More Blog Maintenance

Hello again, friends! It has been a very long time since my last post, so I wanted to stop by for a quick update. The previous technical problems I was having with the blog have been solved. Although it is working properly, I absolutely despise the new setup and I'll be making more changes. I have no control over the size of the "FEATURED POST" widget that slaps you in the face at the top of every page. I hate it, and I'll remove it if I can't find a theme that lets me control the size.

I would love to find a more responsive theme that would allow users to utilize dark mode. There is one available that sets the whole site to dark, but I know that isn't a preference for everybody so I'd like to make it a choice.

Update about me: I'm still keeping the blog running in the background, but there hasn't been much crocheting lately. Towards the end of 2021 I slipped and fell, and ended up with some broken and dislocated toes. It wasn't too bad, and I was halfway to healing when I slipped and fell, and smashed the same stupid foot into... you'll never guess... The. Same. STUPID. Wall. I swear I'm gonna rip that wall out, but that's where my air conditioner is so I should probably leave it alone and learn how to walk properly.

The second injury caused some tendon damage that is making recovery more difficult. I've been learning how to walk with a brace, but need the help of a crutch most of the time. The hand that now needs to hold up half my weight is usually too tired to pick up a hook. On the few times inspiration caused me to break out the yarn, I haven't finished anything due to lack of materials, brainpower, or both.

Although mainly homebound since my injury, I have managed to catch just about every variant of that stupid virus. I feel like it has fried my brain a little more each time. I have a backlog of unpublished patterns, but can't make sense of anything I wrote. I've always had horrible penmanship that is hard to decipher, however this is as if the virus killed the part of my brain that reads my own handwriting. I write differently now, with bigger letters that are more spaced out. Anything written before the virus just looks like a whole different alphabet.

I'm hoping this side effect will be temporary and I'll be able to move forward with those old projects in the future. What I would love to do for now is work on some easier projects, like simple blankets or scarves. To tell you why I don't, I must warn you to prepare yourself. The following content may be difficult for some to read...

I HAD TO THROW OUT MY YARN. Having used up the meager stash that was moved into the new house while still under construction, I wandered out to the shed to browse through my options. The shed had flooded slightly during hurricane Ian, but nothing was lost... or so I thought. We had everything important stored up high and covered or sealed, and we cut the power going out there. We rode out the storm...

Wait, no, sorry, hold on, back up. I rode out the storm. ME. I did. By myself, because Rip van Winkle slept through the whole damn hurricane, as usual. At least he wasn't sleeping on the porch this time, like he did when we stayed at Dad's for Irma. Anyway, back to the story...

The water went down. The power was restored in about a week, but we had a generator this time so it wasn't too bad without it. In the meantime, I didn't mess around outside too much until the water receded more. Of course I've got my Florida uniform of rubber boots and a big stick, so I'm not afraid of snakes and stuff. But when the big stick that I currently need to walk on is made of metal, and you don't know where there are lines down, or when they might try to turn the power back on, you stay out of the water.

You know who else knows to stay out of the water? RATS. Did you know that rats can chew through the plastic of storage bins? And once they do, the vacuum-sealed space bags that were (supposed to be) double-protecting the contents inside will not stop those evil little monsters from turning what is left of your yarn stash into a comfy nest for their evil little rat babies.

DISCLAIMER: If you happen to be a kind person who cares for a sweet, gentle, well-mannered pet rat, I would like you to know I do not harbor hate towards all of the species. I know that not all rats are evil. I just really, really hate the rats that ruined about $200 worth of materials. It was rude. They simply could have asked nicely, and I would have crocheted them some wee baby blankets for their sweet babes. I'm sure it wouldn't have taken more than a ball of yarn to supply every one of their family with some handmade comforts, but no!

These rotten, ill-mannered rats made pee spaghetti out of every last bit of my yarn stash (and don't forget the cost of the bins and bags they destroyed, too). There were plastic bags of rags, stacks of cardboard boxes, boxes of packing material, and a basket of stuffed animals readily available to them. They chose WAR when they chose my yarn stash.

I wish joy and light to you and your lovely pet rats, and any well-mannered wild rats that know how to make do in life without being extravagant. I've heard there's even some super awesome rats that are being used in search and rescue, and those hard workers definitely deserve a shout-out. Any other useful rats out there I'm forgetting? I send love to them all. But so help me Dog, until the day I die, I will curse the children of the children's children of these little bastard rats born in the blood of my yarn.

So, yeah... I did buy a little bit of yarn from Walmart because I want to make some curtain ties, but my heart and head just aren't really together enough to start the project. It's Mainstays brand again (I wasn't impressed with their acrylic), but this is 100% cotton and I figured I could always use it for scrubbers if it's not a great yarn. I'd love to do a review whenever I actually accomplish something with it. Maybe telling you about it will help guilt me into work mode again.

I wish I had a WIP or even some project plans to share. Until I can fix this fog that has settled over my creative side and mend the broken bones that put the brakes on finishing my house (and office), I'm going to concentrate on renovating this site once again. It's pretty easy to do from any chair, I don't care if I delete my background this time, and I'm pretty sure the blog is safe from rats. Right? For now, I will leave you with the one thing I have managed to do right, although I can't really take credit for Mother Nature's work. My first bloom from my orchids in the new house: