Sunday Smudging’s: 11-15-2020

~ EveZinn

We’re already halfway through November?!

Let’s talk about depression and smudging my Roses.

I think this year everyone has been dealing with low grade depression even if they don’t want to admit it. I’ve dealt with depression all of my life (thanks to shit that happened when I was 2).

Yeah, I’ve experienced even those lows. However I’m still here. So I think I know a thing or two about dealing with depression.

First thing… it’s okay to have it. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. It doesn’t mean you’re broken. Scarred? Probably. (I know I am and scar flares smart like a sunvabitch.) It doesn’t mean you have to put on a brave face if you don’t want to. It means, you deal with depression. Some days are worse than others.

Second thing – its okay if you have really bad days where nothing gets done. Gods of Old New and To Be know, I deal with that still. A lot. The worst times are around the Ovarian Rebellion times. The day before it starts… yikes. Just yikes. Those are also the days when the alcohol gets desired the most strongly and in large quantities. Still working on untangling that.

Now to talk about the smudging: Every person whose adopted smudging (whether it be with sage or a combination of other pleasant herbs like rosemary and lavender) knows a good smudge is worth the time. Now, we’ve all seen those bundles of sage/dried herbs damn near everywhere.

One of the first lessons a person learns is how to blow on the dried herbs… in a manner that doesn’t cause it to explode into flames. You learn that lesson right quick too! (That does carry over to fire-making? WELL DUH!)

The second lesson is how to properly snuff out said bundle… else it just keeps going. Or you can do what I got into a habit of doing and separating the bundle down into smaller pieces, that way the bundle lasts even longer.

Here recently I re-learned the lesson of after bad depression days: Smudge. Smudge thoroughly. All that energy you throw off on bad depression days tends to stick around and build up. You owe it to yourself to clean it out. So that when another bad day happens you’re not adding to it… and also not feeding off of what was left the last time.

It’s a type of spiritual hygiene. A kind of self care that many people seem to not to hit on. It’s such a simple thing that we can do for ourselves that it’s not surprising that it gets over looked. Heck, after that good smudge treat yourself to a hot bath or long hot shower. A big cup of tea and some quiet music for a little bit afterwards.

The point is to NOT beat yourself up for the bad days. The point is to take care of yourself in a way you might have been missing.

Talkie Talkie

~ EveZinn

Make a grab for a drink because we’re rolling through some updates today that I will hopefully keep in a concise flow. We’ll see right?

I’ve been playing around with book binding now for awhile and am slowly working on making bigger books for folks eventually.

So about a week ago at the time of writing this, DR had a rattlesnake encounter. He’d been within a foot of less of a one to two year old rattlesnake that somehow was asleep to the point of not caring he was there. He also didn’t realize that the snake was there until after getting the car moved and the area set up for changing the oil on the truck. We’d have spent the night in the ER because busted heads need stitches frequently.

That while not… traumatic in the normal sense, definitely left me a bit on the frazzled side. My husband used a shit ton of his luck up with this. That and whatever genis loca (local spirits) that have decided my wards are pleasing probably helped. (Yes this witch has snake encounter mitigation in her wards. Don’t you?)

Couple that with a shit of baggage unpacking itself and for the last week I’ve been dealing a depression and anxiety episode. Thankfully my practice of maintaining a certain level of things done, means the house isn’t a complete mess.

As it was, yesterday I accomplished a good dinner and baking bread. …that… that was it.

Hey it happens.

DR bought me a set of six scented candles in these lovely jars and the box is just to die for and the scents are scrumptious. I’ll definitely be re-using those jars for herbs I think.

The garden is doing well. The basil is doing what it did the last time I planted it. Going. Fugging. Nuts. And I have THREE this year. Of course my spaced out ass didn’t think until recently when watching one of my homesteaders up in Alaska… that you can can pesto. Water bath can specifically I believe. …I’m probably gonna have to do that. DR had jumped onto getting into the re-started seed library initiative and we ended up with a dozen tomatoes, several peppers and eggplant.

