hkellick | Network

1. I keep seeing posts from Sidecar Donuts on my instagram feed and have been meaning to try them out, so this morning I walked over there for breakfast. It's about 1.3 miles and my usual morning walk is 1.5, so even if I went straight there and back it's almost double, so not doable on a work day (which is just as well), but nice for an extra long weekend walk. I actually went a few blocks out of my way, too, to make it more like four miles total.

I was planning on just getting one donut and a drink, but couldn't resist a second one. This is a banana bread latte, Apple Pan apple pie donut, and huckleberry donut. I ate the apple one there and brought the huckleberry one home for tomorrow, but I did have a taste of it already because they had samples out. Both were super tasty. The latte was just okay. I opted for no walnut topping but it still had a stronger walnut flavor than I would prefer.

2. I am bummed to go back to work tomorrow, but I did have a very nice long weekend!

3. Ollie hopped up on this shelf before I noticed! D: Thankfully I was able to extract him before he did any damage (though of course I had to take several photos first lol).

kaydeefalls

I had taken the whole Thanksgiving week off work, as per my habit the past few years to use up vacation time, in order to have a nice chill writing staycation. And instead my wife was hospitalized all week following a day in the ER and emergency surgery to repair what turned out to be a hole in her stomach. You know, like you do.

She's back home as of last night, which is good, because hospitals suck. Does mean I'm now her fulltime caregiver through recovery, which, given how escalatingly bad her health has been over the past couple of years, is also just...unfortunately normal. Everything in her body is just going haywire for no discernible or diagnosable reason, basically. We thought she had an MS diagnosis earlier this year; nope! She doesn't actually meet the markers! So back to the drawing board in terms of what the actual fuck is wrong with her. But basically, she's completely physically disabled at this point, I'm the sole income for our household, and everything is stressful and exhausting all the time. When she's not immediately post-surgery, she's still baseline functional in terms of being able to take care of herself physically, so we're not at THAT level of awfulness yet. But she's basically just in a huge amount of pain at all times, and it sucks. Throwing a fucking hole in her stomach - and the doctors have no idea what caused it! - on top of everything she's already going through is just kicking her while she's down at this point.

Also it took the ambulance an hour and forty minutes to get to her when we called 911, in order to take her to the ER that's literally less than a 10-min walk away, where she lay in pain on a stretcher in the hallway for ten hours before the doctors finally did the CT scan that prompted them to immediately rush her into surgery. So like. That was a fun cherry on top of the trauma sundae.

So yeah. That's how we're doing. I am running on fumes at this point. But, y'know, back to work as usual tomorrow morning. At least I fully work from home, which, in addition to health insurance, is why I can never quit my job even though I really hate the org at this point.

I just...don't see how anything is going to get better, after experiencing it all get so much worse over the past few years. And that's really, really hard. Fandom is pretty much the only thing keeping me sane at this point.

Sorry for the downer post. I'm just so fucking tired.

Current Mood: exhausted

kaberett

... to be expanded on tomorrow. <3

oursin

Last week's bread almost held out - lasted pretty well, but not quite to the end of the week.

Friday night supper: penne with bottled sliced artichoke hearts.

Saturday breakfast rolls: Tassajarra method, approx 50:50% Marriage's Light Spelt and Golden Wholegrain, maple syrup, raisins, turned out rather well.

Today's lunch: partridge breasts with a rub of salt, 5-pepper blend, coriander seeds and thyme, panfried in butter and olive oil, deglazed with white wine; served with kasha, buttered spinach and sugar snap peas stirfried with garlic.

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nanila

Watch on YouTube

Apparently I went for a lot of canal walks this month. This was partly because both children were off school for multiple days with a high fever, and I worked from home far more than I’d planned. There are even more cats than usual, too, because I made a lot of new, temporary moggie friends in Cyprus.

dolorosa_12

This was my first full weekend back home after returning from Australia, and it was very much a return to normality in the best possible way. Yesterday rained on and off (the BBC weather website, which always errs on the side of apocalyptic, had been making dire warnings, but in the end there were just a few short bursts of heavy rain), unfortunately coinciding with the times I was walking to the gym, to the library, and home. Today was clear, still, and bitterly cold.

While I was struggling through my first fitness classes in the three weeks (today, my arms and legs ache), Matthias was struggling through the rain to pick up this year's Christmas wreathe, which is now hanging on the front door, bright with happy bursts of red berries. Other than those morning excursions, we spent the remainder of Saturday indoors, with the biathlon on in the background, grazing, and drinking Australian coffee (me) and Australia tea (Matthias).

Saturday night films are back on the agenda with a bang: The Menu, a blackly comedic horror film about a small group of people transported to an isolated island for an exclusive degustation menu with a celebrated chef, who end up getting a lot more than they bargained for. Horror is not my first-choice genre, but this was excellent and very, very clever (if not at all subtle). As well as the constant threat of violence, the true horror of the story is the characters unmoored and bewildered by the excruciating situation of social conventions overturned. ( Possibly spoilerish? )

This morning I walked through the chilly stillness of the morning to the pool, which was uncharacteristically empty for a Sunday morning: I had the fast lane to myself for the entire 1km swim, which has never, ever happened to me. That good start seemed to set me up for the day, which mostly involved working on the first of my planned Yuletide treats, interspersed with yoga, and a walk along the river with Matthias.

