February 2021 Random Ramblings

I have a bunch of random things to update you on today, so this is going to be a long-ish post.  It's not going to be an essay - if you know what I mean - but you might want to grab a cup of your favourite drink and get comfortable.  Maybe a snack too, since I talk about food at one point.

 

*~*~*

 

Logan is the kind of dog who will happily play by himself, as long as you're nearby.  He loves playing with people, adores cuddles, but will also play by himself.  He's really cute to watch, so we got a couple of short videos so you could see.  Here you go:

 

 

~

 

For some reason, Logan is also a big fan of rocks.  In fact, he's taken such a liking to them that he was utterly miserable when Kelly took his entire rock collection back outside where it belonged, and told him firmly that rocks belong outside.  In the end we had to allow him to have a rock or two in the house, because he was moping that much.  He was ecstatic with joy when he realized we were going to let him keep a rock after all.

 

As anyone who knows me won't be surprised to learn, Lilie and Logan have a box overflowing with toys, and get new ones regularly.  They even play with them - the short clips I just posted prove that.  And yet, despite that, my dog's favourite toy is a rock.  Not any of the countless balls, tuggies, etc, they own.  No.  A rock.  And any rock will do too... It's not like it's even one particular rock he wants.

 

*~*~*

 

The Lunar New Year was two weeks ago, and tonight is the first full moon of the year of the metal ox in the Chinese calender, so the lantern festivals to celebrate it will be held this evening - in case you're interested.

 

Personally, I was born in the year of the wooden rat.

 

*~*~*

 

Kelly had his eye on a teddy dressed as Ahsoka from Star Wars he'd spotted on Build-A-Bear when we were getting my Grogu plushy last month, so I brought it for him, and he got me a plushy of Toothless the dragon from How To Train Your Dragon.  Though we don't really worry too much about Valentine's Day, we used that to justify getting them right now.  Not that we really need an excuse to buy each other gifts, but it was a ready made one, so we used it, even though Valentine's Day isn't a big deal to us, as I mentioned in another post a few weeks ago.  Anyway, I intended having photos of Ahsoka and Toothless to put in this post, but we didn't get around to sorting those, so I'll show you them another time.

They both have a single sound chip.  Ahsoka has a sound chip to play the Imperial march sound, and Toothless has one to make six different sounds he makes during the movies.  Since we had no idea about birthdays to put on the certificates you get with the toys, we put the date we got married on them.

 

~

 

Despite Valentine's Day not being a big deal to us, Kelly made me a breakfast of vegan pancakes with maple syrup, plus a cup of tea, that morning.  He said he'd have brought it to me in bed, but with the dogs being the way they are that wasn't going to work.  He's not sure if they'd be more likely to spill it everywhere when they get excited, or eat it before I could do so.  I have to agree with him, unfortunately, and don't really know which would be more likely either.  It was a lovely breakfast anyhow, and a sweet thing to do, which meant more than any amount of cards and gifts would have.

 

Two days later he made me pancakes for dinner, since it was pancake day.  I enjoyed those very much too.

Vegan pancakes can be complicated recipes, but we opt for the simple version: two ingredient pancakes.  They can be vegan or not, depending on the milk you use.  All you need is flour and milk for the batter.  Then just grease your pan (we use vegan butter, but you can use either butter of your choice or oil of your choice) cook your pancakes, and top with whatever sweet or savory topping you desire.

*~*~*

I now get two craft subscription boxes.

 

At least, I will as from the start of March, which is when I'll get the first box from the new one.

Yeah, yeah, I know.  But... 

 

Someone told me - well, posted on Facebook where I could see it - about the Cosy Craft Club box, which is a similar idea to the Makerly Crafts one I already get.  Well, I couldn't resist.  Because, you know, you can never have too many craft supplies.  Right? Plus, happy post...

