me

[bittybattybunny]

What about a curse that keeps Eclipse locked into her wolf form for about a week?

This actually happened to her in her youth! So let’s go to the past and get a look at Craft and Eclipse’s relationship and meet her older sister Bertie as well!

(y’all finally get to see my human form for Conductor’s Daughter/Mother of the Pecklings!)

(also yes those bite marks on Bertie came from a baby Eclipse. Bertie has known Eclipse her whole life since Fenrir and DJ Knew Connie since Eclipse was like 2 years old. Bertie met her soon after DJ and Connie started dating and she held the werewolf pup wrong and got bit a few times. she doesn’t hold it against her tho cuz she was just a baby)

“Well. When you said something happened to keep you from getting your homework, this isn’t what I expected.” Craft stared at the wolf as she covered her face with her paws.

“I-I grabbed something I shouldn’t have,” she whined as they set the notes down. She huffed and rolled onto her back, “Pappy says I should be able to shift back to human in a week.” she sighed, “this is pecking shitty.”

“I don’t know, you could bite a guy’s head off!” Craft laughed and moved to rub her belly. Her tail thumped, “I’ll photocopy the notes. Did DJ tell the school?”

“As far as they know my illness has flared back up.” she huffed, sniffing, “you smell weird.”

“I’m trying cologne.” they frowned, “I’m not sure if I’m feeling it or not. I just know I don’t feel… right. But…” they sighed, “oh but my binder is almost here! I’m excited to try that!”

“That’s great!” Eclipse rolled over and stuck her tongue out as she panted some, “I hope that helps you!!! I can only imagine how it feels not feeling… right. In your own body.” she looked at her paws, “I know it’s not the same but… beast… human… I don’t know where I fall.” she sighed and placed her head down. She laughed as Craft began to pet her head.

“Eclipse is Eclipse.” they smiled and hugged the giant wolf’s head, “you’re my best friend.”

“Craft is Craft; You’re my best friend.” She lifted her head to rub against the black-haired teen.

“Oh, I’m thinking to dye my hair, do you think your sister can help?” Craft asked as they sat beside her, “I want to go lighter but I’m afraid because of how dark my hair is.”

“Bert may be able to. Let’s ask.” Eclipse stood up and shook her fur, sending some flying, “ugh I’m shedding.”

“Do you have a big brush?” Craft snickered.

“I do at the doctor’s. He brushes me out some nights because I guess werewolf fur is used in some medications. Weirdly.” she shuddered as she stood on her legs to reach the second story window, “Beeerrrtttiiieeeeeeeee!” She tapped her claws on the siding, “Berrrtttiiiieeeeeee question.” she barked.

“What?” The young woman threw the window open, her spikey blonde hair pulled back in a rather fluffy ponytail, “Wha’s the issue ‘clipse?” she asked as she let her younger sister give her a wolf kiss. She laughed, “Quit that.” she reached to stroke the wolf’s muzzle, “I ain’t gonna giv ya an extra steak cuz ya cute. Pa would have me head.”

“Noooo not that.” Eclipse laughed as her tail swished, “Can you help Craft with her… his? Craft what pronoun are you using today?” she peeked down.

“I’m trying “his” today. It’s better than she.” He laughed, “I have no idea if it’s right for me but, what was it DJ said, ain’t gonna know if I don’t try?” he shrugged, “I wanna dye my hair like. Pink. Can you help?”

“Hrm. I think I ‘ave some bleach I can use.” Bertie chuckled as Eclipse barked happily. “Lemme check, you can head inside if ya want. Or we can use the shop since miss meat fer brains canne fit in the house right now.” Bertie sneered.

Eclipse flattened her ears with a huff, “it’s not like I asked to be a giant wolf.” she huffed and pushed back from the house to stand on the ground. She hung her head sadly.

“Let’s use the school so Eclipse can be included!” Craft grinned widely as he put his hands behind his head, “I bet this is a change of pace!”

“Ye! Normally Aye’m dying her hair dark! Now that’s a thought…” Bertie put a hand to her chin, “Wounder if we could dye yer fur.”

Eclipse blinked, “we can try?” she offered, “we have a week of me like this.” she snickered, “I can be a Lisa Frank wolf!”

“Now that’d be a sight!” Craft cackled as he headed around, trailing alongside the wolf.

“I think I have enough dye. Nen wanted green hair so they brought a bunch ova last week.” Bertie chuckled as she headed inside to gather supplies. Eclipse laid outside the diving school and rolled onto her back with a big stretch. Craft grinned and flopped onto her belly making her gasp and laugh as he began to pet her. She thumped her tail as her sister returned with a small folding table.

Bertie scoffed, “now that’s unfair! He gets belly access?”

“Craft is my bestie, of course he can!” Eclipse laughed as her sister began to scritch her chin.

“I’m your sister I should get access too you big lug.” She cackled loudly as Eclipse huffed.

“If you ask nicely maaaybbbeeee.” the wolf grinned.

“Can I pet the softest fur on tha planet?” Bertie asked with a big grin.

“Yes!” Eclipse giggled as her sister pet her. 

“Some days I’m so jealous of ya.” Bertie sighed, “But not this week.”

“I’m not exactly proud of myself.” Eclipse huffed.

“What did you grab anyway?” Craft shifted to sit on the wolf’s stomach as her front paws pulled him down. She was quiet. Craft snickered, “Moony what did you grabbbb.” he teased and leaned on his arms.

“It was a little wolf statue.” She admitted with a whine, “Mister Marcus says that it would have turned a normal human into a werewolf. But since I’m already a werewolf….”

“You got stuck. That’s hilariously you.”

She whined as her sister laughed and shifted to finish setting up.

“Are you parents going to be okay with me dying your hair, Craft?” Bertie asked with a scowl, “I know they can be…”

“I’m staying with my aunt now.” Craft scratched his cheek, “my parents aren’t super happy with me right now, so she offered to let me stay there until I’m a little older.” he gave a heavy sigh.

He laughed when Eclipse licked his face.

“If ya need, Pa and DJ are sure ta let ya chill here as much as ya need.” Bertie hummed as she prepared the bleach, “You can keep meat fer brains on a leash.”

“Nooooo.” Eclipse whined. She shifted as Craft climbed down and used his shirt to wipe the wolf drool off his face.

“Go wash yer hair in the sink, I put some of pa’s shampoo there.” Bertie instructed, “Also if ya need help with any stuff, ya know you can talk to me an Nena. They can introduce ya to a good doctor, friendly towards trans folk.”

“Thanks Bert.” Craft rubbed his cheek, “Maybe. Right now I’m gonna just. Try and figure myself out.” he huffed, “I don’t know if I’m even right. I just. Ugh.” he sighed and ruffled his hair, “it’s hard.”

She pat his head with a sigh, “Yea, but ya got ya network here. And if anything I’m sure meat fer brains can help you. Ya can’t be any weirder than her ya know?”

“I take offense to that but you’re right.” Eclipse barked.

Craft snickered as he went to wash his hair, “thanks guys. Really.”

“Crrafftttt!” Eclipse called as he stepped in the door. He turned confused.

“Love you!” she stuck her tongue out with a big grin.

“Love you too meat for brains!” he laughed as she gasped.

“Don’t you call me that too!” she whined and covered her face ashamed. He laughed loudly.

Bertie snickered, “Well. Maybe you’ll learn your lesson about running head first into things.” 

“Maaaybbeee. I dunno.” Eclipse barked and rolled to her back. She frowned, “Bertie will you do my hair for the festival?”

“Of course! You going to keep it long? Who’s your partner this year? Keith right?” Her sister chuckled and pulled gloves on.

