The Weekend is Alright

This weekend I've had a little bit of a struggle really getting into/excited about any particular project. This always leaves me in a bit of a funk and is something I've really been struggling with lately and Saturday it was a particularly rough. It's a beautiful Sunday today though, cooler than it has been, and I'm feeling a bit better about things so I think it's a good time to remind myself that, despite my lingering doubts, this weekend has been pretty great.

Friday was a little rough work-wise, but M and I spent the evening playing some games. We finished a game of Terra Mystica we had in progress and I'm really sad I didn't take a picture because not only did I win, I crushed M. It doesn't happen often, I have to admit. But that just makes it extra cause for celebration when I do.

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Terra Mystica is an awesome game by the way, one of my favorites. Click on the source link for the picture above to learn more but it's a fairly intense/complex game- but not overwhelmingly so. There's a number of different races with unique abilities that you can play as and your basic goal is to most successfully colonize the game board.

Later in the evening, after dinner, we opened a beer (mine was the previously mentioned Long Trail Blackberry Wheat, highly recommended), and played backgammon on the porch. It was still beautifully warm out there, perfect for a porch party as M called it.

We briefly used that lantern because it also serves as a bluetooth speaker but of course the bugs couldn't get enough so we switched on the string lights instead. Porch party!!!

Saturday, as I mentioned above, was my real "off" day. I did my best to try and settle on something/occupy my mind. I did get some gaming in, playing a lot more Fez as shown below, and later in the evening, M and I played Diablo III until midnight. I think going forward, games will be a good tool to use when I find I'm having trouble getting myself out of a little bit of a depressive episode. They're a lot more engaging than, say, just giving up and sitting in front of the TV and I feel better after a game binge than I do after a TV binge. I still feel like I'm using my brain.

Taking a walk though is always one of the most helpful things and since the weather was so awesome  I knew I definitely had to get out. I ended up taking a little over an hours long walk (or, an entire episode of the My Favorite Murder podcast) and dude, just look at the pictures I took. So beautiful!

After I got back from my walk, I grabbed the mail and discovered I had a mysterious airmailed package. The sender's last name was Fforde which I thought was strange because the only person I know of with that last name is one of my favorite authors, Jasper Fforde....

WAIT A MINUTE

Yup, that is a signed copy of Jasper Fforde's novel Early Riser, sent by Mr. Fforde himself. After some sleuthing (i.e., frantically texting my sister who's name was included in the personal inscription I left out of the picture above),  I discovered that Jasper Fforde created this Instagram post:

Which my sister saw and emailed him requesting one of the copies be sent to me. I am amazingly lucky to have gotten a book as there were only 21 up for grabs and I am doubly lucky to have such a thoughtful sister to try and get one for me. Its like the universe knew I was going to have a shitty brain day today and arranged for the coolest mystery mail ever to arrive.

Needless to say, I ended Saturday feeling a whole lot better than I started it.

Sunday, I woke up later than I meant to (that's what I get for playing games so late) and right away, got kind of grumpy about it.  I had meant to get up and make strawberry pancakes because I had strawberries that were getting close to going bad that I wanted to use up, but M had already eaten breakfast by the time I was up. Determined to enjoy the day, I cut up the strawberries and sprinkled on some sugar to macerate them (sugar is also a preservative!) and set about making a pound cake to later smother in said strawberries.

Not bad! Hope its good, I've actually never made a pound cake before. I used this recipe, using this method of turning my AP flour into cake flour as that is not something I keep on hand.

We also went to the grocery store which, nowadays, counts as weekend excitement. I think later in the day we'll play some more games, either tabletop or video, I'm not sure. I may read too, now that I've got a very exciting book up next after I finish my current one. A good end to a, yes Ashley, great weekend.


*Post title comes from The Who song "The kids are alright" which was stuck in my head as I wrote this.

Plant mom: Just Chill Already

I've been quieter here lately, mostly because I can only do so much in a lockdown situation (Massachusetts is, rightfully, taking reopening slowly), but also because a lot of my time has been spent stressfully harassing my plants.