So, I subscribed to Cosy Craft Club this month, and will get my first box in March.  Since Makerly are moving their box from the middle of the month to the start of it, I'll get both boxes around the start of the month from now on.  Two new kits to add to my crafting stuff every month.  Maybe I don't need them - it's not like I'm short of crafting supplies.  But I want them, and I'm excited about having them.

~

 

Speaking of crafting supplies: I'm making great progress with getting the craft room organized.  There's still a bunch of stuff to sort, and Dad says he still has more to bring over to me when I've got the last of the current batch sorted, but it's getting there.  So is the computer room/study, which we've had to be working on at the same time, since we made some extra space - in fact, doubled the space - in the craft room by making room in the other room for the graphic novels and magazines Kelly had been planning to store in the craft room before we realized just how much crafting stuff I was inheriting.

I don't have progress photos for the computer room/study, since I didn't think about getting those until I was writing this post, and I want to get this scheduled.  But here's what the craft room looks like now:

 

 

 

We even opened up the bureau so you could see the stuff in the cubby holes of that.

 

I know it doesn't look like it's all that organized right now, but it really is much more organized than it was the last time you saw the room.  Honest.  I had hoped to get more of that unsorted stuff you see on the floor dealt with before I needed to get Kelly to take the photos for this post, but I didn't get a chance due to needing to do other things.

 

~

 

In other crafty news: I decided, since I inherited a whole load of crochet stuff from my Nan, I should at least attempt to learn how to do it.  So, that's what I did.

 

I watched some YouTube videos I saw being recommended to people who wanted to start learning to crochet - Bella Coco is good, explains things so clearly that I can follow most of what she's doing even without being able to see her showing us, and comes highly recommended by several people on some of the groups I'm on over on Facebook, if anyone else wants to use YouTube to learn - and then had my Mam show me the parts that were too visual for me to be entirely certain what the videos were showing me.  Between those videos and my Mam, I managed to figure it out well enough that I had something to show for my efforts by the next day.  And, here it is:

Surprisingly to both of us, neither of us got cross at the other when I was getting frustrated when I was initially struggling to get what I was meant to be doing.  That would usually be an issue, which is why it was Nan (Dad's Mother) who taught me to do crafts like knitting and sewing to start with.

Anyway, we did it using the same kind of  cotton yarn my tea cosy is being knitted with, from my personal stash.  I believe the colour is called ice blue.  It's one of Nan's hooks I'm using though, of course. 

 

I started off the chain, and once we'd established I could do that, my Mam did a couple of rows for me to show me what I was aiming for.  That part where it looks like we were doing fancy stitches was my first attempt at a row, where I learned that it really matters which way you wrap the wool around the hook.  We decided not to unpick it though, since that was the only fault, and it looked pretty.  The couple of rows after that I did with a lot of help from Mam.  But the final two rows I did completely solo after she'd gone home.  Took me about an hour to do each row, but at least I did it, even if my tension is all over the place, so my stitches are far from being neat and even.

~

 

Since then I've been swapping between my crochet project (I'm making it a scarf) and my knitted tea cosy.  I'm sure you won't be too surprised to learn that the knitting project is coming along faster, since having been doing that for many more years - I mean, Nan taught me to knit when I was about eight or nine - means it comes easier to me, so it takes me a lot less time to do a row of knitting than a row of crochet, even though there are a lot more stitches in each of my knitting rows for these current projects.  But there's progress for both, and I'm enjoying doing both, which is the main thing.

 

~

 

In yet more crafting related news: I joined a virtual crafting session via Zoom this past Saturday afternoon.

 

The Zoom session was being hosted by the person who does the Cosy Craft Club boxes, for members of her Facebook group of the same name (which you can be a member of even if you don't subscribe to the boxes).  At least, I think it was a members only thing, since you had to reply to a spacific post on there to get the details to join the session from her.  Apparently it's a regular thing.  You just do crafts - either work together on that month's craft box, or do whatever other craft you want to do at the time - while chatting.