“Yes! I’m so excited!” Eclipse wagged her tail happily, “I-I may even tell him the truth. About me.” she spoke softly, “He’s so nice and says such sweet things. He called me his dancing fairy the other day.”

“Well. I’m glad it’s workin out for you. Look at my little sister, falling in love. How long have you been together now?”

“About 6 months!” Eclipse rolled to her stomach as her tail wagged, “He smells so good and he’s a great dancer. He’s like a prince charming.” her tail swished, “Bertie… am I---”

“You can be the princess. 100%. Clearly! You two are so happy!” Bertie grinned.

Eclipse beamed happily as her tail thudded the building, “And Craft made me a really pretty dress too!! It’s sparkly and blue and it moves well!”

“That’s the kinda chiffon I used.” Craft spoke proudly as he held the towel around his shoulders, “I think I did a great job myself! It’d be better if you wore your hair silver with it but!”

“I love it!! I can’t wait to show it off!” She beamed happily, “then everyone can see how skilled you are!”

“I’m still an apprentice. But Ms. Green says I’m getting better. She loved my hand sewing on this order last week!” He sat on the ground as Bertie started his hair.

“I’m glad that’s working out. The Greens are a lovely couple.” Bertie hummed. She began to apply the bleach, “tell me if it burrrrrrns or somethin.”

“Will do!” Craft snickered and beamed, “It is working great! I’m learning a lot about the industry and it’s really fun! Plus I get to get some cash to save for my own place!”

“I’m so glad it’s working out!” Eclipse stuck her tongue out, “A dress maker and a treasure hunter.” she grinned.

“What a duo we are~!” He laughed, “Though did you consider it? That thing Mr. Kwalski suggested?”

“The dog training?” Eclipse huffed, shrugging. “I mean I did. But I don’t exactly get along with dogs.”

“That’s the point though!” Craft pointed out, “you can always try, see where it goes.”

“I suppose. But I LIKE treasure hunting.” she huffed.

“It ain’t a good career. Ya need a side gig.” Bertie pointed out, “Ya pa helped with the diving school.”

Eclipse laid her head down with a sigh. She looked at the ocean.

“I know.” she sighed, “L-Look I’m only 16 I’m allowed to have some time to think right?!” she pouted and howled, “For now! I like going hunting with Pappy! It’s fun! It’s exciting! I get to see such cool things!!!”

“I wish i was sturdier; I’d love going on one of your hunts.” Craft winced, “Bertie you’re pulling!”

“Oops. Sorry bout that.” she apologized and loosened her grip, “and ya don’t. They just make stupid jokes and over worry. She spends half her hunts naked.”

“I’m shifting from human to wolf and back again! Who needs clothing I’m going to damage!” she huffed, “if anyone sees me they think I’m a ghost anyway with how the wisps cling!”

“Ya. but still. Modesty. Ya jus a kid.”

“You’re only like. 8 years older.” Eclipse huffed.

“I’m 24, Eclipse. I’m an adult. With a fiance. And a career.” Bertie stated with a flat stare, “Ya a kid.”

Eclipse huffed and crossed her paws as she pouted. She jolted when Craft grabbed her side and her tail began to wag.

“I’ll work on it! Something to change with you!” He grinned, “Someday! I’ll figure something out for you!”

“I’ll hold you to it!” She cackled.

[officialleehadan]

Yelp Rating

Hello darlings! I hope your week is going well. Right now I'm admiring a lovely sunset out my window and thinking how lovely this October has been so far.

Today's story was brought to you by Mae! Thank you for all your support, darling. Here are some spooky October ghosts for you!

Prompt: This Old House, historians come to the house and love the ghosts.

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“I don’t know what everyone is talking about,” Kevin read aloud to his living room full of eager ghosts. “While the beds were great, the showers were frankly decadent, and the breakfast was delicious, we didn’t see a single ghost during our whole visit. 10/10 for comfort and service, but 0/10 for ghosts.”

“Oh, I remember her,” Henry spoke up when Kevin finished reading the review. “She was rude. Kept saying how trashy she thought the decorations were.”

“We agreed it would be the best for her not to see any of us,” Franklin agreed cheerfully. “You always tell us that supply and demand makes for a better marketing scheme.”

So far, renting out a room here and there in Mallory House had been shockingly lucrative, and surprisingly satisfying. Kevin had been dubious about letting the ghost hunting team into his house, but it turned out to be more than worth the trouble. With a cook, one who specialized in interesting historic food, hired on full-time, the house had a guest almost every weekend. Kevin worried that he and his ghosts would get tired of the constant company, but so far, all of their guests had either been easily scared off after a single night, or thrilled to get to chat with the ghosts.

There had been no less than four historians come to talk to the ghosts. Mostly to Elizabeth and William, but also to Franklin, and even shy Prudence, who rarely came out of the attic where her spinning wheel still sat.

Speaking of Pru…

“Prudence, this is one from that lady who wanted to talk fibers with you. The one with all the questions about historical wool suppyand handling,” Kevin told the shy young woman, no older than twenty, who fell victim to the Spanish Flue only a few short years after Franklin’s suicide. “I was nervous about meeting with a ghost of all people, but Miss Prudence Connal was one of the sweetest young ladies I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting. Her spinning wheel, lovingly restored by the house’s owner and only living resident, is a work of art. Wonderful service! If I could give more than five stars, I would. My next visit is already booked!”

“She was nice,” prudence murmured. She couldn’t embroider, not anymore, but her spinning wheel still had enough of her essence and love in it to function for her, provided that someone else assured a good supply of wool, carded and ready for her. If Kevin had to guess, that job wouldn’t be his for very much longer. Not if Pru made friends with the local fiber-crafts people. “I’m glad she’s coming back for a visit. She promised to bring me some of that lovely alpaca wool she was working when she was here.”

“Sounds like she liked you as much as you liked her,” Kevin assured Prudence. She still needed some encouragement now and again. “Okay, next review- ah crap. Elizabeth, it’s that guy from last week. Told you we hadn’t heard the last of him.”

“I didn’t touch a hair on his head,” Elizabeth protested, although they both knew exactly who the guest in question was. “And I caught him trying to steal three of the silver forks.”

Elizabeth might be willing to have guests, but she would never tolerate thieves.

“I don’t’ know if it’s good special effects or drugged coffee,” Kevin read the review for Elizabeth, who was smiling and not at al repentant. “But the walls of my room started bleeding. When I got up for the bathroom around two-am, I looked in the mirror, there was someone behind me. When I turned around, there was nobody there. That’s when the lightbulb in my bathroom exploded- is that why there was glass everywhere when I went in to check on him?”

“The lightbulb was me,” Franklin admitted with an also-not-very-repentant smile of apology. “We saw it in that ghost movie we watched two weeks ago.”

“Seems to have worked. Anyway, ‘about that time I realized that there’s a reason why kids hide under the bed when they’re scared. Went back to bed, but kept waking up as blood dripped onto my face from the ceiling. When I woke up the next morning, the sheets were pristine. Guess I believe in ghosts now, but there’s not enough money in the world to make me go back to Mallory House ever again.”

“Oh good,” William said, no doubt the one the man saw in the mirror. He was usually the one who did for the male visitors that Elizabeth wanted to scare off. “Even if he did try to come back, we would have to decline. It’s no good when the guests try to pocket the silver.”

“I’ll make sure to put it in the disclaimer,” Kevin sighed. The disclaimer about the house, which now included waving the right to sue for ‘nightmares, mental trauma, or injury sustained in fleeing the premises’ was growing longer for every objectional visitor who came through looking to prove that the ghosts weren’t real.

They were real.

They didn’t like being doubted.

Kevin was making a fortune.

