Luna Moon

Here are my current collars! The purple one is my usual day to day collar, the camo one I usually only wear when out doing yard chores, and the other two are ones I wear occasionally. Sometimes when the "Luna" collar doesn't feel quite who we are. 
I used to make resin jewelry a long time ago, and I have thought about using resin to make tags for some of my various alters. I hear dollar tree now gets resin. I have seen the molds at mine, but I haven't seen the resin itself. I think it would be fun to make personalized tags using letter beads, dried herbs/flowers and fun finds. Metal tags make a very euphoric clang sound when worn, but getting a bunch of custom tags made can get a bit expensive. 

These are all collars I have bought for myself, mostly as a therian thing. Like yeah, they are getting used in the bedroom, but I mostly wear it because they make me feel more dog-;ike. I have been wearing my purple collar practically everywhere for about half a year now. I don't recall getting a single negative comment. Occasionally I get a compliment for another visibly queer person, but that is about it. I am not sure if people don't notice it or don't care, but I am glad. I live in a medium-small evenly split between red and blue type of town. 
I want to pick out a collar my wife can buy me. Not like The Collar, but just a collar that is from her. A friend recently showed me a website TagsfoHope and there was some cute designs. They were a bit pricey, but also there is a moon and butterfly/moth design they have right now I kind of want. And I could get a matching bandana. Ughhh but that is so much money too. 

Anywho, if you are in a heat wave like I am right now, I hope you are doing what you can to stay cool and hydrated! 

 Making a loaf of banana bread for my wife this morning while she is still asleep. She is being very kind and taking our (actual) dog to get her nails trimmed today. I usually can trim animal nails myself, but our last few rescues have been older dogs that probably weren't introduced to having their paws/nails handled outside of just grooming situations. Before our current dog, our previous rescue was very aggressive about having her nails done and I think I still have a lot of nail anxieties left from her. Thankfully since I volunteer there from time to time, the workers at the animal shelter trim her nails for us, but of course it can be quite noisy there. I love going to help walk dogs, but it is hard for me to be inside the actual shelter. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon that I am a feeling nervous about already, so my wife will be taking her. My mom is taking us and my father out for a father's day dinner tonight and I am just feel like I am trying so hard to manage my limited spoons and not blow them in one day. And just kinda feeling like this:


Besides just not liking the doctor in general (what chronically ill person does?), I have to do the dreaded task of asking for my medical accommodations to be renewed. My gastritis is not some short lived illness that would just go away in a few months like she thought. It is likely to be a lifelong illness for me that will flare from time to time. I am not interested in going through anymore scopes or scans, expensive procedures that just leave me broke, stressed, and embarrassed when I get told nothing significant showed up and nobody understands why I am "this sick". :/ Plus my POTS is acting up, which it isn't even acting up that bad, but my POTS is generally well managed with a daily beta blocker and extra sodium. So, anytime I do start having more symptoms than usual it does feel shocking. I had two days last week where being upright felt nearly impossible. 
All I want is to be able to call in more than once a month without fear of losing my job. Genuinely having 2 days a month I can call in without consequences would fix me. Okay maybe it wouldn't fix me, but it would make my life a hell of a lot less stressful. Not having to feel like I need to ration my call ins would be nice. My flares can be sudden, but they only last a day or two if I can actual just let my body rest. And I feel like I have to jump through hoops and a jig even to just get that approved (MetLife is very nice on the phone but the process is still tedious and annoying) 
I guess I am mostly nervous that I will need to confirm that yes, gastritis is likely a stress illness for me. I began working with a therapist who has kindly informed me they aren't surprised I am this sick and what I have is common with what mental struggles I am dealing with. But it seems like medicine doctors and therapy aren't always on the same page. There is also a personal shame that goes along with it. Like "oh yeah I was really sick last year and I still can't manage my mental illnesses right so I am still very sick". I worry about being dismissed as it is "just anxiety" like I have been before. I know if I am dismissed it means it is probably time to look for a new doctor, but that is a whole different kind of stress that I don't even want to think about yet either. 

About two years ago I was recommended a video about using storage totes to make a raised bed garden. I was actually in the process of cleaning up the house at that time, so I had a couple large totes that had been emptied out. My first try with them I made one and tossed some sunflower seeds in it, and they did fine. Last year I had two raised tote planters. This year I am expanding! I thought it would be fun to share how I set them up so that maybe you can try doing something similar in your garden! You should be able to source most of your supplies for this for cheap or free. ( Supplies you will probably need )

- Freya

Today we were out running errands and out mother offered to take us to the greenhouse. We were able to pick up about everything else we needed for our garden. The only thing we may still need is more bags of soil, but we are now good on plants for the season!

