Month's End

To keep myself motivated I'm going to start writing up a little report on how I did with my work, creative and household goals every month. This dog bowl mat was the only quilted project I started and finished in January, but it's cute.

I did get the koi quilt pieced, batted, backed and pinned, and started on the hand quilting, however, and it's big (about 68" square), so I feel pretty good about where I am with my needlework.

Other things I accomplished in January, work-wise: Wrote four new stories for my short story project. Outlined and pitched five novels of a new series for work, which was approved, and started writing the first novel.

On the housework, I cleaned out the kitchen, which had become a semi-cluttered mess over the holidays, and did a little better with getting the rest of my housework done.

I'm not planning anything big for February, just more of the same. I would like to get back to a regular routine with the cleaning but the puppies are still making that a little difficult. Otherwise, happy with my efforts.

Frosty

It dropped below freezing last week, and it will again in another day or so. This doesn't happen very often here -- maybe a few times every December and January.

We always cover the citrus trees and our little gardens to prevent damage, although I'm sure the strawberries love the super cold weather.

I used to think I could live up north, but now that I'm older and my feet and hands go numb a few seconds after I walk out in weather like this -- no. I bow to you guys for enduring much worse, especially you, Theo.

New Neighbors

Some new cows have moved onto the property behind ours; they come to the fence now when they hear the puppies barking as they run around the yard.

The smallest dark brown calf skittered away when I went to say hi and take some shots, but this bigger red guy stayed and posed for me. Of course we never attempt to pet or touch the cows next door, as they can get scared or aggressive, and there's only a couple strands of wire between us and them.

Since her udders are full I think the spotted white cow might be the dark brown calf's mother.

Story Friday

To read my new short story When Death Comes, click here.

Image Credit: krivitskiy from Pixabay

Decisions

I've made a couple of decisions regarding how much longer I'll write for a living, and under what circumstances. While self-publishing is tempting, and I was leaning toward that last year when it looked like my job might end, I decided against going that route. I have my reasons, but the #1 on that list is that I'm a writer, not a publisher. I discussed this with my publisher during our annual partnership meeting, and we decided to continue working together for as long as we can. After the partnership ends I'm going to retire and just do it for fun.

This is my 24th year of working as a professional writer. I hope to make it to 25 years (which would happen in November 2023), but that's not important. Being happy with my job is. Making these decisions takes a lot of subconscious pressure off me, so I'm quite happy now.

Image Credit: ramdlon from Pixabay

Headachey

Last year my health insurance provider decided to jack up my monthly premiums by another $700.00 a month. For the record, I made three routine doctor's visits in 2021 and had three rounds of blood tests. That's all I used my insurance for the entire year.

The new premium they wanted was roughly $400.00 more a month than what I've been earning, so my total gross income alone wouldn't cover the cost. I could have asked my guy to help me with the payments, or pulled the money out of my retirement account, but I decided to see if I qualified for government assistance. As it turns out I did, so I enrolled in that healthcare.gov program where they pay part of the cost, and then paid my first, greatly reduced premium.

My insurance provider got confused by this (I'm still not sure why), didn't log the change or give me credit for the first payment, or the one I made before that, and cancelled my insurance policy -- without telling me or sending me any notification -- retroactive to November 30th.

Fast forward to this month, which I spent in complete, ignorant bliss as to my insurance coverage status. I go and have my quarterly blood tests, and then see the doctor a week later to discuss the results. I'm doing better with my numbers, by the way, thanks to increased exercise and some dietary changes. As I go to check out the clerk at the front desk informs me that my insurance is "inactive." That's how I found out they cancelled my policy.

After much effort and confusion, I am insured again. I think. It's been a week, and I have yet to get any confirmation on that. I have one e-mail that says "Thanks for making your first payment" that I got when I made the first payment for the second time, and that's it. I'll have to pay for my January doctor's visit and the blood tests out of pocket because I was uninsured at the time. I also still have no idea why they cancelled my policy.

I am trying to be philosophical about it; I know the healthcare system is a complete mess, and people are out sick and not able to do their jobs. My insurance company refuses to put any information online or give it to me by e-mail, which is their choice. They won't give any information to my guy if he calls for me, and I am too deaf to hear them over the phone. If I want to talk to someone in person -- assuming I could even hear them -- their nearest office is forty minutes away from us and my guy just had minor surgery for a cyst on his neck (thank heavens HE has insurance) so I don't want him to drive me over there, especially as they might make us wait for hours.

