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Okay.
So late last year, I got myself a set of tablet weaving cards. Because I wanted to try it. I thought it would be fun. And, for some dumb reason, I thought it would be easy to get the hang of.

I don't have an inkle loom. Or any other thing that I can use to hook the yarn on, including a piece of pipe that I can thread a rope or a nylon strap or something to.

And I made the over-confident decision that I could just start with four meters of warp, on fifteen cards, and it would be fine.

It's not fine.

It's not even started, because I keep getting the warp threads tangled and twisted together.

So I'm basically like: Okay. This isn't technically a waste of yarn, because I still have the yarn and even if I'm knotting it together into lengths to make I don't know what out of it at some future date, using a skill I already have... but it's still disappointing.

I'll figure it out. (Part of me is like: Save the pre-cut lengths so you make your belt LATER. So that may be what I do).

In the mean time, I have the house to myself for another three hours and then, again, to myself until about noon tomorrow so... I'm going to make an obi-esque belt out of purple broadcloth with some heavy-ish denim for a stiffener across the middle.

Wish me luck!

( Entire post contains spoilers for Andor S2 (and Andor S1, and probably Rogue One)> So I like it. I like that somebody basically went - to paraphrase somebody's take on Bluesky -  )

Anyway.
That's my thoughts on that one.


TTFN,
Ms Syren.

Knit a rectangle that is 40" across by 12" long (or possibly the other way around?)

Pair the up and down corners of each short side (so L to L, and R to R) and stitch the first six inches from each paired corner together.

Now you (technically) have a Shrug.

Takes anywhere from 2-7 balls of "super saver" red heart yarn for this.
Like you could try it using the one-and-a-bit remaining balls of Lesbian Flag red heart that you've already got.
You could also use the giant ball of turquoise yarn and see how far that gets you.


You can add a ribbed trim, as per your usual shrug pattern, if you like, but do it 20 rows deep.

First thing: My wife's feeling really run down again. She went to work anyway because (a) she's still testing negative, and (b) everybody's living in their respirators right now because of the ancient insulation they're working in and around.

She came home early because she literally fell off a ladder (but NOT down the damn stairwell she was working over, so thank you gods for small mercies) and, while she didn't break her arm (thank you gods for small mercies) she's a little banged up and has Retired To Bed like a smart woman.

I will be getting dinner going here in a minute or two and feeding her some protein and carbs and hot sauce to help her feel better.


Second thing: I wrote my poem for the week. It came reasonably easily (I finished a partially drafted poem first, which may have helped things along) and, for the moment, I'm feeling moderately confident about the possibility of having a Microchap finished - or at least drafted - by the end of February. Which will be a nice change from Not Much Of Anything outside of the collaborative work I'm doing with my girlfriend. It felt nice to actually write something.
I keep thinking about the "Polyamoury and Power Exchange" book I drafted... last year? Some time? That I haven't dug into editing.
It was a really horrible draft. Like I'm honestly not sure if this is thee kind of thing where I EDIT vs the kind of thing where I take the three salvageable bits and try to draft something better mostly out of whole cloth. But I'm thinking about it again - mostly, I suspect, because of how my relationship with Muse is progressing, but also because Babygirl will be arriving in town in, like, one month exactly (TBH, I'd like to convince her to hold off until Mid-March given her lack of snow-tires and intent to arrive here by car, but). Basically, things continue to get Realer on that front, and it's got me chewing on stuff in an "I wrote about this before" kind of way.


Third thing: I missed both Imbolg rituals I'd planned to attend last week, due to The Rona BUT both ritual groups incorporated ideas or liturgy provided by me, which feels really good. Babygirl and I did a long-distance Imbolg ritual together on Sunday night, which was also really nice.


Anyway. Dinner Awaits.


TTFN,
Ms Syren.

Today I sent out my very first query letter for my Glosa project.

I sent it to Metonymy press, the queer press in Montreal. They mostly do fiction and CNF, but have a couple of books of poetry in their catalogue.

So. I sent 10 poems out to them with an intro letter and a "table of contents" (probably more relevant to novels or CNF, but it let me get an idea for where I wanted different pieces to go, so).

Anyway. I have had wine and ice cream to celebrate starting this next stage of The Process (or the Journey, if you wanna). And now I'm attending a poetry thing on zoom (with my camera off).

Probably going to have to leave early, tbh, but may be able to duck back in. We'll see.

