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Fannish things that have made me smile in the last few days.
The Downton Abbey trailer is out for A New Era. I remain sad it won't be my cinema Christmas film this year, but can cope with waiting a few months I guess.
Also, the character posters for Hawkeye that were released, especially Lucky. I saw that and couldn't help smiling and really hope I can find it made into an icon, because look at him!
Chris posting with Lance and Joey. I approve!
To finish the insta links. Mikey's daughters watching him sound check. I've said it before, but he's a million miles from the person he was when I first got into bandom. I will forever miss the eyeliner, SoL days etc, but I enjoy him like this, too.
Non-fannish, it was a very company rich weekend last week. The meal out with Pauline went well, though really, she's happy any time she gets to go out and have a meal. It was only a chain pub but the food was nice and the company good which really is what matters.
Saturday it was my youngest nephew's 6th birthday and we went for a meal at The Stack. With it being on the seafront and an open area surrounded by containers, each one having a food shop or bar inside, I worried it would be cold, but they had all the outside heaters on and I nabbed a seat under one and to be honest, I was a bit too hot by the time we left.
Fannish niece did turn up and it seems she's got herself a new job taking photos at events like the LOL Doll tour. My SiL has approached the situation by telling her what she did was wrong, upset people and that she needs to keep in touch, even if it's just a message once in a while to let people know she's okay. Other than that, a line has been drawn, things have been put behind them and the first awkward meeting done. So it worked out the best it can really. I do think my niece has things going on she should probably talk about, because the things she and her family went through in the last years would upset anyone, but for now she knows she's got a family who still loves her and a listening ear if needed.
On the evening we drove her back to the train station with my MiL and ended up hanging in Costa for an hour talking about Umbrella Academy and Squid Game, so that was a good catch-up.
Sunday was the party and I guess all I can say is, over 50 six-year-olds plus siblings are loud. My SiL had gone all out as my nephew had never had a party before, getting a man who made balloons and a face painter and had 70 goodie bags to give out and lots of food and it was just contained chaos. But all the bairns loved it, so while my ears were ringing I'm not complaining -- too much.
This week I've been helping James with personalised cat tree ornaments. The shelter where we got Murphy is a small independent run solely by one woman and a few volunteers who foster for her. Covid means she's lost most of the events that would usually generate money so she's been relying on online donations, and two weeks ago the money ran out. She had to cancel all non-urgent medical care for the cats and shut the shelter doors to any new animals, which was heartbreaking. People have been helping with raffles etc and James offered personalised pyrography decorations. He bought some cat blanks, I had the stamps to cover postage, so for a suggested donation of £2 each, he made over £50, which is great. He did the burning, I helped with admin, and thankfully, with everyone joining together, the shelter doors are open again.
The Downton Abbey trailer is out for A New Era. I remain sad it won't be my cinema Christmas film this year, but can cope with waiting a few months I guess.
Also, the character posters for Hawkeye that were released, especially Lucky. I saw that and couldn't help smiling and really hope I can find it made into an icon, because look at him!
Chris posting with Lance and Joey. I approve!
To finish the insta links. Mikey's daughters watching him sound check. I've said it before, but he's a million miles from the person he was when I first got into bandom. I will forever miss the eyeliner, SoL days etc, but I enjoy him like this, too.
Non-fannish, it was a very company rich weekend last week. The meal out with Pauline went well, though really, she's happy any time she gets to go out and have a meal. It was only a chain pub but the food was nice and the company good which really is what matters.
Saturday it was my youngest nephew's 6th birthday and we went for a meal at The Stack. With it being on the seafront and an open area surrounded by containers, each one having a food shop or bar inside, I worried it would be cold, but they had all the outside heaters on and I nabbed a seat under one and to be honest, I was a bit too hot by the time we left.
Fannish niece did turn up and it seems she's got herself a new job taking photos at events like the LOL Doll tour. My SiL has approached the situation by telling her what she did was wrong, upset people and that she needs to keep in touch, even if it's just a message once in a while to let people know she's okay. Other than that, a line has been drawn, things have been put behind them and the first awkward meeting done. So it worked out the best it can really. I do think my niece has things going on she should probably talk about, because the things she and her family went through in the last years would upset anyone, but for now she knows she's got a family who still loves her and a listening ear if needed.
On the evening we drove her back to the train station with my MiL and ended up hanging in Costa for an hour talking about Umbrella Academy and Squid Game, so that was a good catch-up.
Sunday was the party and I guess all I can say is, over 50 six-year-olds plus siblings are loud. My SiL had gone all out as my nephew had never had a party before, getting a man who made balloons and a face painter and had 70 goodie bags to give out and lots of food and it was just contained chaos. But all the bairns loved it, so while my ears were ringing I'm not complaining -- too much.
This week I've been helping James with personalised cat tree ornaments. The shelter where we got Murphy is a small independent run solely by one woman and a few volunteers who foster for her. Covid means she's lost most of the events that would usually generate money so she's been relying on online donations, and two weeks ago the money ran out. She had to cancel all non-urgent medical care for the cats and shut the shelter doors to any new animals, which was heartbreaking. People have been helping with raffles etc and James offered personalised pyrography decorations. He bought some cat blanks, I had the stamps to cover postage, so for a suggested donation of £2 each, he made over £50, which is great. He did the burning, I helped with admin, and thankfully, with everyone joining together, the shelter doors are open again.
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Your icon is fabulous!
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Over 50 kids?!! Holy moly. A half dozen or so create more chaos than I'm comfortable with.
That's too bad about the shelter. Yay for you and James helping out with the cat tree ornaments.
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I know! When my SiL told me how many she'd invited I thought she was out of her mind. They all had a good time but it was chaos for a good two hours.
The shelter shared some of the vet bills and there were eye-watering. So, any little helps.
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I love the idea of that ornament fundraiser - what a great idea
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The fundraiser went better than we expected. Now I just need to go post the envelopes this afternoon and it'll all be done.
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That's such a cute photo of Mikey's kids.
I'm glad to hear things with fannish niece and her family are looking more positive. As you say, both she and your SiL would probably benefit from talking with a therapist but at least they're no longer actively at odds.
I feel exhausted just hearing about the party!
That's wonderful of James! So good to hear the shelter could open again.
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It is a cute photo. It must be lovely to be at the point where you're still doing something you love while your kids can look on.
Getting away is probably what my fannish niece needed, but I'll forever regret she did it the way she did. From what I can infer from what she was saying everything had built up and she couldn't face coming home that night. But even one short phone call would have helped.
The party was a lot and that was me just being a guest and doing little except bringing in food etc at the start.
I suspect the shelter will always be in financial trouble until fundraising events can happen physically again. But, they're open again for now so that's good.
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I'm glad to hear your niece did actually show up! And that sounds like a very reasonable boundary your sister-in-law has set in terms of recognizing the harm done while maintaining a loving relationship.
And that's great of James and you to donate his (and your) work for the shelter!
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And that sounds like a very reasonable boundary your sister-in-law has set in terms of recognizing the harm done while maintaining a loving relationship.
I agree, my niece had to understand what she did was wrong, but also had to know it wasn't something she'd be cast aside for. So the balance was achieved I think.
♥
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The kids' party sounds like a very wholesome and delightful version of hellish!
The project with the pyrographic cat ornaments sounds lovely. Well done you and James!
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Did you see the Insta post of Chris and Joey holding the twins? It was very adorable.
The party was a lot. All the kids had fun but the noise was relentless.
The cat ornaments came out nicely. They've started arriving too and people seem to like them which is lovely.