I have been paying for health insurance all my adult life, and I have never missed a payment. And this is where I am with it. I am trying to be patient, I am making myself stay calm, and hopefully, I end up with health insurance. But I still don't know that for sure. So I hope these people all end up in Hell.

Just kidding. Hell is probably full now. Anyway, health insurance should not be this much of a headache.

Here I Go

This week I'm beginning a new novel series for work, which is exciting but also a little nerve-racking. I've done my research and set up my daily goals schedule, but everything I do over the next month will determine what I do, and contribute to how well I do it, for the next half of the year. Mostly aspiring writers don't realize how much energy and sheer will it takes to be creative, original and inventive every day. I try not to think about the weight of that responsibility so it doesn't get between me and the work, but it's always there, like a big angry cow ready to trample me if I hesitate on the path.

When I begin a project I am very good to myself. I quilt every day on my breaks, which helps keep me from tensing up or brooding. I drink my favorite teas (including an herbal blend that helps me sleep better) and give myself little rewards when I reach my daily goals. I increase my efforts to stay away from things that depress (news) or upset me (politics) or make me angry (toxic people). I read my favorite books for pleasure, and I also write a lot in my desk journal.

I don't mind working alone, and obviously I have a lot of experience with bearing the responsibilities. I've never counted, but I think I've written somewhere around thirty novel series now. I will remind myself frequently of how lucky I am to still be a pro writer when so many of my peers have given up or been forced out of the industry. To be able to do what I love for a living is simply a privilege as well. More than anything that keeps the big angry cow out of my way.

Image credit: matak from Pixabay

Love and Demons

Lovers of the Red Sky is not a typical historical k-drama; it adds a demon king, royal curses and art into the mix. It's also beautifully filmed and written, and the special effects are extraordinary for a Korean television series.

The basic premise revolves around Ma-Won, the demon king of death, and the efforts that a fictional Dan dynasty monarchy and some female goddesses of life go to in order to contain this vengeful supernatural creature. After he gets out of hand Ma-Won is imprisoned in a royal portrait of the king, but curses the two children of the official who presided over the imprisoning ceremony, and the artist who painted the portrait. A few years later Ma-Won tricks his way out of the portrait and escapes, and things get better and worse for the kids, who then grow up to be a very talented female painter (Kim Yoo-jung) and a blind astrologer (Ahn Hyo-seop).

The painter's storyline becomes entangled with the astrologer's as these two become the central figures in the second round of efforts to imprison the demon king. They also fall in love, which is charming and romantic while seriously adding to the suspense of the drama.

I don't want to reveal too much about the story because the surprises and twists are fun. I think Ahn Hyo-seop did a stellar job as the blind astrologer who bears the brunt of the cursing, and still manages to lead a fascinating life. I've liked this actor ever since I saw him play a secondary cast role in Seventeen but Thirty, and he really shines as a lead. Kim Yoo-jung was delightful in her role as a female painter, something that women rarely did in the extremely patriarchal Joseon era (1392-1910). I'm guessing a lot of her role was more wishful thinking than historical fact, but you won't mind. I'll be watching this series again soon. Available on Viki.com.

Project Update

I've been making slow but steady progress with hand-quilting the koi quilt. This is my favorite part of the quilt-making process, although this one will take a long time. I probably won't finish it before March.

I know it would be faster to learn how to machine quilt, or even take my quilt to be long-arm quilted at the local indy quilting shop, but I really like stitching it by hand. It feels more personal.

I can already tell the backing fabric was a good choice; it looks really nice quilted.

Crescents and Full Moons

I needed to use up a bag of pecans leftover from holiday baking, so I tried out a new low-sugar pecan crescent cookie recipe (very close to this one; mine just used 5 tblspns. of powdered sugar, and I sprinkled the tops instead of rolling them in more powdered sugar after baking.) After the first batch of crescent-shaped cookies came out I wasn't happy with how thick they were, so I rolled the rest of the dough into balls and flattened them with a fork dipped in powdered sugar before baking.