I’ve learned if I want my marigolds and other plants… I have to start them inside to keep the fresh shoots from getting monched by DAMN NEAR EVERYTHING out here. Though hopefully I’ll have at least my smaller greenhouse finished in time next spring to at least sprout things. Slightly raised beds are gonna be a must I think.

However, the last week has made me VERY grateful for the monsoon rains we’ve been getting. I’ve not been having to go and water the plants which takes spell slots that I may have in shop for repair.

Before all that hit, I was finally able to get my altar set up and it’s actually a nice little space. (Sorry no pics, I’ve never felt all that comfortable sharing my permanent alter with anyone whose not visiting my house.) So having a little space for some devotional work in the mornings has definitely helped. Being able to put some salve on the spiritual side of things while dealing with this shit, is pretty damn important for me.

Though at the time of writing this, Cochise County is under flash flood warnings until late Saturday night. Talk about make me wish we had the rain catchment systems in place. There’s something very almost primal about being able to open my studio window and just listen to it rain.

And as you can imagine the sunsets in monsoon season are actually visible to me for a change.

Part of the last month has been feeling parts of my witchcraft crystalize. Like the Crochet Magic. It’s number, color and knot magic exemplified. Anything knitting and crocheted and sewn can be made into magic. You’re already putting energy into in the making of the item. Who says you can’t tune it afterwards? 😉

It’s a slow steady progress of trying new things out. Like vision boards. The idea was re-introduced to me by Molly Roberts (an art centered witch) on YouTube while I was binging on her backlog of videos. And while it’s all collaging bits and pieces from all my scrapbooking and journaling odds and ends, it’s still quite satisfying to glance over and see them sitting on my altar.

I find myself looking at several things that I want to try out and see if they fit for me. I have the spark back to do this. It’d been just sleeping for years for so long that to have it back feels very weird.

So that’s about it in terms of what’s on my mind in terms of updates.

It’s been a series of one row on this crochet project, one row on that one, wash a couple dishes. I learned a long time ago I had to take it easy on myself during shit like this past weeks worth of time of mental beasties episode because if I don’t it make WORSE. Learning how to side step that shit took time but it was fucking worth it. Honestly, slow steps are the best steps because it puts it on your own timeline.

Now that timeline is affected by the Spiritual Powers that be and your own internal con and subcon, as I was reminded by the latter this past month. But once you know the actions that shape your steps, it’s not a nuclear event anymore and I think that’s been the biggest change this year alone.

Hell, I’m able to take naps without a shit ton of guilt anymore. That was… connected to an ex who really didn’t like me “wasting my times on things that didn’t make him feel good” and… well I’m sure your imaginations can take it from there.

Naps also are tending to be very soothing affairs now because IzzyCat likes to snuggle up next to me and (we double checked her weight, she’s 15lbs of proportional orange and white tankiness) and a happy, purring cat is hard not appreciate and find yourself feeling better.

Turbulent Tuesdays Turned Terse!

~ EveZinn

Long read warning.
Language warning.

Glares at the Universe.

Bitch.

So despite the great 14 months leading up to buying the house… my dumb ass forgot how tight things can get. I dislike how long it’s taken to get a feel for the bills. I dislike how long it’s taken for things to balance out. However anyone who knows me knows… I’m pretty impatient in that regard.

And no, I can’t just ask the companies what the prior usage information was because this house hasn’t been consistently occupied over the last 12 months. Also not sure if that’s even legal. Privacy laws being the very weird beasts that they are.

I find myself wondering if I should try to bring Jade Rose Productions back online much sooner than I’d originally planned. Name change would be happening of course because updates! My own skills and things I can do have increased and being able to offer them to folks is nice.

However, I paused that because I needed a break. I was so close to burn out. And while I never made a lot of money, it was always enough that when things got tight, we had it covered. The biggest problems were the assholes who decided 5 bucks so your ad could reach 100 people, none of whom would ever fucking interact with it. Or 200 bucks for a week of visibility to…. 200-500 people. Note the un-specificness of that number. And maybe one inquiry on something that never comes through. “Advertising” is a Gods damned shit show. You never make enough of a profit margin justify it and the only people making money are the fucktards who design the algorithms for that stupid shit.