Thinking about a possible "Saint Carmen of the Main" cocktail recipe (again)...

3 tbsp whiskey
1 tbsp cherry moonshine
Splash lime juice
Sparkling white wine?

So. muccamukk is doing an "ask me five questions" game where you leave a comment and then get asked five questions.
So, like, if you wanna get asked five questions, leave me a comment?

MY Five Questions were:

1. Do you have feelings about sidereal drift?

I have no idea what that is.
<*googles*>
I... tbh, I still have no idea what this is.
Is it something about the moon?
Please Halp.


2. If you had to live in a different city, what one would you pick?

Oh, life. So here's the thing. I grew up in the city I live in now. So I'm not that familiar with much else. Also there's about a zillion trade offs, many of which boil down to "Nicer climate, no health care" (Ithaca, DC) and/or "More affordable housing, more Conservative voters a noticeable number of whom are loudly homophobic and/or gun nuts".

But if I had to choose something...
Brockville, ON (nearby-ish so I probably wouldn't lose my (remote already) jobs due to moving, good diving and sailing for my wife, and houses cost about half what they do here. Also they have a Pride Parade).
OR
Dartmouth, NS (Conservative BUT also directly across the bridge from Halifax (also Conservative, but more expensive) so: lots of queers, good concerts, The OCEAN, my brother lives there, and we know a couple of homos in town already. Housing still ain't cheap, but it's noticeably cheaper than where I live now. Also: A fair number of churches and Shambhala Buddhists, so I might be able to find additional/replacement remote work there).


3. What's your favourite book of the year?

Uh. Nona the Ninth, The Borreal Feast, The Unspoken Name, and Book of Night. Legends and Lattes, Healing Grounds, and Spelunking Through Hell were good too.


4. What's the first sign of spring where you are? What's your favourite sign of spring?

Which Spring?

Equinox Spring is... The air doesn't hurt my face even though it's still below freezing, because the humidity's gone up a bit and it's not that below freezing. The direct sun feels warm rather than just bright. I can hear the geese coming back.

Beltane Spring (which is definitely still "Spring" and not yet "Summer") is the Solomon's Seal and hostas and day lilies pushing up through the ground again. The woods at Mud Lake being full of scilla blooms (Johnny Jump Ups?). But, most of all, it's the rhubarb crowning. That's what tells me we're out of the woods, winter-wise.


5. How's the platform migration going? Any highlights?

No highlights, really. The platform migration is... migrating. I've squatted a Mastodon and a Cohost spot. Don't have anything on Hive - even though that seems to be where a lot of the Poetry and YA People are going - because it's phone-app only, and I'd really prefer to use a full-size keyboard (and a less-ad-heavy website) for everything. I try to toss something up on one or the other (or both) squatted accounts once a week or so, just to say I did.


And those are my answers. Leave a comment below if you want me to throw some questions your way.


TTFN,
Ms Syren. :-)

So.
Tomorrow is my birthday but technically festivities started yesterday, when my mom came over with (a) cake, (b) ancestral jewellery, and (c) Part I of her present for me: A 7qt orange enamel cast iron casserole dish.

I'm stoked.

Hypothetically there's a book coming, and she's told me to pick out some new "house shoes" in X price-range so... I've done that, but am waiting until after tomorrow to click the check-out button.

Allegedly, my lovely wife has also found me a fancy cast iron pot - a few people just straight-up asked me for a wish-list, so I put one together, thence a few duplicates, but I'm not sad about it - so: I'm feeling kind of unstoppable on the cooking front.

I am 100% (FINALLY) going to buy myself a tiny stove-top waffle iron to add to my cast iron cookware collection and then, as the saying goes, It's Over For You Bitches.
And by "over" I mean: I'm going to start hosting tiny waffle breakfasts or something, probably using waffles that I cook in advance and then reheat in batches - bless the microwave.

In other news: I have finally finished cooking all the jack-o-lantern, and have put the resulting cooked, diced pumpkin through a food mill.
Now I just wait for it to slow-cook into Pumpkin Butter (I added 1/2 C cider vinegar, 3/4 C maple syrup, a pinch of salt, and a bunch of cinnamon and nutmeg).

FYI: 1 pint jar of pumpkin butter + 2 eggs + 1C yoghurt OR sour cream = very easy pumpkin pie filling.



Anyway. I need to throw on a warm layer or two and head to Shutterbug's place, where there will be birthday sushi dinner.