We're going through a rough patch at work because we're taking on new patients finally. We always have quite the waitlist so I'm not surprised even given the current situation, but unfortunately this means a complicated quarantine protocol and lots and lots of chaos and stress. Additionally, we finally made the decision to postpone our wedding which was originally going to be this August but has now been pushed to August 2021. The decision is a right one and I don't regret it but it's rough fielding all the questions from people, hearing their input (*insert eye roll here*), and doing all the frantic emailing of vendors/ordering "change the dates." It all worked out though and we were able to get all the same vendors booked for next year but I'll admit, the process left me in a little bit of a funk (shoutout to my fiancé who can still stand me even when I can't stand myself and swoops in for the save when I need it most <3).

On top of all that, I'm one of many that feel a lot of pressure to take this lockdown as a good opportunity to reach my full potential of creativeness and productivity. Of course, that's not how it works really, especially since I still go to work each day, so since it's been so crazy, I've taken extra steps at allowing (/forcing?) myself to just chill already.

And lately, that mostly means PLANTS.

Plant growing has turned into a really absorbing and rewarding hobby for me so it's a great stress reliever. As I mentioned in my last post, I ordered a new plant on Etsy... and here it is! Silver/Satin Pothos. I got it from this shop, which I mention because it arrived quickly, super well packaged, and clearly very healthy. My first foray into ordering plants online was a success! It has been repotted into a pot recently vacated by my...

Oyster plant! I repotted it into a pot from this Etsy store. It's a tricolor Oyster Plant but it's looking a little sad... I'm thinking not enough light, which is why he now lives in front of my kitchen window with his rattlesnake plant brother, who I also mentioned in the last post. I absolutely love the pot- it's a painted terra-cotta pot and the picture doesn't show it's super cool holographic shine so check out this picture from the shop's page (see above link):

It really glows in the sun but unfortunately today is pretty overcast so I couldn't show it's full potential. On days like this, it presents as a kind of sparkly black- most definitely not a bad thing. Something to note if you want to be pot twins with me is that this shop took a while to ship. I don't hold that against them though, as they clearly state that on their shop's page.

One more thing I noted in my last post is that I made a last ditch effort to save my Purple Wandering Jew. I'm proud to report that it's already looking better! I'm so glad I salvaged some cuttings, I might actually be able to grow a new plant out of it!

Maybe you can't tell but I assure you, the coloration is already more vibrant which is a good sign. I popped it in a smaller version of the Oyster Plant's pot.

As much as I'll go on about my plants, I promise that's not the only thing I've been doing with my free time. There's also been *games.*

My fiancé set me up with his old gaming computer (he just built himself a new one!) and hooked me up with all the accoutrements so we could finally play games together (my "everyday" computer is a MacBook Pro laptop). I've never really had a serious go at video games before so I wasn't sure if I would get into it but so far so good!

We're playing Diablo III together (I'm a Monk!) and I find myself really getting into it and even getting excited to play it! It helps having my fiancé (I'm gonna start calling him M) there to sort of guide me through it since I'm by no means an experienced gamer so it's a good place to start. 

M has also introduced me to a very chill game called Fez that I absolutely love.

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The graphics/art and soundtrack are fantastic and it requires the perfect amount of effort- not too intense/stressful but it takes enough brainpower to keep it interesting. This little dude discovers his world is actually 3D and he has to collect these cubes to keep his world from crumbling. So you rotate the screen and explore/solve puzzles to get all the cubes.

I've yet to turn on the ol' game computer today yet- I'm already jazzed for some Diablo so I'm waiting for M to get home from work. I spent the better part of the afternoon on the porch reading The Return of the King and drinking a White Russian. 

I'm really feeling my color combo today. Neutrals with a big splash of goldenrod yellow and to cap it off, turquoise and red finger and toenails respectively. I also debuted- to absolutely no one- my newest made-by-me earrings;

They're simple but I like the colors and how they look when I'm wearing them (especially with my hair in my go-to summer messy bun) so I think they'll get a ton of wear. They're made from some vintage Czech glass beads!

