ivyskeep

June 15, 2026

2026-06-16T02:08:44Z

It was absolutely gorgeous Michigan weather today where we're located. It was a relief after the mini heat wave we've had. We've managed to keep the dog from getting another surgery since January.

That's the good news.

The bad news is we're down a vehicle (and we only have one in the household) because some fool didn't attach his trailer hitch properly to his truck. It came off while he was in front of hub's car at about 35-40 mph. Hub couldn't move out of the way quick enough and it took out the transmission. Thankfully, he wasn't hurt. Not so thankfully, AAA considers it a total loss and won't cover the repair but will give us the value to put toward a new car (don't ask me how that works). Michigan is a no-fault state, so it's pointless to sue the other driver. AAA even said they can't go after his insurance. At least he got a citation and our insurance is being reasonable. We were just hoping to get a couple more years of no car payments as it's been paid off for about 2-3 years. So money will be tight again.

Sigh. I'm grateful for hub's dash cam, so he could show the police exactly what happened and grateful that he's safe.

I'm on a new med that I think needs to be adjusted. I'll contact my doc soon to see what can be done.

We're coming up on summer solstice soon. I hope you've enjoyed the spring. I might actually get some tomatoes this year.

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Is Firefly really returning?

2026-03-20T15:37:46Z

We've waited so long. Don't tease us.

We're definitely a Firefly household. Word is there's going to be an animated series with most of the original cast. I hope it's true. Here's a video with the announcement (from a con). I only watched the first 15 minutes or so. If it's true, I hope they do it well.

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3.15.26

2026-03-15T12:44:07Z

Getting some prep work done for the kitchen and dining room paint job. Hub helped with a sink sprayer issue. I'm starting with prepping and painting doors and trim. I then need to remove a backsplash before I paint the kitchen. I bought a peel and stick option to replace it afterward. I'm going for a cozy core vibe.

The dog's bandages are completely off and fur is growing over her surgical areas.

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1.26.26

2026-01-27T02:05:51Z

Hub is doing better but still has blurry vision in his surgical eye. He's allowed to work from home (to keep from burning PTO) while the powers that be make up their minds if he can have recovery time off completely. At least he doesn't have to drive.

Bridget the dog is recovering from her surgery too and doing well.

I'm planning and slowly executing some DIY projects. The first was a test of using a product called Briwax on a bathroom cabinet before trying it on my kitchen cabinets. The bathrooms and the kitchen all have the '90s honey oak dated look to them. The after pic is taken after using Briwax in the color Tudor brown. I'm happy with the result. I know painting cabinets is all the rage but I like the look of wood. It just needed an update. That's after one coat. I'm not sure if I'll apply a second. I'll live with it for a while. I've started the kitchen cabinets and they look great. I have to do these updates in small doses due to arthritis.

Feeling the February doldrums coming on early. Or GenX numb. I'm always worried about my job, so I think that's part of it. I've put apps out for a second contract. I was down to one contract for most of last year, which always makes me a little nervous.

I had a good laugh though. I tried to sign up to the Steve Jackson Games Forums and my registration attempt got rejected. The following message was sent to my email:

"Your registration at Steve Jackson Games Forums did not meet our membership requirements, and has been deleted. The most common reasons for this are:

• A honkingly obvious falsification of data. Feel free to try again with real information.

• Failure of parent or guardian to send approval info when the person registering is under 13. All you can do is ask them again nicely, and reregister after they have agreed to approve you. Or wait until you're 13 . . ."

*chuckle* 1983 was hellish. I never want to be 13 again, thank you. I contacted them and it should be sorted soon. They said it was a spam filter issue.

Hope y'all had a good January.

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Moonlight

2026-01-03T03:09:08Z

When I took the dog out tonight, the moon was gorgeous in the clear night sky, and the glistening snow was lovely in the moonlight I must say.

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Eyes and more eyes

2025-12-31T16:34:27Z

Hub had to have emergent retinal detachment surgery last week. He's not a happy camper. He's had one post-op appointment and has a follow-up appointment next week. We're trying to remain optimistic that it won't severely affect his job and he has some vision left in that eye. He's going a little stir-crazy since he can't drive. I have to work, so I'm not able to drive him around except to his appointments. If the weather is okay this Saturday, maybe I'll drive him to Chik-fil-A. He's having withdrawals.