85% of my sales, come from friends and family, and I know for a damn fact things have been tight for a shit load of them this year after the government(s) over-reaction from the year that shall not be numbered. And I know I’ve been on that drum before…. it’s that aggravating.

And it’s not just me whose been getting shafted in my line of textile workings. Quite a few authors I know can vouch that the “advertising” systems of so many places are fucking bullshit. The fact they keep typing along and producing books just makes me admire their tenacity. I take comfort in their tenacity.

I still don’t feel like I’d be bringing my A game yet though if I brought back my little tiny company. If I cast a glance to my muse, she just pats me on the head and then points at my head, reminding me that this rest of the year is supposed to be a break. I barely managed to get her to agree to at least coming out with more formal outlines of end products…. just not a when on that either.

As you can imagine…. that state of tight coin despite a some wants category spending (I really need to add a “want to buy” section to my bujo so I can spend more time thinking on not really necessary but nice to have stuffs) has not been playing nice with some of my past traumas and the mild trauma responses that are cropping up here and there. Between getting a solid feel of my new home and just working on stuff for us, I’m just not online as much anymore.

Friends can tell you, I was on FB and MeWe close to 2/3rds of my day on there… back at the old place. Now?

I pop on in the mornings, check emails, check accounts and then… I’m off doing other shit. Sitting on my futon enjoying the view while working on the guest bedroom afghans.

I’m still working my way through processing this with the temporary set back of finances not having enough data to budget 100% accurately. It’ll probably settle down soon, it’s just being aggravating.

Saturday…Sa-TURD-ay….

~ EveZinn ~ 2 Comments

OOF.

So since moving here to CranesHearth, the dogs developed this quirk that left them very uneasy about going outside at sunrise and sunset… and the booms in the dark don’t help either after sunset. *insert Captain Picard pinching the bridge of his nose gif*

Yeah it’s led to some problems…. mostly of the trying my patience kind but still…today found me discovering two piles of poo…and roughly 3 to 5 puddles of poo. I kinda lost count as I was cleaning things up. ALLLLL before any caffeine too.

I light some incense and burned some rosemary because trust me it smelled better than whatever it was that crawled up poor MaggieDog’s ass and died!

Gonna be keeping an eye on her as Friday (6/4) was very windy and stormy like which was making the windchimes go crazy which she hates. That might have been the added stress but…

Friday evening was ending with me discovering I had a bug bit of some kind and had no damn clue where my activated charcoal was. So it got covered in liquid bandage and a bandaid so I didn’t scratch the hell out of it.

Finances after the move have been a bit wonky. I’m waiting for those to settle the hell down before paying off any other debts but that should only take one more month.

I can definitely tell you guys this: We’re going on Solar and Wind generation asap. As back up and a means to keep the power bill from becoming a beast in the summertime. There’s always some wind here and once the battery banks are set up and what not, not having to worry about power interruptions will be nice.

We’ve managed to get a line on several already doing well plants in return for saving seeds from several of them and contributing them to the new seed library that they are attempting to get off the ground. Tomatoes, basil, peppers.

Getting focused this year on getting the garden in… even as a container garden has proven to be really damn tough right now. With cracking toe bones in the left pinkie toe when I did, it slowed everything down. I’m back on the “5-10-15″ routine right now because I can’t get things done quickly right now.

It helps doing it that way because it does at this point make discernable differences.

Some days though I’m glad I manage just to get the bird feeders re-filled and today is one of those days. I’ve been working on the guest bedroom afghans (pictures when I’m done) and working on 5 dishes here or five things put away there.

I’ve noticed that a lot of past “files” so to speak for my life have started unpacking themselves. This has led to very long nights and mornings where I’m just trying to figure “WTAF?!”. It’s been bad enough that I really really wish I had a game system so I could play any of the Pokemon games. Those are the single most easy game to sink into and just let my brain process shit.