So really, pretty much everyone was happy. Okay, the skeptics weren’t so happy, but they all paid the nonrefundable fee for their stay and breakfast, so Kevin really didn’t care what else they did. The bad reviews were almost as good as the good ones. At least most of them screamed about the ghosts, which were Mallory House’s big draw.

“That’s all the new ones,” Kevin said and set his tablet aside. “Now, who has ideas for what to do for Halloween?”

+++

This Old House:

A haunted house isn’t the usual first choice for a fixer-upper, but Keven likes horror movies, and doesn’t mind when his ghost throw things, as long as they don’t damage the new paint.

Experienced Home-Buying

Living Negotiation (Subscriber-Only!)

White Roses and Deck Railings

Bats at Twilight

Difference of Opinion

Art Treasures of Old

Malicious Smile (Subscriber-Only!)

Family Night (Free on Patreon!)

Stay Creepy

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More Stories!

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[nancypullen]

New Normal

We had a grocery pick up scheduled for 8am this morning.  I’m not sure if we’re doing this right.  To ensure that we’re not hoarding, and that there’s enough available for everyone else, we don’t do huge hauls.  The flip side of that is having to pick up every couple of weeks rather than say, once a month.  Which is the right choice?  I feel better about not being a hoarder, but is going twice a month something that in the long run will make us sick? None of the Kroger employees that were loading cars were masked or taking any precautions. I go out looking like this.

Mickey found that mask and I feel like the world’s worst ninja in it. 

There were just four of us in the pick up area, but the regular parking lot was packed.  That means the store was packed, That means that all of those employees without protection are vulnerable.  Come on, people - do better!  Take care of the people who are taking care of us! We’ve been locked down here on the Pullen spread since the first week of March.  We were supposed to go to a wedding on the 7th and chose not to go. We really hadn’t gone anywhere since late February.  I have forbidden Mickey to go anywhere - he’s over 60 and has high blood pressure (I mean, it’s normal with meds).  Those are two of the red flags that the CDC warned us about.  It’s my job to keep him safe so I’m the food ninja.  I bring everything in and sanitize it as much as possible.  Still, the parking lot was full, the employees aren’t wearing any protection, and I’m out there without a cootie shot.  We’re well stocked for at least another two weeks, probably closer to three, but this is getting really old. Can everyone please just follow a few very simple rules?  Stay home.  When you have to get groceries, do a pick up if at all possible - minimize everyone’s exposure.  I wish we had grocery delivery in our area, I’d sure as heck use it! I don’t get bored at home, I can keep myself happily busy for weeks on end.  I’d never leave if I didn’t have to.   I have friends who are more extroverted than I am and I think they’re getting cabin fever.  I made a few postcards to send out to my Rat Patrol gals.  I just wrote an encouraging note on them and popped them in this morning’s mail.

I wrote that I can’t wait to see them this summer.  Gosh, I hope I get to see them this summer. I also slapped some paint on the birdhouse that is my Ode to Ethel.  I didn’t do a great job.  I got carried away.  I  think I was trying to make the project last longer than it should have - I should have quit about halfway through.

Proof that more isn’t always better.  Pretty sure the birds won’t mind.  The part that does make me happy is that I managed to find treasure while digging through craft supplies and came up with Grandma Ethel’s house number from the pink house!

I don’t have any acrylic spray or topcoat type stuff to put on it, so we’ll see how long it lasts in the elements.  I may be sanding and repainting in a month, which will just be a second chance to get it right.  No complaints from me. Today’s agenda includes pulling a few weeds, maybe FaceTiming with the cutest toddler in the world, making meals, and unfortunately, a few chores. The bathrooms need a good wipe down,  The laundry room is looking cluttered ( I hate that!!), and I have to hunt down dry cat food.  No one seems to be able to keep that in stock.  I may have to order the 30 pound bag. Where the hell am I going to store a 30 pound bag of cat food?  If there are mice in the garage they’ll have a buffet.  They’ll end up looking like that fat mouse from Cinderella, Gus!

I guess there are worse things in life than chubby, content mice. Maybe they’ll be helpful. I mean, they made Cinderella a dress.  The least they could do is fold some laundry around here. See?  I’m fine. Perfectly fine.  Everything is fine. I haven’t gone full Gray Gardens yet.

[stormears]

Traveler of Mine (snippet)

Summary: While Hyrule rebuilds its civilization, the Champion Link disappears into the wild again, seeking rest, or familiarity, or a release from a century of crushing weight that defined his life. Princess Zelda and Prince Sidon, the royals who stand a chance against him, pursue him, so that they might bring him home. Link runs. 

1,500-word snippet/beginning scene of a 10 - 15k-ish oneshot I’ve been thinking about. I have a fanfic “thing” I enjoy of Charcter A hunting down Char B with pseudo-romantic intentions. Zelda and Sidon and maybe a handful of random other citizens suit up to bring Link home and maybe ask him out or try to win that opportunity by catching him and beating him at his own wilderness-traversing game. Chase scenes, friendship, friendship-to-romance, lots of horse riding and mentions of horsey things, long journeys across Hyrule symbolizing Link’s metaphorical, huge expanse of crushing exhaustion of the burden he’s lived with as long as he can remember. 

The snippet doesn’t get that far into all that, but it’s what I’m going for. 

The people came back, and so she could breathe. It was her secret fear, her spoiled, hopeful one, that when—if—the Calamity was driven back, the city would stay empty, and no one would ever return. Several times across a hundred years where she refused to age and strained her muscles against the Beast enough for fifty men at once, she thought about this and felt something like humiliation. But once again, Link saved her.

Link’s journey upon waking in his shrine to bringing his newly rallied Beasts with him to take back their Kingdom took him five months. The battle took three hours. After they had rested and woke alone in the castle ruins, they explored. They pushed rubble, collected artifacts that had sat on stone floors and collected dust for the length of a Hylian’s whole life. At the end of the first week, some strangers came in. And more came. And the rubble moved.

Now Zelda does not know the feeling of humiliation. She knows about growing, and filing residential deeds and merchant partnerships. Folk coming into Castle Town came with businesses and families and precious heirlooms to put on shelves. And most importantly, they brought crafts to carry these things with. Carpenters came and mixed cement and brought logs and homes rose up. Link was on roofs more often than not, hefting this and aligning that. He made his intentions known well enough even to those folk who couldn’t make sense of his hand signs. Whether they did or didn’t, he was well in demand. Everyone knew him. Half the population had seen him roaming Hyrule these past months, some of them had apparently had errands done by him, sold him groceries and supplies and weapons. Everyone knew the warrior, the horseman, the moblin slayer, mountain climber, savior of races and dragons and things like that.  

When she  gave out plots of land to a group of farmers, another one came up, with a Goron behind him, asking with great excitement, “Ma’am, where is the Champion? Is he in the south quarter today?”

Where is Link, was a familiar question, usually easily answered. “He’s due for a rest day today. He must be sitting on a castle wall somewhere. I’m afraid he won’t be back for any construction assistance till tomorrow morning.”

“I might have the answer to that, miss Zelda,” said the Goron, who raised a folded piece of paper above all their heads. “I passed him this morning. He said to give this to you, uh, ma’am.” And his arm came down over the farmer, to Zelda’s reach. She took the paper and felt a thin magic on it immediately, some fairy blessing to keep the paper shut. An invisibly bump of sorts told her that the Goron had tried to open this letter and failed.

“Thank you, sir. I’m so glad it’s safe and unopened.” She gave him a fine grin and made sure to look him in the eyes as she opened it up. The Goron kept a straight face in front of her.