Our dog needs a cyst removed from each eye, and her surgery is scheduled for January.

Otherwise, things have been quiet. I've had a pleasant Yuletide so far. I do small offerings of water and incense each day to Heathen deities, ancestors, land wights, etc.

I hope the new year finds you all well and refreshed.

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Cool November

2025-11-04T14:05:27Z

It's been a beautiful November so far. It's still sweatshirt weather.

Bridget the German Shepherd dog's cyst surgery went well. We're so tired of getting her cut into though, so we're trying an over-the-counter wart/growth remover for animals that our vet approved in hopes of keeping her from going under the knife for a while. I bought her a dog stroller for me to be able to roll her up to vet appointments for laser therapy on her arthritic joints as long as it's not too icy outiside.

Samhain was quiet with low-key prayers and offerings of food and drink some ancestors liked when they were alive.

Crafting wise, I'm adding some leftover yarn to a crocheted afghan. After that, I plan on finishing a quilt I started last year.

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August 21, 2025

2025-08-21T16:55:51Z

The YouTube algorithim is feeding me nostalgia videos of school pizza recipes. Some may ack but I'm going to try the crust and sauce from this recipe tomorrow and see how it goes. Apparently, the secret ingredient is milk powder in making the fluffy crust. That'll be my splurge day for the month.

Due to the vet's and my husband's (he has the car) availability, the first vet appointment we could get isn't until September 8 to have Bridget's cysts checked before probable surgery. She's doing good right now though.

I'm slowly cleaning up the yard plant wise. It looks like some elderberries will be ready for harvesting soon.

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8.14.25

2025-08-15T02:58:12Z

Bridget the German Shepherd has had two cyst removal surgeries this year, and she'll likely need a third. We're, as usual, doing the best we can to doctor her so she doesn't get an infection until we can get the surgery appointment.

Michigan has had sustained heat, at least for Michiganders. I'm a heat wimp. I'm sure someone from Arizona would scoff at our heat. We're supposed to get a break next week.

Work is going okay. I'm always nervous when I only have one contract though. I just can't bring myself to look for a second one. I'm tired.

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5.5.20

2025-05-06T03:19:10Z

I did the first lawn mowing of the season last week, and it already needs it again for HOA (homeowners association) standards. I don't even know if our HOA is keeping up, which I'm not too bothered about. We're somewhat rural and not in a sterotypical well-off gated community. Although I've been surprised at what some houses have sold for. I guess that's me being old and envious. There's a person in a local Facebook group who wants to be the new HOA president and is asking for someone to volunteer as secretary. He's not from here. I don't think he's reading the room.

Bridget the dog is doing okay. We're taking her for occasional Sunday rides. After one ride, she got out of the car and splat on the garage floor. Ever since then, she's scared to get out. We bought a ramp for her, which helps.

I have more gardening energy this year than I did last year and will be planting some vegetables from the nursery as well as sowing herb and flower seeds.

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4.8.25

2025-04-09T03:24:01Z

Happy birthday to me. :) I'm well into my fifth decade now.

I'm in overwhelm mode with work right now and trying to keep my cool with people pushing my buttons. In reference, I found a marvelous Bette Davis quote: "I think I showed my restraint by not pulling her hair out by the roots."

Tuesday is TOS Trek night, and we watched Errand of Mercy. I didn't remember it at all. That's baffling to me as I thought I saw the original series multiple times. Maybe it's the whole "fifth decade" of life thing, lol.

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4.1.25

2025-04-01T11:51:05Z

This could be a post of yet another round of dog surgery and work, work, work, so that's the only sentence I'll devote to that except to say that the dog is recovering well.

