#i love teaching her about nature and foraging its so fun

[muirneach]

mom and i found a bunch of walnut trees near the river so that’s exciting for fall we get to have walnuts my favourite nut. also check this out when u put bleach on the otherwise yellow stain that unripe nuts have it turns red isn’t that wild

[bedknees]

You always leave your cool headcanons in the tags! If you're up to it, do you have some for Simon and Betty your up for sharing? I'd love to hear them 🥺

lol sorry ha ha! I like whispering in the tags a lot lmao. And sure! I don't think I ever really gave headcanons on these two disasters but I have a ton so buckle up, and thanks for the ask. ^^

Betty

She was born to Russian Jewish first-gen immigrants somewhere in New England. They were medical doctors by trade, running a practice together and everything. She is an only child. Her parents worked a lot so she was often alone at home when she got old enough.

Due to relative solitude at home, Betty became an avid reader and allowed it to occupy her time when she was lonely. She has a particular penchant for mystery novels that persisted into adulthood. Her general love of the unknown led her into being interested in real world mysteries.

Her birthday is April 11, 1966 - making her an elder Gen X and an Aries.

Has always been very smart, especially in regards to mathematics and has a minor in it. It's definitely her forte, if not made obvious by Temple of Mars.

She is bipolar II and has learned to manage it well over years, as long as no major stressors enter her life she is pretty good to go [crying cat giving thumbs up image]

Loves plants and mushrooms! She's especially fond of succulents. Very adept at fungi identification and foraging properly.

When she's not deep into her work, she likes taking nature hikes either on foot or on her bike. She's always loved the outdoors.

Betty loves all genres of music, but is particularly partial to Depeche Mode and Journey.

She also loves all animals, but really enjoys alligators and crocodilians. The first time she went down South and saw an American Alligator just casually hanging out near a river, she nearly burst into tears.

Simon

His birthday is August 25th, 1965. He is a Virgo because of course he is. Just misses Boomer status, as Gen X began in '65 lmao.

His father was a first-generation Russian/Yakut immigrant, while his mother was a second generation Filipina American. They were borderline hippies that met at a music festival, but break the (objectively flawed) stereotype by being very well educated with successful careers in teaching.

Simon had a younger sister and developed Older Sibling Syndrome that defines part of his personality to this day.

Stemming from his parents, Simon has always had a thirst for adventure. In addition to being exposed to camping at young age due to his family taking him to festivals in his youth, he also has always had a general inclination to explore the unknown.

Loves 60s-70s rock and roll a la Mountain and Jimi Hendrix, but just prefers the genre in general. This manifests later a bit in Ice King's love for Marceline's music, which is of course rock-centric.

He is autistic; his first special interest was cryptids, something that never really left him. He eventually developed one for playing the drums (also seen in IK later) and Cheers obv. His main interest is by far ancient artifacts. He was the kid that checked out books on Ancient Egypt every week.

Got his PHD in Archaeology by 27 due to being wicked smart and starting intro college classes all the way back in his Junior/Senior years of high school.

Unironically tuned into Art Bell's radio show because of his cryptid and conspiracy fascination. He never actually bought into any of it (mostly), but it was fun for him!

Is a cat person full stop. He will sometimes take walks in his neighborhood and be greeted by all the outside cats that he has made a point to get to know!

Simon and Betty

Met at a University-held science and sci-fi convention right before Betty was to leave for Australia. Simon held a small panel on the Enchiridion, talking about its history and his search for it. Betty fell fast and hard. They both did. After the panel they talked for hours about it.

Their shared love for mysteries and adventure made them a perfect match. They shared a ton in common and became inseparable almost instantly.

Were the couple that rarely ever fought, but they also possessed a level of obvious codependency. Betty was the first person to ever make Simon feel so seen and he loved her wit and eccentricity, and Simon proved so smart and sweet and genuinely interesting that their pull was magnetic.

[larnax]

o also now that ive finished my main party's stories here are my initial review <- not very structured and possibly wrong

ochette: her character and story play into a lot of indigenous stereotypes and her being the darkest-skinned character does not help that. i really like her design and gameplay and even a lot of her story/character but its just impossible to look past that because its most of it.

particio: unfortunately as someone from Cowboy Country i have a worm in my brain that makes me like him a lot. his story is paint by numbers "The Wrong Capitalists Are In Charge" which gets pretty irritating, however i still had a lot of fun with it and his character and also the final boss fight is my second favorite so far because holy shit you have to fight a train and it has the same battle mechanic as the final boss of ot1 that is so funny

throné: her character is really undercut by her being the Designated Sexy One which is just frustrating because unlike primrose i really like her and i want her to be allowed to be interesting. she's good most of the time and the story is pretty close to being good but she's not really allowed to develop as a character at all and a lot of it feels like she's just being led around by the story so she can stand there while people exposit at her about her family background which she and i am annoyed by everyone demanding she take seriously and then a boss fight happens. also her character design is the worst of all the protagonists which is stupid because the thief outfit is not difficult to make cute which i know because they did it in 1. you could say her not having much of a character outside of not wanting to be an assassin is because her trauma and situation prevents her from being allowed to develop a life outside of her desire for freedom and the theme of her story is that you can never really "escape" therefore is not bad characterization but thats a boring answer which makes for a climax that feels weak on accident instead of being bittersweet on purpose and especially since ot2 has characters interacting with each other i want the more fleshed out version of when a couple of the ot1 characters talk with therion about what his life could have been like if he had been in their profession instead where you get a glimpse of what his life could have been and might eventually be(where's the crossed paths where casttia recognizes that as an assassin she knows a lot about anatomy and offers to train her as an apothecary and theres a line about her finally getting used to the scent of blood when she's treating someone's wound and that family connection thing was elaborated on by giving her a mentor figure who actually cares about her. where's the crossed paths where ochette teaches her how to hunt for food and forage for raspberries and throné gets to experience being a part of the natural circle of life instead of feeling like she's only ever allowed to destroy things. wheres the crossed paths where particio and she finally go on that shopping trip and she gets a fun new outfit). idk this is the one im least sure about but at the end of her story i just ended up feeling disappointed

casttia: oooouug. i need to print out a picture of her and eat it. easily the strongest story and the one that uses the game's mechanics in by far the most interesting way(the first time she inquires about an important memory both actually jumpscared me and made me realize that this game might be Good good). i love her she is so cool. while i saw very few of the twists coming all of them made sense in hindsight and were satisfying. also i love her final boss fight so fucking much it is the best the second i was introduced to the rain i was like "fuck i hope this is the same mechanic as the ogre eagle rainbow toxin in alfyn's chap4" AND IT WAS and also the final scene where she realizes what the recipe is for the cure... ouuuugh. [high compliment] her story feels like the people who wrote alfyn had 5 years to develop and more deeply explore the ideas they had for his story and found ways to use the game mechanics to portray it much more interestingly. i dont have that much to say here because it's just good i just like it.

[frosted-night]

Do you have any headcanons for cast as humans? I mean as a human au. (If this is too big of an ask thats fine)

BOY DO I

Let me just get my tome out n read y'all the lore I've made for no reason.

Jack

Left home after graduating to join a caravan and traveled across the country. He came back home after his parent's sudden deaths. He didn't want to leave his brother to deal with the estate by himself.

He still has his van from his adventures and he wants to paint it again to symbolize his new phase in life. It still has living accomdations inside it and Jack has little desire to change it.

He has a few tattoos, such as a hurricane symbol on his neck and a snowflake above one of his ankles. Jack also has a few ear piercings he did himself and he's surprisingly good at it.

If Jack isn't driving he travels by longboard. He had a skater boy phase but it payed off since he can still do a few tricks here and there.

(Sometimes I see human Jack either as cis or trans. It depends on how im feeling. A trans Human Jack post will be seperate from this one)

He's a skilled forager and grower since he had to do that as his years as a nomad. Jack wouldn't claim he's as skilled as Aster but he can be a runner up behind him.

Jack never had a solid relationship on the road. It was very fleeting feelings but he didn't seem to mind. Settling back down at his hometown had reawakened some buried feelings though.

He's fairly well known in his hometown for being a mischievous bastard in his teen years and his past with playing on the local hockey team.

Jack would describe his aesthetic as a love child of punk and free spirited hippie lifestyle.

He has unmedicated adhd

He's 6 or 7 years older than his younger brother Manny and it can make their relationship a bit strained. These days they are trying to mend it while taking care of their parent's old home.

His hair was originally brown but he bleaches it and dyes it white these days.

Manny (Mim)

He's one of the youngest in his friend group, beating Tooth by a few months.

Manny is the 2nd shortest, Sandy being the shortest.

Jack leaving home wasn't easy for him and after a while Manny fell out of contact. He regrets it to this very day but never stopped thinking about his big brother.

He has Thalassophobia, a fear shared with Jack, and Pitch teases him endlessly about it.

He's a natural blonde and his mom used to tell him that he got it from his dad's side of the family. Manny has yet to meet any of his extended family for some reason.

Cleaning out his parents house of their things was one of the hardest parts for him and would have been impossible if his friends didn't help him. (Jack coming home really changed the game too.)

He was a fairly average kid but had a streak of being kind of mean in school. It lasted until high school but he still carries that silver tongue between his teeth.

Tooth jokes about how often Manny visits the local aquarium and he deflects any guesses she makes. North knows Manny is crushing hard on a employee there and has a code word for the guy, "Ocean Man". Aster hums the song whenever he feels like he can poke fun of Manny.

His occupation is working at a pre-school/daycare. He's shockingly amazing with children and has considered a teaching position there but he has yet to decide on it.

Manny has been called a "night owl" by all his friends since his productivity increases when the sun goes down. Thats usually the time he gets to work on all the cleaning he's missed.

He currently lives in his childhood home with his brother. Thankfully their home was paid off by their parents so they just split the bills, but they have considered getting a roomie to help with the expenses.

His dream is to have any kind of a pool in his backyard but he has to wait til the finances balance themselves out.

