There is nothing quite like the promise a new year brings. If nothing else, you get to wash away the mental dirt of the past year and hope for new and better things. As such, I’m marching into 2024 feeling refreshed with many ideas of how to not only survive but thrive.
My first read of the year was an easy, fluffy, fantasy read. I sat down with my mug cake (chocolate with peanut butter chips, ala Reese’s) and hammered out half of the book in one sitting. Which was pretty simple, as the font is larger and 1.5 space. A former murderous orc decides to open up a coffee shop, coffee being unheard of in the city she chooses, and tries to make an honest living. An adorable coterie of characters joins her one by one. 5 out of 5 stars for me, making it a solid way to start off reading this year. (I only read 10 books in 2023, an all-time low. I accomplished zero of my bookish resolutions.)
One of my few resolutions for this year is doing more creative activities. I did succeed at starting that ambition towards the end of 2023 and I’m riding that high into this year. I’ve picked up a couple of old things I used do but that dropped off with the progression of life. I’ve started a sketch book again. I mean to get back to photography and keep trying new craft projects.
For Christmas, my aunt bought me this plant journal. (Check out my post Plantsteria for my rocket launch into that hobby.) I’ve started filling it out a little bit and I’m super excited about it. There is a section to attach pictures, but I have decided to draw the plants with color pencils. Moth is being a dear and giving me some of her old Prismacolor pencils to dabble with in the near future. I also received FOUR plant propagation stations from my aunt and husband. There may be a plant side hustle in my future or at the very least, a crap ton more plants in my house. But with this journal, I can keep track of the information needed on every plant I own and my successes and failures at making more of them.
One of the many cool presents I received from the indispensable Miss Moth, was two hand painted pots for plants. The Trick ‘r Treat one on the left being the first one that I transplanted my rattlesnake plant into. She was overdue for a new, slightly bigger pot. I think she’ll be happy here in the light of the aquarium, with her spider plant buddy and air plant neighbors. That’s seven plants in one spot if that gives you any idea about the rest of my house. :3 (Edgar strutting his stuff in the background.)
What does all of this mean for this blog in the next year? Anything and everything, my friends. I will be posting whatever random thing brings me joy and as the year progresses, probably some frustration posts as well. Overall, I am trying to remain positive and take things as they come. The last two years have been rough and I’m ready for that to turn around if only by the power of my determination.
Do you have any grands plans for your future?
I wish everyone nothing but wellness and joy in the times to come. ❤
I hope that you all had a lovely Halloween. I can confidently say that I celebrated my favorite month to the max. Horror movies are not a seasonal thing for me, so I have recently continued on my mission to watch ALL of the Friday the 13th movies in sequential order. Part 5 was a dud.
Anywho, just before my summer hiatus, I began another new obsession. I don’t think I ever posted about it, but I decided to try my hand at houseplants. I did consider myself a black thumb for the longest time but then I happened to keep the only plant in the pharmacy alive for going on 12 years now. This led me to think, why don’t I try a couple at home? Just before my birthday in April, I bought myself a bromeliad and my aunt bought me a money tree (the exact plant at the pharmacy that I’ve kept alive) and away I went on my new adventure.
It did not take long for any little thing to become a good reason to buy another plant. Earth Day? Buy three! Bad day at work? A new plant will help! Eventually, it led to a complete dining room revamp because why wouldn’t someone paint their dining room to better reflect their plants?
I like bold colors but when we bought our house, I chose a neutral color for the dining and living room because I wasn’t sure what color furniture we would get. 6 years later, it was time to be bold again. I chose Peacock House, a dark and lovely shade of green. It made the rich red wood trim pop and in combination with the small jungle I have amassed, I am absolutely in love. ❤
As you can see, the aquariums also fit right into the new motif. I have plans to expand the artwork on the walls and trail any climbing plants up the walls as well. When I said jungle, I meant it.
The plant collection has spread across the house, into the kitchen and Mr. C&M’s office. He has now also become a plant fan and we should not go plant shopping together. We end up with double the plants and he has some expensive taste. With winter coming, I have been concerned that my plants won’t do so well in our lovely windows as, being old, they’re quite breezy. So, I bought another plant stand and moved more to the side and now the old stand is in the office, with all the low light loving plants.
(Following the love of bold colors, Mr. C&M’s office is black and white. Future ideas pending, it may become my office and I already have decorating plans for it.)