It’s been putting me off kilter bad enough that 99% of folks have been put on “Do not communicate with me unless via text messages, FB or Discord.” I have… like four people I’ll answer the phone for right now and only one of those isn’t family. My big brother Nick, my mom, DR and my blood sister though I don’t remember if she has my number… she can always swipe from mom……when I remember to have the damn sound on.

Yeah that’s how… awov8y apebnysepnjgfgd; athnaotbeanhoailkvfdnfdabui things are right now. …. I think that’s about as well as I can express it via text right now. I have my journals, my music, my yarn, my animals and numerous projects to help keep my hands busy while I’m sorting.

Though one of those projects will need to be replacing the wood looking linoleum with all the “grains of wood” with a nice tile looking option… ONE THAT ISN’T BROWN….

“What’s going on…”

~ EveZinn ~ 1 Comment

If I just managed to put an ear worm into your head (and it’s the early 1970s song) we can be friends.

So this is where I do a massive update… probably. Insert cup of something to drink warning.

We’re gonna be hitting:
1. Updates on the move
2. Mental Health and etc realizations
3. Garden
4. Livestock
5. ETC.

So we found the new place on February 27th and put the offer in that evening. Accepted offer by the next morning.

We finally closed on April 9th and were in the place the very next day. Mind it was what we could into a friends Land Rover, the Elentra and the Izuzu pickup and trailer and the animals were moved in an RV thanks to a second friend.

Trips were made with the pickup truck and trailer a couple of times and then… came the big part of the move and the logistical hell that became because of issues with idiot landlord. You know the one that hadn’t maintained and lied about conditions of the house? Yeah, asshole tried to evict us. Only problem was he didn’t contact us via phone to let us know he was pissed about not getting Aprils rent, he just tried to have us served. Well… he didn’t do it right so the case got tossed out.

I wanted to send a list of everything that had gone wrong, how long it had taken him to fix shit AND the number of things he just blew off alone with Dave because fuck you dude, but that idea was poo pooed and the fucktard will get paid April and May rent…. AFTER I’ve paid off other older debts that have been in limbo for literally YEARS.

So how is the house?


Well let me show you the view to the east during winter. Hopefully that picture bloody loads right. So we’ve been here coming up on two months. I’m going to have to buy already started plants for bin and container garden because everything is a damn whirl wind of shit happening.

Just a couple days ago, I smashed my left foot into one of our chests that has metal corners. Had to tape it the first 24 hours because YEAOUCH. Probably cracked a couple bones and bruised several others. (Feet have a lot of small bones in case you forget your health classes from years ago.)

So the first week and a half… because of remote we are now, there’s almost zero artificial noise anymore. My ears, wouldn’t stop ringing. TALK ABOUT KILL YOUR SPELL SLOTS! Then it went away and I found myself melt relaxing finally. I’d probably been auditorily overloaded for a couple of years now and because it had been a steady build up… it was easy to miss.

There was one really bad trauma response around the second weekend here. I saw it coming so to speak so it wasn’t able to take control but still… much loathing occurred.

I’m literally able to ignore anything that doesn’t involve my boundaries to the fullest extent now. And that feels weird. It’s freed up spoons/spell slots. It’s made it easier to think (which given how often I have to unpack bullshit baggage is a bonus… most of the time). And while I can’t get the garden set up quite yet because I don’t have sturdy enough equipment (I live in Cochise County now, areas known for the “Natural concrete” of the desert.)

Now Dave would probably argue this next bit but meh. I realized here recently, that I’d been running on depleted batterie and so was he, to an extent. There’s been many an evening where we’ve looked at each other and just sat and soaked in the quiet of the High Desert. (We’re at roughly 4200′ about sea level. Yeah.) Soaked all the bird songs. The space. We’ve been “detoxing” only it’s the proper kind – letting ourselves breathe and that’s made a lot of things easier.

We found out our literal neighbor, sells garden starts. Well he’d been wanting to introduce ourselves to our neighbors and it’s a lot easier for this uber introvert to do so when something like gardening is in the targeting scopes view! Mostly tomatoes and peppers I think this year because I know those will grow in the pots and bins.