Pitch

Was the newest person in the group before Jack joined. He's also one of the oldest.

His occupation is a horror novel writer and lives off of coffee even when hes not crunching to meet deadlines.

Pitch fights with insomnia but Sandy convinced him to start taking medication to help him sleep. He got kind of sick hearing Pitch make quick meals at 3am and tripping over his cat.

He has a cat named Onyx and he has that backpack with a window on it that he can put Onyx in. Onyx likes it very much and if she knows hes leaving somewhere she sits by the backpack and stares at him.

Halloween is when he's at his strongest. If he feels like it, he competes with North on who has the best decorations. Jack gave Pitch the idea of using dry ice and its a feature he brings back every other year or so.

He's one of the tallest people in the group, only coming a few inches shorter than North. Contrary to people asking him, he was never into basket ball and was was in the military for a period of time.

Pitch was living a hermit life until he was adopted into the group. With his wife long deceased and freshly dumped, he softly considers it a saving grace that everyone accepted him.

Katherine

An aspiring writer, she currently works at the neighborhood library. She finds it really relaxing since its sat right by a river bed.

She tries not to bug Pitch too much but on occassion she asks him to beta read her works. His criticism and tips energize her to get her works out there ten fold. Kat really wants to write fantasy, a little romance and a lot of kid's books.

Her favorite task at work is reading to kids. Shes an animated storyteller and the kids eat her antics up.

She was great friends with Jack when they were growing up but she followed his antics on a few of his accounts online.

She listens to a lot of rock music and punk pop due to North's influence when she was growing up. He's taken to her to her first concert and she treasures the merch and memories.

She gets around by bike because she hasn't gotten her lisence yet but North gives her lessons on the weekends. Kat's become a local cryptid because everyone has seen her whiz past on her bike at least once though.

A child(Jamie) she read to got her into cryptids and now she eats up any lore she can. They like to infodump on each other when they have the time.

This is post is long enough golly gosh. If y'all are interested i can post the others but for now take these samples. (The Hockey player Jack hc n ex military Pitch hc were influenced by a lovely fic written by my friends over at @bunnimew. Their fic is Surviving On Twinkies And Hope and i highly reccomend it)

[edwardelricsrightarm]

Riza Hawkeye as a child/young teen but she's just this Annie Oakley ass prodigal sharp shooter little shit who cuts her hair off with kitchen scissors and runs absolutely buckwild in the woods on her father's estate terrorizing small animals (humanely hunting I'm just being dramatic)

Roy boy is just this awkward nerdy little cornball who wants to get along, but they also kinda have that dynamic from the Swan Princess when Derek and Odette were kids ya feel me? Just watch the childhood montage from that movie you'll understand- ☠️

They have like nothing in common at the time (so they assume) and yet they end up thick as thieves cause Riza hasn't had many friends that she can see outside of her education and had an extremely isolated upbringing, so this goofy sweet baby faced dork just got her like that, even if he sometimes drives her nuts a little bit.

Riza would get upset fairly often bc her neglected social and emotional upbringing would get to her (bc realistically,,,,we know that was the case), and Roy got extremely good at knowing when she's upset and would often be the one to listen to her air her thoughts out (callback to the phone call scene after her encounter with pride, this lends background to how he knows her so well and reads her stress levels like a book even over the phone)

Mundane headcanons:

Roy would transmute little clay/dirt doves and targets for Riza bc he was worried about her shooting glass bottles and other assorted not necessarily safe objects.

Roy is trans, I can't untrans him that's just who he is to me. Riza is a self declared tomboy who I hc as nonbinary/demigirl. They're also bi4bi it's canon Arakawa told me.

Riza didn't really know good birthdays, and when Roy realized this it broke his heart bc Chris always tried to remember stuff like that for him and she's not even his own biological mother. So, he made an annual routine of gifting her something (often transmuted and unique).

Riza loved being out in nature back then and knew the wooded areas around the estate like the back of her own hand, when she and Roy had warmed up more to one another she made a routine of showing him all the neat little spots she'd found in the area for one reason or another, just for the sake of sharing that with someone. These remain some of their fondest memories.

Riza would be more likely to go out to shoot targets when she was angry or upset, if she was having a good day and had the time she would be more likely to go hunting because she enjoyed the hiking and tracking but couldn't focus on it when internally upset. Roy eventually figured this out as well.

Riza climbed so many trees, rocks, outcroppings, etc- and was always scraped up from something she probably shouldn't have climbed getting the better of her.

Riza used to have a nanny birddog named Otto, but he passed away before Roy came around, so making a new friend in him after that loss was a big comfort to her. She was hesitant to have other dogs until Hayate.

They're both autistic.

Relatedly, Riza would go nonverbal and lock herself in her room sometimes. Roy, concerned, would approach this by slipping little notes under the door offering company if needed, while not pushing her to talk.

Riza would sing/hum while doing chores or out and about exploring and on every occasion Roy overheard this he'd turn red from ear to ear- if she caught it and realized he'd heard she'd be twice as embarrassed.

Riza would take Roy foraging and showed him some useful/edible plants, and safe berries and mushrooms that she knew in the region. He was honestly always pretty impressed, especially considering some mushrooms that are safe have toxic siblings that look identical.

Both of them are varying levels of nerd. Riza is the type who's full of trivia, especially weird facts about her special interests (animal behavior, guns, bushcraft, navigation and tracking stuff, etc), Roy started out neutral to this but over time infosharing kinda became their love language, and he'd start to infodump right back. They'd spend hours like that some days.

Riza knows constellations really well for navigational reasons, and there were times that she showed Roy a way to get onto the roof from the attic and they'd stargaze. She would teach folk names of constellations, regional lore behind them, navigational uses for them etc; Roy would tell her basic facts about space and astronomy that come with understanding of alchemy.

Riza typically stuck to small prey (rabbits, fowl, easy to retrieve misc.), but Roy had an awakening when Riza first killed a whole ass deer (albeit a young one) and came back with it thrown over both shoulders with the determined energy of a small lionness.

Riza is REALLY good at cooking and baking because she had a bit too much free time to fuck around in the kitchen. She also learned how to cure and smoke meats bc of her hunting. It certainly helped them stay well fed.

Roy developed a habit of cooking for the household pretty regularly in a swapped routine with Riza after only a while of being around because he saw how much she had to be self sufficient in almost every way and honestly just wanted to relieve her of the constant responsibility and self parentification. He'd also help with chores constantly.

Roy had major internal conflict even early on because he respected his teacher greatly for his intelligence and brilliance, but also kned that Riza wasn't being raised well, and that no matter what he does, Berthold can only decline mentally. This is the root of his protective and caretaking behavior with her, ultimately.

Roy doodled and sketched a lot back in the day and had a little booklet that he guarded with his life bc it started out random assorted things, but eventually devolved into a book full of cute little doodles of mostly Riza jammed into the last half of the book (She can never know-). He still has it stored away.

Riza could easily pick him up even then, this never changed. She got to show this once when he sprained his ankle on a hike with her and she held half his weight as a crutch with no strain to herself. He never quite recovered from that (but boy did it make his crush worse).

Roy would notice rarely he'd have a shirt go missing and never could figure out why til he'd find Riza wearing an identical shirt. (She told herself it's just cause they're cozy of course- she just likes boys clothes too! They look nice under overalls and are comfortable to sleep in! nothing more /s) They never said a word about it even though it was right in front of them, they couldn't dare.

Roy had a bike, and she'd ride behind him down some of the rural roads and paths that could support it for fun sometimes.

During winter the home would get pretty chilly because of its size and not enough stoves/fireplaces to fully warm the declining estate, so when snowed in on miserably cold winter days they'd usually end up reclined in the study by the space heater or in the loungeroom by the fireplace reading separately, but still occasionally talking back and forth.

Riza stopped hunting post-Ishval. She couldn't bring herself to derive that same innocent pride and appreciation for the circle of life she once had, and felt she no longer deserved to have that respectful exchange with the cycle of life and death after what her skills had been used for. She never stops going to shooting ranges, but it's either for standard upkeep of practice or to vent.

[pandawriterstuff]

Pinehallow Summary & Character List

This is my main WIP, if I'm complaining about characters doing whatever they want, this is them.

Pinehallow Summary-Monty, an eleven year old boy who has spent most of his life traveling from place to place with his in-demand lawyer mother, Irene, is sent to live at his uncle's horse ranch because she thinks he needs roots. Used to nearly everyone but his mother not being around long enough to get to know, Monty is more than a bit uncertain about this. But in scrambling to find his place in a town different to anything he's ever known, he finds friends, both human and animal, makes discoveries, and even manages to foil a plot against Pinehallow Ranch itself.

Character List

Monty (Montgomery) Cade Waller- Main character, 11, white. Monty is curious, bright, and more than a little awkward. He has a tendency to state the obvious, which can be endearing or annoying depending on your perspective. Big vocabulary and grown-up way of speaking because he’s spent more time around grown-ups than other kids. He’s quietly stubborn, particularly when it comes to being told he’s wrong when he knows he’s right. Insecure about socializing and friendships because of constant moving and traveling. Can’t hold a grudge for the life of him, even when he likely should. He likes bugs, birds and turtles, would rather read nonfiction than a story. Fills lonely afternoons with sketching, nature sketching on the ranch.

Irene Waller- Monty’s mother, 36, white. Irene is a powerful corporate lawyer, either full of energy or exhausted, never in between. She loves using words to sway minds and deciphering documents to find exactly what the opposition doesn’t want her to find. Sometimes Irene wishes she was using her skills in more meaningful ways, but also really likes the money, the traveling, and the competition. Has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of show tunes from musicals. She has a hard time letting people get close. Would stab someone for her baby, but knows it’s better to teach him to stab for himself. Only partially joking. Dolly Parton is her hero, and as much as she loves her music, it’s Dolly the business woman and Dolly the philanthropist that she strives to emulate.

