#baby quilt for winter

[tranceindia123]

The art of the comforter which is cozy pieces for every season

Humans and sleep have a very intimate relationship. Everybody longs for that haven of solace and renewal when anxieties vanish and dreams come true. At Trance Home Linen, we think that a beautifully selected comforter and a sumptuous bed are the keys to unlocking this nighttime routine. In contrast to bedspreads, which are mostly used for decoration, comforters, and quilts provide a layer of luxurious luxury beyond simple warmth. They take on the role of an extension of the self, a luxurious cocoon that whispers promises of sound sleep. Mother Nature's seasonal symphony requires our haven of slumber to adjust accordingly. At Trance Home Linen, we provide a carefully chosen assortment of quilts and comforters that are made to complement the seasonal weather changes. Comforters are perfect for people who long for a sense of security and coziness because of their filled construction, which offers significant warmth and weight. Without putting you at risk of overheating, this emits a gentle warmth, like the cotton casing premium double comforter (aangan blue white & 100% cotton). They are thicker and heavier than blankets, which makes them perfect for colder areas. They are frequently stuffed with down or synthetic materials.

[tj-crochets]

Okay so I don’t have the fluffy blanket fabric in red for a dragon, but I do have a fluffy red blanket I can use? It’s not quiiiiite as fluffy, but it’s still pretty darn fluffy, and a nice deep red kind of color, and I really want to make baby Smaug So I’m thinking I might make baby Smaug (aka a red and gold dragon) next, but before I get started on it I’ll cut out the fabric for another Bucky Bear so I’m one step closer to finishing another auction fill item

[bluedesignwall]

Busy times. We tacked some annual leave days on to the end of our Easter break and have been busy. We started with some much needed pruning in the garden. We dug out the summer garden and took a very full trailer of green waste to the dump. We stopped off and got a couple of scoops of ready grow on the way home. The plan was to dig over the flower beds and add the ready grow the next day but the rain arrived. When it rained Hubby headed into his workshop and worked on the Cortina restoration and I headed into my sewing room and worked on the baby quilt. Today we went to visit Mum, she had an op to remove cancerous lesions on her nose yesterday. It all went well and she is back at her place and receiving visitors. We went to the mall and got new running shoes first so Mum could have her post lunch snooze. She was in fine form so Hubby snoozed while we chatted. Once home more quilt making happened and some puzzle smashing. We are getting new carpet throughout the house so everything in the carpeted areas of the house has to be moved into the garage or onto one of the decks, weather permitting. Big job which will happen soon so we have started to slowly declutter The puzzles are being broken up and packed away. All of this is not making for a very restful taper week before the Christchurch Marathon on Sunday but by the sound of the rain on the roof now tomorrow will be a sewing room day.

[bevanne46]

Everfurryone loves a warm quilt!!

[depresseddepot]

it begins

[creations-by-chaosfay]

Neither of my machines are large enough for the Cutie quilting frame. The diagram on Grace Company's website was unclear of where they measured the machine, but it turns out both my machines are nearly two inches too short for the lowest setting. I need at least 8.5 inches of workspace, also know as the throat.

I won't be able to handquilt for the next several months. My hands and wrists are a wreck and need time to heal. This is why everything I make will need to be handquilted until probably next spring or summer. It's why I need the frame, otherwise finished items will need to be small enough to fit in my machine without straining myself. I can manage about 30 inches square max, which is why the largest items I'm making are table runners and wallhangings. Large quilt tops are an option, but finishing the quilt won't happen unless I hire someone else, and I don't want to do that.

Grace Company made a machine specifically for the frame. It's called Little Rebel, and I hope to be able to afford it next winter. It's $3k, which is waaaaay outta my budget. There's a second machine, a Jenome, that's $1200. I have bills, my debt, and smaller things I need, like a printer, an XBox for my husband, and some inexpensive exercise equipment (my asthma cannot handle summer air and my body cannot tolerate summer heat or sunshine), just to name a few things. All money I receive goes to my goals and bills, not machines.

If you fancy purchasing a machine, I have my Throne list here. When I have either machine and get practice in, commission prices for quilts wheelchair/baby size and up may cost less than half the original prices I had them up. Handquilting will be reserved for love and personal pieces.

I will happily give a quilt I finish on the frame to whomever buys one of these machines for me. There are half a dozen quilt tops in my standing wardrobe, all waiting to be completed quilts. More tops will be made, which are more options to choose from.

I'll take my frame apart this weekend, once we figure out a place I can store it in the house. Until I get a machine that works with it, this will remain stored away and no larger quilts will be made except as just listed quilt tops.

Thank you.

My work below, for the interested:

[thelampisaflashlight]

Some casual, domestic ghoul thoughts, because why not? Let's go.