Poor FionaCat… I gave her a full dose of the anti-anxiety meds as prescribed by the vet and… she had a bad trip, both literally and figuratively. She hide for a good five ish days under everything that she could get her pancake impressionist backside under. While IzzyCat and LieutenantCat were all like “BONZAI!!”. That’s LT by the way. The latest cat to adopt Dave. That story will get added soon.

Maggie and Choctaw because of everywhere they’ve ever lived never having true night… are scared of the dark. We’re working on adding solar powered motion activated lights and will be adding another two trail cameras at least some time this year because there are parts of our property that border land that is very wild.

So because of the whole… melt relaxing kind of deal… I’ve not really been making things for sale for awhile now. Between looking, hoping we’d be able to find something to buy and it NOT get bought before we could offer (if you’ve not looked at the real estate market recently, it’s a bit crazy) and just… being out of anything extra creative wise… making things for other folks for sale got downright difficult.

A break was badly needed. Since moving into here, at Crane’s Hearth (the tenative homestead name), I’ve tossed a lot of things into the donate boxes. All of the old hats and scarves and several crocheted things that I look and think… “No… you’re getting smudged, your time with me is DONE.” because I can see Phoenix all of it.

We have an actual guest bedroom and full guest bathroom (full shower but no bathtub). So it became clear I needed to make some afghans just for that room and it’s future guests. The muse Gala agreed to this. I can actually hear her again. Though more stories…. not for awhile. Not for awhile. She’s too excited for the macramé decorations that we get to make now. New shawls, a couple of new sweaters and quilts.

We’ve got a good dozen things already that have to be upgraded or dealt with or built. The life I’ve been angling for for a long time, is here now. Finally.

Yeah, I’ll be taking ya’ll along for the ride…. when I remember to. Which could very easily become easy out here.

A state of bewilderment

~ EveZinn ~ 1 Comment

Dave and I have been together nine years.

At first we couldn’t be even in the same state because he had things to tie up on his end. Then we got me moved out to CA with him in a one bedroom apartment that was barely bigger than a hotel room. Then we moved to Arizona to a much bigger apartment. Then we moved into a rental house with a yard for the dogs. Now… we’re moving in a place 3.75 times the size house wise and the property is ten acres.

The job that moved us from CA to AZ decided to be assholes and DR then went onto to driving for Lyft, working 14 hours shifts. I did a lot of work with Etsy at the time and crocheted my fingers off… but under the surface was still dealing with a LOT of shit. Then DR picked up Uber and then came the move to the rental house. Uber became the primary job for awhile.

Other jobs for other PI companies came and went. Then he started his own company and I left Etsy never to look back, but kept working to promote my small time stuff on FB where I’d been getting 99% of my sales anyways.

The year that shall not be numbered…. proved even stranger. Because we’d made the decision to stay put another two years at the rental house, the increased stability lead to a lot of improvements for myself mental health wise. The increased stability let us weather that year….as it turned into one of the best financial years yet. Things improved to the point where we could finally buy as DR accepted a position as a case manager with a company he’d work at before… and was able to keep his own company going. And the company he was case manager for, doesn’t mind him working remotely….

Which lead to us being able to look anywhere in the state. Which lead to us finding this new place which is our home for probably the next 25 or 30 years. I am hoping we’re going to raised our kids there.

I had hoped for that stability that is right around the corner for years. A part of me still doesn’t believe it.

Dave and I have been having many nights of long talks in amazement over having won this kind of lottery. Conversations that delved into stories we hadn’t shared from our pasts yet. (I know folks who’ve been married 20 years and still have times like that.) Some of included the turmoil that was my teen age years. Not even my parents know how many times I tried to kill myself during those years and after explaining to the best of my recollection to Dave the other night, his comment was “I’m glad you sucked at killing yourself.”

In a lot of ways I am too. Still have a part of me that snarls whenever someone is successful in killing themselves… how dare they succeed where I wasn’t allowed to… if you don’t get that, it’s okay and I’m glad you don’t. Pray you never do.