They're like shortbread with nuts, and not too sweet. My guy liked them a lot. I still think they're too thick, but I might try rolling out the dough and doing cutouts next time.

Story Friday

To read my new short story Oh, Hell, click here.

Image credit: Pixabay

So Far

So far for my short story project I've written and posted a new story every Friday since October 8th, for a grand total of sixteen (I'm pretty sure I haven't missed a week so far, too.) Obviously I haven't run out of ideas, and it's still fun for me. I think it's good writing practice, too. I thought since I've made it through three months of this I'd take a look at the project.

Since my stories are usually written in one to three days, and edited only once or twice, there are bound to be flaws with them. I'd like to rewrite a few for that and other various reasons. The one I wrote the fastest was this week's story Oh, Hell, which is probably because it's a satire. The most abstract was Respite, which was also my first attempt at something like that. The most difficult to write was Peace as it really illustrates my feelings about the holidays, and I included some details from my own life.

I'd like to do more experimental fiction, but I'm also trying not to get too weird (for me, anyway.) So I'll continue on, and see if I can keep it going for another three months. Stay tuned for more short stories.

Lake Sunset

Winter sunsets here tend to be beautiful, especially when the temperature drops below 60F, so I asked my guy to take me to our favorite lake to walk by last night.

Got to see some gorgeous birds, too.

For a few seconds it looked as if there was a golden path leading straight to the sub on the water.

Very peaceful and inspiring. We need to do this more often.

Lakeside Thoughts

Last week I took my guy to get some take-out lunch, which we had at this little park down by the lake. All the tourists have descended in town, but hardly anyone was in the park, so we had it pretty much to ourselves. Eating take-out where we can avoid people -- usually sitting in the truck in a parking lot -- is one of the new normals for us.

There is no more good news lately. I read an article in The Atlantic the other day about the terrible impact the latest wave of the virus and the unvaccinated are having on hospitals and our exhausted health care workers. The author warned the readers to stay off ladders and not take any risks that could injure them, because expecting timely emergency care is no longer a normal. There were also a few hints that our healthcare system could simply collapse and basically everyone would be on their own. I wonder if this was fact-based, or simply more fear-mongering to sell online subscriptions. I can't tell anymore.

Writing makes me happy, and quilting keeps me calm. My guy is trying to be a better companion, the puppies are a constant delight, and I have my friends here to remind me that I am loved, and not alone in this. I expect as long as I stay healthy I'll be okay. I don't know for sure what the future holds, but no one else does, either. We just have to keep going, day by day.

Break Up Already

Sometimes k-dramas have all the elements to make a blockbuster series (great actors, cool story line, excellent plot twists, etc.) and even start off with a couple of episodes anyone would call wonderful. Then something happens and they go flat and become repetitious. That's pretty much the whole story with Now, We Are Breaking Up.

I am absolutely going to trot out spoilers, so if you don't want to know stop reading.

To be fair, the story for this series could have been stellar: overworked and underappreciated fashion designer has a one-night stand with a hot guy and then walks away without even knowing his name, because that's how she rolls. She also doesn't know that the guy is the hottest and most unattainable fashion photographer in the business. Or that he's the younger brother of the man whom she believes unceremoniously dumped her ten years ago. Or that she's been blamed by hot guy's family all this time for the death of that brother, as he didn't dump her but died in a car crash on his way to her after drinking a lot with the wealthy fiancee who chased after him and actually caused the accident. Or that as a no-name photographer the hot guy took a bad photo that the fashion designer bought on the street, which made him decide to keep working at his photography and also has been the only thing that gets her through the next ten years of misery.

It's Korean, so all the destiny and coincidences and parents making their kids' lives miserable are pretty much standard. Anyway, after all that, of course hot guy falls completely in love with fashion designer, who takes a little longer to do the same with him.

There's a kissing scene toward the end of Episode 3 that marks the end of the wonderful and the start of the flat and repetitious. From the moment these two characters decide they're falling in love with each other, all they do is walk around and hug and give little speeches about love to each other while literally everyone in their lives tries to break them up. Her boss decides she wants hot guy for herself. The former fiancee of the dead brother tries to sabotage the designer's career. The designer's divorcing parents (whom she's financially supported all this time) go berserk and forbid the relationship; hot guy's step mother (who is a truly genteel monster) even threatens to kill herself if they don't break up.