-Mountain has a trunk of blankets at the end of his bed; It's this big, chunky box he's had forever, a family heirloom, maybe, but even he isn't sure of its origins, and, inside of it, are all these handmade, knit or woven blankets and handstitched quilts that he only breaks out during the fall and winter months.

They all smell distinctly of the wood the box is made out of and a sort of softer, cool scent that's hard to place but somehow feels... familiar and soothing.

He only ever hang dries them, and he repairs them himself if any of they get stained or torn.

Sometimes, if one of his fellow ghouls isn't feeling well, he'll grab one of the lighter quilts to tuck them into their beds with, and while it doesn't have any sort of magical healing qualities, the comfort and smell often helps the others sleep a little better.

-Dew can knit, and makes a lot of hats, gloves, and scarves when he's bored, which he usually donates once he's done.

He has a couple sweaters he made for himself that he usually wears around the abbey once it gets cold out, and once knit a teeny tiny baby sweater with a matching hat and booties as a baby shower gift for one of the sisters of sin, because he wanted to test the crochet pattern... so he could make a sweater for his Baphomet plush.

Some of his "scrapped" knitting projects can be found throughout the ghouls' den, including, but not limited to; Two sets of potholders, about a dozen mug covers, one of those chunky yarn blankets you make using your arms as the needles, and three failed crochet Baphomets in varying stages of completeness.

-Cirrus collects small, carved figurines of animals, and has even made a few herself; She started her collection after she found a frog carved out of soapstone at an antique shop in one of the towns they passed through on tour, and it's grown since then.

She usually just displays them in her room, but she also likes to pop them into little nooks and empty spaces in the den to make it feel more "homey" to her.

As for the ones she's made herself, Cirrus usually takes a bit of wood and whittles it down over the course of an afternoon to make various little creatures and the occasional woodland scene.

Additionally, she's also gotten into pyrography, aka wood burning, and has made a couple art pieces that she's sold on the sly in the town nearby the abbey.

And lastly;

-Aurora took up pottery not long after she was summoned, using it to connect herself to her elements and feel more whole in the process, but it became a fun hobby as well, and now she makes little knickknacks and things that for gifts or just to spruce up her room.

Sometimes, when she's bored, she'll make weird clay creatures or ones based off of folklore and set them out in the common room's mantle, with an everchanging story being played out with the figures.

She has also made clay figures of her packmates, usually basing them off of photos, and displays them instead of putting pictures on the wall.

Her first sculpt lives on Copia's desk in his office, and is of a small, slightly wonky looking bird.

[llondonfog]

Since now we have Tsum Silver in JP, I just want Lilia to go through absolute baby fever. HE NEEDS TO TREAT SILTSUM LIKE HIS BABY ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

" . . . I suppose I might have known," Lilia hums, a playful smile tugging at his lips as he lounges against the doorframe and crosses his arms. "Is this where you've been hiding all along, hm? You've given him quite the scare, you know— he's running frantic all around the castle grounds trying to find where you've wandered off to all on your own."

Nestled between the bat-patterned bedsheets and carelessly scattered homework assignments, Silver's tsum blinks sleepily up at him, the picture of unrepentant, bleary innocence. It makes no move to wriggle itself out of the cozy little burrow, and Lilia's grin only softens. In a funny way, he's all too suddenly reminded of those early cottage days— of Silver buried so far into his quilts during the bitterly cold Briar Valley winter, that stubborn tuft of moonlit hair poking out from the blankets like a beacon, a lighthouse drawing Lilia close until he could wrap the child up in the warmth of his arms instead and pepper his giggling face with good morning kisses.

A strange pang pricks his heart at the memory, and Lilia shakes his head with affected disappointment at the once again dozing creature, rubbing a hand absentmindedly against his chest. "I ought to scold you for distressing him so," he mutters with no real heat behind the words, floating the short distance over to the bed and settling down among the mess. "He's a good child, too good for his own heart. I won't have you causing him any grief, no matter how adorable you are— do you hear me?"

A gentle poke to the tsum's plushy cheek begets no response, not that Lilia was truly expecting any with how eerily similar the creature resembled his son in not just looks, but behavior. It merely snored on in complete disregard to Lilia's words, and yet somehow . . . Lilia could swear it looked even more at peace than it had moments prior. Up close like this, if he ignored the uniform tucked around its tiny body, he could believe that he'd somehow found himself seventeen years in the past. He could believe that they were tucked away in the serene safety of their forest home, and that he was once again watching in the dumbfounded awe of a parent in breathless admiration of their baby's first slumber.

Deep in the pocket of his uniform jacket, Lilia can hear his phone buzzing, texts no doubt from Silver asking if his father has had any luck scouting out the dormitory for his wayward tsum. He'll text him back, of course he will— he doesn't want to prolong his son's distress anymore than it already has. But for now, for a moment, he can't bring himself to glance away from the tsum happily sleeping in his bed— perhaps it just might open its eyes and look at him. Perhaps it might yawn, stretching tiny, perfect little arms and sharing a crooked, perfect little smile under those silvery bedhead bangs.