Zelda did not keep her straight face. The letter was from Link, written in his passable, leaning scratch and saying words she really had not expected to see or read this morning:

Zelda,

I’m leaving for a while. Don’t know when I’ll be back I need to be away Im very tired. Please accept my  apologies. Reconstruction of castle Town is going well I don’t think they really need me anymore. I think I want to, be in the wild again it helps me sleep and I’ve felt heavy and strange since we won the battle again I am sorry. Take care of yourself my princess

At the bottom he signed his name the way he used to, a century ago when he was a trained soldier. The elegant precision and large L seemed to be written by an entirely different hand than the one who had written the message itself. Zelda dared to think ‘Who wrote this?’ as she scanned it a second time. It seemed like a tiny work of fiction. A small handful of collapses in the grammar and spelling. It didn’t matter. Link probably hadn’t written letters for a hundred years. Link had left her without telling her so. Heavy and strange. What in the hell did that mean? She read it again, again. Im very tired.

‘Well, I know that, silly goose,’ she wanted to laugh. ‘You are the most tired man in the land right now.’ But it didn’t feel funny at that moment. That lying Goron was still looking at her.

She looked up with her same smile. “He says he’s gone out for some fresh air. Won’t be back for a while. I say he could use a good long break.” She nodded to herself and folded up the paper into a little scroll and tied it with a spare hair ribbon. She hooked it onto her belt where it would not be taken or read. “The first zone of the town is properly gridded off and our buildings are coming along nicely. We can do without his help for now.”

“Oh nooo!” moaned a lady with a cloth cap from behind them. “I hoped to see him today! I promised him free blackberry wine, you know! He, I think he made a sign saying he’d take it.”

“When will he be back, milady?” asked the man she’d been talking to before this nonsense started, and Zelda told him “Long enough for a decent vacation,” and hoped he would shut up. To assure that he would, she made a show of taking a new set of important paperwork in her hands and walking away. She could be busy anywhere. With the construction, the lake and reservoir diggers, the Zora party asking for trade, that asshole who said his grandfather was a Councilman, some horse association, lots of things.

Zelda made time for many of these things until just after sunset, when construction crews were piling up lumber for the night and lazing about. They left town or took shelter at the one inn that was close enough to complete to comfortably stay in, and any new residents did the same. Several folk during the day had asked about Link, was he coming to this area soon, was he around, did he have lunch plans? Zelda excused him each time, but she knew with each one that her placating couldn’t last forever. Or even for long. This town was growing new life again because of Link. It was all because of Link. He was the one people really knew. Not her, not usually. Even if her name was on everything and she carried the Goddess blood and every person she spoke to was her subject now, people nodded these facts away and asked to see the Champion Link, please. And so did she.

He was her appointed knight and constant companion through every trial and struggle and sunny day. She had known him since they were small. She knew him before he started tying his hair back. She watched him fall and cut himself on grown men’s swords and then wield them on the back of a horse. She told him to stand by her while a great godly demon threatened to swallow them and erase them from existence. She had known him so long, trusted only him by that point, that she could only choose him now. Link was at her side for everything and she loved him for it in some way. His loyalty was stronger than the might of Ganon. He hadn’t even told her to her face that he was leaving her alone.

“Are you all right?” she murmured in her half-broken room that night. She felt she was close to sleeping and dreaming this away. “I know you’re tired. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I need you for everything.” There was no one here to apologize to her, to say it’s okay, or I am always at your side, or some such thing. Link was gone. Was it absurd, that she wanted to cry? That she was crying.

‘If it helps you sleep and rest and finally...feel good again, then you must do it,’ she thought, for speaking was out of the question now. Her lip was wobbling like a soft child’s. She wiped at her wet eyes. ‘I didn’t know you felt heavy and strange. And tired. I’m sorry, Link. I’m sorry! Should I come get you? Do you want me to help you?’ No answer here. There was a light wind outside, delaying the silence.

When the silence was back she thought, ‘You rest, my Champion, and if you are not well or back soon, I will come find you.’

-

This came out significantly more emotional that I first intended. But we’re rolling with it. Eventually Zelda will decide Link’s been gone too long and she’s worried about him and enlist Sidon to help her since I guess she knows they fought Vah Ruta together and Sidon would want to help. This was originally a purely Sidlink idea but Zelda wormed her way in there and we may have some sort of Zelda x Link x Sidon thing on our hands. Or maybe I’ll pick one in the end, eh, I’m not sure yet. I planned this in my head when I was playing BotW to distract me from failing to write other WIP fics that I frankly care much more about. 

And as Link keeps eluding them (he secretly takes up “work” at various Hyrule stables, he’s the one who goes to collect horses off of mountaintops and shit when people ask to “board” them like the player would, so he keeps escaping with both his natural athletic skills and his retinue of infinite horses lmao) Zelda and Sidon will feel less “poor dear Link, we must find him and make sure he’s okay” and more “That clever BITCH, I almost had him, he’s too good, soon I’ll have him in my arms you hear me my dear Link I’m coming for you” 

That’s the kind of fic I’d like to read anyway, so here I am writing it :/ 

[sunkissis]

Bonjour mes amis,

It has already been two months since our arrival in Paris! I cannot tell you how fast this time has flown by. We exchanged our house in LA with a sweet French couple in Nation (12th arrondissement) for the first two months so we could have time to apartment hunt. I am so happy we were able to live in Nation mostly because we were able to experience a new part of the city we have never seen before.

I feel like I have finally mastered taking Liv to school on the Metro. I used to be confused about which direction the train would go and call myself out as an obvious tourist during the ride by watching for every stop. Now, we know all the lines and have the cool, I can’t be bothered look while on the train. Although once on a crowded train I got my skirt caught in the door.

    My hair is huge here. I spend hours flat ironing it and yet the second I go outside it turns into an instant pouf. Must be the humidity, there is so much moisture in the air.

Liv and I usually discuss our plans for the week and how we are adjusting to life in France during the ride. I ask her about the differences between LA and Paris. She makes statements like France is so much more cultural and historic than California. She told me, “In Paris everyone takes public transportation but hardly anyone in LA does. Most people at the grocery store are grumpy but here they care about helping you.” She also said the food here is much better than LA. She’s doing well in school. I have met some of the parents of her classmates (although very few speak English). Her curriculum is very similar to her French school in LA but they go off the campus for PE (which is called sports) and I feel terrible because I can’t help her with most of her homework (only math and English).

After I drop her off, I usually take the bus home because the Metro is very crowded and grab my luggy to pick up the day’s groceries. I still can’t get over how frequently I have to shop here. We go through groceries like crazy!

So far we absolutely love living in Paris. I still cannot believe we are here after dreaming of this for so many years. However, there are some downsides to life in France. Please don’t think I’m some entitled brat complaining about my great life, I just want to keep it real and show both sides of our life.

It is very expensive! So far we have plunked down quite a bit of euros for household items (new towels, shopping at Ikea for our new apartment, basic toiletries). It’s harder to stick to a budget because we had to stock up on basic items. Our first week here I bought Liv a scooter, new clothes and had to replace a pair of shoes she outgrew. This month Antz and I needed some new clothes because we (happily) lost weight! I spend €225 every month on our Metro/bus passes but sometimes in a pinch, we need to use Uber and depending on how far we are from home, it can be expensive. We needed to rush home from Versailles to make it to a birthday party on time and it ended up costing €65 for a 30 minute ride.

Liv really enjoyed her €9 smoothie.

Then Monoprix had to come out with this rad limited-time collab with Maison Chateau Rouge. Just take all my money!

The romper was for Liv but if they had my size I would totally rock it. I pretty much cleared out their home decor display.

However, groceries seem less expensive here than in LA. Like cheese, meat and beverages are super cheap. But let me tell you about the most magical, delicious item in all of France… la beurre!