You may not be able to make your own earrings but if you'd at least like to join me by drinking a Dude-tacular beverage:

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I have a particular fondness for Kahlua so I usually make it with equal parts vodka/kahlua- I go 1.5oz of both and just kinda wing how much dairy I put in (I don't always have cream so often it's just almond milk, which still tastes great). You do you though.

Well, I'm going to continue to relax as much as possible (full disclosure: I did do a whirlwind cleaning session in the morning. Totally relaxation after that though, I promise). Lord Huron will be playing in the background- I find his voice/vibe very chill and calming. Here's a song from his newest album. Enjoy!

Plant Mom: The New Kids

Today was my day off and since it promised to be a glorious and warm day, I made plans with a coworker to go hiking. We figured it's an activity we could do while still social distancing and plus, we work together so we're already contaminated with each other's cooties.

Sadly, she couldn't rein in her allergies enough to be able to drag her poor sinuses through an excess of nature so those plans got cancelled. I wasn't too upset though because I traded in a 3.6 mile hike in 80 degree weather for a trip to the plant store.

Sadly, my purple wandering jew was looking extremely sad and sickly so I decided to salvage what cuttings I could and put something else in it's pot. Below is a picture of the cuttings:

See how depressingly sad they are? If you click on the link above, you can see how much more vibrant the purple is supposed to be. I think I overwatered these a shit ton and didn't give them the light they needed and when I realized my mistake it was already too late. Hopefully, I can resurrect it from these cuttings but in the meantime, it's pot is now occupied by a Goldfish Plant, which I was super psyched to find at my local garden center.

Those little orange flowers, when fully bloomed, look exactly like leaping goldfish. Also, as it grows and the stems get longer, they'll hang down nicely over the pot. I've been wanting to get some more vining type plants, especially for that particular bookshelf. I've read that these guys can be kind of finicky to grow so we'll see how well I manage. It's probably not the best idea to replace a plant that I accidentally murdered with one that's harder to grow but I couldn't resist. 

I recently discovered that my Rattlesnake Plant likes the light level in the kitchen a lot better so naturally I needed something else to take it's place on the table in our office. Since I get a ton of light in there I decided to get a Croton, which loves light. I'm not sure which variety this is specifically but all Crotons are super colorful. I liked the longer, thinner leaves on this one. I've only seen the oval leaved variety so I decided to get something a little different.

Last but not least of the new guys, check out this weirdo. It's a Sansevieria Cylindrica or, as it's called in more badass circles, an African Spear. They can get a lot bigger but I wanted to give a shot at something not as far along as my other plants. This is supposed to be pretty easy to grow- you mostly just leave it alone. Since I'm a chronic overwaterer though, I made sure to get a terra-cotta pot (it's not glazed on the inside) since the terra-cotta absorbs excess water. 

I couldn't help but sneak in a picture of my baby, my pride and joy, Rubbert Plant the Rubber Plant. When I got him, he was a foot high and not nearly so full. He is thriving, spitting out new leaves constantly, and by next year I may have to get him a bigger pot. I've had a lot of trials and tribulations with all my other plants but Rubbert has never disappointed.

I also have an oyster plant that's going to be repotted in a super special terra-cotta pot I ordered from Etsy a while ago and should get here soon. It's current pot will house another exciting new plant I also ordered from Etsy. When those come in, I'll have to share them too.

All that plant business took up a lot of my day but I enjoyed hanging on on the porch keeping busy. Later I relaxed with my new favorite warm weather beer, Long Trail's Blackberry Wheat. I'm a little iffy on super fruit-forward beers because they often just present as a sad hint of fruit which I don't like as a combo with beer. This beer though, there's no mistaking that its blackberry and its super refreshing. Perfect for warm weather relaxing on the porch.

Cheers!

Made it: The Bead Hoard Returns

I've provided documentation of my cross stitch and doodling craftiness here before (just search under the "made it" tag) and may have mentioned that I dabble in crochet (...right? Well anyway, I just did) but my OG craft that I've been doing the longest and most consistently is jewelry making. Sure it's taken a backseat to other ventures lately but a couple days ago I dragged out the Bead Hoard (pics below) and the first thing to come out of that is....

...This necklace!