"Good morning, Toto! I had the most interesting dream last night, do you want to hear about it?"

[coqxettee]

Coquette Winter Gift Guide:

🎀 Gift ideas for yourself or your friends who love the Coquette aesthetic:

Clothes/Fashion:

1. Anything from Brandy Melville (Amara heart lace pyjamas)

2. Bailey bow uggs or normal uggs

3. Ralph Lauren sweaters

4. A ballet wrap

5. Floral pyjama sets, Cami’s & Long sleeve shirts

6. Grandma cardigans

7. A cable knit sweater

8. Legwarmers/pretty tights

9. A pair of cute gloves

10. ANY clothing from “Mymummadeit”

11. ANY clothing from “Favourite child collective”

12. Any clothing from the “Cutey” section on Romwe

13. A dress/anything from “Selkie”

14. Any slogan tee’s / baby tee’s from small businesses and independent brands

15. Victoria secret Pyjamas/Robe

16. Pink puffa coat

17. Tiffany & co earrings or necklace

18. The “Mymummadeit” puffa bag

19. Kate spade heart bag/Vivienne Westwood one or just a heart purse

20. A printed tote bag

21. Ted baker bags/cosmetic bags

22. Any dresses from - Cider, Motel rocks, Pretty little thing, Oh polly

23. A ballet skirt

24. ECOSUSI summer garden romance bags

25. A cape/fur shaul//A glam doll coat

26. Vintage nightgowns/nightwear

27. Cute earmuffs & things to decorate them with

28. Mary Janes & frilly ankle socks

Beauty:

29. Any products from “Glossier”

30. Dior (addict) makeup products (Lip oil’s, Blush, lip balm,

31. Anything from “Flowerknows” “Etude house” “Too faced” or “Charlotte Tilbury” “C beauty mall products”

32. Chanel lipstick

33. A quilted floral coquette makeup bag

34. W7 Tinted kiss lip oil

35. Miss Dior perfume

36. Chanel mamoiselle perfume

37. Any of the Ariana Grande perfumes/body sprays

38. Penhaligons “The favourite”

39. Oriana “Parfums de Marly”

40. Victoria secret body sprays

41. Paul & Joe Cinamoroll collection

Homeware:

42. The Amazon floral bedsheets

43. A heart mirror

44. Love shack fancy homeware items

45. Anything from Paris Hilton’s new cookery line

46. A ballerina/music box jewellery box

47. Pink/Vanilla Yankee candles

48. FreePrints photos to make a wall collage

49. Roccoco style picture frames

50. An angel tray dish

51. Fake flowers

52. Pretty Cushions / A large throw fluffy blanket,

53. Caroline medium jewellery case

54. Fake cake jewellery boxes

55. Tall candles and a candle holder

56. Posters of celebrity’s/artists etc

57. Any pretty art that can be displayed/put into frames

Self care:

58. Spa headbands, and wrist bands (Kylie skin headband)

59. Inn is free skincare products

60. Philosophy shower and skin products

61. Chanel eye patches

62. Mulberry silk eye mask (pink)

63. Look fantastic heartless hair curlers

64. Dior prestige skin products and body lotions

65. Baylis & Harding products

66. Angel tangle brush

67. Charlotte Tilbury skincare gift sets

68. Elasti - cream

69. Embellished claw clips

70. Sol de Janerio body cream

71. Mugs, hand warmers, face masks, lip scrubs

Miscellaneous: ⋆꙳•̩̩͙❅*̩̩͙‧͙ ‧͙*̩̩͙❆ ͙͛ ˚

72. AirPod max

73. Wildflower phone cases & airpod cases

74. A pink waterbottle (Stanley or Lululemon)

75. Lana del rey vinyls

76. Coquette notebooks

77. Dior & Chanel fashion books

78. My year of rest and relaxation

79. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo

80. Jellycats

⋆꙳•̩̩͙❅*̩̩͙‧͙ ‧͙*̩̩͙❆ ͙͛

I hope this helped you think of some ideas of things you want to ask or get someone for Christmas 🎀✨🎄

Merry Pinkmas coquette doves

⋆꙳•̩̩͙❅*̩̩͙‧͙ ‧͙*̩̩͙❆ ͙͛

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 鬓边不是海棠红/Winter Begonia

Winter Begonia is the tale of the intertwined lives of a wealthy, westernized businessman and a bratty, dramatic Peking Opera performer as they navigate the historical landscape of 1930s China.