Let’s talk plants! What is your favorite plant? You don’t have to own one just like them, or you can recommend one that I absolutely have to try. I really love talking plants.
Prior to my hiatus, I had rescued a couple of betta fish. Well, during my hiatus, I didn’t stop. I even attempted to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome. That didn’t work the way I had hoped. Not because of yours truly! But because of Mr. C&M. We will get to that story down the line.
There is a final number of bettas in the C&M household now. SIX. Far more than I had planned. So, today’s post will be an introduction and story to how each betta came to our home. If you don’t like looking at beautiful fish, stop here.
Booberry – You might remember the OG betta that reignited the love I have for bettas. He was sickly and discolored in his cup at a chain store. I convinced the cashier to give him to me for free. His color came back some but never has fully returned. He’s my largest betta in size and my favorite. I try to not have favorites but the first is always special. Plus, he just has such a dignified attitude. He resides in a 10-gallon tank. I’m planning an upgrade for him soon. I love aqua scaping and using live plants, so I’m planning some fancy renovations for him.
At the time I posted about this rescue, he didn’t have a name. (He was so small, he couldn’t fit the food pellets in his cup in his mouth. He was so thin, and I did not think he would make it. Store manager gave me a discount on him.) In fact, he remained nameless for a few months while he came into himself and inspired the proper name. Which per Mr. C&M was Fawkes, after Dumbledore’s phoenix. Look at that color up! He is our feistiest betta. He resides in a 20-gallon tank in Mr. C&M’s office. There were originally 3 guppies and 6 neon tetras with him, however the guppies attempted to bully him. 2 out of 3 met their demise because of their poor decisions. The third was moved in with Booberry who won’t put up with any shenanigans but doesn’t actively try to kill him either. The neons remain 6 and no one bothers anyone.
Edgar – This stuff muffin was not a rescue but a birthday present to myself. We were at an independent fish store for supplies and this little guy was on sale because he had been there for so long. (I will note that this fish store has them in actual filtered tanks and not cups.) It was almost my birthday and I have never had a betta of this fin type before, so here we are. Edgar resides in a 10-gallon tank and is currently under the weather from what, I have not determined yet. Keep your fingers crossed for my extra long-finned buddy.
King (RIP) – Historically, I have not had much interest in white bettas. While at Petsmart, I noticed this guy had an Adopt Me! sign on his cup. He had a condition called diamond eye. Diamond eye is when the scales start to grow over the eye and cause partial to full blindness. Adopting him was free, so of course, he came home with me. Unfortunately, despite being partially blind, he managed to jump out of the feeding hole in the lid (literally like 3″ x 1″) while we were gone for an entire day, and he died. I only had him a week and his death hit me harder than I expected. I would like to have another white betta one day.
Gourdie – This guy came to live with us after I had a particularly bad day at work. I decided to make myself feel better AND save a life, I would go rescue someone. It was a mission. I had almost given up, despite the historically bad care of bettas in stores, currently everywhere I went, they all looked rather healthy and not in need of my help. I spotted this unusually colored boy and took a closer peek. His fins were crumpled, and a part of his tail was missing. I didn’t even try to get a discount on him from the store, I was too ornery to interact with humans. His tail is almost fully grown back now. He remains this tangerine color which is fairly rare, and some light blue streaks that are coming in. He resides in the 3-gallon tank I had bought for King’s disability. Once Booberry receives his upgrade, Gourdie is in line for a larger set up.
Elvira – My only girl! I was at Petsmart for supplies and always at least look at the bettas. I had never seen a jet-black betta before. I’ve seen some black ones, but they always had another color spotting their bodies. But this girl, just black from nose to tail. I was telling Mr. C&M how cool she was over the phone, and he said, “Sounds like she should be named Elvira.” I told him that I didn’t buy her, and he said I probably should before someone else grabbed her up. As you can see in picture 2, she’s developed some deep red in her bottom fin. Between her color and her non-stop movement, she’s hard to photograph. She resides in a 5-gallon tank with mostly fake plants. She will also receive an upgrade after Booberry gets his. (Trickle-down effect.)