Keith Waller- Monty’s uncle, 34, white. Horse Rancher. Keith loves working hard and getting dirty, and if he’s not exhausted at the end of the day he’ll be looking for something else to push him there. Otherwise he gets antsy. Loves animals and absolutely will not tolerate anyone mistreating any of the animals on his ranch-ordinarily he’s very careful of his size and strength, in that situation, all bets are off. Times that by about ten for any of the ‘barn rats’ that help around the ranch for riding lessons/time. Loves romantic comedies and telanovas and doesn’t care who knows it. Keith doesn’t read a lot, it never came easy to him, but if he’s taking a long trip he’ll always check an audio book or two out of the library instead of just relying on the radio.

Juniper - Keith’s goddaughter, 15, white. She has a calm, confident personality with a smile for most everyone she meets. If she doesn’t have a smile for you and it isn’t because her head is in the clouds over a girl, you’ve probably earned her scorn and will be ignored as much as possible. Juniper raises rabbits and it’s taught her patience, and a lot about unfairness when a kit doesn’t make it. She helps out with riding lessons at the ranch in exchange for riding time of her own, and has become a fixture, spending more time there than she does at home, and when she can get away with it, school. Loves sunflowers and her sunflower comforter is probably her most prized possession.

Nell - Caretaker/cook for the ranch house(would cooking lunch for the workers still be a thing on a modern ranch?). 38, white(?). Not about to put up with nonsense. Will make you cookies if she doesn’t have to put up with nonsense. Please. At one point she wanted to be a chef and has a year of culinary school under her belt, but quickly decided the super fast paced and competitive environment wasn’t for her. Anything that was making her hate one of her favorite things that fast could not be good for a person. She intends to live a long, long life and that kind of stress can just walk right out of the door. Loves to go on long walks, often into the hills (BLM land) behind the ranch. (maybe she was taught/took a class on foraging, and teaches Monty to find wild onions and stuff? But this would mean *I* have to learn about foraging in Idaho.) This leads to a contented, if often silent, companionship between her and Monty, who desperately wants to explore/record/sketch everything about the natural world of his new home, particularly the parts that are off limits to him without an adult along.

Ray- Family Friend/Co-Owner of R & M General (designed to feel vintage, but shiny. Bit of a tourist stop now, they decided to lean into it.), 50, Black. He uses his background in chemistry to make amazing looking candies and chocolates, using that to deal with a time he used it in less pleasant ways when he was in the military. He never expected anybody outside of his small town, or maybe the folks at the county fair to make so much fuss over them. This might embarrass him, if he weren’t so delighted. A cheerful man with a dreamer’s heart, a magazine once referred to him as a small town Willy Wonka. He dotes on his wife, often making and gifting her small surprises. An amputee in honor of my Grandpa (missing left leg at the knee, possibly missing one arm as well, but I’m not sure how that would affect candy making.). Has certain parts of his past he just doesn’t talk about.

Mavis- Co-Owner of ____ with Ray, 48, Black. Fierce and kind in equal measures, Mavis believes in protecting what’s hers, and as far as she’s concerned the entire town of (oh my god, it needs a name) is included in that. Mavis is very selective about the battles she fights, but when she chooses one she throws herself in whole-heartedly. On several committees around town, she’d be on more, but then she wouldn’t have enough time to really get into the work of the ones she loves. She knits in her limited free time, often while listening to the news, but sometimes opera. Has started knitting stuffies in the shapes of the more unusual candies Ray makes, it’s silly, but fun, and tourists and the local kids love it. Still head over heels for Ray, even though his often dreaming about things for ages instead of just doing them is also still baffling to her.

Leanna - Juniper’s sort-of girlfriend, 15, Vietnamese. Quiet, a little cynical, but very empathetic. She avoids the news because it’s that or be mad and want to cry all the time-until she hears about something she can’t not research, and goes on a 24 hour google search and learns far more than is probably good for her about a species going extinct due to logging in prohibited areas, or genocide being covered up by claims of violent uprisings. She loves manga and comics. Leanna sometimes tries for a cottagecore* type aesthetic, but mostly thinks it's too much work. She’s starting to worry about what she’s going to do with her future, and people telling her that she’s only 15 and doesn’t have to worry about it yet is NOT HELPING.

*even though cottagecore isn’t a thing in the early-mid 2000s this is maybe/vaguely set in. Shh, let me have this. Anne of Green Gablesesque maybe?

Winnie - Leanna’s mom, 45, Vietnamese. Widow? A little ditzy, but a lot loving. Everyone in town is convinced she’s the stoner type of hippy, but no one minds as she’s someone who truly wants to know how you’re doing when she asks and strangely almost always has very spot on advice. She’s rarely on time anywhere, but that’s because she’ll have stopped to talk, and often to help, whoever she’s run into. Leanna and her bicker over this when she’s late picking her up. Always wears bright colors. Loves Agatha Christie books. Calls everyone, even people 50 years older than her, hon.

Logan - Juniper’s stepdad, 40, white. Kind of a jerk, but most of the jerky things he says are actually jokes that fall flat or have simply gotten old. Tries really hard, like *really* hard, but has a tendency to get annoyed if people don’t appreciate his efforts right away-more in his personal life than professional, possibly because of his profession. A contractor, hard worker, loyal, has worked for the same company since he was twenty even though they don’t often treat him right. Sometimes tries to buy people’s affections. Wants to have better communication with Juniper, but it’s gotten really hard the last few years and he’s never quite sure why.

Candice - Juniper’s Mom, 39, white, works at a nursery that sells seedlings and baby fruit trees, has a cheerful, calm personality, but a lot softer and more lowkey than Juniper’s version. Very house proud, but has a ‘maximalist’ approach to decorating-everything is in its place, but there are places for lots of things. Loves spending time outdoors, but would rather spend it tending her garden than hiking or riding, preferably with a cup of tea by her side. On the weekends, a fruity beer or wine instead. Wants to go on one of those train rides where you get to drink wine, eat canapes and try to solve a mystery, thinks Winnie might be a good candidate for someone to go with her.

Ura - a ‘barn rat’, 12 and a half, white(maybe a Czech immigrant? 2nd generation?) . A cheerful, rough and tumble boy who is always climbing things, and often being told to stop when he gets too high for other people's comfort. Ura is fearless when it comes to physical feats, but has a fear of ‘slimy’ things like worms and frogs. He has a thick layer of pudge and a big appetite, but is athletic and strong enough that anyone bullying him over it would be doing it at their own peril. Not that he’s the type to start fights, or even finish them most of the time. Doesn’t feel he quite fits in with his family, who are all more serious, reserved people. Redwood is his favorite of the horses, and Keith has all but given up on telling him that sitting on the floor of Red’s stall to talk to the horse isn’t exactly safe.

Elliot - Ray and Mavis’s son, Black, 19 and a college student-maybe/probably at U of I. Lives on campus, but comes home at least a couple weekends a month. Has an older car that he and Ray fixed up together, that is his pride and joy. Quiet, with an irreverent sense of humor that he unleashes somewhat at random. Interested in robotics, engines and mechanics and generally has some project he’s working on, a piece of which may or may not be in his pocket. Often has oil, grease, or ink on his hands, either from working on or designing a new project. A bit of an overachiever, he can spread himself thin trying to live up to all his responsibilities at once. He’s best friends with Randy, a friendship his parents want to disapprove of, because the few times Elliot’s gotten into trouble not only was Randy there, but 99% of the time whatever it was is Randy’s idea, but never quite manage too.

Randy - Handyman at the ranch, mixed race Hispanic and white, 21. Technically head handyman, because the old head retired six months ago, and is a little young/inexperienced for the job, but he’s not the type to back away from a challenge and has risen to the occasion beautifully. Loves rock and metal music, and spends a lot of his free weekends at concerts, the ones crammed into little venues and bars where people are practically on top of each other and the beat is so loud and solid it throbs through you, connecting you to everyone even before you hit the mosh pit, are his preference. He’s been working at the ranch since he was 16, and feels like he has a claim on it, not afraid to speak up if he thinks a decision Keith is making isn’t right or that he isn’t taking something important into consideration. Can be a bit wild when he’s not being the responsible one, definitely doesn’t always think before he acts.

Alma - Local artist/worker at R & M’s, Hispanic, 25. Alma is a painter and poet, a confident young woman who’s figured out that half of surviving as an artist is being your own agent/a salesperson as well, and in addition to several shelves at the R & M that hold postcard prints of many of her pieces, both the coffee shop and cafe have some of her larger paintings displayed, and she always has a booth at the Saturday market, though the majority of her sales come from her website. Alma is cheerful, and likes to tease, and growing up the middle child of four brothers, is very able to hold her own in verbal sparring. She’s close with her family, still living with her parents, and while at first her father was dismayed at her choice of career, he now hands out her business card to basically everyone he talks to.

Miriam - Nell’s Mom, white, 71, a little deaf, speaks loudly, partially because of the deafness, partially because she spent too long letting other people push her around and when she hit about 50 decided she was going to be the one talking over people now. She’s earned it. Age has made her more delicate than she likes, bruising and scraping easily, but she’s determined to do most things for herself. Those that are beyond her she has no problem loudly ordering someone else to take care of. Volunteers a lot, often fosters kittens for the local animal shelter. Used to chain smoke, quit when Nell was a teenager because she kept leaving pictures of diseased lungs everywhere. Still uses the candy ones as a substitute.