It is a slow historical ramble of a show, to the point where I couldn't really say it has a single plot. Events just happen in their lives, and the show follows them with a pleasant steadiness. Characters go away, and sometimes they come back. Interpersonal conflicts rise and then get resolved. Sometimes you just get to sit and watch part of an opera happen. The last third of the show develops a slightly more cohesive narrative, but even then, it's still mostly a loose constellation of events related to larger goings-on in the culture.

So if you're looking for tight plots and fast-paced action, you'll want to look somewhere else. But if you're the kind of person who likes to wrap up sometimes in a gentle warm blanket of a beautiful show, I have five reasons you should give this one a try.

1. Oh, they're in love

Perhaps the most notable thing about Cheng Fengtai and Shang Xirui is that they spend the entire show smiling at one another, staring longingly at one another, and/or making each other laugh.

A lot of danmei couples depend on having at least one partner who, if not outright tsundere, is at least stoically long-suffering -- which is romantic, sure, but also exhausting in real life. These two read about as married as any danmei pair I've ever seen because they make one another smile all the time. They're incredibly touchy and affectionate from basically the moment they meet. They're not just in love, they actually like one another.

Now, don't get me wrong: These two are both absolute exhausting gremlins who deserve one another so they don't have to be anyone else's problems. But they're good-natured enough about their respective gremlin natures that when one of them lets loose with his rascality, the other tends to think it's hilarious.

They don't even have the mandated danmei breakup! They're never mad at one another for more than the length of an episode. Most of the time they're just refreshingly normal about one another (or, you know, about as normal as two drama queens can be). And when they're being not normal about one another, it's because the circumstances they are currently enduring are not normal either.

They're so in love that by the time you get to the last episode, everyone in their lives is like, gee, those two sure are in love. For the main couple in a Chinese-censored BL adaptation? That's pretty darn in love.

2. The costumes!!!

Of course I have to gush over the costumes. Several major characters are professional opera performers, and their wardrobes are just stunning in complexity and detail -- and accuracy, apparently.

But they're not even where all of the wardrobe budget went! Everyone looks great, from the dapper upper class to the household servants to the street performers.

I also can't get over how everyone looks so cozy in their winter outfits. The show really wants to hammer home how cold Beijing is, and so most non-opera clothes are either heavily quilted or furry. Not a single outfit in this show is slimming (except maybe for some of the gorgeous gowns Cheng Meixin wears). It's all about conserving body heat, which means a lot of people walk around basically wearing mildly tailored quilts all the time. I love it. I envy it.

3. Oops! All bottoms!

This is a show of very soft men. It helps that very many of them have spent their whole lives playing female roles, but even those that haven't tend to be pretty darn soft.

(And I'm not even talking about the way people keep handing Cheng Fengtai babies and he loves it.)

Du Luocheng and Shang Xirui are absolutely what happens when you get two soft gay guys who are kinda into one another, but they're both too lazy to top, so they just become best friends instead.

Fan Lian stands as a testament to how you can be the only heterosexual in the show and still be soft as hell.

The old married gays. Softness level: off the charts.

Chen Renxiang's role is that of the opera frenemy, and he's incredibly soft about it. (This actor is also apparently in the Sha Po Lang live-action adaptation! Maybe someday it will be released...)

Opera underling La Yuehong hardens up later in the show, but even when he does, there's still a tragic softness to it.

Even the baddies are soft! Pretty much all the rival opera bitches fall into the "love to hate" category -- and nearly all of them win at least some sympathy from you before they leave the story for good.

There's one more soft boy whose presence surprised me, and that is Xue Zhicheng/Kujo Kazuma, a sympathetic Japanese character. Every other Japanese character in the show is sinister somehow -- not surprising, considering the drama is set during the brutal Japanese occupation of Beiping/Beijing.

But this little guy is a gentle, well-meaning opera fan who just wants to watch his favorite performers! When his actions cause trouble, it's only because he's so well-meaning that he couldn't see how anyone could disapprove of his attempts at cross-cultural undertanding. He even comes to the rescue a few times, at significant personal cost!

Moreover, the show uses him to make it clear that there's a difference between the Japanese occupying force and Japanese people and culture. In fact, the show is pretty critical of people who conflate the two and use interest in the latter as evidence of support of the former. That is not a level of nuance I've seen from other dramas set in this time period, and I was pleased to see it.

In conclusion, the critial war shortage in 1930s Beijing was not food or medicine or ammunition, but tops.

4. A whole lotta ladies

Again, not even counting the fact that one of the two main guys, many of his buddies, all of his heroes, and several of the antagonists professionally dress as women.

The most notable of them is Cheng Fengtai’s wife, Fan Xiang'er. They've been married for years by the time the show starts, and they have a son together. Theirs is an arranged marriage that they've managed to make work so well that they've actually wound up liking one another ... most of the time. Remember what I said earlier about his being exhausting? She knows that better than anyone.