 

I was torn about the idea of attending it.  I was unsure about whether I wanted to go, and made a point to warn of my irregular sleeping schedule ahead of time so that would justify my absence if I didn't show up.  On the other hand, the idea of spending an hour doing a virtual crafting session did sound fun, so I was kind of excited about the idea, and did want to go at the same time.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  It was my introvert side warring with the part of me that likes to connect with like-minded people.  It's how it always works for me: "YAY! People who enjoy the things I do.  I'll get to talk about things I love with them," immediately followed by, "OMG! People! I'll have to interact with them and everything!"

 

I'm sure the first mention of the session told you which side won though, and you already figured out that I went to the virtual crafting session.  Had a great time too.  In fact, I was so busy enjoying it that I was kind of surprised when someone announced the hour was already up, and I only left when the host ended the meeting almost quarter of an hour after the planned finish time.

 

And, yes, I do plan to join them again for future sessions, assuming they continue to do them, and I don't have a valid reason for not attending (like I have something else happening that needs to be more of a priority and can't be rescheduled for a different time or day, or I really am sleeping).

*~*~*

 

The first half of February was incredibly cold, with temperatures often dropping to -2 C or lower (not counting the windchill) even in the day.  I know it's been much colder for many people, but when it's 3:00am, -3 C with a windchill making it feel -10 C,  you're only wearing a pair of cotton pyjamas and flipflops, you've so far been out there for 20 minutes, and your dogs are in no hurry to go back inside, you really don't think beyond how cold it is for you at that moment in time.

 

Either the combination of the temperatures and wind chill are pushing it below even my cold tolerence, or I'm not as able to tolerate extreme cold as I used to be.  Either way, thick socks and other warm items of clothing have been very gratefully worn by me during trips outside with the dogs recently (at least, after those first couple of times when I didn't wrap up warmly and wished I had).  And even then I've generally been glad to come in to the warmth of the house when the dogs are finally ready to go back in too.

Kelly helped me with keeping warm by buying me a new hat.  I couldn't find mine, so said I'd need to find time to make a new one (I'd given people most of the ones I'd made in the past, and couldn't find the one I was sure I'd kept for myself).  One of the local shops had some for sale though, and he spotted a purple one when he was in there getting milk and such, so he grabbed me one.  Naturally though, it warmed up a few days later.  I appreciated the hat for those few days though, and at least it increases my chances of locating one the next time we have cold weather.

~

 

Before it warmed up, we got a little more snow.  It was on February 13th.  OK, so it was only a light dusting, which didn't come to much - there was maybe about an inch - and it was more ice than anything within a couple of hours.  But the weather reports said there would be snow, and there was, even if there was very little of it.  Anyway, this is what it looked like a little after 8:45am, right after it snowed (in fact, I think it was still snowing a littlewhen these were taken, though it stopped quickly afterwards).

 

 

~

 

Since then it's mostly been rainy.  But, hey, it is Wales, and Wales is good at rain.

*~*~*

I watched "Mary Poppins Returns" a couple of weeks ago.  It wasn't bad, but it was nowhere near as good as the first movie.  But that's often the case, isn't it? Anyway, I'd give it a tentative four stars out of five.  Tentative because it only just qualifies for the four stars in my opinion.

 

~

 

I also watched "Pride & Prejudice" (the 2005 movie).  It was pretty good, though I didn't love it.  I give it four out of five stars; a firmer four stars than "Marry Poppins Returns" got, but still only four stars.

*~*~*

I took a couple of photos of Artemis while I was playing with her this past Sunday (Feburary 21st).  She was enjoying some supervised out of vivarium time.  So, before I end this post, here they are:

#PetKid Posts: Lilie The #Westie's February 2021 Checkin And Vet Trip Report

 Hi everyone.  This is Lilie the Westie.

Mummy keeps stealing our posting slots, so I haven't been here myself lately, as you've likely noticed.  But this week I thought I'd stop by and say, "Hi," in the fur - so to speak.