Places

Unnamed Town- Somewhere in Latah County, Idaho, where there is not already a town in the way. Around 200 years old and has grown and shrunk and grown again, and currently has a population of about 12,000. Having grown out from a traditional mainstreet, _______ no longer has the western style boardwalk seen in old pictures, but it does have a large cluster of local businesses and ‘hot spots’ still along that old main street, a coffee shop, a diner, a combination bookshop and independent library, a hardware store, a bar, a few places I haven’t thought of yet, and of course R & M General. There is a historical barn half a mile or so away from mainstreet that has been converted into a theater/meeting hall/dance hall, and a community center was added onto it in the early 90’s. During the summer there is a farmer’s market on the property every Saturday. The elementary school and junior high are all on one property, several miles out of town, because the majority of families live on farms, ranches or small rural properties rather than in one of the neighborhood clusters in the town itself. The junior high is 7th, 8th and 9th graders, in a newer two story building, and the elementary school is divided into lower and upper elementary with the bracket shaped building basically being cut in half, K-3 on one side and 4-6 on the other. The high school is outside of town on the other side by several miles, and actually serves kids from another town(s) as well. There is also a trailer park with about forty units, not exactly sure where it is yet, but Miriam(Nell’s Mom) lives there. There is also an animal shelter, a vet’s office, a cemetery, and a couple churches, and I’m sure more things to come.

R & M General (working title?)- Ray and Mavis’s store, a general store with a candy focused twist. A vintage Pepsi sign, neon still bright, and a charming green glass juke-box filled with hits from the 1940’s onward grace the front porch of the R & M, along with a long bench that locals are encouraged to use for a spell or to listen to a couple songs, provided they can behave themselves (teenagers arguing over who their favorite member of the rat pack is might be amusing, considering they were already ‘mom and dad’, or at least older brother and sister, music by the time Mavis and Ray were teenagers, but when they get loud it also gets annoying.). The store itself still has the original wooden counter up front and built-in shelves along the walls, but all refinished and polished to a high shine. A mixture of display types going down the middle of the store, barrels and baskets filled with skeins of colorful yarn and cloth or Mavis’s knitted stuffies(and during winter sometimes socks and mittens), other sewing and craft supplies, display racks with local arts, postcards and carvings, sometimes wind up toys made by Elliot, and of course many, many displays of candies and chocolates. They also have a lot of dry goods, and some of the simpler candy types have little instruction booklets and the ingredients it takes to try out making them yourself stocked in the same display, drink coolers, and sometimes have local produce available. Basically, they have a bit of everything, except for building equipment/home repair supplies, and that’s because of the hardware store across the street.

Pinehallow Ranch-A sprawling 100 acre ranch in Latah County, Idaho where the Waller family has been doing something or other with horses for four generations now. Originally it was a horse breeding ranch, but Keith and Irene’s grandfather felt the money was in training horses, and offered boarding as well, and Keith has continued to build that up, offering lessons for a variety of styles, ages, and skill levels. Butting up against BLM land that allows additional grazing and trail riding, the ranch has four pastures, a large corral, a medium sized indoor arena and two horse barns, one for boarded horses and one for the ranch's own stock, and an equipment barn, an old bunkhouse that is mostly used to store feed-though Randy has slept there when in between places, mostly unbeknownst to Keith-and some smaller equipment sheds, placed where they’re needed. The main house is an L-shaped ranch house with a porch that goes around the entire long front of the house with a large herb/kitchen and rock garden arranged around that. There are treed pockets scattered here and there, left alone as the rest of the ranch was developed, but the creek Monty and Juniper sometimes hang out at is on BLM land, as is most of the forested area around the ranch.

Pinehallow Taglist @sleepysera @enchanted-lightning-aes @odysseywritings @thegreatobsesso @writing-is-a-martial-art and @hiitsolivia If anyone else wants to be added just interact with the post :) (My more advanced tumblr knowledge has led me to believe this is better than asking people to reblog/comment to be added, but if I'm wrong just let me know.)

[darylwillfightnatureforcarol]

Wouldn’t It Be Fun To Run Away, Just You and Me? Chapter 4

Here chapter 4. Our favourite two are finally alone! 

Description: Carol and Daryl camp out in the woods. 

Wouldn’t It Be Fun To Run Away, Just You and Me?

The sun began to dip behind the horizon, and it wasn’t long until Daryl was slowing the truck and pulling into the woods.

“We should make camp for the night. Ain’t smart to travel in the dark,” Daryl commented. She nodded in agreement. They both knew better than to travel at night.

Carol pushed open the door and climbed out, Daryl following soon after.

Daryl reached into the trailer and pulled out a pack. He handed her a sleeping bag and a small tent.

They walked further into the trees to find a spot to set up camp.

Carol was startled when she felt a hand on her arm, pulling her up short.

She watched with amused surprise as Daryl took the items that he had given her and marched off in front.

She frowned and huffed.

“I could have carried them,” Carol pointed out after him.

“I know,” He called back to her as he continued to walk.

She shook her head with a little smile. No one would ever believe how chivalrous he could be.

They set their things down in a small area surrounded by trees on all sides.

Carol set to work putting the tent up while Daryl began to get a fire going.

As soon as she was done with the tent, she passed by Daryl at the fire who looked up from his task momentarily to watch her.

She gave him a smile as she went and stopped herself from chuckling as he ducked his head immediately with a blush.

She continued to her bag, pulling out some wire and empty cans.

“I’ll set up the perimeter. Looks pretty quiet around here, but you never know,” Carol said as she started toward the tree line.

Daryl grunted in acknowledgement and kept at the fire, which soon was smoking well.

She spread the empty cans amongst the trees, connected by the wire. If walkers came during the night, they’d hear them.

She returned to the bag and dug out some cans of food.

The small amount of supplies they had taken would not last long and soon they would need to rely on Daryl’s hunting skills. This time away from other distractions would hopefully allow her to start learning from him again.

Back in the winter, after they left the farm, Daryl had begun to teach her how to track and forage.

Amongst learning how to use a rifle, it had helped her feel like she was pulling her weight with the group. Back then she had only been able to offer her cooking and laundry skills and it always had left her feeling quite useless in the grand scheme of things.

Carol settled down in front of the fire, enjoying the warmth it radiated. She pulled her knife from its sheath and set to work opening the cans. She immediately offered Daryl the can of lamb stew, knowing he liked it, while she took the chicken and vegetable soup.

He took the can with a thanks and took the spoon she gave him.

They ate quietly.

Carol studied him over the fire.

His hair was ridiculously long.

Perhaps out here he’d finally let her cut it. It had to impede his vision, so it was only practical.

His eyes were cast down to his food as he ate, but she was happy to see that the hard edge that was present only yesterday had disappeared.

Daryl finally glanced up, clearly feeling her eyes on him. He shifted under her gaze.

“What?” he asked through a mouthful of food, the word coming out garbled.

She grinned.

She always loved how he never put on airs and graces. He didn’t give a shit what people thought of him and didn’t care about being polite.

“You seem happier,” she pointed out.

He chewed his food as he seemed to think. He shrugged.

“Ain’t no one expecting nothing of me out here,” he responded simply.

She nodded. That was something she understood.

“I know what you mean,” she agreed.

He watched her for a moment, looking thoughtful.

“Are you? happier?” Daryl asked, sounding almost afraid of the answer.

She considered it.

Happy was a foreign concept for her and throughout this new world they lived in, she had to adjust her definition of the word.

Amongst the Kingdom she had felt trapped. There had been no happiness to be found there. Perhaps contentment could have been achieved after some time, but it was doubtful.

Out here, in the woods, surrounded by nature and possible danger around every corner; she felt alive again. She smiled.

“I am.” Daryl seemed relieved at her answer and returned her smile with a small one of his own.

“You should get some sleep. I’ll take first watch. Gotta travel more tomorrow,” Daryl said as he stood, picking up his crossbow.

Carol stood and patted her legs down to dislodge the grass attached to her. She watched him take up a stance against a tree at the perimeter.

“This place is pretty secure. Anything comes we’ll hear it. Don’t really need to keep watch,” Carol stated.

Daryl shook his head, his eyes still scanning the area.

“Nah, I’ll keep watch. I don’t trust those assholes,” Daryl growled, his eyes narrowing to a glare.

Those ‘assholes’ being the remaining Saviours.

She sighed and walked over to him.

When she was standing at his side, he glanced her way, his glare dropping. She reached out to brush his hair from his face and his eyes followed the motion. When his eyes returned to look at her face, she grabbed his hand with her unoccupied one.

He looked down at their clasped hands. He looked back up at her curiously.

“They’re not going to try anything. We’re safe and I’m not going to be able to get any sleep if you’re not there next to me,” Carol said gently, squeezing his hand in hers.

She could see the reluctance in his eyes as he warred with his instincts.

“I’ll feel safer if you’re there,” she coaxed, feeling the tension leave him.

Daryl sighed and allowed her to pull him along by the hand behind her.

“Our weapons will be right there beside us,” she reminded him as they walked.

She let go of his hand when she got to the tent and entered, knowing he would follow. She unzipped the large sleeping bag and crawled in, placing her gun by her head.

She heard Daryl come inside finally and heard him set his bow down. There was some rustling as he clambered in on the other side and then she heard the zipping of the bag.

There was a chasm of space between them and she knew he was trying not to invade her space.

It annoyed her even though his intentions were well meant. They had spent a long time on the road and had shared sleeping bags before.

There had never been this much space between them, after the initial few times.

It just served to remind her how much things had changed and how their relationship was not the same as it was. They were not as comfortable with each other as they once had been.

“We’ve only been out here a day but if the smell is that bad already, I’m sure we could find a lake at some point,” she threw at him over her shoulder trying to make light of it.

Of course, Daryl didn’t catch on to her joke. She felt and heard the sleeping bag shift.

“Huh?” his gruff voice sounded his confusion.

She rolled her eyes and reached out behind her with her hand. She encountered him soon and felt him jump as her hand touched him.

She felt around a little, hoping she wasn’t anywhere too personal. She was relieved when she grabbed onto his hand. She tugged gently.

“Come here,” Carol ordered, and she felt him shuffle closer until he was almost pressed against her.

She felt his breath on the back of her neck.

“That better?” Daryl asked quietly.

She didn’t answer straight away. She hesitated in completing her next action, worrying that it might be too much for him.

She took a breath of courage before pulling his arm around to rest against her stomach.

She heard him suck in his breath and felt him freeze. She prayed he wouldn’t run. This had once been normal between them when they were living on the road. He had practically the same reaction back then, the first time she had done this.