(Sidebar: If you are uncomfortable with a love story where one of the participants is canonically married to someone else, this may be one you want to skip. That said, there are several male characters in this show who have multiple wives and/or mistresses, so the metric of what counts as infidelity in this setting is ... loose.)

Beyond her, though, there are many more female supporting characters in this show, from all different socioeconomic levels, in all different kinds of situations.

A caveat: Some of the women (one in particular) are at times frustrating as hell because they're too often written as jealous shrews who believe all the terrible gossip they hear and act on it without having actual adult conversations with anyone first. I dislike this trope, mostly because it relies on making some smart women artificially very stupid for the sake of forwarding the plot. I have little patience for situations that could have been solved five episodes ago if somebody had just been willing to ask clarifying questions.

That said, I can't be too mad about that, because there are many, many more women who are not written like that. Some of them are good and loyal! Some are sneaky and self-interested! Some are callous and manipulative! Some are meek and traumatized! Some make terrible decisions! Some make terrible decisions but, like, you get it! You know, just like in real life?

The answer to better representation is almost always more representation. When a character is the only one of whatever they are, everything they do is kind of an indictment of that category, especially when that category has a history of stereotypical negative representation. When there are several others, the characters stop being representatives of that category and start being just plain characters.

5. It just feels good to watch

Don't misunderstand: This is not a happy fun time show where everything in sunshine and roses all the way down. There are plenty of tense and emotional parts. Not everyone we like makes it out of the drama alive. Not all love stories get a happily ever after. People disappoint one another all the time. Awful things happen when soldiers occupy civilian populations. Poverty is a bitch.

But the show itself remains a nice viewing experience. It's absolutely a feast for the senses, what with all the music and costumes and sets and props and old-fashioned cars and everything.

The story is very straightforward. It's never trying to do any complex schemes or mislead you before some big reveal. I imagine this could be a good show to put on in the background while you're doing something else. You're never going to be too desperately confused about what's going on if you zone out for a minute -- and if you are, just hang on for a bit, because by next episode, it'll probably be onto whatever storyline comes next.

I have not read the novel, and I cannot judge anything against its standards. However, my friend who has read parts of the novel tells me that the adaptation is much preferable, because in the novel, you get to hear everyone's internal narration -- and everyone's internal narration makes it clear they're all bratty, insufferable assholes. That is not the case here! Or, rather, they are often bratty and/or insufferable, but from outside their heads, it's a lot more charming.

Finally, it's legitimately a very good love story. Shang Xirui is the only person in Cheng Fengtai's life who loves him for who he is, not what someone else needs him to be. Cheng Fengtai goes from being enraptured by this beautiful little weirdo to basically wanting to wife him. They spend a lot of time taking care of one another, sometimes in the only ways they know how. They're capable of operating independently -- there are several episodes where their storylines diverge completely -- but they'd prefer not to. They've just each found their soulmate, and that's all there is to it. (The red thumbprint in the palm is about the most romantic thing I've ever seen.)

I'm a little surprised by how little I hear English-speaking fandom talk about this one, especially since (see below) it's a widely available, high-budget show that even has a Shang Xirui figurine, and there's no question about how in gay love these two are. But if you hop over to AO3, there's only 257 works total in the Winter Begonia tag, a scant 57 of which are in English, and if you've tried looking into the Winter Begonia tag on Tumblr, you know it's pretty quiet 'round here.

I can't be sure, but I'd assume that's partly because this is both a) a relatively low-stakes drama, and b) so enmeshed with actual historical events and concepts that you'd have to do at least a baseline amount of research before making any fan media. I would imagine that for some folk, this is a barrier to entry.

And it is 49 slow, gentle episodes long. I saw Tumblr posts asking which episodes are important, because the posters don't want to or can't commit to watching the whole thing. But the answer is ... all of them? none of them? There's no plot you'd be getting or missing with specific episodes. There are very few things I can think of that would even qualify as spoilers. It's just a walk through a couple very eventful years in the main pair's lives. I understand if folk aren't up for that, but if you are, this is really a gem.

Have I convinced you to give it a try?

I would say that Winter Begonia is perhaps the most easily watchable of any c-drama I've come across. Here's where you can find it:

iQiyi

Viki

Amazon Prime

YouTube

We watched most of it on YouTube, where the subs were perfectly fine. However, there was one episode where we had to switch platforms because the English subs were all out of synch, so we went to Amazon and they were fine there too. Other than that, I don't really have a sense of which translation experience is the best. Try them all!

(PS: If you feel like putting on a tinfoil hat, I'm just going to say, they look at one another like that in real life, too.)