~

Me and Logan love this new house.  The garden is great fun - especially when the white stuff falls from the sky - and running up and down the stairs is loads of fun too.  We love having all the extra space to play!

 

Also, we see Nana and Grandad lots.  They never stay long - which we're a bit sad about - but we think it's great that they come visit.  Me especially, since I love visitors! Mummy says they'll stay longer when we aren't locked down any more, which we still are right now - again.  I hope she's right, and we stop being locked down soon.  Even Logan, who got so used to seeing nobody but Mummy and Daddy because of Avirus, gets excited when Nana and Grandad come, and wishes they'd stay longer.  He's still not sure about other dogs coming near him, but Nana sometimes brings Izabel with her, and he's gotten better about being close to her without getting upset.  Mummy says maybe when we're not locked down any more we'll go see Maya again, or Uncle Wayne will bring her here, and Logan can start getting used to her too.  Hopefully he'll learn that being near other dogs besides me is a good thing.  Although, I love being his favourite, and am glad to hear Mummy saying I always will be.

 

~

 

We've had loads of that white stuff.  More than we ever did in all my life where we were before.

 

We love the white stuff they call snow! Even if it does make things smell all strange.

 

It's another thing we like about living here.  I hope we'll get to see lots more of that stuff... Especially since Mummy is like a puppy with it, so eager to take us outside in it loads and loads, which is fine with us.

 

~

Mollie and Artemis love it here too.  At least, I know Mollie definitely does - not surprisingly, since she's got a bigger cage here, and is in a great spot where she can see what's going on in the living room, or hide out of sight, depending on what she feels like doing.  And Artemis isn't having many of what Mummy calls, "Stompy days," so I think she must be happy here too.

 

~

 

 We got a bit worried at one point, because Mummy and Daddy were playing with boxes, and it looked like they were packing, so we thought we were going to have to move again.  We don't want to move again, so weren't happy to see them messing about with boxes we thought they were done with.

 

But they said it was OK, and it turned out it really was OK.  They were just moving things around, and using some of the boxes they hadn't thrown out yet to help move it.  Something about reorganizing some stuff to make room for all the interesting stuff Grandad keeps giving Mummy (which she won't let us play with, even though she says she's going to have fun playing with it... That doesn't seem fair to me, especially since I always share my toys with her).

 

It makes no sense to us, but as long as we aren't moving, that's OK.  Logan's still a bit worried, but he's always worried about something.  Not me.  I'm not the kind of dog to worry about things more than I have to.  There's too much excitement to be found in the world to waste time worrying about things.

*~*~*

 

In other news: me and Logan went to meet our new vet yesterday.

Nana took us and Mummy in her car, and brought Izabel too.

 

Nana has a special doggy seat for her car, which I was meant to ride in.  I hated it though, and when I had to ride in it on the way to the vet I kept trying to get out and wouldn't settle.  They'd said for me to go in it because I'm smaller than Logan (Nana has two seats in the car, one that Izabel was in, and the one that was meant to be for me... They're both Izabel's, so not very big) and for Logan to be the one who just had the harness atatched to the seatbelt, but I really hated that plan.  So, on the way home from the vet, Mummy and Nana decided to see if Logan would ride in the car seat better than I did.

 

It turned out he was eager to do so, and loved being in it, even though he only just fit.  Nana even took photos so you could see.  Here they are:

I was much happier with that arrangement too, and settled better just being on the seat with my harness atatched.  Daddy thinks it's because I don't like being confined, where as Logan loves being cosy and cuddled in to things.  Mummy thinks Daddy's probably right.  Nana doesn't care one way or another, as long as we settle in the car properly whenever she has to take us anywhere.

~

Because we got to the vet early, and it's right by a park, we went for a bit of a walkies in the park.

 

It was great fun!