However I keep looking at the photos of the new house and it doesn’t feel real yet. I’m looking at a quality of life improvement that even four years ago, was only a dream. I’m looking at my future homestead and a part of me keeps going “When are we gonna wake up this time?” because it feels surreal.

If feels weird knowing I can pay off friends who helped start me down this road finally in a few months after we’ve recovered from closing costs and moving costs. Even though they’re probably wondering like me when the other shoe is going to drop…

I think though at this point… I’m going to indulge myself in the knowledge that it doesn’t even exist and that Dave and I have got this. We’re ready and we’ve got this.

When your “Spidey Sense” decides to be a little b^*#h….

~ EveZinn ~ 3 Comments

For those of you not used to that slang, it’s a reference to those who are a bit more sensitive (upwards to extremely sensitive) to the undercurrents and moods of the Universe. Now there are at least two instances where what I’m talking about in the title happens, so sit tight while I break these down. Might wanna grab a cuppa of something, this could get long.

The first instance is the most annoying. Your sense is tingling. It’s screaming in the back of your head and… you don’t know why. You can’t put a finger on it. All you know is your instincts are RAGING that “WARNING! WARNING! DANGER!”

So you double check things. First on your own front in your immediate area. Are all the power cords plugged in properly? Are dangerous things that need supervision turned off? etc, etc.
Then you check the area surrounding your home. All the power is on? Water is fine. Animals okay?
Then you find yourself expanding and expanding this circle of checking on things…. but you never figure out what it is exactly that is setting off this damn alarm.

First of all, take a deep slow breath. I know there’s a lot of folks dealing with this right now. It’s ramped for me too. All I can tell you is, I don’t know either.

I can advise you on ways to keep from getting out of hand. My first suggestion is take care of something small. Like putting away the dishes in the dish drainer or checking a littler box and cleaning it (even if you just cleaned). The act of taking care of something, even tiny, helps to bring your immediate surroundings into a little clearer focus.

Check the property a little bit. Maybe pick up trash alongside a road on a walk just for something to do. But look at it through eyes that are just observing. For the larger world, maybe pick a friend you’ve not talked to in a long time and drop them a text or email. Catch up with someone. It’s the act of doing something you can control that will help keep the spidey sense from going over board.

The second instance of this is related to trauma and PTSD unfortunately. I’ve had my “spidey sense” go off like a nuke before just because of a careless comment from an associate. It led to me obsessively tracking down everything I could learn. I did learn they were a jackass and a piece of shit… but that did little to assuage my trauma driven spidey sense that was demanding we investigate… EVERYONE.

I can honestly tell you that in those times, going radio silent and engaging in a processing mechanism for a couple days has been the only reliable way for me to deal with that shit. If you deal with this too, you have my heartfelt sympathies and maybe someday we can share a cuppa of something and chat.

Now this is NOT saying that your spidey sense is wrong. It’s there because our genetics and our ancestors who listened to that spidey sense and survived. Letting yourself be just a little bit more on guard is fine. HOWEVER, do not let it take control. Do not let it dominate your day or life. Part of being a witch is mastery of oneself and that includes these instincts. Yes they are important however they are NOT the only thing going on. To step out into the world in fear is to invite trouble.

Realize that this is your inner caveman wondering if it was just water they heard dripping in the back of the cave… or if it really was something else. Sometimes is a build of danger (like a massive storm that could flood the cave) but that takes calm and rational observation. There’s theories about why the first written languages came into being, among evidence collection of those learning the patterns of nature. Whether or not true, is not relevant to this discussion.

Which leads me to one of way of dealing with an over active “Spidey Sense”. Write it down. Write down the feelings it’s evoking. Write down any questions that come to mind. Some of those questions you’ll be able to immediately answer and others you probably won’t ever have answers for. I can assure you though, you’ll feel better afterwards. Sometimes you have to make a brand new map, in order to find ones way.

Midadventures in The Rental

~ EveZinn ~ 2 Comments

Grab a cuppa of something. This could get long.