“Is this okay?” she asked, hoping he would not say no.

If he did, she’d let him have his space but having him this close was already doing wonders for her. Her breathing already seemed more relaxed.

He didn’t answer for a while and she waited patiently. Soon she felt him relax and his hand settled on her stomach.

“Yeah,” he answered softly.

She lay her hand over his where it rested on her belly and closed her eyes, finally feeling ready to sleep.

His voice came again soon though.

“You got your gun?”

Carol smiled and squeezed his hand. She nodded her head, not knowing if he could see her in the dark.

“It’s right here.” She felt his breath ghost over her neck as he settled down and snuggled into her.

“A’right,” was the last she heard from him before she dozed off.

[sunbird-tells-stories]

What are your headcanons for Omi, Clay, and Raimundo in reference to MW? If you don't get the chance to fit everything into your story, would you consider writing one-shots to go along with it? What was your inspiration for writing MW, aside from wanting a Jack Spicer redemption? What's your writing process? How long have you been writing? Are there other fandoms you're into besides XS?

This is going to get LONG and I don’t want to split it up because internet is bad here so apologies In advance but here we go:

What are your headcanons for Omi, Clay, and Raimundo in reference to MW?

I’ll start writing them and posting them as soon as I finish answering this one. It might take a bit, but you’ll see them up in a few hours or so.

Believe it or not those headcanons help me a lot when it comes to figuring out characters. So thanks for asking! I appreciate it.

If you don't get the chance to fit everything into your story, would you consider writing one-shots to go along with it?

Hell. Yes.

There is SO much I want to do. I want to write about how each Dragon found their element. I want to write ALL OF THE SHIP FUEL for Jack x Jermaine x Timber. I want to write about them having little mini episodic breather adventures in lots of different countries and cities, I’m talking Mumbai, St Petersburg, Venice, Paris, Capetown, Aguascalientes, Melbourne, everywhere! And maybe run ins with villains, for no reason. I want to write about them teaching each other about their strengths, like Jack explaining science to Jermaine and Timber or Timber teaching them two city boys how to fish and forage for food.

Also more moments of Jermaine reigning these two natural disasters in and teaching them how to be actual people. Because that’s always fun.

I want to write little moments between characters in Team Xiaolin during their quest to track down Team Spicer and I want to write moments between Seon Yeong, Rai and Kim as a trio. I want to write post-MW! Fics between characters and how they learn and grow after the events of the story - especially Kimiko and Timber as total opposites and the only two girls on the team. And I really want to write a ‘beach episode’ where Jack, Jermaine and Timber just end up warping to a tropical area and just have fun for once.

I want to write solo fics about Jack and Jermaine and their personal struggles as they grow up with their own troubles prior to MW!

And a part of me really, really wants to start posting a mini fic about Timber’s life in Silent Harbor, to show her slow, sad descent into the troubled teen she has now become and as a build up to the events of Chapter 6 of MW! where she runs into Jack for the first time. It would be SO spoiler-y though.

There’s a lot that might not fit in MW! And I would definitely write a bunch of mini stories. I don’t know who would be interested in reading all of that, but I might do it just to brainstorm ideas and explore character interactions.

What was your inspiration for writing MW, aside from wanting a Jack Spicer redemption?

I’ve been wanting to tell a XS story since I was a kid! This show was my everything! The characters were my everything. And even now it holds a special place in my heart. So the drive to write something for this fandom has always been there.

As for MW! itself....I’ve always had a fondness for Jack Spicer. I’ve always wanted him to find some semblance of happiness and have someone there so he’s not alone. And a long time ago, that someone became Timber.

But Timber wasn’t who she is today. She was Latina, and Californian, and a bubbly pink ray of sunshine and positivity. And Jack had a crush on her and she was his bestie and she was essentially an overly competent sidekick for him and then Clay had a crush on her and she was the Dragon Of Wood and Jack was the Dragon Of Metal and he was going to sell his soul to the Heylin side to finally earn Chase’s approval and she was gonna save him from himself...well, you get the picture. And I liked her a lot, and I still miss that version of her sometimes, but...she wasn’t interesting enough. And there wasn’t really a story there. At least not much of one. What was there could have been interesting on its own, but it was pretty self indulgent and I don’t think anyone besides me would have enjoyed reading it. And that’s no fun.

Then I had the idea to somehow bind Timber, an innocent civilian girl, to Jack through magic by having her make the idiotic mistake of betting herself in a Showdown with him over a Wu that was hers and then lose, and then essentially being dragged along on all of his adventures and slowly becoming friends with him while hilarity ensues. Then I had the idea to make a game breaking Wu that just...caused trouble. And the story then became about Jack accidentally dragging a civilian girl along on a warpy portally adventure with that Wu and run into all these villains as they become friends.

But when I did this, it didn’t feel balanced. I had someone on the Heylin side and I had someone who was Neutral. So then I needed someone as a buffer between Jack and Timber so they didn’t kill each other and to represent the side of Good aka someone who was Xiaolin.

And then Jermaine came along!

And as I developed the story more, I realized I wanted to tell something serious, and have all the characters grow and play off of each other and talk about the XS universe and answer questions and give everyone this big, long journey and great trial and give Jack actual character development and actual friends/love interests and have someone from Chinese Mythology be the Xiaolin’s ultimate adversary and Jack’s final test of character. And along the way, MW! was born.

And I’m really grateful for that.

What's your writing process?

Usually first I write up a few ideas of what I want to happen, like the general flow of the chapter. Then I make a chronological skeleton of dialogue, and I tweak it until I’m satisfied. Then I write the rest of the stuff like actions and descriptions.

One of my flaws is being redundant. Another is being overly wordy. So after I write it all out, I try to trim it down and tweak it as best as I can until these flaws are no more (I sometimes skip stuff) and then I just play around with the chapter until it feels right. It has to strike an emotional chord with me and get me excited to write it before I publish it. If I don’t feel that spark, it doesn’t go up.

I had a few people in the fandom volunteer to be beta readers, but my chapters are so long...so right now it’s just a couple of my closest friends who are looking at it, the main one being my friend CVD, who also wants to be a writer. She’s got a good eye for what does and doesn’t belong and I’m forever thankful. My other two, Trinket and Papillion, look over it and help let me know how they feel about things so they’re also a big help. So shoutout to you guys!

And then after all that noise, my stuff goes up.

However, my older chapters could use one final spellcheck and revision so I’ll eventually go back and polish those up a bit. Typos man. Typos....

A lot of times I’ll also take breaks to do some research and find inspiration music. Honestly there are days where I can’t figure a character or a scene out until I find JUST the right song for inspiration. And since a lot of characters in my fic are from a different country and cultural background than mine, I’ll do plenty of research to try to stay true to who they are. I’m doing a lot of research on the Bedouin tribe and its history and looking for a lot of pretty Middle Eastern music right now, for example. YouTube is a great resource for these things! Bless the internet!

How long have you been writing?

Since forever! I’ve always been making up stories in my head! And they’d get elaborate too! I’ve built so many worlds and characters just by playing around as a little kid, I can’t even begin where to start talking about them all. As I grew, I started to write them down and now I want to get serious about it! Besides Monkey Wrench!, I want to write a fanfic for the Ducktales 2017 fandom and the Black Butler fandom, and I have two original novel ideas I want to write out and get published. It’s my dream to make stories that other people love and that inspire others to learn, write, make stuff and have adventures and stuff. Literally my dream is to make stories that get a buttload Of fanart and cosplays and fanfic and just...move the world for the better somehow. That is my highest goal rn. Being a published and famous author.

Are there other fandoms you're into besides XS?

Hell yeah! Although I do tend to have periods where I hyper fixate on one at a time. Besides Xiaolin Showdown, I also like Gravity Falls, Storm Hawks, Steven Universe, Star vs The Forces Of Evil, and Ducktales 2017. There were a lot more in the past, such as Teen Titans, King Falls AM, The Boondocks, and Samurai Champloo, but I haven’t been very active in those fandoms as of late.

I really need to get into Tangled: The Series, OK KO, Victor and Valentino, and Craig Of the Creek. They all look phenomenal, I just don’t have time to get into them all yet.

[moviesforkids]

Once Upon A Forest (1993)

Studio: Hanna-Barbara Studios

Director: Charles Grovensor

Theme: Prejudice is Born From Ignorance- “Just like a hedgehog, with a big mouth and no brains.”

Theme: Science vs Faith- “We’re lost too, in our grief!”

Theme: Youth Vs Age- “No, you wrecked months and months of work!”

Once Upon a Forest, much like FernGully, was very much about teaching kids the importance of saving the planet. But unlike FernGully, there are a lot of interesting themes throughout the entire story. The first being the most interesting one that ties in with all of the others- the theme of Prejudice is Born From Ignorance. Uncle Cornelius is tasked with teaching the kids of the neighborhood how to forage and learn about nature and he basically works as their mentor. He teaches them science and is a nice guy in general, but he is actually incredibly prejudice against humans. While justified because he lost his family when he was a child, he unnecessarily scares the children and refers to the humans as monsters. While that may be so, not all humans are monsters. Like the entire reason the forest gets poisoned is a complete accident. Humans are the instigators and are cleaning up the mess after the fact. Prejudice also seeps into the lives of the other kids that the heroes meet. They are reaching the last leg of their journey and need to get up a mountain. They are approached by a bunch of kids who think that it’s impossible for land animals to fly. They even make fun of the two boys, calling them names and other derogatory language. When the flying machine actually works, they are actually impressed and take back what they’d said against the boys.