There were loads of new smells to investigate, leaves blowing past that Logan kept trying to chase, a couple of other dogs we got to meet, and even a couple of human pups we could watch playing.

 

~

 

We weren't sure about the new vet at first, because his face was all covered up - humans keep doing that lately for some reason.  But then we realized he was friendly, so we decided we liked him.  Even went with him without a fuss when he took us inside the vet place to get weighed (he talked to Mummy and Nana outside, and just took us inside one at a time to do what he couldn't outside).

 

Speaking of which: we've somehow managed to put on a bit of weight, even with all our running around, so the vet says Mummy has to keep an eye on that to make sure it's a seasonal weight gain and not because of some kind of health issue.  He says to keep an eye on our portion sizes, make sure we keep getting good exercise - or get even more than we have been - and see how our weight looks when it's time for our shots in June.  Hopefully it's gone back down where it should be by then.

I've got to go see the vet again next month though (on March 19th at 4:00pm).  Only me, and not Logan this time.  It's because of my itches.  I've had trouble with this before, but every time it starts looking like it's getting better it gets bad again.  The vet gave us some new tablets to try, which will hopefully help.  If they do, I'll have to take them for the rest of my life, or until they stop working.  If they don't - or if they stop helping in the future - I'll have to have a monthly shot instead, which would also be for the rest of my life.  Apparently I've reached the stage most Westies do at some point, where my skin irritation issues are here to stay.

We also got a special sweetie to have instead of the wet stuff to deal with fleas and things.  We've never minded the wet stuff Mummy and Daddy put on us, but we love the idea of a sweetie instead loads more.

*~*~*

So, that's what's been happening with me.  Now, I need a nap, so if there's anything I forgot to tell you about, I'll either tell you next time I can get Mummy to let me have a turn on here, or Mummy can tel you.

 ~

Lots of licks,

Lilie

#Febookary Book Tag From @TStrawberryPost - #AmReading

 Cat over at The Strawberry Post started a reading challenge called Febookary - I mentioned it in last week's post, and she explains what it is on her blog too.  But she didn't stop there.  No.  She also created a book tag to go along with it.  Well, given that I'm participating in the challenge, and also happen to be addicted to these tag things - in case you didn't notice from all the ones I did last year - I had to play along, of course.  Now, come on, you know I had to. 😉

     

Anyway, here's Cat's original post about the Febookary tag.  If you'd like to play along too, feel free to do so, either in the comments section below, in the comments of Cat's post, or on your own blog.  If you do the latter, don't forget to let me know, because I'll want to read your answers.

     

There's still just over half of February left, so there's still time to join in with Febookary too, if you want.

     

Either way, here are the tag questions, along with my answers to them:

    

~ 

    

1. Have you always enjoyed reading books?  If not then when did your love of books start, or end?

    

I've always enjoyed reading books.  Reading - and being read to - were excellent ways to pass the time while waiting around in hospitals, and I quickly learned what an excellent escape reading could be. 

    
2. What books, if any, did you like to read as a child?
     

As a young child it was fairy Tales, anything by Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton, and Beatrix Potter's books ("The Tale Of Peter Rabbit" etc).  Later that expanded to be anything and everything, though I was particularly drawn to books involving magic, like Jill Murphy's "Worst Witch" series, and animal stories, especially ones with horses in them, such as Bonnie Bryant's "Pony Tails" books, and Monica Dickens' "Follyfoot" and "World's End" books.

    

3. What are your favourite genres, if any, of fiction and why?
      

Fantasy and science fiction are my top favourites, with cosy mystery not too far behind.  Fantasy appeals to me because of the fantastical make-believe worlds many of them contain, the magical aspects, and fantastical creatures.  Science fiction appeals to me because I have an interest in space exploration and science in general, and a lot of real facts are combined with the fantastical elements that aren't all that different to the kinds of things you find in fantasy, such as creative worldbuilding on unknown planets, and potentially interesting made up creatures (aliens).  As for cosy mysteries, I like the puzzle of trying to see if I can figure out who did it before it's revealed, and cosy mysteries give you that  without things getting overly dark as a rule.  I do enjoy other genres too, such as other mystery genres, historical fiction, romance, etc.  But those are my favourites.

