Stream of Consciousness Saturday, Puzzle

Puzzles are another passion of mine. As long as cheating is allowed.

For many years this has been my mindsuck: (Sudoku)

I like it because I can see all of any one number in the puzzle by clicking on the one I’m curious about. Like this: (chosen Sudoku number)

And though I’ve chosen to stay with the moderate level, I’m sure that my actual level is beginner. I know this because I find these hard:

Outside of filling each empty box with penciled in possible numbers I rarely see the answer until the page is full of eraser smudges. And even then… see the clothespin? Yeah, holding the solution page ready for peeking. Yet, I’m obsessed and feel that someday I might get it. That idea in itself is the real puzzle!

And puzzle me this, my other non-electronic fun is:

Yes, that is a clothespin to the answers. The thing about crosswords is you need to be a mind reader. Did the puzzle maker mean the vegetable or the actor? Is it spelled the way we’re taught in school or in another language or some abbreviation of some company name?

Still, I can spend hours in puzzlement about the brains of puzzle makers versus my ADD/dyslexic 71 year-old brain.

They say these are supposed to keep our minds nimble.

In the background I have Beauty and the Beast on. This is it’s last day on Netflix. I’m only on season one and there are four. Why I chose to wait until the last minute for everything is another puzzle. By the way, I would normally plug in a trailer here but electricity and internet are intermittent.

On a day like today:

A proper Oregon day of rain!

Nothing is better than:

A cuppa

And a puzzle.

Per Linda:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “puzzle.” Use it any way you’d like!

Thankful

Since the wee hours of the morning we’ve had rain. It may be humid, there were lightning strikes but enough rain to put out the starts. We even lost electricity.

Even so thank you for the rain dances and prayers. This has been so glorious!

Surprise!

Anirret

I received a box in the mail. I was expecting yarn to make her socks. But my cousin sent this wonderful dragon. I’ve now named it after her and will make sure she flies in my next Havenverse book!

I would have been equally excited for yarn. I love soft yarn and making socks!

But Haven has Her way into my writing one way or another!

Thank you, Terrina!

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, Pin

Per Linda:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “pin.” Use it as a noun, use it as a verb, use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Pinterest is a history lesson of my passion over the last few years. Ah, but then so is this blog.

Writing starts and continues as the place I put a lot of energy. But I used to sew. I found the race of pulling the pins before the needle hit them too stressful. Not to mention the ripping what I sewed. Ugh! And sitting in the position of leaning over the machine hurt my back. Sewing fell as a passion.

Crochet became my next passion. I could make hats for charities and spend time creating. But my hands didn’t like the constant positioning.

Then I learned to loom knit. Even ripping, frogging, or tinking projects was fun. More yarn, more chances to improve.

I tried to dry felt but found the constant hand movement hurt so another craft bit the dust.

Now I’m having fun playing my recorders. It hurts my hands sometimes but it seems, if I’m inconsistent (skipping a day here and there) that my hands get more proficient and hurt less. It doesn’t carry with it the fulfillment the loom knitting does. I’m not helping anyone else. But maybe that’ll be something to come?

Drawing has the same feeling. I can get lost, as lost as when writing, in a project. True, I don’t feel the giving feeling there like I do with the knitting but I don’t feel wasteful of my time and energy. I wonder what that is? Should I see how I can expand somehow into something more charitable?

Music is coming alive in me again. What can I do with it? Is it okay to just enjoy the journey? Does it, too need me to pin it to the social magazine (how I think of Pinterest)? I really want to pinpoint my passions to understand how best to approach the ‘work’s of the fun.

And now with health improving, I wonder where that will lead. Hiking, camping? Let’s just put a pin in that.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, MY

My life has been hectic. Doing what? It’s a mystery. Maybe a list of accomplishments isn’t available, but I see a fun task finished every now and then, and it isn’t a myth. Look at this loomy hat fresh off the loom today.

Sorry for the gloomy pictures. That is a salmon color. Somehow the cellphone didn’t capture it properly. I knitted it on the Flexee loom. 80 pegs, so it should fit an adult. It was with mohair from the charity so it will go to the charity. The brim was a fold back on itself, then I did a couple rows of cable stitches. The rest just flat knit. I did this decrease method.

The difference is that after finishing the first batch of decreases, I move all the loops to remove the links of every other stitch so that in the end, I will have 40 pegs, and I do this whole decrease again. It is fun to do this decrease on the flexees.

Oh, another done thing without crossing off a list, I actually wrote more on my story. I haven’t done much writing in the last two CampNaNos. I sort of forgot to write and edit. I think I have been avoiding it because seeing the computer screen is difficult. Myopia with cataracts makes the reading of any kind painful. When I have to try too hard, I get gloomy, But, Yay! Today I wrote, and now I want to know what happens to my lost characters. I’m hoping they will become chummy with wild horses to pull their truck like a covered wagon. Covered will be necessary as it may soon get stormy.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “my.” Start your post with the word “My.” Bonus points if you end your post with “yours.” Enjoy!