Back home I buy insignificant Land of Lakes salted butter for like $3.99 on sale. Here, I only buy Sel de Mer de Noirmoutier and it is so delicious. I use it on everything, you could tell me it has crystal meth in it and I would still be like “Pass the butter.” I must say, America is missing out on this fucking amazing butter. It costs €2.35!

However dining out is still costing a fortune. We stopped ordering cocktails and are sticking to drinking water but we can’t seem to keep our bill under €75. Recently, while out on a stroll around the neighborhood we found the famous rue Montorgueil. The heavens parted and angels sang as we discovered the most intoxicating smells of baked bread, meats and fresh fruit. The oldest bakery in Paris is located here. It’s now my favorite place to buy fruit and we fell in love with all the restaurants.

We brought home the best BBQ ribs and a half a kilo of cherries for lunch. Liv gobbled them the whole tray in five minutes! Oh, and I am now a basket lady. I have bought three baskets since I got here. This is who I am now. Note: The fluffy hair.

We found this incredible living wall called L’oasis d’Aboukir. It rains almost once a week so I guess that is why this garden is so insanely green.

There are a few other annoyances here that I can’t seem to figure out. Like getting mail delivered. It seemed to be easier to get our mail when we were staying in Nation but that could be due to our sweet neighbors helping us out by accepting our packages. In our new apartment, we have a mailbox that we put our names on but nothing has been delivered so far. It took many attempts to find which of the local post offices our address belonged to. My French is not as great as I thought it was. I was able to pick up one package (I ordered five weeks ago!) yet three more are in mail limbo because we were told if our building has a locked gate, they can’t deliver packages. Uh, like every single building in Paris has a passcode door so why wouldn’t they at least email me or leave a note so I know where to pick up my stuff? Today I am going to Fed Ex for the third time to pick up a package that was delivered nine days ago! My Mom sent me a huge care package and it took me two weeks to figure out how to track it down.

  Another thing I will never get used to is the military presence here. I mean, they all seem like nice soldiers but it’s jarring to walk down the street and then boom, there’s five or six fully uniformed army folks casually carrying guns that look like they belong in a video game. I don’t dare take photos of them but they do say bonjour without a smile as I walk by. Oh, and they wear berets. I suppose I am lucky to live in a relatively safe neighborhood because there have been random knife attacks since we have arrived and sadly, I am always cautious when we are in large crowds.

I also seemed to have a hyper-sensitive aversion to noise. I was equally annoyed by the nonsense noise caused by our hillbilly neighbors (they had the world’s lamest garage band) in LA. Here, the sounds are subtle but torturous. For example, we noticed the first night while in bed, the upstairs neighbor’s toilet must be directly above our heads. Imagine the sounds we heard. They also had some type of saloon door that swings shut. This door produced a boom, bump, bump, bump sound all day long, just about every 30 seconds. I was very close to paying them a friendly visit to offer some felt pads but we moved into a new apartment. Just as we arrived at our new home we were welcomed by the constant cooing of les pigeons. They nest outside of our kitchen window and their incessant cooing sounds make me want to murder.

My final (first-World) problem is our new apartment doesn’t have a separate dryer. They consider this country sophisticated? I was warned about the hard, scratchy towels of Paris so I’ve always traveled with my own towel. The night before we left LA, I took a shower and used my soft, brand new bath towel that I packed in my carry-on. Then as we were re-packing our stuff I realized I only had enough room for either my winter coat or my towel. I was already wearing my camel year-round coat on the plane so I had to make a Sophie’s Choice. I decided it won’t be so terrible to buy new towels in Paris once we arrived. Guess what? Soft, plush towels do not exist here! I was stuck using my face towel for the first week. Monoprix does sell towels but they have a scratchy texture and cost $32.99 each. So, lesson learned, travel with your own pillowcases and towels. I did bring my allergy-free pillowcase covers with me. So, I’m living in 1925 y’all!

I adore freshly dried linen sheets or hand-washed pajamas but putting on stiff as cardboard undies sucks! Now I understand why everyone has to iron clothes here.

In other fun news, it’s peony season! My favorite flower is in bloom and you can buy four stems for 20 euros. Well, that’s how much they were at the marche however Antz found a sweet bouquet for me for Mother’s day for just ten euros.

  This is how they look three days later, swoon.

May 1st is May Day. According to Wikipedia, on 1 May 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to offer a lily of the valley each year to the ladies of the court. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime, on 1 May. Nowadays, people may present loved ones either with bunches of lily of the valley.

Liv has been a crafting machine since most of her toys couldn’t fit in her suitcase. She has decided she needs a handmade sword and shield.

  I took her to La Droguerie to buy a pom pom making kit. This colorful place is located on

9-11 Rue du Jour, 75001 Paris, France

She was able to customize her own glitter! This kid and I were in rainbow craft supplies heaven.

We try to go to visit a new arrondissement every weekend. The parks here are absolutely gorgeous. Just don’t ever step on the grass. When the sky turns blue here, you grab a picnic basket and run outside!

Jardin de Luxembourg Rue de Vaugirard, Boulevard St. Michel, Rue Auguste-Comte and Rue Guynemer 75006 Paris, France

The boat rentals are €4 for 30 minutes. Liv chose Mexico to rep her Grandma Maria.

I think the pony ride was €8. Sweetest pony but our seven year old child is a giant.

Parc Floral 4 route de la Pyramide | Bois de Vincennes, 12th, 75012 Paris, France

We also love strolling our new neighborhood to hunt for Invaders.

Liv pointed out the heart shapes in the window panes.

One evening we took a stroll and ended up on Île de la Cité just at sunset. I swear I am never going back to the US!! Life here is tres beau.

Ask me anything about living in Paris.

Life in Paris: Month Deux Bonjour mes amis, It has already been two months since our arrival in Paris! I cannot tell you how fast this time has flown by.

[lisarbaldwin]

Let’s face it, Mary Poppins was right.

In every job that must be done There is an element of fun You find the fun and snap! The job’s a game

–Spoonful of Sugar, Mary Poppins, Disney

My mom used to make having “Kitchen Duty” a game. She used to tell me to race myself and see if I could clean it faster than I did the night before! Somehow she managed to get me to play a game all by myself while doing something I hated doing. Moms are magical, y’all.

I guess it works, because here I am about to declutter my bedroom and my main motivation is that last night on Facebook, I managed to volunteer myself for bedroom cleaning while showing support for my friend’s desire to get more organized in the new year. I shouldn’t have been typing in the dark, or I would have seen what a hot mess was waiting for me. (Before pics are coming)

I’m all about baby steps, and that’s how I’ll tackle today.

Four Tips for Tackling Overwhelming Chores

Set a time limit.  I usually aim for 15 minutes, but since we are working on the whole room, I’m going to allot one hour – in four 15-minute increments. Sometimes I’ll binge watch Netflix, something I’m sure none of you ever do, but I do, I’ll admit it. I’ll finish an episode of Gilmore Girls and then set a time for 15 minutes, tackle an area or chore, and THEN I can push play on the next episode. If you’re working in the same room as the TV, you can tackle TWO 15 minute blocks per episode of Friends! 

Set a simple goal. One bag of trash -or- one bag to donate -or- one drawer -or- one shelf (not the whole bookcase, Cassie!) Most often, I will end up way exceeding the goal. One bag turns into two, I get on a roll with that shelf and find myself moving on to the next one. Something about hitting the goal makes it fun. If a kid runs in and interrupts you and you can’t finish the second cabinet, or another bag, it’s okay, because you already met the goal. Keep it short and simple.