Science Vs Faith is also an incredibly big part of this story. The only way to save Michelle is through a very rare plant and the kids venture out to find it. While science tells them that the plant exists, they have to take a lot of their journey only on faith. They lose faith a lot through the journey. And faith is shown to be a weakness when science easily solves the problem of a little bird trapped in a quagmire. The other birds are holding a pre-funeral for the bird, thinking he is destined to die because he is stuck and make no efforts to rescue him. The Trio quickly realize that it is a simple task and simply use their science know-how to simple pull the kid out using leverage. And it’s viewed the other birds as a miracle. The real theme is balancing the two out. Science explains our world and helps us to understand it, but its okay to have a little faith about the world too. Maybe there are things that can’t be explained by science that faith can or having faith in science is perfectly natural.

The final theme and the one I always looked at was Age Vs Youth. As a kid, I actually always disliked Uncle Cornelius. I thought he was going to be the bad guy because despite being a scientist and incredibly kind of Michelle, he was actually really mean and short tempered with the other kids. He treated them badly, yelled at them and constantly corrected them without encouraging their curious nature. The kids actually are incredibly smart and use their own abilities to save Michelle. And Uncle Cornelius also lets his own past and his world view cloud his teachings to the kids, telling them to fear everything- especially humans, and when they set out on their own, the kids lost their way a lot. It was through their love of Michelle and their own friendship that they were able to get the flower that would save her life.

[kathydsalters31]

Real Story: I’ve Tried Tons of Puzzle Toys for My Dogs and This Simple Mat Is Still My Favorite

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Updated August 20, 2020 | Bonding with Your Dog By Christine Caplan This blog post contains affiliate web links. Read more below. My canine Walter, a gritty Dachshund, can be referred to as having two setups: on and off. To aid us all out, I’m concentrating on training “tranquil” actions with searching strategies as well as nosework. As well as one tool, specifically, has been&a lifesaver: a snuffle mat.&Elegantly simple, it’s simply things to maintain Walter active. The snuffle mat contains rows of fleece strips in which treats can be hidden. Using among these as my training device, I’m teaching Walter to utilize his mind and his searching reactions. This helps him burn off energy, and also I’m especially thankful for it when our walks are shorter because of busy timetables and also climate.

Any tool that encourages natural foraging skills is excellent for our pack. I’ve tried and also reviewed a lot of challenge playthings, as well as this one remains among our favorites. It conveniently fits into our regimen. I typically exchange in new interactive tools weekly or the pet dogs obtain BORED, but the snuffle floor covering stays in the turning. Snuffle Mat Options Honestly, the standard concept behind these mats is pretty straightforward. You can even make one if you’re so inclined! This is a wonderful DIY Snuffle Mat video we made here at Rover. This is another guide I suched as, also.

I’m not very crafty, so I got the Paw5 Snuffle Mat from Amazon. It’s been well worth it. It may appear expensive, yet I’ve found that it’s stood the test of time over plenty of hours of use. I ca

n’t talk with the high quality of more affordable options, however there are absolutely several snuffle mat choices on the market now that you can check out. Pet dog fitness instructor Annie Grossman has also composed in some detail concerning her favorite snuffle mats. This sturdy standard deserves its cost thanks to its handmade, sturdy building and construction and safe, lasting, and upcycled products. It’s machine-washable too– essential, given all the licking as well as food call it maintains. Make sure to monitor your pet dog while they have fun with this snuffle floor covering, specifically if they’re enthusiastic chewers.

Find on Amazon Utilizing enrichment devices similar to this means that when the pet dogs are burnt out, they don’t seek means to entertain themselves and enter difficulty. I simply fill the snuffle floor covering with deals with as well as each pet gets their turn (while the others wait behind the child gateway). The floor covering can take about 10 mins of concentrated play. Tips for Snuffle Mat Success You can basically simply throw kibble or treats on top of the floor covering.

“hiding”treats in the snuffle mat makes it harder for your canines, as well as my Walter needs the supreme challenge. Damage your deals with into tiny pieces. It’s very easy to make this searching workout last for some time if you conceal a lot of truly little treats throughout the mat.

This game needs to be kept an eye on. I caught Walter starting to chew on the snuffle floor covering’s fleece as soon as, which he would have consumed at some point. Not every pet would do this, but Walter additionally chews blankets …

We make use of “discover it” as our

nosework cue, to ensure that’s what I make use of for this video game. If more than one canine is existing, watch out for territorial actions. My dogs require to play these enrichment video games independently so no one obtains “guardy.” I doubt 2 dogs can share the snuffle mat perfectly.

My 13-year-old pet dog, Bruiser, loves this mat, as well. Given that his walks are a little shorter due to achy joints, the floor covering is a vital enrichment device for him. Generally, it’s an excellent alternative for dogs with cognitive concerns. We’re trying to deal with Bruiser now to make certain the aging procedure is very easy on him.

According to this

post on Ohio State University’s Indoor Pet Initiative,” ‘[ Showing] an old dog brand-new methods’ has been shown to improve discovering and also memory” for elderly family pets, especially those with cognitive dysfunction.

Simply put: 10 mins a day maintains the doctor away! Attempt an interactive

challenge plaything with your elderly for simply 10 minutes day-to-day and also your elderly canine will enjoy you for it. You can even attempt tossing some soft veggies in the snuffle mat, if they like them. Bruiser takes pleasure in child carrots in his snuffle mat.

All-time Low Line

There are a lot of interactive puzzle toys to select from, but I locate this basic floor covering suffices, especially when the climate walks and turns obtain shorter.

Further Reading

As a Certified Vet Tech, Public Relations veteran and web content marketing expert, Christy Caplan makes use of electronic and also social media to educate and also attach canine fans. She copes with 3 canines near Portland, Oregon.

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source http://www.luckydogsolutions.com/true-story-ive-tried-tons-of-puzzle-toys-for-my-dogs-and-this-simple-mat-is-still-my-favorite/

from Lucky Dog Solutions https://luckydogsolutions.blogspot.com/2020/08/real-story-ive-tried-tons-of-puzzle.html

[barryswamsleyaz]

Real Story: I’ve Tried Tons of Puzzle Toys for My Dogs and This Simple Mat Is Still My Favorite

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Updated August 20, 2020 | Bonding with Your Dog By Christine Caplan This blog post contains affiliate web links. Read more below. My canine Walter, a gritty Dachshund, can be referred to as having two setups: on and off. To aid us all out, I’m concentrating on training “tranquil” actions with searching strategies as well as nosework. As well as one tool, specifically, has been&a lifesaver: a snuffle mat.&Elegantly simple, it’s simply things to maintain Walter active. The snuffle mat contains rows of fleece strips in which treats can be hidden. Using among these as my training device, I’m teaching Walter to utilize his mind and his searching reactions. This helps him burn off energy, and also I’m especially thankful for it when our walks are shorter because of busy timetables and also climate.

Any tool that encourages natural foraging skills is excellent for our pack. I’ve tried and also reviewed a lot of challenge playthings, as well as this one remains among our favorites. It conveniently fits into our regimen. I typically exchange in new interactive tools weekly or the pet dogs obtain BORED, but the snuffle floor covering stays in the turning. Snuffle Mat Options Honestly, the standard concept behind these mats is pretty straightforward. You can even make one if you’re so inclined! This is a wonderful DIY Snuffle Mat video we made here at Rover. This is another guide I suched as, also.

I’m not very crafty, so I got the Paw5 Snuffle Mat from Amazon. It’s been well worth it. It may appear expensive, yet I’ve found that it’s stood the test of time over plenty of hours of use. I ca

n’t talk with the high quality of more affordable options, however there are absolutely several snuffle mat choices on the market now that you can check out. Pet dog fitness instructor Annie Grossman has also composed in some detail concerning her favorite snuffle mats. This sturdy standard deserves its cost thanks to its handmade, sturdy building and construction and safe, lasting, and upcycled products. It’s machine-washable too– essential, given all the licking as well as food call it maintains. Make sure to monitor your pet dog while they have fun with this snuffle floor covering, specifically if they’re enthusiastic chewers.

Find on Amazon Utilizing enrichment devices similar to this means that when the pet dogs are burnt out, they don’t seek means to entertain themselves and enter difficulty. I simply fill the snuffle floor covering with deals with as well as each pet gets their turn (while the others wait behind the child gateway). The floor covering can take about 10 mins of concentrated play. Tips for Snuffle Mat Success You can basically simply throw kibble or treats on top of the floor covering.

“hiding”treats in the snuffle mat makes it harder for your canines, as well as my Walter needs the supreme challenge. Damage your deals with into tiny pieces. It’s very easy to make this searching workout last for some time if you conceal a lot of truly little treats throughout the mat.

This game needs to be kept an eye on. I caught Walter starting to chew on the snuffle floor covering’s fleece as soon as, which he would have consumed at some point. Not every pet would do this, but Walter additionally chews blankets …

We make use of “discover it” as our nosework cue, to ensure that’s what I make use of for this video game. If more than one canine is existing, watch out for territorial actions. My dogs require to play these enrichment video games independently so no one obtains “guardy.” I doubt 2 dogs can share the snuffle mat perfectly.

My 13-year-old pet dog, Bruiser, loves this mat, as well. Given that his walks are a little shorter due to achy joints, the floor covering is a vital enrichment device for him. Generally, it’s an excellent alternative for dogs with cognitive concerns. We’re trying to deal with Bruiser now to make certain the aging procedure is very easy on him.

According to this post on Ohio State University’s Indoor Pet Initiative,” ‘[ Showing] an old dog brand-new methods’ has been shown to improve discovering and also memory” for elderly family pets, especially those with cognitive dysfunction.

Simply put: 10 mins a day maintains the doctor away! Attempt an interactive challenge plaything with your elderly for simply 10 minutes day-to-day and also your elderly canine will enjoy you for it. You can even attempt tossing some soft veggies in the snuffle mat, if they like them. Bruiser takes pleasure in child carrots in his snuffle mat.

All-time Low Line

There are a lot of interactive puzzle toys to select from, but I locate this basic floor covering suffices, especially when the climate walks and turns obtain shorter.