 

4. What are your favourite genres, if any, of non-fiction and why? 

    

I love books with random facts in them, plus ones that teach me more about a subject I'm interested in.  The random facts because I enjoy learning new things, and my reason for enjoying the ones that teach me more about something I'm interested in - be it a particular historical period, how to do something for a craft I like to do, or whatever - I'd think are self-explanitory. 

    
5. Are there any genres you just don’t like or have never tried reading? 

    

There are so many genres out there that I'm not too sure about ones I haven't read anything from.  I'm sure there are plenty I haven't tried though.  As for ones I don't like: Christian fiction is the one I dislike so much I'd never even agree to read it for Febookary.  I find it too preachy, probably because I don't share the beliefs mentioned in it.  No offense to people who read and write those kinds of books, but if I want to be preached to I'll go to church, or read the bible again.  Yes, I read it once.

    

6. Do you often DNF (Did Not Finish) books and why? 

    

No.  If I start a book, I finish it.  Sometimes it might get better.  Other times it doesn't.  Either way, if I start a book, I'm going to read to the end, even if it's so bad all I feel on finishing it is relief that it's over.  I've even been known to finish a series just because I started it, even though I'm not enjoying the earlier books in that series.  If I start it, I have to finish it.

    
7. Do you enjoy reading things that aren’t books like magazines, newspapers or blogs? 

    

I enjoy reading almost anything, though my level of enjoyment varies depending on how good the content is, and how high my interest in the genre or topic is.  I mean, I once read the dictionary from cover to cover, just because I complained about having nothing new to read to my Mam and she told me to (she meant it as a joke, but I took it literally and did it).  Actually, if you count the time I read and entire English-Welsh dictionary, technically I've read the dictionary cover to cover twice... Can't even blame my Mam for that second one.  Anyhow, I read pretty much anything I can that's in front of me for long enough, read both blogs and books daily, and am just as likely to enjoy the book as the blog posts. 

    
8. Are there any books that have put you off reading a whole genre or reading in general? 

    

Only if you count the fact the preaching in the Christian fiction I've tried has made me dislike that genre. 

    
9. What books do you plan to try for #Febookary this year? 

    

For Febookary this year I'm reading "Metal Warrior: Born of Steel" (Mech Fighter, Book 1) by James David Victor.  Kelly chose it for me when I told him I needed a book to read that I wouldn't necessarily pick up for myself.  He chose well for me last year, so I'm hoping he has this year too.

#StDwynwensDay + #Blind #Crossstitch + A #Knitting Project + #Snow + #Imbolc + #AmWriting + #Febookary

January 25th was St Dwynwen's Day (Dydd Santes Dwynwen) - as it is every year.  St Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, so it's basically the Welsh Valentines Day.  We didn't celebrate it though.  I mean, we barely do anything for Valentines Day, let alone the lesser-known Welsh equivalent... Valentines Day isn't really a big deal to us, since we think you should show the person you love that you love them all year, and not just lavish attention on them for one spacific day.  I just thought I'd mention it, in case anyone was interested.  Plus, I thought it would be nice if I at least acknowledged its existance.

~

 

I've learned a lot in the years since I lost the last of my sight, and one of those things is that - more often than not - the thing stopping me from doing something I want to do that I could do when I had some sight is actually often myself, and my refusal to try and find a way.  So, I decided to have a go at crossstitching for the first time since losing the last of my sight - especially since I just inherited a whole load of supplies from my Nan, and it would be a shame not to use them.  Nan was the one who taught me to knit, sew, and crossstitch.  I know she'd have wanted me to try.  So, I did.  For Nan, for those who need to learn what I learned about the limitations of a blind person, and for myself.