The tomatoes I got at the greenhouse were pretty tall already, but they aren't very stable. If you are newer to growing tomatoes, let me teach you a trick. Dig a deep hole to put your tomatoes in. If you are growing them in a put like me, dig all the way to the bottom. Pinch off all the leaves stems growing off the main stem except for a few near the top. Tomatoes can put off roots from the part of the stem, making your starting plant much stronger in the end. It isn't necessary, but it is pretty windy where I live, so this helps make the plant have a slightly more resistant to bending stem. 
I also throw one or two large comfrey leaves and a crumbled up egg shell in the hole before putting the tomato plant in there too. I hear mixed things from people if this really helps the plant or not, but I figure it doesn't hurt the plant and I always have an abundance comfrey but maybe not as many egg shells lately. 
These are either sun sugar or sun gold. I think the former, but the tag fell out of the nursery planter. They are a small tomato and do pretty well in containers with a cage and pole. I have grown this variety the past two years and I really enjoy them. They are good for snacking and salads. They, along with super sweet 100s, put off lots of tiny tomatoes. It is common for me to fill sandwich baggies full of them to toss at friends when I visit or they give me rides. 

I still have more I wanted to do in the garden, but I need to give my body a break for the evening. My work vacation is almost over. I may garden tomorrow, but I may also decide to give my body a day of rest before I return to work Monday (I work in a grocery store. Union pays us for the holiday, but it doesn't mean we get it off!!) 


- Freya

Today we needed to grab some feed for the chickens, and ended up grabbing a few herbs and vegetables as well. I still need to sit down and plan the garden out further, but this was all stuff I knew I would need. I have a container with basil and oregano growing together. There is also planters with lemon thyme and a large rosemary plant, and a hanging planter with some cherry tomatoes. And that plant growing all over the raised bed is chives that has been growing in there year after year for about 30 years.
This is all at the base of our stairs. I thought it would be nice to have for quickly grabbing something for cooking. I also would like to have a sage plant here, but I didn't see any at the store we stopped at. We also grabbed a couple other cherry tomatoes, peppers, and a pumpkin start. I am hoping the pumpkin can do well in one of the 16 gallon totes. It is one that grows the small, decorative type pumpkins. 
It is small, but I am already really happy with what I have so far! I love gardening so much, so I am really happy to be out there!!

- Luna

Yesterday my wife and I worked in the yard together. The main goal was to pull weeds, the secondary goal was to start getting my containers out for planing. My wife mostly worked on weeds while I bustled around moving planters around the yard and picking up trash that had been been blown in over the fall and winter. 

The photo above is of our backyard area. I keep our large 16 gallon raised planters, peppers, and potatoes back here.I haven't decided what I will put in the totes yet. They are good for one large single plant and an herb usually. Right now I have one that is full of dill and the other contains some sunflowers I will be transplanting around the yard. I am thinking about this year having a couple fall/winter squashes and I think they would of well in these. 
I got a new sun catcher/wind chime the other day too! I have had the chicken wind chime, but I saw the sun and moon one at the dollar store and really fell in love with the design. It looks really pretty when the sun is in this half of the yard in the evening. 

I also had an idea for putting a small herb garden at the base of the stairs for easy meal picking. I should have enough space to keep all my base herbs and also keep a small hanging tomato plant or two. I actually have a lot of ideas floating around in my head now of what we can do with the garden this year and I am really excited. We still have more weed to pull, and I need a more solid idea of what I need to pick up from the store, but I think we can have most of the garden in by the end of next week. 

I am on my second vacation of the year and I am super ready for this one. I have had a pretty eventful year to say the least, and both my body and mind need the rest. I have been working away at my crochet a little more these past few months, and even picked knitting back up again. I plan to spend a decent chunk of my vacation time working on some of my WIPs. If you want to see more individual pictures of projects or other project details, my Ravelry journal is here. Anyone is welcome to add me as a friend as well, but I don't use the social features there too often myself. 

From left to right 

Fight EB Scarf by Casapinka

This scarf pattern would be a really good pattern for an adventurous beginner in my opinion. This pattern has i-cord edging, simple lace work, and a small section that uses a cable needle. The pattern is made twice and then both pieces are connected using a three needle bind off. These are all things I have done myself, but as someone who has taken a bit of a break from knitting, this piece has been a nice refresher. I am using some leftover yarn from Stitch Together I bought a few years ago, but I don't remember the color name. I am not done, but I can say I would do this pattern again. It is a nice way to use up a chunk of leftover sock yarn and would work well for a quick gift project. 

Breath and Hope by Casapinka

This project is what I plan on spending most of my time with this vacation. I saw these two yarns in a project kit on my LYS and fell in love with the colors. A week later I was still thinking of the colors, so I decided to get it for myself as a vacation project. I picked out a different pattern than what my LYS showed though. I am glad I went back, as I really love seeing these colors together. My wife seems to really like it too, so we will probably end up sharing this shawl. It uses mosaic colorwork knitting, which is one of my favorites. 

Dillon Shawl by Sarah Korth 

This pattern uses some unique crochet stitches that I haven't used before that gives it an interesting texture. I really like the yarn I got for this project. It does give me trans pride vibes lol. I like this this is a simple repeat pattern, but uses a slightly more challenging stitch. I am close to halfway done. 

And that is what I am working on! I also have a shawl I finished this month that I plan on sharing on another post. What are some projects (knitting, crochet, or otherwise) you are working on? I am always looking for new patterns. 
- Luna