Lastly, we come to the boy that I did not plan on keeping. I didn’t know if I could even save him. The manager gave him to me for free, he was that bad. Picture 1 is what he looked like when he came home. He could not swim right. He stayed in that bent position most of the time. He had what is called Swimbladder disease. There are many possibilities to the cause, some reversible, some not. So, I thought to myself, if I save him, I will find him a new home. Mr. C&M wasn’t entirely thrilled that I had brought home “another one.” Fast forward to him getting better (he’s not 100% normal but pretty good!) and me thinking about posting him for adoption, and Mr. C&M informs me that he should be called Ace (after Ace Frehley) and he should stay. He had become attached to him. Here is when I realized that I could not continue saving bettas because we would end up keeping every single one. Ace still resides in this what we call ‘urgent care’ bowl. Smaller tanks are easier when medicating/rehabilitating. The environment and dosages are easier to control. Now that he is in good health, he will get an upgrade as well.
This won’t be my last betta post! Hopefully not because I’ve adopted yet another one, but because I find everything about them so fascinating and fun. I’ve learned SO much and I would like to extend that knowledge to others where I can. Plus, they’re really pretty to look at.
What do you think? Am I crazy? Are you a betta fan?
Look – I’m just going to stop saying anything about my absences because they keep happening and there really isn’t a good excuse. I’m flaky!
It’s almost one month since Icepocalypse 2023 happened, and our insurance adjuster won’t be out to look at the damage until Thursday this week. All the contractors we called to get estimates on repairs, have not called back. It’s been fun.
Anywho, the actual point to this post is as advertised in the title. My sweet little Booberry has been with me a month now and I’m starting to see some color come back. I’ve added more plants to his aquarium along with a few bottom feeder friends. (Might be getting some floating plants this week.) For tank mates, I decided on panda corydoras. They’re super cute. Luckily, when they were introduced, Booberry checked them out and then did not care one bit about their presence. I’ve watched one swim right into him and he’s just too chill to care. There are three of them so Mr. C&M decided they should be called Lock, Shock and Barrel from Nightmare Before Christmas. I agreed wholeheartedly.
Thanks to this first betta rescue, I’ve become obsessed with both bettas and aquariums again. I’ve really enjoyed learning about aquascaping, and all the plants that come along with it. I haven’t read a book in about a month because my nose is constantly in my iPad watching YouTube videos and researching any questions I have.
Which, leads me to the latest development…
Meet my latest rescue! *Insert hysterical laughter here*
This little guy is barely old enough to be sold. He’s very skinny because the pellets they’re trying to feed him don’t even fit in his tiny mouth. He has pretty much starved with food right in front on him. I just got him yesterday and I didn’t think he was going to make it. He pulled through the night and perked up a bit. No name until it seems like he’s going to be okay. I haven’t decided whether I will keep him or adopt him out. Time will tell.
If I’m absent again, just know that I’m somewhere, doing fish related stuff like setting up a hospital tank and planning future tanks. :3
Give me your best aquarium tips if you’ve got ’em!
One might think, can you rescue a fish? And the answer is, yes. From poor care by either people or the corporations that sell them. Now, it’s not actually something I had even thought about until IG showed me videos of a couple of ladies and their quests to revive sick fish/eels.
It also happens that stores tend to take very poor care of one of my very favorite fish. Bettas.
I’ve had many bettas in my life. I bought and kept countless ones when I was younger. My last one was in 2011. I was an adult at that point and took better care of things, so he lived for a few years if I remember correctly.
Not long after this realization, I found myself at a grocery store that just so happens to sell fish and what do you know? They were taking poor care of their bettas. Not all were sick but there were a few, unhealthy fellows. Convincing the cashier to give him to me for free took no effort. She promptly said, “YUCK!” and gave him to me. So that’s how I ended up with this guy:
As you can see, his color is bleached from all of his fins and head. Luckily, I don’t think he has fin rot but he was on his way. I don’t have fish, so I had to go out and buy all this stuff to essentially use as a hospital tank to nurse him back to health.
This has led me down the rabbit hole that is proper betta care. Little me would have had her mind blown at what crappy lives she was giving her bettas. (Although still better than in the stores.) It will probably take him about a month or so to heal. So, now the plan is to get a 5-gallon tank and try my hand at live plants, something I’ve never done. Should this little guy live, he’ll have a cool new home and a much more entertaining life. No name until he makes it. (Plus, I’m kind of married to naming him Booberry but I have a feeling he’s going to have a lot of teal and green once he’s healed. Not a color match to Booberry cereal.)