The evening promises cosy cooking, and cosy TV: the perfect close to a great couple of days.

I'll finish this post with a couple of fannish events whose sign-up periods are closing soon.

The first is the reccing event that

goodbyebird is running:

Welcome to Rec-Cember, the month long multi-fandom reccing event. Let's recommend some fanworks! Let's appreciate and comment on those fanworks!

rec_cember . intro . sign ups

Sign-ups close today.

Second is

fandomtrees, the multifandom gift fest that runs over the end of this year and the start of the next. The sign-up post is here, and you have until 5 December to sign up.

brightknightie

As this US Thanksgiving weekend draws to a close, I'd like to tell you, my Dreamwidth community, how very thankful I am for you. ♥

You are my fannish air and breath. You are a refuge. You are a delight. I look forward to what you share with me. I love what DW gives us, this text-driven, words-rich, open world of connections we choose.

I wish there were more of us. I wish we all had more time and spoons to play here with each other. I wish fandom still practiced certain customs that it doesn't seem to anymore.

But that's okay. I have you. And I'm truly grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

pensnest

It was Long-Tailed Tits day today! There were about eight of them—they are very hard to count—at the feeders today. Very sociable diners, all clustering together. So cute!

*

Have been trying to help our Boy prep for a job interview again. He has many good examples of where he has been an Excellent and Useful employee, but he is not at all fluent at expressing them.

*fingers crossed*

*

Concert last night at one of the localmost churches, which is a very pleasant place in which to sing. We sounded good. It was nice.

ruric

December looms which means I have 3.5 weeks to get my flat in order so I don't spend the time I have off work stressing about going into the new year totally disorganised. Challenge accepted!

#ORJENISE100 I've started on these but not finished any yet.

HOME: have maintained tidy kitchen, bathroom, hall, landing, stairs which is a win. I'm chipping away at the bedroom but plan to push on with this a couple of nights next week. Aiming to have it at least tidy by close of play 7 December.

HEALTH: pretty good!

LIFE ADMIN: a little financial jiggery pokery.

DIGITAL DECLUTTER: got email down to 11,500 then it went back up to 12,000 but currently back to 11,700. Need to set aside 30 mins a day to deal with archived folders. No progress on phone images recently. May just need to leave this to Xmas hols!

GARDENING/ALLOTMENTING: just have the three living room windows boxes to do. Still not made it into the back garden Lots of tidying to do in the tiny back gardenmnor taken the compost to the allotment, also have to sort out houseplants. More tasks for Xmas hols.

COOKING/EATING: last week was still about eating down deli items and living on sandwich lunches. Onn the plus side my fridge is almost empty for my next Oddbox which arrives on Friday and I am currently defrosting some stuff from the freezer to see me through next week and I plan to make a giant curry tomorrow.

READING/LISTENING: nope.

WATCHING: still watching Pluribus and Robin Hood. I like how they've pitched this iteration with Henry II gallivanting in France, we get Eleanor of Aquitaine scheming, plus Sean Bean is a pretty decent Sherrif caught between a rock and a hard place. Since I subscribed to Acorn TV I've had detective shows on in the background. Have just hammered through Hinterland which would lead you to believe Aberystwyth is the murder capital of Wales - it led me to check 34 homicides in the whole of Wales in 2021/22. It was a good show with a compelling storyline through all 3 seasons but was grim viewing. I'm ready for an overload of saccharine Hallmark Xmas movies now.

CREATING/LEARNING: I've been to one Monday and a couple of Friday crochet sessions. I think I'm going to pass or only do 1 Monday a month and focus on the Friday lunchtime ones. I've almost finished my freestyle beanie hat and the Xmas garland is coming along. We did granny square Xmas trees on Friday which are cute and simple - finished one in class and made 5 more at home. Also made some simple stars at home. Focusing at the moment on fast makes that can be completed in 15-30 mins and have been raiding Pinterest and YouTube for free patterns. I also bought a giant load of wool (thank you Black Friday sale) from Wool Warehouse so I can make a start on the totally mad granny square blanket next year. I seem to also have acquired lots of wool over the last year - obviously bought for specific projects but I did not label them at the time (yet another task for the Xmas hols).

CATS: all good.

VOLUNTEERING: still can't get back into allottment Insta but did chase up the other things I needed to do. Will miss next committee meeting tomorrow as it's the AGM for the 23 sites at work tomorrow night.

SOCIALISING: online catch up with friends last Thursday which was good.