Further Reading

As a Certified Vet Tech, Public Relations veteran and web content marketing expert, Christy Caplan makes use of electronic and also social media to educate and also attach canine fans. She copes with 3 canines near Portland, Oregon.

sidebar

The Dog People E-newsletter Subscribe and also obtain $25 off animal sitting and dog walking!

from Lucky Dog Solutions http://www.luckydogsolutions.com/true-story-ive-tried-tons-of-puzzle-toys-for-my-dogs-and-this-simple-mat-is-still-my-favorite/

from Lucky Dog Solutions https://luckydogsolutions.tumblr.com/post/627081280405766145

[treeyo]

When its been six months since your last blog, where do you even begin?  Many changes happened in my life and am still processing them all but very much in the forward motion with the learning lessons acquired.  With that, well I finally moved to Treasure lake, like finally really landed this March once I got my vehicle situation sorted and its been practically non stop work since.  I will try to keep it short by using headers and pics then be more regular with it all so its not so much to cover and more valuable detail can come out. In essence, this places sheer beauty continues to amaze me and the people who observe and interact with it are a true blessing.

Community

You know the hokey part of permaculture about community and all of that social permaculture.  Well it’s so true in the end.  My Cincinnati, city based friends, have largely disappeared from my life, all but a select few now that i have properly moved here (only 35 minutes away).  My Northern Kentucky network grows constantly.  And to state it plainly, much of my successes or this places growth hinges upon selfless acts from others, service, community.  Gifts beyond value but that also save on finances allowing me to stay with this project fully during the growing season. (Yes foreshadowing). It’s quite a mix here and i honor diversity and am enjoying this blend of Appalachian and river town culture scores to the city.

Past student and dear friend Kaila from BC, Canada stopping on her way across country. What a reunion, giving her a glimpse of the KY culture

Gil, such a generous person, getting ready to transport a beehive from his land to the lake to support both the garden and ecology here

Annie and her rolling around ways in the garden

Mike Lobb, a fishing enthusiast and proud supporter of the lake. and and his restaurant wastes help to feed the worms

Tom and his crafty skills and silly look helping me build artificial fish habitat

permablitz implementation of mushroom beds in hedgerow. it was almost all people from my town of Petersburg, Ky

Mary and Luke, two beautiful souled people who volunteered here often

Bryan and Daniel, two of my besties, jamming together. love them both

Stream Rehabilitation

Over the winter myself and part of the Berea, KY crew, who actually are connections from Portugal, implemented heaps of what I categorize in the PDC as restoring natural hydrology.  The one rock dams, large and small woody debris jams have simply worked.  The sediment has been trapped, the lake hasn’t muddied other than in the crazy amounts of rain that break or meet records.  It’s helped as well with the nutrient overload which to deal with this problem we met it with these elements but also microbial blocks and pellets and also ducks.

one rock dams working to hold sediment back

Pools forming

one rock dams and small woddy debris

stair stepped approach

Animals

How much duckweed could a duck weed if a duck could weed duckweed?

Well it’s a lot and they do weed duckweed.  As the nutrients pour in from the large watershed of the lake it causes each year relentless growth of duckweed.  And I have been eating duckweed through the eggs that the ducks have steadily been producing.  These ducks, mostly pekings, were gifts from the community and their rich golden eggs have delighted many.  The golden color comes from the high amounts of lysine in the duckweed, just as I teach it in the PDC.

Also goats were lent to me and are fun, productive in their clearing, good at leaving fertility behind, but also a lot of work.  Part of that comes from their sheer numbers, 17 in all. They require a lot of fencing moves to keep them on fresh pasture and their health in good shape. I have been really enjoying it but it in the end is consuming lots of hours.  I did, of course along with the help from my NKY community, move their cages which had been in the same place for a few weeks.  Instead of cleaning the cages and moving the manure to the compost area I decided to leave it right there and mulch on top so it didn’t all wash away in the rains just after the move.  Next year i can carry seeds down there instead of manure to the compost area.  an idea….

Alex welcoming the goats on their first day

Goats from the boat, having cleared back lots of weeds, mainly invasive

Compost

As always, as my students know, I am making, along with the help of many, lots of hot compost, completely square on the edge and at least one cubic meter in size.  I did invest in a compost thermometer which has been helping with the quality control.  The best compost piles have been coming from the lactobacillus rich beet kvass wastes from my friends at fab ferments.  It quickly finishes and i am stockpiling lots of it right now for future use.  Annie, the lead gardener of her brand Dark Wood Farm that leases land from us, has even used a bit.  Also vermicompost has been expanding.  I have the unique opportunity to sell worms to the fishing customers or simply give them away.  We have scaled up to 275 gallons.  Next door to fab ferments is La Terza coffee and their wastes have also been helping to feed the worms.

Beet Kvass waste

loading up the worm bin with Romain

Business

All these farming ventures of perennial systems are running concurrently to the running of the business here already.  Pay fishing lake, bar, camping and events to be exact.  It’s a lot of work and requires me to answer the phone, market, mow, weed eat, provide customer service and provide a better experience for those who come.  It’s been a good year, the camping helping a lot in terms of revenue.  And of course through community, Daniel, one of my closest neighbors has helped bring a lot of bar business in the last month or so through starting a tuesday night ping pong and a friday night open jam.  Eternally grateful to him and his extended family as well as his front yard that has no grass in it which i drive by when i do leave the property.  And the event production, we have many successful concerts, parties, weddings, and educational events.  Plant based, not permaculture as i just cant seem to get people to sign up for my permaculture courses around here.  And that is ok, i needed a break and its fun to have such a diversity.  but yes its a lot of work.  I work every weekend from friday morning to sunday evening here at the bar/ fishing lake/camping registration.  I sneak away for farming ventures on the weekends by leaving my number on the door which is part of why i haven’t written a blog in so long.

Bryan in serious prep mode for our July 4th event

Park here!

Positive reaction laying down on our fourth of july event

the lists that make it happen, my goodness this project management is intense

Maria and Ron post marriage ceremony at the campsites

entrance to the bar

Campsite 2

biodiversity

As always my pursuit of biodiversity rages.  I am still hacking away at the invasive and overcrowded natives.  It helps my paw paws.  Paw paw paradise is coming to fruition.  We also planted in our some of our wonderful forest native medicinal herbs.  Ginseng, goldenseal, bloodroot, blue and black cohosh, and wild ginger.  They have done ok but are so far away its hard to get to them.  It’s definitely a zone 4 and future plantings will be on the edge of zone 1 in sandy soil.  I have also planted a hedgerow with different tree crops, berry bushes, and perennial vegetables.  Taking care of the one we planted in the fall of last year also has been a continual maintenance. We also did quite a bit with mushrooms through both logs of oyster and wine cap on wood chips.  It’s definitely developing a nice zone 1 for me around the edge of Annie’s 1 acre market garden. And in general this place is alive, teaming with biodiversity to create stability, resilience, and abundance!

More wooded wood chip beds and remay cloth covering logs to keep woodpeckers away

mushroom spawn in chunks of wine cap being placed in between layers of cardboard and wood chips

caterpillar on milkweed, i guess monarchs?

Phoebe babies in the same nest spot as last year on the back patio of the bar

the beaver is back!

freshwater mussel shell, food for other wildlife

oyster mushroom logs

Foraging

You cant have a paw paw paradise and not then go out and harvest.  Hauling well over 50 lbs from the lake property and already another 20 or so lbs from 1 tree at my parents house, its been great.  I have been saving the seeds and these will turn into hundreds, maybe 1000’s of more paw paw plant for the land and for sale.  I am saving seeds of the big ones and random ones with great flavor.  We also have stumbled upon some great mushroom patches and will we get to the spicebush harvest with all that is going on?

25 lbs plus haul in one morning, mainly thanks to the beavers chopping trees down years ago to give this patch space

native black capped raspberry that went in Annie’s CSA fruit add on

just a bit of the paw paw on the bar, giving lots away

huge wild fruits at the lake. giving thanks to the natives who once lived here and probably worked on the genetics

Abby and me looking for paw paw just before our successful event. thanks abby for referring a spark for foraging

Holiday

I end with the vacation i got to go on to the Asheville, North Carolina area for the SE Permaculture gathering.  It also included a professional gathering and i loved meeting others from the area and finally meeting Courtney Brooke who Robina McCurdy, our common mentor, connected but we never got to meet in person until then.  They have a great culture built down there and was inspiring to say the least.  I know it will grow here, we have done an amazing work in this area over the years but i look forward to treasure lake being a growing point of culture.

Zev talking mutual aid, this guy is on it

So thank you to all who have contributed with volunteering, attending events, paying to go fish, to camp, to drink, to rent the place out. There is more for sure that has happened but i had to get this one out to press refresh on releasing these update blogs more often .  I also pressed refresh on my life by moving back here, staying in one place for over a year, which basically hasn’t happened in almost 20 years and seeking help with my mental health. Never be afraid to do that.  gardening is sometimes not enough, nor traveling the world and living your passion.  I am glad i did it, i am blessed to have this place to experiment on.  The development goes on here and please contact me on how to get involved.  thank you to the community and the treasure lake experience.  Never forget the final message of my patterns slideshow, LOVE.  and that includes love for yourself.  sounds simple but it takes effort that is well worth it!

ps the tip jar at the bar is going well with it being tips for tree planting.  so this fall,

#letsplantsometreesyo

Project Update: A long Overdue one for Treasure Lake When its been six months since your last blog, where do you even begin?  Many changes happened in my life and am still processing them all but very much in the forward motion with the learning lessons acquired. 

[whimsyandwhile]

INTERVIEW WITH KAY HAUPT OF UNDER A TIN ROOF: Homesteading; Sustainability; and the Slow, Handmade Home

Greetings, friends and family! I’m so excited to share this post with you today as this topic has been not only fascinating to me, but a dream so dear to my heart and soul. Recently, my husband and I have been talking about self-sustainability and homesteading and our thoughts of moving toward this way of life but the conversations don’t come without questions - lots of them. For this reason, I decided to reach out to the lovely mama and homemaker, Kay Haupt, of Under a Tin Roof to ask her some questions about getting started on the path to self-sustainability and creating a homestead, big or small.