[tranceindia123]

COZY PIECES FOR EVERY SEASON - THE ART OF THE COMFORTER

Humans and sleep have a very intimate relationship. Everybody longs for that haven of solace and renewal when anxieties vanish and dreams come true. At Trance Home Linen, we think that a beautifully selected comforter and a sumptuous bed are the keys to unlocking this nighttime routine. In contrast to bedspreads, which are mostly used for decoration, comforters, and quilts provide a layer of luxurious luxury beyond simple warmth. They take on the role of an extension of the self, a luxurious cocoon that whispers promises of sound sleep. Mother Nature's seasonal symphony requires our haven of slumber to adjust accordingly. At Trance Home Linen, we provide a carefully chosen assortment of quilts and comforters that are made to complement the seasonal weather changes. Comforters are perfect for people who long for a sense of security and coziness because of their filled construction, which offers significant warmth and weight. Without putting you at risk of overheating, this emits a gentle warmth, like the cotton casing premium double comforter (aangan blue white & 100% cotton). They are thicker and heavier than blankets, which makes them perfect for colder areas. They are frequently stuffed with down or synthetic materials.

[tj-crochets]

Hey y’all! If you ever find a charity that is going to do an auction as a fundraiser, and that auction is online and is willing to let me mail the winners their prizes instead of requiring them to pick up the prizes at a specific location, let me know? I really want to donate more things for charity auctions, but my best fundraising items would be fandom related* and those will do much better in an online auction than an in-person one *I already do the Marvel Trumps Hate auction every year, but I have so much non-Marvel stuff I want to make! Pokemon, Studio Ghibli, Momo and Appa from Avatar...there are so many options to choose from

[bluedesignwall]

The last day of our holiday and the sunshine has packed up and left town. We decided to get out for a walk and get some steps on the clock before the rain arrived. While we were walking down the beach the carpet layer phoned to say he would be at our house to measure up in about an hour. We headed for home are arrived just before he arrived. The rain set in and the temperature dropped so I retrieved the heater from the spare room and dusted it off and together we headed into my sewing room for the afternoon. I pulled and cut fabric for a baby quilt while talking to Mum on the phone. I am really enjoying my organised sewing room. Such a shame I have to pull it all to bits for the new carpet to go down.

[wordywarriorwrites]

Calendar Girl: November

Series Masterlist: Calendar Girl Joel Miller Masterlist Author: @wordywarriorwrites​ Summary: The story of how Joel Miller falls in love again, told over a series of months. Series Warnings: NSFW. Smut. Language. Violence. Discussions of rape and consent. Alcohol consumption. Age-gap.

Shorter days sometimes began with frost-covered windows and transitioned to noisy nights filled with the hungry calls of migrating birds. Eventually, the leaves on the trees had been shaken loose by stronger winds and rainstorms, leaving behind the scent of damp earth and pine-fresh evergreens.

Fall had begrudgingly given way to winter, prompting the townspeople to reap and prepare. Baking and canning marathons. Meat preservation. Sorting livestock and building shelters. Getting out seasonal clothes. Sealing leaky windows, cleaning out gutters, and ensuring fireplaces were operational.

Getting his home prepared had been a chore, and yours hadn’t been a walk in the park, either, but he’d done it. Joel had patched up the roof, checked the pipes, and ensured there was enough wood out back to last you through this winter and into the next, not because it was his job, but because he wanted to. Because he’s only ever known winter to be a dark time, a harsh time; a time when people were meaner and hungrier, and he’d be damned if you weren’t as safe and comfortable as he could make you…

“Joel, please – just – I really don’t need another quilt,” you sighed.

He grunted and spread it out over the bed, “It gets cold in here at night.”

“Really?” you arched a brow, cheeks rounding with a broad, toothy grin. “Guess we should stop sleeping naked then, huh?”

Joel smirked. Placed his hands on his hips. With your point made, you rounded what had become his side of the bed, donning one of his flannels, feet tucked into wool socks he’d nearly pummeled a grown man for three days ago. Arms around his middle, ear pressed to his chest, head tucked beneath his chin – these actions steadied him, centered him, and made him let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Before we go to bed, I wanted to talk to you about something,” you murmured, voice muffled against his shirt.

“Is it about sleepin’ naked?” he wondered. “Because if it is, we can talk about that all you like, sweetheart.”

You laughed. Issued a teasing pinch to his waist. Joel held you tighter, and you turned your face up, all silent askance, and he obliged, more than happy – eager, even – to drop a series of gentle kisses on your soft, sunny mouth. Your contented hum is one he echoed, and he’d gotten half the buttons of the flannel undone and was guiding you toward the bed when you placed a halting hand on his chest and slowly eased away.

“Talk first,” you repeated. “Then, you can kiss me all you like.”

A promise sealed with another kiss – one that lingered. All slow and tender to the point of aching, and you didn’t even realize that you’d made it that much harder to pull away, but he did it. He pulled away because you asked him to listen, and he watched you take a deep, fortifying breath before launching into an explanation about town growth and a burgeoning housing crisis.