I wanted to share this marvelous crafting writer I've found. Kathryn Vercillo goes beyond crochet patterns and dives into the emotional impact of crafting. When I saw the title of her book, "Crochet Saved My Life," I knew I found a kindred spirit. Kathryn uses her psychology education background and personal struggle with depression to inform her writing on the cross-section of craft and mental health. The last several minutes I've been looking over several of her articles at different sites to find the best quote to sum up her work, but there's so much that resonates that it's hard to choose one thing. She understands that creativity can be healing, but she knows from personal experience that mental health challenges can also keep you from being creative. So I'll simply point you to her intro piece on Substack, "START HERE: where art meets psychology and creativity can thrive." Please know that I'm not suggesting craft as a replacement for professional care and neither does she. Just as I could say crochet saved my life, I say the same thing about therapy and Prozac at one point in my life.

Back to the grind for me though. My creativity break later will be a block for a cabled afghan from one of Annie's Attic crochet kit clubs.

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2.23.25

2025-02-23T20:39:55Z

I read somewhere on the internet that Cobra Kai, the Karate Kid reboot, was good, so I checked it out of the library interloan system and will start it soon. A bit of nostalgia will soothe the soul.

I'm crafting a little bit every day. I came across a pillow cover pattern and completed it quickly. I needed a new pillow for my office chair. Crafting is helping with the yearly February blahs. I think this month we've had the most wintry weather of the season, but I also see more birds returning. We'll be doing the usual three-jacket shuffle before you know it, i.e, semi-warm, cold, coolish.

Our girl Bridget, the German Shepherd dog is happy and relatively healthy except for having problems going up and down stairs. I've had to limit some of her exercise during the day due to all of her joint problems. I'm glad I didn't start the Librela our vet recommended due to the recent FDA letter released about the drug about adverse effects. We're considering acupuncture and chiropractic, but that will be tempered by our financial resources. I've had both in the past and they helped, and we've heard good things about both treatments for dogs.

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Happy February

2025-02-02T02:03:07Z

"Happy February" always seems like an oxymoron. In Michigan, it feels like the longest month. Saturdays are X-Files TV days. It was the one with Bruce Campbell where he portrayed a demon who just wanted a "normal" baby without horns, lol. That was a silly one.

It's quite icy outside. I can't let Bridget run around in the back yard. She was slipping and sliding and falling on her butt.

Weight loss has stagnated. I have to get back on the bandwagon. I started rebounding. I'm not doing more than a few minutes at a time right now. I've found that as long as I keep it low impact that it's easier on my old knees than walking on pavement. I've also found a YouTube channel called Body Groove geared toward folks over 40. It's basically low-impact unstructured dance movements. It's fun and doesn't cause pain.

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Good Yule

2024-12-22T20:06:24Z

I hope you're enjoying Yule season if you celebrate or having a good winter if you don't. There's a tiny bit of snow on the ground here.

Bridget had her cyst removal surgery and promptly burst her stitches. But it's been a couple weeks now and she's finally healing. She'll be so happy to not have to wear the cone of shame any more.

December is usually slow for work but not this year. That's a good thing.

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Socials

2024-11-15T04:12:38Z

I've dusted off my Bluesky account. I'm trishd over there. I'll probably post mostly about crafts, gardening, food, and maybe some gaming once I get back into it.

Bridget the dog has to get her cyst surgically removed. We tried our best to keep it clean and she went through two rounds of antibiotics. Her surgery is scheduled for early December.

It's nice to be done with yard work for the season. I have more time to be crafty. I've made three loom knit hats and I'm currently working on an infinity scarf (crochet).

I admit I'm purposely staying numb about the incoming POTUS. I guess that's me "enjoying my privilege," but I honestly, don't think my mental health can handle doomscrolling like I did from 2016 to 2021 to see what hellish thing he's doing each day.

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Happy Halloween/Winter Nights

2024-10-31T23:40:16Z

Happy Halloween however you celebrate. May your honored dead heed your prayers and bring many blessings.

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10.26.24

2024-10-27T01:00:48Z

I hope you're enjoying your October. Work is busy before the usual December slow down. I'm taking on as much as I can to be able to get through the winter financially. I'm still taking time to de-stress with adult coloring and crafting.

Bridget the dog's stretch of good health only lasted a few months as she's had another cyst burst. The vet didn't immediately suggest surgery this time, so we're doing our best to clean the wound, and she's on a course of antibiotics. Fingers crossed we can avoid another surgery.