WORK: did 3 late night's last week with a colleague as we're both inundated. Productive but long days and it did mean last week was all about work and nothing else! No work-life balance at all. Which I will remedy in December and in to 2026!

oursin

Happy birthday,

smw!

shadowhive

So the past few days have been a bit… ugh. Both due to energy and mood (not helped and partially caused by uni assessment) but there’s also been good things (thanksgiving [the film not the holiday], the fortnite event yesterday) but I’m not gonna talk about them here. Maybe there’ll be a post about those things later but…

Nee Stranger Things episodes went live! They went live here at 1am Thursday (so Wednesday night really) but that was too late for me (especially as I was finishing Thanksgiving). I had hoped to watch one ep on Thursday but couldn’t fit it in (and then energy crashed). So it ended up being the first two eps Friday and then the last two last night.

So! Ima gonna post thoughts and feelings under the cut, I will be posting stuff under ep titles (which’ll be bolded) so you can just avoid the latter ones if you’ve not seen them all. BUT obviously this willl be spoilery.

So! Let’s get into it.

( Read more... )</lj-cut! Non Stranger Things plans for the rest of the day *New Fortnite season *do more Marvel snap (and get pissed at it crashing) *Finally watch Sonic 3 *Shoto spooky stream *Work on/finish fic *Sunday night tv *Perfect or Darkest Miriam on Amazon prime (I’m leaning to Perfect)

Current Mood: nerdy
Current Music: Abba - Fernando

rydra_wong

✨ holiday love meme 2025 ✨
my thread here

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Posted by Frank

https://postsecret.com/2025/11/30/sunday-secrets-580/

https://postsecret.com/?p=51293

The post Sunday Secrets appeared first on PostSecret.

https://postsecret.com/2025/11/30/sunday-secrets-580/

https://postsecret.com/?p=51293

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Posted by Frank

https://postsecret.com/2025/11/30/petty-aunt-pie/

https://postsecret.com/?p=27718

[Written On Back]
*This recipe has been a family secret for 100 years. It’s a great pie, and deserves to be shared. My petty, vindictive aunts don’t deserve to keep it to themselves. I love and miss you, Grandma!*

[PostSecret Facebook Comments]
My “Petty Aunt Pie” just came out of the oven. Looks and smells delicious. Can’t wait to eat it! I miss my Grandma too. I understand why you posted.

I have this theory that people hoard good recipes to maintain friendships with people.

I make this pie every year since I saw the secret! Delicious. Squeeze liquid out of the grated apples first, though.

I want a thread of forbidden family recipes. I’ll go first. Mother puts almond extract in the buttercream frosting. That’s the mystery flavor.

We put some of Mom’s recipes on her memorial cards for people to take with them (of course, we saved a couple of the most loved for just the family).

It sounds great! I hope it brings you joy that it will be made all over the place and everyone will think of your grandma.

The first keepsake I look for when a loved one dies – the recipe box.

Read the full article from the Today Show website.

*What’s that little extra flavor in this? Is it pettiness? Is it an extra pinch of cinnamon? Who knows. Either way, savor each bite knowing it’s pissing off someone’s aunt somewhere.*
[Preparation Tips]

I made two versions of the Petty Aunt Pie [see chart] and distributed pieces around town as I did some errands. Some went to friends, others I gave to complete strangers, including a guy holding a sign that said “hungry and homeless”. Next time I’ll carry some forks with me.

Hi, Frank,
The pie is my secret. I didn’t intentionally time my secret to coincide with Thanksgiving, but it seems to be kismet. My heart is so full of joy that my grandma’s pie is going to be on Thanksgiving tables.

The post Petty Aunt Pie appeared first on PostSecret.

https://postsecret.com/2025/11/30/petty-aunt-pie/

https://postsecret.com/?p=27718

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Posted by Frank

https://postsecret.com/2025/11/30/classic-secrets-588/

https://postsecret.com/?p=51311

The post Classic Secrets appeared first on PostSecret.

https://postsecret.com/2025/11/30/classic-secrets-588/

https://postsecret.com/?p=51311

elisem

He were brilliant.

Mr Ford took me to London (first class, yet, as he had to use up a lot of frequent flyer miles on a reorganizing airline, so we went fancy) to see Arcadia at the NT. It was stunning.

Glad we had him on the planet. He will be missed.

lycomingst

I bought a six foot artificial tree. I don't think I've ever had enough room in the places I've lived for a tallish tree and I saw a sale at the hardware store. It looks like a $30 tree but it's just background for the glamor you add, right? I hauled out the Christmas gear. One set of lights didn't work and got tossed, one set blinks and there's no stopping it. I tried.

I found only one box of balls. They are so old and fragile that even though they're plastic, they shatter like glass when they're dropped. The cat proved that to me. But I have small sets of angel ornaments to pop on. No cats have, as of yet, expressed interest in climbing the tree.

The overachieving neighbor has set up her outdoor lights. Winking and blinking at us.

The SEASON is officially opened.

The color of infinity inside an empty glass

The random insanity of your not-entirely-typical geek

Daily Happiness

it never ends

vital functions is once again a placeholder

Culinary

Link Click: LC Rare Character Semiflash

Sense8 Holiday Gift Exchange

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Weaving the threads of the sky

PerfectWorldShipping Week 2026

Thank you for being here

you don't climb that ladder you're just the rung

Week 49 - final month almost here!

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Can you here the drums

It's been a hard year

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