Apparently, expanding families had become cramped in their own homes, which prompted a need for placements to be re-evaluated. In the interim, the council asked for volunteers from within their own ranks; anyone willing to share housing had been encouraged to do so, and you’d not only agreed to move, (thus giving up your home to the Hardens, who had a baby on the way) you’d also agreed to bunk with Connie and Helen.

“Wait,” Joel interjected. “Connie and Helen? Those two busy bodies?”

You shrugged, “Just think of how fun the sleepovers will be.”

“It’s good of you, to be so kind to the Hardens,” he supplied, rubbing his thumb over his chin. “But wouldn’t you rather… I mean, you could come live with Ellie and me, right?”

Eyes flared and lips parted. He’d surprised you, but the slight tilt of your head – one of your many tells that had revealed themselves over time – indicated you were mulling. Joel, on the other hand, had been picturing it for some time now; living life together, instead of in tandem. In his mind, you, he, and Ellie had already become a family. A year ago, he wouldn’t have believed it possible, but he does now.

He wants a life – whatever that means, whatever it looks like – and he wants it with you.

“Just think about it,” he suggested, smoothing a wrinkle from the bedspread. “And whatever you decide is just fine with me.”

You cleared your throat, “What about Ellie?”

Joel exhaled a low laugh, “She’s actually been pushing me to ask you. Apparently, she's tired of all the back and forth for dinner. I guess it cuts into her time with her girlfriend, so…”

An amused eye roll and a wave of your hand, followed by a creak as your heel hit the squeaky floorboard at the foot of the bed. The frame groaned as you sat, hands settled on your knees, eyes surveying the small space around you. You remained silent for so long that Joel eventually sat beside you, and the mattress dipped with his added weight, causing you to lean into him, your body pressed comfortingly against him from shoulder to thigh.

“I’ll move in with you and Ellie,” you finally declared. “But I have two conditions.”

Joel glanced at you out of the corner of his eye and dipped his chin, “Alright, name them.”

“First, I get to bring my sheets. Yours are terrible.”

“Fair. What’s the second condition?”

Finger crooked beneath his chin. Gazes met. You graced him with that smile, the smile that’s just for him, and his heart galloped. Slowly, steadily, you used his shoulders for balance and positioned yourself until you were straddled over him.

“Build us a porch swing,” you said softly, hands now cupped around his face. “One that’s just ours. Where we can sit together, and you can play, and I’ll listen and pretend not to cry…”  

Unable to speak around the tightness of his throat, Joel simply nodded, and when you kissed him, it was sweet – sweeter than even that first time beneath the mistletoe. Sweeter than he deserved. Sweeter because he loved you and would’ve given in to whatever demands or requests you made, no matter how big or small.

Thoughts of winter preparations, of asking if you’re sure, of wondering aloud if you’re ready for what living together means – they all get swept away by your warmth and the sheer strength of your embrace.

Drugging, languid kisses ended the conversation and prompted him to seek you out, to find you bare beneath the flannel, to peel your arms from the sleeves. Tongues meshed, Joel’s hands and body grew eager and greedier with each moment that passed. Fingertips mapped the velvet-soft skin at the base of your spine, the gentle swell of your breasts, and the firmness of your calves. Mouth explored the column of your throat and the pulse that thrummed at the base of it. Teeth nibbled and nipped at the lobes of your ears and the hinge of your jaw.

“I want every night to be like this,” you confessed, voice hushed, as if this admittance were a secret only he could be trusted with.

“Whatever you want,” he insisted, agreed, promised. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”

Enveloped by you – your arms twined around his shoulders; thighs pressed tight against his waist. Guided by you – encased deep in your warmth; an incredible sensation he suspects he’ll never, ever get used to. The ragged intake of your breath. The flutter of your eyelashes. The steady rock of your hips. The mere undertone of your pleasure, clearly heard above the rhythmic squeak of the bedframe.  

Rapt by the way you take him, uninhibited, unabashed, and Joel knows he’s been possessed by you. It’s as irrefutable as the sun rising in the east and the fixed position of the North Star; it’s as real as the danger outside the walls and the ever-looming precipice of disaster; it’s as fierce as the greatest love of a daughter he never got to see grow and the hell he’d raise if anything ever happened to you…

His name – the way you exhaled it, how it morphed from desperate to encouraging, how it eventually bloomed into something reverent, almost worshipful. You kissed him. Smiled at him again. And the words he’d kept to himself for far too long just tumbled out.

An echo of what you’d said to him all those moons ago: love, love, love, mine, mine, mine. Frantic. Guttural. They spilled into the air as he spilled into you, a powerful release brought on by the hot clutch of you coming around him.