And then after a couple more walks, hugs and noble love speeches, they break up and go their separate ways. They meet up again two years later and smile at each other. That's it.

Taking thirteen episodes to do what could have been done in one was a genuine shame. The waste of the actors was a horrible shame, too; the two leads are not only beautiful to look at but very good at acting, too. The secondary cast did a fine job with their roles, and most of the time were even more interesting than the leads, which is the only reason I kept watching the series. It showcases lots of interesting conservative clothes, if you're into Asian modern fashion, but otherwise I can't recommend it past episode 3.

Progress

Here's where I am with the quilt. Quilting by hand is very slow, so I won't have a lot to show off for a while. I can only devote a couple of hours to this piece while I'm on my mid-day work break, and I'm trying to make my stitches smaller, so I'm working even slower than usual.

Despite that this is my favorite part of making a quilt. I get a lot of time to think as I work, and the act of stitching together patchwork is very soothing. I also do some reading and watch videos on my lap top as I work.

This is the quilting I've finished so far this week: one bar block and about half of a log cabin block (aka not much). I'm using nine different colors of hand quilting thread, and have pre-threaded nine needles so whenever I need to switch colors, so I'm set.

Fallback

Due to her sudden move to the west coast, Kat's Christmas gifts arrived the other day. Her dad wanted them framed and hung immediately. I was just in awe.

If the scientist thing doesn't work out, then I believe she can still make a living as an artist. :)

Story Friday

To read my new short story Respite, click here.

Image credit: Foundry from Pixabay

The Haul

On my visit to JoAnn for hand quilting thread I got two nice fleece remnants for 75% off; I'm going to make those into crate liners for the puppies. I also took advantage of the 25% cutting tools sale and bought myself a pack of rotary cutter blades and a pair of sewing scissors.

I've tried a lot of hand quilting thread brands over the years, and while Gutterman is pricey it's definitely the strongest and never frays on me (btw, Coats and Clark, yours does after about 6 inches of stitching.) Gutterman also makes theirs in 100% cotton, which I prefer to polyester or poly-blend quilting thread.

Bat What?

Saw this today when we stopped for gas. That is definitely the Batman signal, but the Spanish translates to "Fat Duck."

See what you learn growing up around Cuban Americans? Ha.

In the Garden

The strawberries have started making berries now.

They should be ready to pick in another couple of weeks.

I am absolutely drying herbs this week. Look at how nice the oregano (center pot) came back from almost dying.

These brussel sprouts are also starting to show a lot of growth now.

Our broccoli plant has just started showing the first floret.

I can't believe how tall the broccoli plant is growing. My guy says it may top three feet.

Our pepper plants aren't growing much, but they're not dying, so there's that.

We planted these brussel sprouts the same time as the others in the bed, but they don't seem to like their pot.

Winter has left the radishes small and a little raggedy, but they're still growing, so I consider that a good sign.

On to the Quilting

Two hours on my hands and knees, and countless finger jabs later, the koi quilt is batted, backed and pinned. Now I also remember why I don't make many bigger quilts these days. Man, I am getting too old for this.

I considered using just a vivid blue cotton thread for the hand quilting, but that will blend in the dark patches and stand out too much with the light patches, so I'm going to use threads that match (or are close to) each color in the patchwork.

This is how that looks.

First Quilt of 2022

I hand sewed my koi furoshiki on top of the scrap and bolt end solids patchwork to finish the top for my first quilt of the year.

I decided to keep the blocks straight versus on pointe so I could use all of them. Also I liked the way it looked this way best.

Tomorrow I'll make the backing out of this pretty seaglass-colored print, and then put the whole quilt together.

Fruitful

The two memorial trees we planted last May are nearly ready to provide us with our first (tiny) crop of citrus.

Mom's tree is doing very well, and the grapefruit are starting to turn yellow now. We need one more cold snap and they'll be ready to pick.

There is only one orange on Dad's tree, but it's hanging in there and also starting to change color.

Some of the very few happy memories I have from childhood involve going out to pick fruit for breakfast. There is just nothing better than homegrown grapefruit. If all goes well these trees will continue to provide citrus for whoever lives here in the future, too, which is one of the nicer things you can leave behind for future generations.