Reward yourself with something that does not require others to go along. I may need to explain this a bit. I used to get so discouraged when I would work my butt off all day with the expectation of getting to have an hour alone to read, or an hour to take a hot bath, or quiet trip to Target alone, only to never get my reward because it relied on other people participating. It never failed the kids would get sick that day, or my husband would forget to tell me he had invited company over, or a friend would need me (and I have an issue with saying no- yes, I know, it’s a thing, I’m working on it.) Now my rewards are quick, and usually instant: the next episode, popcorn, the next chapter in my book, 15 minutes to write in my journal, a cookie…. literally a cookie, there’s a story there, better saved for another day.

Phone a friend, or poke, tweet, message, snap, whatever the kids are doing these days, find your friends. It just takes one. Scratching off “clean nightstand” feels really good but it’s bonus fun if you’re friend can send you a “way to go party time” gif when you’re done. (Yes, Cassie, I am expecting a gif… please and thank you.)

As embarrassing as they are, here are the before pictures, taken from my current spot on the bed:

Dresser

Desk/Craft

My Nightstand

It’s almost 9 am here.

I have allotted one hour to devote to this today. I’ll do my first 15 minute sprint after I feed the chickens. My reward? Hot coffee.

The First Fifteen

I tackled my nightstand first. It was closest to me, and it is usually the spot that gets ignored the most. My timer buzzed, but I was close to finishing so I kept going a bit longer. I found a grocery bag worth of trash in, on, or around it.

Y’all, I hide a LOT of candy in there. I tossed it, because I couldn’t be certain how long it had been in there. Also, candy does not help my medical issues at all so while I had the will power I tossed it out.

I found my missing stapler. I found my hunting knife (not that I ever use it, but I know where it is now). I found my new set of tweezers that I’ve been missing since I did Steel Magnolias in the summer. See that big red mug in the picture? My kids wrote their names on it as a gift one year, so I don’t use it as a coffee mug. I has spare change in it. I also was stuffed with Reese’s cup wrappers. The wrappers are gone now. Maybe when I turn on my little black fan, I’ll actually feel the air!

Time for a coffee reward and since I can’t JUST focus on this room today, I’m going to throw some clothes in the laundry. PASSIVE cleaning is my favorite! I take 60 seconds to toss clothes in and it does the work for me.

*** The kids woke up, had to make breakfast, and start schoolwork. I started a load of laundry, found the kitchen table (it was covered in stuff from New Year’s night, cleaned dog barf off the couch, and took a trash bag through the house to gather trash from bathroom and bedroom trash cans.

Also, just got the call that my sister-in-love is in the hospital about to have baby #5!  Whoo hoo!!!  Lots about to be up in the air as we were on call to come help pet sit while they were in the hospital. He’s a few weeks early, but docs are optimistic about the little guy being okay.

Reading, reading, writing, and math. Stopped to make some frantic “the baby is coming” phone calls, and then I headed into the bedroom for another 15 minute sprint. I tackled the dresser.

I have a love/hate thing going on with this dresser. It’s technically mine, as far as the clothes go. Mr’s is in the closet because our room is small. I had planned to have my jewelry box on it, and my retro radio; however, since we have limited space, it ended up being the piece of furniture that held the DVD player, and the WiiU (don’t even get me started on that one. Grrr). Also, his fancy humidor can’t stay in the closet because the closet is in the bathroom and there a humidity blah blah blah, excuses, and it had to be in our room. I did get the 8000 random Ikea parts off of it, and put my earrings away. I collected all the random bobby pins and hair clips and put them in the bathroom.

I did not put the hair things where they went. That would have made sense, but it also would have wasted time I had dedicated to the dresser. They were dumped in my random basket that I will sort when I decide to spend time decluttering the bathroom. A 15 minute sprint is not the time to start squirreling off on another project….we are not playing “if you give a mom a chore” today. Focus.

No real reward this time, as all the interruptions have put me behind a bit and I just got a text asking if I could give someone a ride somewhere around 2 pm. The washer is done, so I’ll call the kids to move it to the dryer and I’ll fix lunch. I think I’ll have them empty the dishwasher too, they look bored.

Okay, phew! Glad that’s done.

This definitely isn’t perfect, but it’s the best I could do for today (and with only 15 mins to play). The laundry pile has been put away, and the desk cleared. The stack of green and pink boxes are craft supplies I brought in from our storage barn. I’m trying to get a few items made for my Etsy store, but it’s slow going.

That brown box on the right? That’s a shoe organizer from Ikea that I haven’t built yet. I haven’t built it because I can’t get into the kid’s room where it is supposed to be going. That’s for another day. That project will be more of a “shock and awe” event in our house. Empty to space and start over kind of thing.

But first, babies!  I’m done for today with this project, now I have to figure out what I can do to help my brother and his wife welcome their new one to the world!

Leave me a comment below and tell me what your biggest decluttering/cleaning challenge is and I’ll try to answer it in an upcoming post!

Let's face it, Mary Poppins was right. Here's how I find the element of fun when I have to clean, declutter and organize. Let's face it, Mary Poppins was right. In every job that must be done There is an element of fun…

[decaffeinateddefendorduck]

crazy is as crazy does, part 5

THE NEXT DAY

Happy enters the garage to find Deputy Director Cooper already there with a mission for Scorpion.

“Finally! Happy, we’re going on a mission for Homeland, Toby is staying here to keep an eye on his Mother, but we’ll need you in the field.  Ready?” asked Walter.

The team filed out, leaving Toby sitting at his desk staring over at the elevator section of the garage, where his mother emerges with a pair of scissors.  

“And what are you doing with those?” he asked her.

“Obviously opening a vein,” she says sarcastically.  Seeing his terrified look makes her explain. “I’m breaking down the boxes, they aren’t very pretty. I’m sure you would rather I not use a box cutter, hence the scissors. I should probably save them for the next move, where would you like them?”  Jane turned an innocent smile up at him waiting for his reply.

“You’re right, no box cutters.  I’ll help you put them in storage.  So you’re almost done?  Less than twenty-four hours, that’s pretty amazing.”

Jane approaches Toby and puts a hand on his face.  “Where did all of your friends go, Sonny?  Don’t they want to play with you today?  Am I hindering your” she hunts for a hip sounding word “mojo? Do the kids still say mojo?  It’s been awhile since I’ve been around kids.”

Ignoring this last part Toby replies, “They wanted me to go and play with them but we don’t exactly trust you to be here alone.”

“I am a grown woman Tobias.  You can go and play if you want to.  I have a project to complete. Top Secret! I’ll be good. I promise.”  Her promise was made deviantly and with her fingers crossed and help out in front of Toby’s face.

“A project already, huh?  Care to share the details, after all I am family.”

“No, I said Top Secret!  Didn’t you hear the capital letters in my inflection?  It’s an enigma you’ll have to solve.  Like me.” And with that she went and started breaking down the boxes.  Toby took her first load to the storage area and on his way to get a second one Walter called, needing help on the mission. Walter asked Toby if he could leave his mother for a short time to go to a local office where they needed some of his behaviorist skills.  He agreed and warned his mother to be good, then left her in the garage alone.

Jane finished with the boxes and looked around at the silence, then went on a little tour, looking through the entire garage and collecting materials for her project.  She took 15 of Sylvester’s pencils, twine from Happy’s shelves, glue from Toby’s chemistry and medical supplies, markers and ribbons from her own supplies.  When she first made it to the doll house she froze in complete euphoria, wondering how she could be so lucky. After gathering the rest of the materials, she piled them around on the floor by the doll house, making herself invisible from the garage’s various openings.  Jane set to work making dolls out of the pencils and arranging them in various tableaux in the doll house.