So, how did it go?

Well... It went OK.  I mean, I think it's going to take some practice - and a whole lot of patience - but I don't think I did too terribly for my first attempt, and think I can potentially make it work for simple designs anyhow.  Here's a photo of my first attempt.  It's supposed to have been three little Christmas trees... Even if they are red... I think I did best with the middle one.  What do you think?

~

I mentioned to Kelly that I wasn't sure where to startwith craft projects, so he suggested I start by knitting a cosy for my new teapot.  I agreed it was a good idea, so that's what I'm working on now.  Well, when I'm not busy attempting to organize all the crafting supplies, of course.  Hey, at least it's something I can do amidst the chaos that the craft room is currently in from Dad bringing over more of what used to be Nan's crafting supplies recently (which I haven't had a chance to sort through yet).

The cosy's got two colours in it: purple, of course, and a shade of off-white called vanilla.  Also, it's made from 100% cotton yarn.  There is some sheep wool among the things I got from Nan, which I'll use for future projects - since it's here - but this wool is from my own stash, and I've only been buying the 100% cotton yarn. It costs a bit more, but I personally think it's worth the extra cost.

 

Anyway, the tea cosy isn't finished yet, but I'll show you it when it is, which shouldn't be too far in the future, since it is coming along nicely.  Would have been even further along if I hadn't dropped my purple yarn and wasted a LOT of time untangling the mess it got itself in to. *sigh*

~

We got more snow!

 

Yes, more of it! It happened this past Sunday.

OK, so there wasn't much of it to enjoy, despite the fact it was drifting down for a couple of hours, so technically a couple of inches probably fell, because it was melting almost as fast as it hit the ground, and it was completely gone by the evening.  But still.

Here are a couple of photos of Lilie and Logan out in the yard during it:

And here's a short clip we got during the best part of the snowfall:

Sorry about the noise in the clip, but someone decided to come to the nearby shop while we were doing snow videos, and used what's meant to be one of our parking spots for the purpose, waiting there with the car running for a while.  They do that a lot, because of our proximity to the shop.  Any time they see us out there when doing it they ask if we need them to park elsewhere, but since they're only popping to the shop a couple of doors down, so gone pretty quickly anyhow, and we don't have a car of our own so aren't in any real need of our two parking spaces, we let them do it.  I mean, why not? After all, they aren't in our way, and they aren't hurting anyone being there, so... *shrugs*

~

So... Last year I'd planned to make more effort with doing something for the Pagan holidays other than Ostara, Samhain, and Yule - something I've gotten abit lazy about in recent years.  I wanted to at least acknowledge those lesser-known and more commonly ignored holidays that are part of my beliefs.  But 2020 was... Well... We all know what 2020 was.  Anyway, I'm determined not to let the same thing happen in 2021, even if it tries to be another year like last year.  Wish me luck with that.  Ahem.  Well, at least I can say so far, so good.  I even remembered to acknowledge St Dwynwen's Day, which is one I generally always ignore (and counts as one I should acknowledge because of the Celtic influence in my beliefs, even without the consideration of the fact I'm Welsh by birth, and have now moved back to Wales).  And then there's Imbolc...

February 2nd was Imbolc - the first festival of Spring.  Well, technically people celebrate it any time from January 31st to February 2nd, sometimes literally celebrating from sunset on January 31st to sunset on February 2nd.  But since February 2nd is the most commonly recognized date (or, with a lot of Pagans, sunset on February 1st through to sunset on February 2nd, since sunset to sunset celebrations are common) and I don't personally feel like it's one of the holidays that needs to be celebrated for days - though I can totally see why people might have done so in the past - we just acknowledge and celebrate it on February 2nd.  Or try to anyhow.  Really though any date from January 31st through February 2nd is correct.