We moved to this property in April/May of 2017. Immediately off the bat… the house wasn’t ready to be moved into. They were finishing painting…the day we were supposed to be move in. Since then it’s be a long list of problems including:
1) Lying about the house being cable and internet ready.
2) Replacing all of the window screens (we had to ride his case about that for a few weeks).
3) Plumbing is rotted/rusted out in multiple places. It’s probably the original iron pipes that were first installed when this place (built in 1936-37) had plumbing finally installed.
4)Years of termite damage (instead of replacing the window sills, over half don’t exist basically, they just painted over it).
5) A foundation that I’d lay yarn on is fucked up.
6) Kitchen cabinets that were probably salvaged from a junkyard and improperly mounted.

And last night, the bathroom sink… which we’ve never had problems with (the vanity/sink was rebuilt from where someone smashed it) started backing up. I have always had a bad feeling about the condition of the outgoing pipes but it’s definitely intensified now. And those just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

On the animal front, LieutenantCat has had more of her personality begin to show through. She’s still a kitten for a most part (probably turns a year old in a few months). She’s doing her best to gently gain access to all of the house (FionaCat being an unhappy cat though about this newest addition makes it a bit of a challenge.) She’s working on her confidence. She’s cautiously brave and very loving. She, like FionaCat and unlike IzzyCat, utterly loves MaggieDog. Choctaw on the other hand she could care less for, but that just might because of that dog being 45 lbs and the biggest animal currently. The impending move in a few months is going to be hard on everyone.

Speaking of the move, this year I found myself with the ability to finally focus on keeping better track of our finances. Finding myself with that kind of spell slot back was a surprise albeit a welcome one. So in tracking everything I’ve learned one lesson: Allocate more than just one page in the expenses ledger for each month. Heh. Trying to explain to folks why analog works best for me… I still haven’t managed to do that in way that shut down any arguments people try to have with me about not just using spreadsheets. Besides the loose security aspect of said digital spread sheets that is…

This past first weekend of 2021 was a very weird one personally. I found myself going through a “It’s finally over and we’re onto a new year with new opportunities and chances”. There was a large amount of relief… despite having to isolate because of Covid19 exposure…again. I was constantly disassociating all weekend and just losing myself in my games. Nothing was holding my interest past a couple of hours and nothing was appealing.

I think a part of that has been an enforcement of boundaries of topics that I’m willing to see. As we all know, masks and politics have been hot topics. The amount of venom that has been present has made such increased levels of vileness out of them, that I’ve taken to banning posts on FB via FB purity. Mental hygiene, as one associate put it, seems to have been forgotten by those who want to avoid be ostracized by their supposed peers. Many of whom don’t seem to realize that their ego driven adamancy to adhering to over reaching state and mayoral mandates, is on par with Catholic church levels of persecution and religious zealotry. (No offense to my Catholic friends, but most people are going to be most familiar with that.) Religious zealotry down to the regurgitated statement/prayer of “Masks save lives.” Although most of those nattering idiots have to keep at those three words because being bothered to actually keep up with everything and about how Dr. “AIDS IS SPREAD THROUGH EVEN CAUSUAL CONTACT Fauci has been lying out his ass to everyone is far too much of an effort at integrity.

An enforcement of the boundary of “If you’re going to interact with me in person, it’s without a mask” because I like not having my PTSD activate has been one that’s been interesting to watch idiots have conniption fits over. Watching idiots lose it when it’s pointed out that over 40% of the US population has legitimate reasons to NOT or CAN’T wear masks has been even more depressing. Such temper tantrums are done by those who are privileged (and while that word is over used by a segment of idiots, it’s the only apt word currently for this.) Privileged idiots who aren’t affected by wearing a mask. Privileged idiots whose jobs weren’t impacted by the attempts to make all jobs out of the home… except for those who have to stock your food shelves at the grocery and the people whom you demanded deliver things to your doorstep…
Privileged idiots who aren’t forced to relive violent rapes or abuse. Privileged idiots who don’t have to keep an eye on their heart rates or their breathing. Privileged idiots who could hide in their homes. Whereas for folks like myself and others… we’re fucking trapped in our homes.