I'm happy to have come across Heathen Mike Smith's Patreon page. I haven't seen him around in a while and I've enjoyed his past writing.

Have a Happy Halloween however you celebrate.

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Harvest 2024

2024-08-15T13:48:56Z

No hail storms got the elderberries this year. Woo hoo. But it's not such a great tomato year. I didn't go all out in sowing radishes and beets this year, but I started some in late July in hopes of a late harvest.

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8.14.24

2024-08-15T02:59:33Z

I recently had a weight check appointment with my doc, and I'm down 11 pounds. That's with changing habits and the help of medication. Not the wildly popular, apparently, Ozempic. My insurance won't pay for that. Contrave has helped with addictive behavior. In my 54 years, I've never experienced being able to walk past chocolate and think, "Meh." I didn't know that was normal. Is that normal?

Unfortunately, the local Rite-Aid pharmacy that was only charging me $20 a month closed, and the Kroger in town charges $200, which isn't doable for me. Kroger couldn't explain the insane difference. I price shopped and it's similar at other places. Apparently, doctors are working around this by prescribing the two drugs Contrave is comprised of seperately. I'm going to try this and hope it works as well. I'm at least grateful that I have a doctor that's open to medication treatment instead of treating me like I'm lazy, which was a thing in the past.

One of my contracts invited me to do beta testing utilizing their new software to do reports. It's going well.

I'm trying to spend less time in social media spaces that I feel are soul sucking but at the same time keep commitments that I made. Burnout seems to be dogging me or maybe it's just one of those weeks.

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Budget Revamps

2024-07-25T15:42:57Z

I'm on an organization kick. It started off at buying two basement shelving units to get a crafting corner in order and is going to end in me finally redecorating my office. I have a sort of peach and blue scheme right now, and I'm switching to a sort of greenish teal and gray. Since I work at home, I think I originally thought that the peach color would keep me awake, but it's just distracting now, and I want a mellower feel to my office. Here's a sampling of different looks with the color. Of course, with reorganization comes choosing what to keep and what to give or throw away. I'm having an easy time of that actually. I'm ready to let go of things that are just taking up space.

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7.1.24

2024-07-02T03:00:23Z

The root canal went very well. I barely had any soreness after.

I tried tempeh for the first time. I'm not vegan, but I'm cutting way back on meat and dairy and increasing exercise to hopefully reverse pre-diabetes and high cholesterol. Don't worry, I won't lecture anybody about going "plant-based." I do feel better though. I braised the tempeh in barbecue sauce and had it on a sandwich.

Workaholism is the vibe lately, so I need to get back to a balance for my mental health at least with a short meditations daily.

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Happy Summer

2024-06-24T16:03:54Z

Happy summer! I hope life is treating you well. I'm working a lot, which has kept me from posting as well as just more yard work this season.

Is it weird to say I'm looking forward to getting a root canal this week? I'd love to be able to eat on boths sides of my mouth, lol.

We've had a blessed respite from dog health problems, and I've been eating healthier and feeling good other than the tooth thing. The year is breezing by, isn't it?

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Glad to be wrong

2024-05-09T17:10:35Z

It looks like I was wrong about all of my winter sowing efforts going awry. I may get two tomato plants out of them. I'm still getting a couple plants from a nursery just in case.

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5.4.2024

2024-05-04T22:24:33Z

Being old is getting old. I used to get a second wind after resting from doing yard work for about three hours. My wind is gone y'all. At least I got the yard work done that I wanted to this weekend. I cleaned up the bed around the baby lilac bush I'm trying to protect from Bridget, aka Ms. Stompsalot. I'll keep it esconced in a heavy tomato cage until it's too big for the dog to kill it. I also dug around it to place a border. Maybe I'll have some energy left tonight to do some of the creative work I want to get done.

The tomato seeds didn't take in this year's winter sowing experiment, so I plan on getting at least one tomato plant from a local nursery so I can have fresh tomatoes through the summer. I was bummed about the experiment failing since I had one success last year. I will make sure to do winter sowing next year but also have a backup of indoor starter plants.

I'll be sowing these sweet redcore carrot seeds tomorrow. Those haven't failed me yet, and they'er the most delicious carrots I've ever tried.

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