Starbuck Squeezie Kitty

Today I created 4 wreaths for the front door. Why? Because hubby asked for one for each season (and Halloween is a season). My winter isn't pictured because I made it 15 years ago and needs spruce up.

A mask is worn to protect yourself from everyone around you. A safety blanket, if you will. That encompassing warmth which shelters you from the outside.
What happens when you mask yourself from you and get a glimpse behind it? Strip the protective layer you created for you.
I'd rather disappear.

I chuckled at the idea my child (now 15) would watch the skit from SNL and get a small laugh at how messed up our country was when they were a teenager but managed to recover and learn from our past mistakes.
But now I wonder if that is even feesible...it's a sad and sobering thought.

What could anyone possibly learn beyond the tip of their own nose and the short sight it forces?
Who am I to speak and fight?
I am NOTHING.
Nothing but a damaged human who had been used, abused, thrown to the side, forgotten, trampled and spit on with a sneer...
A relic to be forgotten.
Useless...

That is asking too much, just like my teenage self. Much like the marginalized and abused young adult who was seen for nothing but their body and the use it would profit for others.
Why stand for truth behind freedom when you can strip it uncermounsiously?
Why look beyond yourself?

Instead I am forced to focus on the idiocracy of the minds of yesterday that refuses to release today.
I must swallow the bitter pill that I am not my own person, but a shape created by the majority of Minda that cannot relinquish the idea of "self" and ego.

To think that I have voted and fought for those like me as well as threatened unlike has been for naught.
To feel the hatred from not only from neighbors but those on high.
I thought this was left back in the past to be repressed in the delerium of trauma unsuited to help perform wonderfully today.

"The more I read, see, and hear..."
I was once told these were the ways to learn how to better life, for yourself and others.
The only thing that still rings true is "the more I experience". It's a sad state to be in considering not everyone does the same as me.
My happy life has been threatened.

30 minutes isn't enough. Not even 2 hours twice a week. Trust me, I know.

Thanks! I was worried the green would be too dark, but ended up feeling like it just enhances it.

Finished a beanie to match a cowl I knitted a few days ago. It's warm, but a little tight. Looking forward to it stretching out some with wear.

The habitat is coming along... Kinda?
Not exactly sure how I didn't get it square because it was when I glued it.
Either way - the glass is waiting to be put on the base. Still have to make the wire cage section. And buy more lumber due to my blunder with measurement for the top support. 😤

This is so cool!

Newest project lined up (that isn't knitting): a mouse habitat for my husband!
Schematics have been drawn up and changed a few times over the past weeks, but I think it's doable for around $100.
Anyone have any tips for keeping mice happy in their short lifespan?

The aquarium has been finished for days, but I've been suffering from illness and migraines (and still have one).
The aquarium is in my "plant room" and has a 365 view. The back part is seen from my kitchen.
It didn't turn out like I envisioned, but the fish seem happy as well as the plants.

Been causing chaos to everything around me since day 1.

Day four uodate:
I put all the plants and hardscapes in, changed it a few times, and still don't like how it looks.
More importantly, my bottom dwellers seem very unimpressed with places to hide.
I'll have to re-arrange at a later date and see if I hit the jackpot then.

Quick photo dump for day 3. The hardsapes are coming together! (Slower than I wanted, though.)
Built a sandstone cave for my catfish and manages to get the arch to stand.
I have 2 other hardscapes not pictured.

Day 2 progress report:
Finished the substrate and currently oxiginating the water like it's going out of style while letting the fish rest.
Managed to waterweld 1 decoration succefully (I think) and hoping the other will cure overnight.
Tomorrow might be a build/plant day!

I have started the -extremely- lengthy process of transforming my aquarium into a riparium. I have no original picture of the aquarium, so you get Day 1.
All decorations removed and new substrate with freshly cleaned substrate added.
My Golden Pothos has been thriving for weeks with more to join.

Throwback to pictures I'm proud of:
I don't self-suspend nearly enough anymore due to illness and time constraints.
These are from Spring 2024.

How I'm feeling as I attemot to set up a new social media account...
I will also unapologetically upload rope photos. You've been warned.