One-Liner Wednesday, August 25, 2021

What is boredom?

One-liner Wednesday is a Linda G. Hill prompt.

Zoom and YouTube Day

Do any of you have a Wattpad account? I have had my first book, Haven, up for critique there. It can also be found here on this site. That is only the first four chapters. The whole novel is on Wattpad. I would love to get constructive feedback.

Anyway, the reason for this post isn’t to plug said novel but to tell about my day. You see, Wattpad and NaNoWriMo had an editing tutorial. It was called Edit Smart, Not Perfect: How to Polish Your Best Work Yet. I don’t know if this link will work, but I got to watch the Zoom here.

It was quite informative, and I hope they will put it on YouTube, so it is more accessible for all. If any of you find it at another site, let me know, and I’ll fix what I put here.

Anyway, that is how I started my morning. About the time that was over, I got to Zoom with my friends for our usual Friday meeting.

After a fun long chat, I decided to go watch the DuoCon. If you have Duolingo, you might be interested in watching this:

So I am even more motivated to edit my novels and keep going on my multiple languages. I have so many things I am into right now that I am trying to figure how to fit everything in a day or week. Life is exciting and quite the adventure!

Share Your World August 17, 2021

Share Your World is Melanie’s Prompt

  When you just need to forget the world for a few hours, what helps you get away from it all? 

This is hard for me to understand. I’m a part of this world. All the news and confusion of the political and weather and disease is still there. But reading, writing, creating in any way keeps me going and not drowning in the muck. Knitting, recorder, piano, singing, drawing. So much keeps me busy that I don’t notice a lot of the crazy, or it doesn’t get inside any more.

If you woke up tomorrow with a unicorn horn extending from the top of your head, what would be the biggest advantage and disadvantage of your new appendage?

I would hope that it is a magical unicorn horn with healing abilities and will shoot out rainbows if needed.

What is the creepiest thing you’ve ever seen someone do, that you’d be willing to talk about, of course? 

People do some bizarre things all the time. Halloween? Christmas madness comes close. I have never been able to go to haunted houses due to the fear that the crazies aren’t just dressed up in weird costumes, but those weapons may be for real. People spending every dime on gifts and decorations makes no sense. Maybe because I have never had excess money.

What’s the silliest or pettiest thing that tends to really upset you?

High heel shoes, uncomfortable clothing, too much make-up. I don’t understand why people can’t handle just being themselves.

GRATITUDE SECTION (Always Optional)

How comfortable are you with meeting others who are very different from yourself? (no judgment implied.  Different in any way you’d like to think about – different cultures, different races, different mind set (opinions)? 

I used to like meeting lots of different kinds of people. Developing social anxiety meant that most of the time if it isn’t people I already know, I’m afraid. Once I get to know a person, I feel they are friends. I have friends that are other political points of view, religions, colors. Maybe our new world makes getting out there meeting others clashes with my inner mental wimp. I want to get to know people here on the blogosphere. The thing is, I can usually find something we have in common. That no matter what kind of person they have, things I can learn, and I have things they can learn from me. And love can lead the way over my fear.

Making Monday

Making music. My housemates and neighbors may disagree.

My free classes ended last Thursday. It was fun having a Zoom class making progress through elementary music.

I am a music major so I can read music,  no problem.  Well, except for the eyes that have problems seeing. But recorder music is only one line. As opposed to four or more in piano music. So recorder is easier.

Without the black and white keys I have had to learn finger positions. Seems easy enough. Except fingers, my fingers are short and have a hard time reaching.

Maintaining breath while hitting the notes and trying to keep time present challenges.

Any of you who had to take recorder classes in school might remember the screeching noises of the soprano recorder.

So I am attempting to learn the alto, too. I love it’s rich smooth sounds. But my hands hurt after more than few minutes playing.

All the music time cuts my knitting time. So the socks are just two inches from being done. Maybe this week they’ll be complete.

What are you making?

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, Photo

The mustachioed sky is nothing like a pistachioed sky which sounds more delicious. Instead it seemed the sky didn’t want us to relax with clouds. More than 22 lightning strikes were counted. Though it sounds like all were taken care of quickly. The day was cooler with spits of rain so I can’t complain. Even Kali was happy to go outside as the mist was so light she could barely feel it. Oh, and that fresh clean smell that brings such peace. But can it be trusted?

Thank you, Linda G. Hill. Here’s her prompt instructions:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “the last photo you took.” Take the last photo you snapped. What’s the first word that comes to mind when you look at it? That word is your prompt. Enjoy!