 

Either way, we don't go in for big celebrations anyhow, and our Imbolc celebrations especially have never been elaborate or fancy in any way - on the years we've remembered to celebrate it, I mean.  Sometimes we'll go on a walk to search for signs of Spring, and call it an Imbolc walk (even though we regularly go out with the dogs anyhow).  But beyond that we usually just have a special meal where at least some part of it is conciously being linked to Imbolc, and then do our own thing to celebrate.  In my case that generally seems to involve lighting a scented candle to enjoy while I write - and nine times out of ten also read - some poetry, often followed by a bit of quiet meditation, which has led to more poetry writing in the past.  The main difference between that and most writing days being the addition of the candle, which I wouldn't usually bother with for a writing session, and the concious thought of the fact it's Imbolc when sitting down to do it... It's all about the intentions behind the actions.

Anyway, traditional herbs, food, and drink for Imbolc include:bay leaves, cinnamon, basil, vanilla, blackberry, all dairy products, breads, cakes, scones, muffins, raisins, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, greens, bell peppers, onions, garlic, herbal teas, ale, mead and spiced wines. Of course, with my being vegan the dairy products were out for me, Kelly doesn't do raisins, and neither of us drink alcahol so those were out for both of us.  But that still left us with plenty of options for connecting our meals to Imbolc, especially since - while we might have similar meals sometimes - we almost never actually eat the same thing these days (our different diets makes it too complicated, so we just plan our own menus).

 

This year I decided to theme my Imbolc Eve dinner and Imbolc breakfast for Imbolc too.  So, Imbolc Eve dinner for me was a vegan omlet (consisting of tofu, vegan cheese, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, garlic, and turmeric) with chips and baked beans, Imbolc breakfast was homemade orange marmalade on toast with a handful of raisins, and Imbolc dinner was vegan cheesy mash with green beans and carrots served with onion gravy and a bit of bread (it would have been a bread roll, but I didn't have any, couldn't be bothered to make some, and decided to just have a regular slice of bread instead of sending Kelly to go look for some).  Simple food, quick to make, but still themed for the sabbat.  Kelly went for simple too, and only bothered making sure his Imbolc dinner was linked.  He had chicken and cheese wraps, plus a bit of chocolate cake, in case you're wondering.  I'd planned to do some baking so I'd have some cake for myself too, but a few bad nights in a row had me exhausted and needing a nap, and my planned hour to recharge turned in to a four hour nap.  Oops! Well, I obviously needed it.

Anyway, I finished up the day by spending about an hour writing some poetry while enjoying the scented candle I'd had for my birthday from my Mam, followed by reading "Pass the Turkey: The Small Dog's Christmas" by Sue Vincent, and a few minutes of meditation.  It had to be a few minutes only, since apparently that was a relaxing enough evening that I was ready to go to sleep at a decent time despite my longer than planned nap... Slept for a solid five hours afterwards too, which would have been a good night for me even without the four hour nap.

 

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Other than the poetry I wrote on Imbolc, I also wrote a couple more poems so far this year.  I still haven't done any work on a story, but at least I've been writing again.  Hopefully I'll get back to working on one of my stories soon.  That's definitely the plan anyhow.

First though, if I plan to be a part of it, I need to write something for the Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic that's going on over at The Carrot Ranch right now (click here to see the official contest post at The Carrot Ranch).  Plus, I definitely need to either pick a couple of my new poems to submit to an anthology I'm contributing to, or write some new ones spacifically for it very soon, since I've got to have those sent over to the person arranging it before the end of this month.

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I'm joining in with the Febookary reading challenge this month too.

 

Febookary is a challenge created by my friend Cat over at The Strawberry Post, which is designed to encourage you to try reading something outside your reading comfort zone, like a different genre, for example.

At Kelly's recommendation, I'm reading "Mech Warrior: Born of Steel" by James David Victor as my Febookary challenge book.  He picked well for me last year, so let's hope he did this year too.  The book's blurb makes it sound good anyhow, so I'm hopeful he's picked me another great read.