The Things We Do For Fun...

Been doing a small bit of crafting, lately. Had been trying to work on a crocheted gift for a friend, but the arm warmers just decided they were never going to work for me. And when I tried shortening them to gloves, I couldn't keep my focus enough to do them. So I went on a stash dive, and came up with a dark maroonish red worsted weight, and a cream, fuzzy-ish worsted weight yarn, and wound them together. I'm knitting a scarf on size 11 needles, and I'm calling the combo "Old Candy".

Going to try to figure out what I can work out for my friend. Might possibly try for a purse or tote bag using Tunisian crochet, since I know she likes purses. At least, if I remember correctly, she likes purses. I'm so terrible with my memory. I just hope my finger joints hold up on me.

For some reason, my fingers have been stiff and snap-crackle-poppy, lately. They're also getting quite sore. It's not fun. I want my hands to not hurt, when I knit. Oh, well. Hopefully warmer weather will cure that, when spring breaks.

At least when the weather gets good, I can go berry picking.

State of the Blogger '08

Well, I'm doing this a couple days earlier than I'd planned, but then, what can I do? I don't think any of you want me to try doing this while drunk or hungover. I get crazy.

But, yes... *Shuffles papers* State of the Blogger.

Getting back into gaming, in the coming year, hopefully. I'm working very hard on it.

Also, working on expanding my garden again, this year, and starting to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, etc, again. The past few years have been focused on strawberries, blackberries, and the grape vines that have yet to produce a single grape. Am also possibly tearing out a water garden that I'm no longer able to properly care for.

This year's been a bit of a tough one, for me. Started off well enough, but is ending with a lot of shifts and changes, the least of which is my circle of friends beginning to expand from the small core of maybe three people I really talk to.

I bought a pet mouse, and lost him six months later. Which was a shame, and leaves an empty tank in my house that I have no real urge to fill, just now. The rest of my pets are doing just fine, as are the dogs belonging to my mother and sister. The rabbit, Tinker, is getting rather old, though. She'll be turning five in March, I believe. We'll have to see, if she lasts this next year and sees another one.

Well, that's about all, for this year's State of the Blogger... Wait, no!

This New Year's marks the ten-year anniversary (give or take a few days) of when my oldest and best friend and I met, back when we were both fifteen. So, not only did I hit 25, this year, but the holiday is a special milestone for me. Really nice, when you think about it, no?

If I don't pop back in before then, good luck to any and all readers, and have a great New Year.

Insane Christmas

UGH! Where's my mind been?!

Well, I'm still alive. It's Christmas Eve (Merry Christmas! XD), and it's early as heck. My sister has my littlest cousin here, and everyone else is asleep.

Lots has happened, since I last ran my mouth here, including the expansion of my circle of friends, and the loss of my pet mouse. The pokeberry ink finished fermenting and was strained multiple times, and it turned out wonderfully. It's got a beautiful color, before it starts to fade. And the color after isn't so bad, either.

More stuff, later. Will try to do a "State of the Blogger" sort of thing on New Year's, if I'm not too hungover.

Back Home

Home from my weekend. Couldn't get my camera down there, and couldn't manage any rubbings.

I found out who some of the children are, and they're all related, and all died around the same time.

Didn't get caught up with everything I wanted to, but slept a lot, and have managed to rid myself of a lot of stress.

It's awesome, to relax, but I love coming home to my animals and my friends.

Camping Weekend

When I get up this morning, I'm going to go camping.

It's a nice place, a little less than an hour away, but I get to spend the entire weekend loafing around, relaxing, splashing in Muddy Creek, and catching up on my knitting and reading.

There is a small graveyard, from the 1840s, near the property. All the graves are those of children. Some are babies.

If I can manage a few grave rubbings without doing any damage to the stones, I'm going to attempt it, and may eventually scan or photograph them, and post the pictures here. I love the mystery of the place, and I want to try and solve it, if I can. I love playing detective.

But, yeah, I so love being able to get out of town.

DIY Plumbing

I praise anyone who can handle DIY plumbing, and handle it well.

My family members... cannot.

Just saying, if you don't know what you're doing, don't touch it!

THe pokeberry ink is fermenting well, and I just finished knitting a scarf, and have already started in on my next project.

Life is fun...

The Joys of Friendships...

A couple weeks ago, I lost my grandmother.

Today I found out a close friend had moved to Hawaii.

I have some depression issues, and anxiety issues, so this changed my happy mood into an screwy, emo-type "I'm losing all the people I care about again! Please, don't let more of this happen soon!" mood.

Those who know me well will know these moods come around, from time to time, and have since I was a child.

The difference now, is that I have my three closest friends. One I have known for almost ten years. He introduced me to the other two, who I have known for about half that.

I was always the one left alone and teased, etc, in school. Once I hit my teenage years, it became clear that I didn't get along with the majority of my family. I had nobody, except for the first friend. Now I have my litte circle, because he and I were willing to stick together.

Their friendshp has proven more valuable than even the love of my own siblings, sometimes, and thus I have adopted them, in all ways but legally, as my brothers and sister.

Friendship can heal the heart and soul of a person who's having major problems. And when you're having problems, you learn very quickly who your real friends, and even your real family,are.

But turn to those people around you, who are willing to help. Sometimes it can make all the difference, when it comes to beating the problem.

Pokeberry Wine?

Earlier, I donned latex gloves, and picked some pokeweed berries. I then mashed them up, dumped in some yeast, and set them to fermenting.

No, I'm not making wine. I'm making ink.

Why the gloves, you may ask? Pokeweed, also known as inkberry, is toxic. There are some folks that eat pokeweed, (I won't give you cooking instructions here, and I don't recommend trying to find any and cook it yourself.) but I won't touch the stuff, no matter how many times it's boiled. And the last thing I want to do is ingest any of this stuff.

Ink made from fermented pokeberries was used to write the Declaration of Independence, or so I've read. I figure, why not try making some, myself, and using it with my calligraphy pens? It couldn't hurt, right?

You can find instructions for making this sort of ink on the internet, but take my advice, and be careful, if you do so. I wouldn't want anybody to accidentally poison themselves. Wear gloves, and mark containers well.

If you're willing to take the risk, though, this is a fine natural alternative to buying ink in stores.

"Let There Be Light"

Ah, yes, gotta love that new blog smell.

Well, if you've found this blog, you've either stumbled over it via a friend of mine, or word of mouth (sound of type?)...

For those new to my life, I am an on-again, off-again gamer. Currently waiting for my copy of a new manual, so I can hopefully get back to playing.

I am also into semi-healthy eating, growing fruits and veggies, and finding natural alternatives to stuff I use in everyday life.

So, yes...

This blog, as the title says, is full of... Well, it can only be described as oddness.

Have fun reading, if you so choose.