So, I preface this with a note about how frustrating it is to be throwing way food that I let go bad in my fridge, in order to make room for new food bought specifically to celebrate abundance, the harvest, and the way the world takes care of us and makes sure we have enough if we know where to look for it (and, yes, okay, also the way we have to make sure everybody has enough, which we're absolutely falling down on around here).

BUT.

We did the Big Shop today (with some lighter-weight stuff picked up yesterday).

For Thanksgiving, we've got:

Roasted Root Veggies:
Rutabaga, buttercup squash, carrot (orange, rather than purple, alas), beet, celeriac (still need to find one of those), garlic, leeks, walnuts & pumpkin seeds (already on hand). I may throw some goutweed, mugwort, and/or sage (all from the garden) in there to help cut through the sweetness. OR I'll grab a handful of very small brussels sprouts while I'm getting the celeriac (and maybe a coupe of small, purple carrots, tbh). Either way. All of that gets rough-diced and tossed with white cooking wine and some oil, and baked for 90 minutes in a covered, buttered dish at 350F. I may or may not throw some mushrooms in as well. >.>


Savoury Bread Pudding:
1 small loaf of sourdough bread (bought) torn up
Broccoli (thawed and heated through)
Saute in butter: Winter savoury, mushrooms, leeks, garlic, nutmeg (if I've got any...) + optional goutweed
Toss all of the above together with a LOT of parmesan cheese AND some shredded/diced cheddar cheese
Pour into a deep, well-buttered dish
Beat together: 8 eggs + a little milk
Pour the egg mixture over everything else
Top with more parmasan cheese
Bake at 350F for 1hr.


Squash Puff:
2 C mashed butternut/buttercup squash (you can used tinned pumpkin if you like)
2 eggs
1/2 C sour cream
salt, pepper, ground spicebush berries
Blend everything together.
Pour into a well-buttered baking dish
Top with diced sourdough bread
Bake it, uncovered, for 30 minutes at 350F


Mashed Potatoes:
Yukon golds
Butter
Sour cream (or yoghurt - that works too)
Peel and boil ~8 potatoes
Put them through the food mill
Add 1/2C butter and 1C sour cream black pepper and a pinch of salt


Kohl Slaw:
Green cabbage + 1 Cortland apple, rough diced
Dried cranberries
Crumbled walnuts
Yoghurt mixed with a little mayo and a little hot mustard
Ground spicebush berries


Roast Turkey w/ stuffing and gravy:
Take the giblets out and reserve for Samhain breakfast
Stuff the turkey with the following:
1/4 loaf (or more) of sourdough bread, torn up
6 mushrooms, quartered
1/4C raw cranberries
Garden sage
1 small leek, diced into thin rings
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1-2 tbsp dry sausage, finely diced (spicy is okay)
Sprinkle the turkey skin with salt
Roast the turkey for 3.5 hours at 350F covered in foil
Remove foil at the 3-hour mark and broil for the final half-hour
Allow to Rest while you make the gravy (turkey fat whisked with a little flour to make the roux, combine with cooking wine and milk - simmer for 5 minutes until thick (I'm not actually sure we have a gravy boat... I may need to borrow one).


Cranberry sauce:
Cranberries + sugar. Combine until cranberries have all burst.


Cheese plate (gouda, chevre, blue cheese, brie), crackers, white wine, cranberry juice, raspberry seltzer, water.

My mom is bringing pumpkin pie + whipped cream. My metamour is bringing spare chairs. My leather-sister is bringing home-made bread. My wife's pal is bringing wild rice.

I have three extra apples, a LOT of cranberries, and a LOT of my neighbour's pears. So I might make an extra pie? Or like tarts or something. But I don't think we'll need it.

Okay.

So ages ago on twitter, someone commented that (in TNG, at least) Worf is this very kind of staid, stick-in-the-mud guy who tries to marry the first girl he sleeps with and is kind of hard core about Honour and the entire rest of Klingon culture while, also, yes, kind of hard core about Honour, will happily stay up all night shotgunning beer, cries at the opera, and collectively never met a casual daytime look that couldn't be improved with stud leather and a titty window.

And what I thought was: No kidding. He was raised by humans.
( In-Which I go on at some length about Klingon cultural stuff that is mostly not made-up-by-me )

So, yeah. He didn't get the whole thing.
Of course he's going to be a little bit weird.


This has been Fannon Corner with Ms Syren.