Birthday

Today is my birthday. So far I've gotten an assortment of gifts from recent outings.

This is a prank-free zone if the rest of the internet is annoying you today. Enjoy!

Aesthetics Bingo Card 4-1-25

Here is my card for the Aesthetics Bingo Fest over in allbingo. The fest runs from April 1-30. (See all my 2025 bingo cards.)

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.


AESTHETICS BINGO CARD

Whimsicraft / Funky Art Teacher	Wabi-Sabi	Mori Kei	Unicorncore	Bookstore Girl
Waldorf	Tuscan	Cottagecore	Psychedelic	Arts and Crafts Movement
Post-Apocalyptic	Coastal Style	WILD CARD	Angelcore / Demoncore	Thriftcore
Scandinavian Fashion / Decor	Bohemian / Hippie	Comfy / Cozy / Hygge	Solarpunk	Lagenlook / Layered Look
Gadgetpunk	Rainy Day	Dark / Light Academia	Mythpunk	Earth Tones

Poetry Fishbowl Open!

The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank your for your time and attention. Please keep an eye on this page as I am still writing.

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Cozy Coping Skills." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.

I'll be soliciting ideas for caregivers, first responders, counselors, clergy, outreach workers, activists, volunteers, teachers, parents, college students, bohemians, comares, superheroes, supervillains, other people who teach or use coping skills, meditating, crafting, playing music, forest bathing, relaxing, volunteering, supporting people in hard times, offering crash space, helping someone move, BookCrossing, yarnbombing, planting trees, creating intimacy, making friends, getting to know each other, cooking together, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, Triton Teen Centers, the Peace Store, charities, homeless shelters, sobering centers, mentor circles, support groups, churches, sharehouses, intentional communities, other polyhomes, life skills or family departments in schools, clubs, quiet rooms, inclusive workplaces, Thalassia, the Maldives, parks, community gardens, other peaceful hangouts, self-compassion, healthy touch, intentional neighboring, altruism, harm reduction, diversity, inclusivity, safety pin peace signs, interfaith work, family dynamics, alternative family structures, partnerships not based on sex/romance, emotional closeness, homemaking, hygge, hot tea or cocoa, comfort food, interspecies relationships, vivaria, trial and error, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.


34 Fuzzy Products To Make Your Life A Bit Cozier
35 Cozy Things For Every Room In Your Home
100 Simple Cozy Moments to Enjoy
150 Random Acts of Kindness
200 Coping Skills by Topic


Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:

Aesthetics Bingo Card 4-1-25


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One has neurodiverse characters coping with life in space.

Arts and Crafts America largely copes with challenges using creativity.

The Blueshift Troupers take care of themselves and each other while traveling the galaxy helping colonies solve problems.

Clay of Life has a lot of cozy coping moments between a blacksmith and a golem.

Daughters of the Apocalypse requires coping skills for survival.

Frankenstein's Family encourages coziness and companionship over torches and pitchforks.

The Moon Door features a women's chronic pain support group, which is all about being gentle with each other.

Peculiar Obligations has Quakers, who are good at coping skills.

Polychrome Heroics is largely about self-care and people helping people. Threads particularly focused on this include Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Aquariana, the Big One, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Rutledge, and Trichromatic Attachments.

Quixotic Ideas is fantasy with a high level of competence and compassion.

Schrodinger's Heroes save the world from alternate dimensions, and they take care of each other.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

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Birdfeeding

Today is cloudy and cool.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a  mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a mixed flock of blackbirds, and a mourning dove.

I put out water for the birds.

The first tulips are blooming pink and white around the barrel garden, and in the purple-and-white garden.

EDIT 4/1/25 -- We hauled the two bags of soil over to the hollow by the garden shed.  I'll need to open them later and spread the soil there.

EDIT 4/1/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/1/25 -- I dumped the soil out of the bags and spread it.  The hollow is not completely filled yet, but is considerably better. \o/

I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

I am done for the night.

Pinetree Garden Seeds Order

The plant part of my Pinetree Garden Seeds order arrived today.  In an envelope.  The ramps will probably be fine as they are bulbs.  The poor witch hazel was bent nearly double.  Yeah, it's a seedling, it's flexible, but now the bend doesn't want to come out all the way and the poor thing is L-shaped.  0_o  Just because it'll fit doesn't make it okay to mistreat it. 

Poem: "Kittens, Cocoa, and Cuddles"

This is today's freebie, inspired by wyld_dandelyon. It also fills the "earth tones" square in my 4-1-25 card for the Aesthetics Bingo Fest. It belongs to the series Arts and Crafts America.

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