Slumped boneless in his embrace, cheek mashed against his shoulder, slow breaths exhaled into the crook of his neck. Comfortable, contented silence, interspersed with unhurried kisses and gentle touches; two, sated bodies moved, slow as syrup, to lie side-by-side.

“Say it again,” you sighed, woolen-covered foot brushing along his calve.

“I love you.”

“And?”

Joel cupped your jaw in his hands and pressed his mouth to yours, “And you’re mine.”

Last Chapter: December (Again)

[authorspirit]

Baby it's cold outside

It's winter in my game, so Mila had a little winter in Tartosa makeover - so very fall suitable. I don't own a lot of infant cc, mainly cc shoes. And for clothing I use the recolors from @citrlet that give me a lot of variety already.

▬ 1 || beanie* - pacifier - sweater - pants* - shoes (velcro boots) ▬ 2 || pacifier - quilted onesie ▬ 3 || pacifier - beanie**- overalls - knitted tights* - shoes (climax sneakers IF I'm correct) ▬ 4 || dress with ruffles - knitted tights* - shoes

*basegame, **Growing Together EP

Big thanks to the amazing cc creators: @georgiaglm, @citrlet, @zurkdesign, @powluna, @madlensims, @jius-sims

[jungle-angel]

The Snow Song (Bob Floyd x Reader)

Summary: It's a shitty, frigid night and your son is restless due to the noise, but in the dark of winter, Bob always shines a light for you and your family

Tagging: @bobfloydsbabe

The wind continued to howl outside, rattling the gutters and spraying snow against the windows of your home, yet you and Bob remained snug in your bed, the whole house warmer than ever.

"Alright so correct me if I'm wrong," Bob said, wiggling his feet underneath Pumpkin so that she would move to your end of the bed. "But when we get back from vacation in January, we're dissecting The Silmarillion right?"

"Yep," you chuckled.

"Oh fuck me," he sighed.

"Gladly," you answered cheekily.

"You do realize that book is almost five inches thick right?"

"I do Bob but that's beside the point," you answered. "The main lesson block on Tolkien is gonna last more than four weeks anyways."

Bob had been about to say something when the wind began to howl even louder, the whimpering cries on the baby monitor growing a little bit louder. You had been about to get up, pushing aside the books, notebooks and papers splayed across the bed, but Bob's gentle hand guided you back to your spot.

"I've got him (y/n) don't worry about it," Bob assured you.

You watched your husband, in only his tight grey boxers, leave the room for a minute or two, only to come back with the baby who slept in the nursery room next door. Auggie's tiny little form was snuggled against Bob's well muscled chest, covered by his soft blue baby blanket and his Dumbo elephant lovey clutched in his tiny hand.

"Shhhh, my sweet boy it's ok," Bob whispered to the frightened little baby who curled into him. "It's just the wind."

You couldn't explain it, but you felt a warmth beginning to fill you, seeing Bob gently bouncing your son in his arms and softly singing to him as the wind continued to pelt your windows. His cries quieted once Bob began to sing, his lips ghosting against Auggie's tiny, sensitive little ears.

"May it be an evening star Shines down upon you May it be when darkness falls Your heart will be true You walk a lonely road Oh, how far you are from home

Mornie utulie Believe and you will find your way Mornie alantie A promise lives within you now

May it be the shadow's call will fly away May it be your journey on to light the day When the night is overcome You may rise to find the sun

Mornie utulie Believe and you will find your way Mornie alantie A promise lives within you now

A promise lives within you now"

You felt your eyes getting a little misty. Bob had such a beautiful voice when he sang that even the music teachers at the school had commended him, especially Mr. Sheppard, the choir teacher. To hear him singing to Auggie, your precious little angel, filled you with nothing but pure love for your husband and son.

"Alright buddy," Bob said, drawing the little nesting cradle to the foot of the bed. "Time to go back to sleep."

Bob very carefully lowered Auggie into the nesting cradle, his tiny form all snug and cozy in the warm, cushioned flannel bedding that fit his little form. Bob placed his blue blankie over him and tucked him in, the baby sucking away happily on his pacifier and clutching his Dumbo elephant lovey in his little arms.

"Bob that was beautiful," you croaked, wiping away a tear.

"Oh sweetheart," he chuckled, drawing you into his arms. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

You broke into a laugh as you and Bob cleared away your teacher materials and set them aside on the nightstand. Bob turned out the lights and wriggled his foot again, a signal for Pumpkin to go wherever she needed. With a meow, she slipped into Auggie's bed and curled up beside him, the whole house falling asleep amidst the storm that raged outside.

"Love you Mrs. Floyd," Bob mumbled, kissing your cheek.

"I love you too Mr. Floyd," you whispered back.

Your fingers laced together as his head came to rest against yours, the both of you warm under the thick quilts, flannel sheets and the duvet that kept you both warm.