On finishing his errand for the team, Toby made his way back to the garage. He didn’t see or hear his mother, so he started to look for her, but Walter called again just then asking for computer support.  While on the phone, Walter asked why Toby was playing music when he should be focused on the case.   Toby hadn’t noticed it until Walter pointed it out, but he recognized it at once. Toby looked around from his spot at the monitors and found his mother sitting on the floor behind the doll house. Terror instantly arose through him. he knows how Happy hates people touching her things and messing with her doll house, but that was second only to the fright of seeing his mother creating something.  He needed to finish with Walter, so he told Walter he couldn’t stop the music but that it wasn’t interfering with his work, “it’s a radio I have yet to learn which button to push to turn it off.”

“What?” Walter demanded.

“It’s my mother singing.” Toby admitted.  Since she had sung to herself his whole life, he didn’t automatically hear it anymore, but could recognize it when it was pointed out to him.

After finishing with this particular crisis in the case, Toby started to approach his mother, who jumped up to hide her work when she noticed him.

“Don’t you come any closer.  You can’t see this just yet!  If’n you need some lovin’ you just let me know and I’ll come to you.”  She adopted an awful Southern accent to sweeten up her scolding, but she really just wanted him to leave her alone so she could work.

“Cordelia, are you feeling alright?”  Toby asked hesitantly.

The garage door opened right then with a special delivery from Brooklyn. Toby left his mother, who was smiling innocently up at him, to get the package, once he was gone she went back to her craft.  Toby took the package to his desk and stared in disbelief at the sheer volume of pills with his mother’s name on them.  He started making a list of the doctors on the labels and calling them to get her diagnoses.  While he was finishing up on the phone, yelling at several East Coast doctors and their nurses, Jane started arranging things in the doll house.  Then she simply stated “it’s coming” and went on with her work.

Toby heard his mother say something, and then the words registered.  They reminded him of when he was young. His mother would let his father and him know that she was changing from high to low, and this was her saying that the low was on its way.  He hung up with the doctor he was just yelling at and approached his mother gingerly and asked if she would like to go and lay down.  She declined.

“I have to finish this.  I’m almost done, then I’ll go to my pretty place for awhile, I think.”

Toby took this to mean the elevator, which she had taken the entire night beautifying. He wasn’t able to get her to leave. He walked away from her unsure if it was safe to do so at the same moment that the rest of the team came in for a problem solving session. Once the problem was solved it was determined that Toby needed to go with team this time, but that Happy could stay behind to watch Jane.  Unhappy about this, Happy asked Toby, “Do I need to know anything special about how to deal with her?  Do I need anything other than your number on speed dial?”

Smiling down at her, Toby answered “Her mania is ending, so once she’s done with her project she should just go into the elevator and sleep.” Using air quotes he added, “her pretty place. She may try to find a drinky-poo.  Try to keep her from the booze, but if she insists I’d rather her drink then hurt you, or herself.”

The team left and Happy kept her distance from Toby’s mother, her future mother-in-law.  Not long after the team was gone, Jane got up and danced across the floor, asked the room in general where the little girl’s room was and exited.  Since she was going in the right direction, Happy left her to it.

Happy took a deep breath and settled down at her computer.  After ten minutes without any sound from the direction of the restrooms, she decided that she should go over to see if Jane was okay.  Not having been told what to call her, Happy called out “Mrs. Curtis? Jane?  Toby’s mom?”  She didn’t get an answer so she pushed in the door and ran into Jane on her way out. Jane winced a bit, but stood up to her full height and said, “I guess it’s time that we had ourselves a little pow-wow.”

Happy’s shocked face was ignored by Jane who grabbed Happy by the hand and led her to the elevator which was completely transformed.  There was a curtain of ribbons hanging over the door that opened onto a new-looking space with fabric covering every wall. There were cushions and blankets covering the floor, books stacked against the back wall, and what looked like a nest in the middle of the small room.  Jane sat down in the center of the nest and patted the ground in front of her.  Happy cringed at the girlyness of everything in the room and sat down slowly across from the woman who gave Toby life.

Jan started talking and Happy just listened.

“I’m sure Toby has told you of my mental state. He is fond of finding alternative ways to tell the world that I am” she pauses a little “crazy. That isn’t entirely accurate. Especially at moments like this, the Twilight Time, I call it. The mania is receding and the Depression hasn’t yet nestled in, but it is on its way, I can feel it seeping in around the corners of my mind.” Here she shakes her head, like she may be able to shake it out.  “I haven’t always been like this, you know. I had a lucid childhood and teenage experience. I met Toby’s father and we had a normal wedding and the beginning of our life together was good. After I had Toby I had pretty bad postpartum depression (he doesn’t know this) and I self-medicated, which didn’t help. The first time my soon-to-be-ex-husband took me to get evaluated, the crackpot, discount shrink put me on high doses of Lithium which messed with the natural metals and chemicals in my brain, switching on an inherited genetic marker that I had successfully avoided until then.  The first time I tried to stop taking the Lithium, the mania hit.  My poor Sonny boy was five, already working through the top levels of the elementary school curriculum and we went on a bender through the education system that had him testing out of anything I could find to test him on.  Pre-internet, the tests were a little harder to find than I’m sure they are today, but it gave him the rush that probably started his gambling addiction (also fed by his father’s gambling) and fueled my disease.

“That first episode lasted a week, which was the most fun Tobias and I have ever had together. When the depression returned, I could see it hurting him, since he thought he was to blame. I did find some medical journals and books for him to read that told that story of other women who had gone through mental disorders, so he would understand that it wasn’t his fault. Mistakenly he thought it was his responsibility to fix me. He finished high school at 12 and started pre-med classes at local colleges. He worked his way into Harvard and then tried to diagnose and medicate me. He’s always been too close to be able to see what’s really wrong, and he blames himself, like kids do. So the gambling was a retreat for him, which led him to be chased across the country by all of the people be was better than at cards.  He did get into trouble a lot while he was growing up, but he was just looking for attention. Attention my drug and alcohol addled brain wouldn’t allow me to give him and that his father couldn’t give him. Toby reminds his father, more than I do, of how he ended up with Bertha, the first Mrs. Rochester, and that I prevented him from finding his Jane Eyre.”

As Jane talked, her speech became slower and quieter, the depression sinking in, Happy thought.  When it seemed she had finished her story she slid down onto her side and fell asleep. Happy wasn’t sure what exactly had just happened, or how to feel about all of this information, so she just covered Jane with a blanket and started to leave.  As she got to the door Jane jerked awake, she looked up and around.  When she spotted Happy at the door she weakly said, “I think you should call me Millie.  I can’t stand the thought of being called someone’s mother-in-law, but the acronym lends itself to Millie.  Love him.” she looked deep into Happy’s eyes as she said her last words and then dropped her head and fell asleep again.

[dungeoneerspack]

Merry Morning guys and gals (and everything in between)

I am the Dungeoneer's Pack, a humble and new DM looking to make the world a better place. Today I'm going to be testing a world building process many of you may already have heard of. The 5x5 method.

Now, this method is usually used to create adventures. I want to use it to make a city that my players can explore. So, without further adieu, lets get to it.

1. The City To start off I already have an idea in mind for this session. A city where hunters gather to sell, trade, craft and drink after a long hunting session. This initial idea gives me a fair number of questions I can ask.

Who runs the city?

Where is the city located?

If they are hunters would they not move to where the game is?

From those simple questions I get:

An elite group of hunters known as the Pothunter Lodge run Dragopse. There are five members of the Pothunter Lodge each with a focused set of skills. Built within the corpse of a long dead and massive dragon Dragopse sits on the coast. This is so that the city has ample access to trade and new recruits. The city stays where it is so that there is a governing body overseeing the hunts. Nomadic hunting bands head out and form temporary villages around successful hunts. People have come to know these villages as slaughters. 