I'm realizing now that since I avoided having my face in the picture, it looks like I have a never-ending neck. Just imagine I'm part giraffe if you'd like because I've lost too much of my good light to take another picture.

There's the close up, dramatically draped on my- matching- current read (finally/sadly on my last Lord of the Rings book!). I used brownish taupe/iridescent round top-drilled Czech glass beads accented by olive green Swarovski bicones (that's the bead shape, like 2 cones stuck together on the round end). I put 3 of the round beads per jump ring (an unsoldered circle of wire essentially), strung the bicones on some wire, and attached it all with even more jump rings, a shit-ton of jump rings. I then attached that to a bit of gunmetal grey leather cording, the clasp attaching at the junction between the 2 materials (you can see it on the left up there).

Got that? Good.

Aside from not having enough of those Czech glass beads to make it all the way around, I like to make sure my necklaces are comfortable to wear- having a bunch of those beads resting on your neck all day isn't the best, and replacing half of it with leather cord brings the weight down quite a bit. And plus, it's cost effective and I like the contrast. It's a win-win. I have a bit of a slouch (my spine is special) so necklaces tend to hang directly off my neck as opposed to resting on the base of my neck like most people so it's an important consideration for me.

It's been a while since I broke out the ol' pliers and it felt good. I must've let my subconscious* desire to leave the house for any other reason than the grocery store drive my creative juices because I definitely made something I won't be able to wear to work- what a mess that would get all tangled up in my work lanyard/what a disaster if it got yanked off (ahhh the joys of working in a psych hospital). Bracelets are much easier/acceptable/safer for me to wear so I hope to make some of those this weekend. They're more of a challenge since you don't have as much physical space to make something interesting so you've got to be more creative with shapes and colors and how you bring it all together... not a bad thing for sure, it's thinking about things like that that keep me coming back to jewelry making.

That and the fact that it's a craft that produces jewelry. That you can wear.

I recklessly stood on my wheely chair to take that picture so you're lucky I made it out alive to make this post.

The above picture is what I lovingly call my Bead Hoard. Jewelry making is not the cheapest hobby in the world by any means and it's all too easy to amass a whole bunch of stuff. That's about 94% of my stash- I've got more stuff I don't use much but can't bear to get rid of for whatever reason squirreled away on the shelves under the long part of my desk on the right. Below are a couple close ups- I didn't take any of the stuff on the right because that's pretty much just tiny bags of findings and tools. 

Most of my stash is natural stone beads because that's what I like to work with the best, but I don't limit myself, especially because I also love bright, fun colors that you don't always see naturally occurring. I love doing some slightly off-beat pearl necklaces too, ones strung traditional style on knotted silk cord but with the addition of some non-tradition beads/findings, so I have quite a bit of freshwater pearls. If you dig around enough though, you'll find wood, glass, bits of found objects, you name it. 

Aside from making necklaces I can't wear much, I've been working on clearing out my all-too-large collection of incomplete projects, broken items, or things I stashed away because I decided I didn't like them anymore, which is why you see piles of stuff hanging around on my bins in the picture above. It's a good lockdown project because I see this taking me AGES since I've also been meaning to clear out the jewelry I have in my jewelry boxes/hangers. I'll have to share a picture of that because I have a whole packed jewelry nook and it makes me happy.

I'm feeling pretty good about coming into this weekend- I have so many projects that I'm excited about getting into, a feeling I don't get as often as I'd like, definitely not as often as I used to.  That's ultimately the feeling I'm always chasing- not happiness as I wouldn't say I was sad really, even when I'm feeling my most listless, but that invigorating feeling of getting excited about getting stuck into something.

Have a great weekend!

*Just joking, it's most definitely not subconscious whatsoever.

Etsy Window Shopping and Down With The Man

Unless you've been living under a rock (it's ok if you have actually, I've been trying my best to do so), you may have heard about the May Day mass strike of Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart and other workers protesting the companies failure to provide enough basic protection and compensation for putting their lives on the line. I'm not someone who gets particularly political normally, but considering my current employer is in the process of battling with our union to stop additional hazard compensation and take back our most recent raise, threatening to lay off workers if we don't allow it, I've been paying a little more attention. [note: I will more than likely be safe if the layoffs occur, don't worry. Still sucks though.]