This has been a part of my determination to get us moved. Despite this Arizona desert reputation, I’ve managed to develop a fair amount of confidence in myself and taking control of as much of our food sources as possible that can be attained in a non rental property. Right down to the debate currently of chickens or quails first.

Between the foundation work of the last several years to get back as much of my internal mental state as possible and the outside work of exploring means to stay organized (BULLET. JOURNAL. Much love.) the idea of owning finally thrills me. Because it takes two to three layers of “Someone’s else responsibility” out of the equation. And that is going to be a huge load off of my shoulders.

Saturday Tea 12/26/20

~ EveZinn

The talks start seriously this week.

Yes that’s right my Roses, the talks to the banks to begin our process of moving in 2021 start this coming week. We’ve been working on tying as many loose ends as we could think of this year and despite it being a rough one in some ways, we’ve done okay.

My Partner, DR did roll his eyes at my comment of “If I have to live in a wall tent on the property while we’re building THEN SO BE IT!” While this house has been as good as what it’s able to be, it’s time to move on.

In doing so it does means a shift in attitude and changes in the house. Seven rooms to pack and a lot of things to sort through. Three cats to move as well and sincerely hope that they don’t kill each other (and me) during the move, even despite getting sedatives from the vet for them. The dogs will be fine.

We’ve got a multitude of resources this go round, that we didn’t know of or have a couple years the first time we looked to buy. And that’s a nice feeling. I have to admit that I wish we had a bit more of an idea for our buying budget because some of the places that would be good for us are higher than what we’ve been limiting ourselves too. Renovating is on the table so long as it’s not anything overly serious. Replacing floors, painting, fixing pipes or electrical…. those kind of things can be done by us but some of it would be better to get contractors for.

We even have the possibility of doing a new build, but the only problem I can see with that, is whether or not we’ll be able to find reputable contractors…. that aren’t slammed with work. Even if we could get it mostly up and finished out, leaving even just painting to me (which I’d like to out for posterities sake I’m very good at) would probably be doable.

Because of this it means I’m going to be having a sale over on Jade Rose Productions of inventory that I’d rather not have to worry about moving. I’m also going to be trying to use my yarns so that moving and packing up the studio becomes much easier as well. In doing so, I’m going to be working on several of my sewing projects too. I find myself looking forward to the change in scenery.

The new place won’t have a studio for me…. yet. The plan is thoroughly clean everything when packing and then leave packed until we get one of those nice 18×20 sheds/barns you can get from all the hardware mega marts like Home Depot and Lowes and finish it out with electrical and probably a deep sink and a couple of bits and bobs apart from the house. So that I can go back to making things for everyone and NOT have to worry about allergies from pets impacting this…. or at least that’s the hope.

Plus I’m adding some things. Book binding for instance, for folks who like having sketchbooks that lay flat and maybe even possibly journal binding….. if I can find a supplier for BIG sheets of paper for big journals. I have resources for small journals but…. everyone can get small journals. Having the studio be a separate work space would lovely on the “I’m at work and this is my schedule” front because then it would let me get into a groove between working and taking care of the property.

There have been several times this month that I’ve found myself having to stop and take slow deep breaths. Not because of being sick, but because my anxiety decided to spike. A lot has changed in the last two years internally and I’m still trying to figure out how to express it.

Will I miss renting?
Uh… no. Because having a damn chain of people that are responsible for my home, chafes.

Will I miss living in the city?
Not really. I’ll miss good sushi, but I know how to make it at home. I buy almost all of my craft supplies these days online so shipping delays while annoying will be something that I’m already used to.

I’m looking forward to laying the gardens…. bigger gardens. To spending more time outside because there’s no highway roar. To being able to leave the cats outside in the catio as long as they want.

I’ve got a design or two in mind for the grilling/smoking area.

Something to look forward to working on on my own home. And that my friends…. is something to smile about.