As you can tell each question answered raises a few more. With this you can build up a more believable world. So, that's our new city. Dragopse (a smashing of Dragon and Corpse... Yeah, I'm not crazy creative with names.)

2. A Tavern!

Now, lets flesh out the city with some locations. First, this is a hunting city and hunter like to... you guessed it... drink! A tavern is a hot bed for adventure hooks (albeit a little tropeish). Lets give our players a place to relax and spend their hard earned coin.

I heard of a term for a butchers boning knife was "Six Inch Boner" and fell for it! It plays into the rough attitudes I want from the city. Who runs it though? I see a portly, but still strong, gentleman, scarred and missing an eye. Blue work shirt stained with age. He smells of smoke and has the loudest laugh in the tavern. His name? Oh gosh, Athelwik Sundermann. Built of wood and stone, The Six Inch Boner has two floors with a beer garden out back. The tables are old a scarred with graffiti. Adorning the walls are paintings of key hunters from the area. Next to those are taxidermy heads of Athewik's prized hunts.

There we go, a nice sounding tavern with some nice flavor to get your players in the mood for booze.

3. The General Store

Ok, your players have gone out on a hunt or are getting ready to. They want to get some supplies for the road, but wait, where are they going to do that?! The Tavern?! I think not!

They will need a general store. Here they can pick up any and all of their needs. So, who runs this fine establishment? I think... A halfling, Brightwater Suremann. He is disheveled, bags under his eyes stressed. He has taken over the shop from his ailing father, Goldeye Suremann. The shop is in some disarray. Deliveries are still waiting to be shelved. It's not a large shop ether, so the players will need to scoot around the boxes to get to the counter.

Excellent, an awesome shop for the players to visit! Wait! What's it called?! Err... Goldeye's General Goods (Some sick alliteration!)

4. The Huntsman's Guild

This is the most important addition to the city. Located at the docks (The Dragons Maw Pass) the Huntsman's guild gives the players their quest. Owned by an elf called Ilthern Illiad, a hard working stickler for the rules. Here the players can get information about their quarry. They can also claim rewards for hunting particular creatures. 

5. Their HomeI added this one on because it's something I want to play around with. Giving the player a home to come back to. Letting them have mundane moments to contrast the wild adventures. This is a space that both the dm and the players should talk about and build together. There we go. A lightly fleshed out city. Next time I will build upon this and add more to it but for now this is a great starting point. Thanks for reading,The Dungeoneer's Pack

[davidpires578]

My Journey As A Creative Designer - Woodworking and Beyond #1839: #1839 More New Projects

What a beautiful and busy weekend we had!  There is something about the nice weather that just makes us want to 'do' things, isn't there? Even though Friday was a rather dark and dreary day, with heavy rain for most of the day, things calmed down by the evening and both Saturday and Sunday were warm, sunny and picture-perfect!  We couldn't have asked for better!  I was actually rather happy for the rain on Friday, as it gave all the flowers and plants that I just put in a chance to settle. While watering with the hose is OK, there is nothing like a drink from Mother Nature to really make a difference. The timing couldn't have been better. Also, the fact that the weekend was clear and lovely made a lot of people from this area happy, I am sure. I know it did me.  I had planned on working in my shop most of the day Saturday, leaving Sunday for me to enjoy the outside and have my "day off", but when I came down for a light lunch at around 1 pm, Keith and I got to talking and we figured it would be a nice day to head out and take a drive. After all, we were both cooped up most of the winter, like everyone else. I suppose that is one of the best parts of being self-employed – being flexible enough to seize the moment and change things up a bit. We put the top down on Keith's Miata and headed up north to New Minas for some quick shopping and fresh air. We weren't disappointed.  In this case, it was truly the journey that was the treat. Everything in our area is beautiful and green and pretty. Sometimes in winter, we tend to forget what a beautiful place Nova Scotia is. Although I enjoy the snow as much as the nice weather, I find that I truly enjoy all four seasons and by winter's end, I look forward to being out in the country and driving around our beautiful province. It is refreshing and fun.  Because I played "hooky" on Saturday, it meant that I needed to work a bit on Sunday. I didn't mind at all though, as I love my shop and splitting the work up into two days was not at all a hardship. Before long, I got a pile of work finished – not only the orders I had pending, but I was able to make some extra things and fill up my stock as well. It is good to feel that everything is under control. I finished by about 3 pm or so and still had some time to do some crafting on my front veranda before I needed to make dinner. It was a great weekend.  Last week, I spent some more time fine tuning and organizing my studio. We are coming up on a year in our new home here, and I still needed to "tweak" the last of my two large cupboards here in my workroom. While most everything was in good shape, I have now had a chance to 'settle in' to my new environment and had a better feel as to where everything should go. I promise that I will be showing everything soon. I may even make a short video of things. I feel that since moving into our place here, I have been able to have much better productivity because of the additional room. It is so easy to keep neat and supplies that I use are right at hand. The key is to KEEP things in order and take the time to put things back when I am done with them. I am in that habit and rarely leave my shop or studio in disarray. It only takes a minute to tuck things back where they should be and it saves lots of time hunting for things later on. (That is my lecture for the day!)  In reorganizing things, I once again 'visited' my beautiful embroidery supplies. One thing I haven't taken much time for since moving here is embroidery. I am very grateful for the increased amount of work, but I sorely miss the quiet time I had stitching in the evenings or on a nice day when there was a lull in my work. I still have ambitions of creating some kits for you all to enjoy, as I realize that many of my readers and customers also love needlework. My goal is to have at least one done by the end of the year. (Remember – the first one is the most difficult!) I think it will open up an entirely new avenue of creativity for all of us.  Because of this, I decided to pick up my needle and thread and just START stitching. I thought I would start small, and decided to make some little sheep. I used the linework from my "SLD504 Layered Sheep Bowl and Baa-bins" pattern and was trying to figure out how I would stitch a little sheep. Since I had at least five ideas in my head, I thought that I would 'limber up' by stitching them all, one at a time. By the time I ran out of ideas, I thought I would figure out what to do with them. So far, I finished two of them and I already have a pretty good idea as to where they will wind up. You will just have to stay tuned.  The first one I decided to stitch in all Bullion Knots. For those who don't know, Bullion Knots are like French Knots on steroids. While French Knots have usually 2-3 wraps, Bullion Knots can have up to 30 or even more. These make long, tapering knots that I thought would depict a wool coat of a sheep beautifully. I used my pretty #12 Perle Cotten thread from Valdani Threads and created this cute little wooly guy:

Isn't he fun??  I have quite a beautiful collection of thread from Valdani and I plan to use them in my embroidery kits. The colors are amazing, colorfast and very high quality. It feels good to actually USE the threads that I have purchased from them and actually see how pretty they look. What fun, new adventures we will have in store!  The next sheep on my mind was also done by using Bullion Knots. (I guess I didn't do enough of them in the first sheep!) This time, I thought of making little Bullion Knot rosettes, with glass pearl centers. I finished the second sheep up last night: 

I used a solid creme #12 Perle Cotton for this project and little glass pearl seed beads. He is just as cute as his friend.  I think together they make a nice pair. 

But that is only the beginning. I have lots of friends in store for these guys and you will have to come back and see what I am going to do with them. I promise it will be fun.  Before I go today, I want to share a new pattern from Keith as well. He created this beautiful SLDK459 Amazing Grace Sectional Plaque by using and modifying several beautiful fonts.

Happy Monday to you all! 

those "good to be alive" days.