I have to admit, I'm one of many who, if they need something, will automatically find my way to Amazon. It's easy one-stop-shopping. Also, as someone with a more limited budget, I know how hard it is to make the decision to switch to solely small-business buying when it often means shelling out more of my hard earned cash. Environmentally sustainable, small business shopping is often a privilege of the more well-off- there's a reason Walmart, Amazon, etc are so massive- so I wouldn't fault someone for shopping at those stores. For me, personally, I've just been making more of an effort to look for other ways to get what I need at the prices I can afford before heading to those places, easier now that I have more free time.

One area where it's super easy to avoid large companies is definitely gift-giving and for that, I often head on over to the well-loved Etsy. As a fellow Maker myself, I like the idea of supporting fellow creative people and I feel like sending your loved ones something handmade just makes it that much more special. There are a ton of ways to support creative individuals trying to make it through this tough time and I encourage you to seek them out if that's something you're able to do but since I've been enjoying a leisurely window-shop on Etsy as I sit on my porch on this gorgeous spring day, I thought I'd mention Etsy specifically and share some cool stuff I've had my eye on recently.

Without further ado/depressing news:

found HERE

Guys, I love a weird stud earring. I find it better to wear studs to work and I just like them in general. The shop Obsessories has a TON of crazy options but I've been thinking extra hard about the ones pictured above (though these moon ones are a close second). *

found HERE

More earrings. I wear some everyday so it's totally reasonable to have a ton, right? This Enterprise pair is too cute and the shop Geek Me A Break has a ton of other super nice nerd jewelry- Star Trek, Star Wars, Zelda, Doctor Who... all classily rendered in precious metals. *

found HERE

I bought these yesterday in "light aqua" but the shop OnceAgainSam has a lot of other fantastic items, from wood laser cut things, to fiber art. They already shipped too, which is impressive. 

found HERE

Alright, last pair of earrings. I couldn't help add these obviously because BOWIE CATS. The shop Danielle V Designs, has these adorable Bowie cats in dangly earring and pin form, but also an adorable assortment of prints and other accessories. *

found HERE

Since we're on cats, LOOK AT THIS CAT EGG BROOCH. I have a deep love of breakfast foods and cats and pins so this really speaks to me. The shop, I Like Cats, has a ton of different items with, you guessed it, cat-related themes. I love the art style behind all the pieces. *

found HERE

This shop sweetandlovely has a ton of super cute and feminist-leaning bits and bobs but I am definitely in love with this pale blue dot/Carl Sagan pin (though this pin with my boy Goldblum is a close second). Definitely a worthy addition to my ever-growing pin collection.* 

found HERE

On a completely different note, here's a cross stitch pattern! If I don't draw them up myself, I get a lot of my patterns from Etsy and this one from the shop KentimaByKonna has been on list for a long time (if only I could finish the million other projects I currently have going...). She has a lot of other geeky and book related patterns but I think this one would look perfect on that blank piece of wall near our door...*

found HERE

Another cross stitch pattern! The shop Stem Stitch only has this solar system bundle and individual planets/sun/moon prints in their shop but I've had this pattern in my favorites for a long time. I think it'd be a really cool art installation to have them all in individual frames arranged on the wall.

found HERE

Do you like brains and also uteruses? Well have I got an Etsy shop for you! BirdBearStudio offers a wide range of ceramic brain items like bowls, trinket dishes and planters like the one above. And just to mix it up they also have the odd uterus knick knack as well. I don't have a logical explanation as to why I really want at brain planter but we all know the mind is not always logical.*

found HERE

Last but not least, this teardrop abstract landscape stained glass piece from CedarAndSpruceStudio. I had a hard time choosing one thing to showcase, all of their designs are unique and beautiful. How pretty would this be hanging in front of a window on a sunny day?!*

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I guess we can leave this at a top 10, otherwise I'll be here all day. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

*I've never bought from these shops but they all have a lot of sales and great ratings!