Here’s what she has to say!

Hi Kay, thanks for the taking the time out of your busy life to answer some questions for myself and readers about what it means to sustain yourself and your family, to live life simply while also working hard, about what homesteading means for you, and about making what I believe you coined a slow, handmade home.

Have you always known that this was the path for you? If not, would you mind elaborating on how you got to the point you are now?

Not at all! Out of high school, I was hoping to live in the city and become a film director and/or an English teacher. Writing and working with something in the theatre are things I am still really passionate about, but I never thought that a country life would be what I would end up doing! In truth, I always thought that maybe I would have Meryl Streep's job in The Devil Wears Prada. Somehow I would wander down that path as a writer and photographer throughout college. I never did end up going to college, but I always had the need and desire to write and learn; gardening just happened to be the path I wandered down. Growing up, I definitely had an affinity for magical things like fairies or elves; I loved spending time outside imagining where they lived and trying to find a fairy hiding underneath a flower. But I never held a deep appreciation for plants as a child or as a young adult; it's been a rebirth in ways for me, and I appreciate learning about them so much more now. I think you can become passionate about any subject if you spend enough time researching it.

What would be the first thing a first-time homesteader, or someone seriously contemplating this path should consider in terms of getting started? For example, would it be first looking for land/property, or would it be more along the lines of acquiring certain skills?

Er, you definitely need both, but I don't think you necessarily need either one to become a homesteader. Skills are important; I am definitely the type of person that has a general rule of success upon trying new things. I know that there are many people who do not experience this success when they try growing plants for the first time, and I am still in the process of learning how to teach someone else to make it happen. But yeah, you can be a homesteader without much land just by taking up practice of skills that homesteaders use, like preserving food, composting, using natural cleaners and home remedies, basically just doing things yourself without falling into the manhole of consumerism! I think that homesteading is roughly becoming a way to say, "I bake my own bread and grow vegetables on the porch; I let my clothes hang out to dry and am learning how to better care for my family." It's the practice of stepping back and doing those things yourself. I don't think that you need a lot of land to make it happen. There are people who grow food, keep bees, and raise chickens on a city rooftops. You can do these things anywhere!

What crops/plants would you recommend getting started with and why?

There are definitely easier crops to the grow than others. As a general rule, you want to look for things that grow well in your area. We live in a cooler climate, up north, so we probably wouldn't grow citrus fruits and hot peppers well, though I am sure there are other people who have had success. In general, fruiting plants like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and squash are great to begin with. Any type of lettuce, spinach, and kale is fun! Greens grow so quickly, you always feel very proud when they are ready to clip. If you are into root vegetables, you'll probably find that radishes are the most rewarding and carrots too; they grow so quickly, and you feel very accomplished in a short amount of time!

Your greenhouse is amazing, how long did it take to build and what resources would you recommend for someone wanting to build their own?

Thank you! It was a big dream of mine to have it, and I am so lucky to have a father with a background in construction and architecture. My dad actually designed the entire building himself and built it himself with minimal help from my mom and myself. It took him about two months to build, and all of the windows included in the structure are reclaimed. As far as building resources, I don't have many! We found a majority of the windows at our local ReStore. They have great prices there if you are near one! The others were gifted to us from friends. I apologize for not having more information on how to build one, but we are hoping to share some generic building plans in the future, mostly because we have a lot of unique widows going on in ours! I just don't have enough knowledge personally about building to share!!

We’ve been dreaming of having chickens for a long time, can you describe the process of getting started?

Sure! Chickens are so fun. This is my first year having them, so I am definitely not an expert! To get started, I would always suggest doing your research. What is your family life like? Do you have kids? Do you work a lot? How big is your yard and do your city ordinances allow you to have chickens in the backyard? Can you have a rooster? There are a lot of little things to figure out. There is a nearby city to us that had to have their ordinances rewritten to allow backyard chickens, but you cannot have a rooster (neither can I, at least not living in town) and you must take a chicken keeping class. Now, I did not have to take a class where I live, which I am thankful for! But it would probably be wise if you don't care to take the time to research things yourself, you know? If you have kids, figure out which breeds are the most kid-friendly since little hands like to grab and pull. If you work a lot and aren't home very often to let the chickens out to free range, then you may want to look into breeds who do well in confinement. I do believe that absolutely anyone can own chickens, you just have to figure out which breed works best for your lifestyle! 

In one of your blog posts you talked about your journey toward a minimalist/capsule wardrobe. Did you start this before or after your homesteading journey?

I started minimizing my wardrobe before we became homesteaders. It was definitely my first step in heading towards a more sustainable and waste-free lifestyle. It's still something that I am actually working on! I just got finished pulling clothes out from my "hoarder closet" under the stairs and ended up filling three trash bags full to donate. It's been a long five-year process, but I feel so much better about it and my personal style. Capsuling and creating a uniform-type wardrobe is its own form of therapy and rewriting your internal workings.

Can you briefly describe a “day in the life” of a homesteader? From sun up to sun down, what would be a typical daily or weekly routine?

Oh dear, it's all so different each day as the seasons change! For the most part, I wake up and let our chickens out. That's at around 6:30-7:00 AM. I briefly check the chickens for anything strange, like an illness or injury. Their food will need checking and a possible water change. Chickens need fresh water just like we do. If the coop is particularly dirty, I'll make a mental note to clean out later in the evening. I'll walk around in the garden to see what's ready to harvest or if any damage happened overnight. My son is rarely still asleep at this point, so I head back inside to make breakfast and figure out our schedule for the day. Depending on the season, it may be a day to make bread or can some preserves from the garden. The middle of day is usually up for grabs for us! We'll spend some time outside foraging or running errands, I try to get some work done during nap time, and then we head back out again to play. In the evenings, once the sun hangs a bit lower, I'll work on the garden. Our garden is shaded by a tree in the evenings, so I try to work then as not to get too hot. I'll gather, plant, and weed. The chickens are let out at that time, too, since we have close neighbors who probably don't want unattended chickens in their yards. If the coop is dirty, I'll clean it. If the compost needs turning, I'll do that. It's just basic chores that happen everyday and the occasional change that depends upon the garden harvest!

Merging modern technology with getting back to a simpler way of life: How do you reconcile the need for modern technology yet wanting to escape many of the stresses of the modern world and culture?

This one is a bit difficult to answer because I feel it can become so bashed online, yet we are there still becoming involved with it everyday. It's one of those things that I'll never understand: why we preach about hating the internet and sharing our stories, yet there we are, on the internet complaining about it! Ha! But I try my hardest to not be on social media when my son is around or needing my attention. Of course, I fail at this all of the time, and I try to not make myself feel lesser about it. It's just how life is now. As far as living a simpler life, I think that how "simple" you want to be is up to your own interpretation. For us, we still watch movies and television shows (we just have streaming networks, no cable), I still am on the internet to make my business work, and I still use social media to share my everyday happenings. For me, it's a way to connect with other people who share a similar taste of life that I do. It's also a way for me to make a living as a single parent. I have a passion for helping a movement blossom, and I love being able to further this backyard homesteading lifestyle in some small way, to help someone realize they can do these things themselves. I am kind of in the boat that simplifying life is to remove consumerism that our society clings to, to remove the items that we purchase just to throw away. I don't think that social sharing is something that can be thrown away; it's a resource to write my message out for others to read and hopefully to grasp. And if it were to disappear, well that'd be okay, too. I'd just write a book!

Your son, Tad, looks like such a sweet little boy! How do you feel this lifestyle will benefit him in the future vs a contemporary suburban upbringing?

Thank you so much! He's 2.5, so we have our good days and bad days - ha! You know, I am not really sure. If he is anything like I was as a teen, he'll be rebellious and act like he hates what I do. I used to tell my mother that I would never be an artist like her, and that ended up with opposite results. As for a contemporary suburban upbringing as you call it, I lived in a major city suburb for a few years before having him, and I absolutely hated it. Such conformity and consumerism happening over there! Where we live now has a lack of anything commercial to purchase, even our shopping mall is about 6 months behind everywhere else in the states, and I am grateful for that. We just purchase what we need and spend as much time outside as possible. I hope that he learns more about nature and plants than I did as a child, like the names of the trees and which wild plants are edible or dangerous. It's something that I wish I had known at a younger age - then it would have stuck better in my mind!

For a family that likes to travel as much as possible, how does homesteading affect your plans of taking vacations? When you do, what would be the longest amount of time you’d be comfortable leaving, assuming you had no one else to tend to your home?

Yes, traveling can be an issue when you own animals, even a garden. If there were no one to tend to my homestead, then I would probably say three days at the most. We just welcomed a couple of kittens to our homestead, which is nice since cats can kind of fend for themselves days at a time. As for the chickens, I am not sure they would last on anymore than three days on a single fill of feed and water, and they need to be let outside or they'll start to peck at each other. If you do want to try homesteading and love to travel for weeks at a time, I'd probably reconsider what exactly you want to do on your homestead and/or find a close friend or relative to take care of things while you are away!

What has been your greatest sacrifice and your greatest gain in this journey?

My greatest gain has been happiness, health, and knowledge. We've lost a lot of money investing in this new journey, but it's not something that we regret at all. Starting up a homestead at any scale can be pricey! The nice thing is that if you overproduce, you can always sell at a farmer's market. I don't feel like I've had to sacrifice much of anything this year! I still have time to meet with friends and share stories, I can still enjoy time alone, and I can still be a present mother to my young son. Money doesn't really mean much to me; I am happy with or without it!

I am so happy with the way this interview turned out and I hope you all find some inspiration within this post! Kay is, in my mind, a superwoman.

Kay, thank you so much for sharing! Friends, be sure to head on over to the blog! Below are a series of photos with links to some of my favorite blog posts.

[All photos within this post are courtesy of Kay Haupt and Under a Tin Roof.]

Be sure to click on each photo for some of my favorite Under a Tin Roof blog posts!