Long story short, welcome to my new obsession. Bettas and aquariums, as now I’m half tempted to just continue to rescuing bettas. Hard part would be finding them all homes though.
Even when money is tight, sometimes you just gotta treat yo self.
As a mood reader, the one thing I did not have in my collection to quench a thirst if it popped up, was any non-fiction. I’ve always liked learning and even though I’m in school currently, my brain still wants more.
This is my second ever order from Bookoutlet.com. Their prices are pretty incredible. I bought 7 books for $38. (That tops what I spend in all of 2022 on books but who cares?! Books!)
The tantalizing box!
True crime, non-fiction, mystery, dogs. The range is good with this lot. I’ve already started Death’s Acre so expect a review of that in the near future.
What treasures did you get in your latest book haul??
Ridley does not recognize Day Light Savings time. We should be getting an extra hour sleep but instead, I’ve already had my coffee because once I’m awake, I’m awake. It’s hard to stay mad at someone so especially cute though. He’s technically correct and it’s our usual time to get up and start the workday.
So, I thought, what better time to post a Ridley update? He has made a few appearances in posts but nothing substantial.
This boy is an absolute snuggle master. I’ve never had a dog that tried their best to melt into you. He loves kisses and boops my face when I haven’t given him enough. Seriously, each check, his forehead and sides and top of his nose must be kissed before he’s satisfied. He will happily sleep on top of myself or Mr. C&M which has been something to get used to. He sometimes lays his muzzle on top of my mouth and nose while I’m sleeping. I keep telling myself he’s not trying to snuff me out, but I could be wrong. There are worse ways to go.
In the beginning of October, we had a medical emergency with Ridley. What the vet thought to be torn soft tissue from a bad jump, ended up being an abscess that ruptured 36 hours later. Of course, after the vet was closed. Luckily for us, we have a vet tech friend that I was able to call. She walked us through how to take care of him until morning. If you’ve never experienced an abscess rupture, it’s horrifying, and I will never forget that smell. By the time we saw the vet the next day, they pretty much said to keep doing what we were already doing and added painkillers and antibiotics. This meant keeping him bandaged while the wound finished draining (days) and keeping him calm until the wound healed on its own.
After the initial horror show, he was a model patient. The first night, I was the only one he allowed to bandage him. The pain brought back his association of pain with men, and he would not allow Mr. C&M to touch him the first night. Later, he sweetly apologized to his dad for being mean by sulking up to him and covering him in kisses. From then on, we had no more issues taking care of him. (In the second picture above, you can see his injured shoulder after it closed up.)
November 12th will be 3 months since we rescued him. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind but we’re making baby step progress. The injury definitely set him back socially. The pain triggered his mistrust of humans again. So, it’s like we’re starting fresh and that’s okay. Recovery can’t be rushed.
BEEFCAKE.
He is finally at a healthy weight. He hasn’t been to the vet since his injury, but I think he’s right around 47 pounds. (He was only 30 when he arrived at the shelter. Skin and bones.)
Animal rescue is a journey. He’s recovery won’t happen overnight, but I am so glad to have this boy in my life. He’s an absolute clown and love bug. I can’t wait to share the holidays with him. He’s going to love it.
The weekend following Labor Day (yes, I’m STILL catching up) was Riptide 2022 at Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. It’s a several day competition of Rivals of Aether and Smash Brothers. Mr. C&M competed and the rest of us got to tag along at a significantly reduced price thanks to the tournament. Mr. and Mrs. Ignited Moth kindly joined us and made the long weekend SO much more fun.
For two days, we had the entire waterpark pretty much to ourselves. No lines for the slides, no one else cruising the lazy river. No children screaming. THAT was the life. Swim up bars might be my new favorite thing. Especially when it was actually a swim up hot tub. I think our bones were cooked to jelly by the time we left.
It was the relaxing weekend (except for Mr. C&M, he was stressed competing) that we all needed. We plan to make this an annual event.
Note to anyone thinking of going to Kalahari – the booze is very expensive and only one drink was really worth the money. Food was also expensive but incredibly good. There is plenty to do in the resort. We didn’t leave other than to get supplies for the entire 4 days we were there. The arcade is NOT worth it. The crane machines purposely drop your grab halfway to the hole, every single time. How did we get the plushies below? TOO much money and some were purchased at the convention.
I’ve also decided to keep a travel notebook. It’s a fun way to track what we did while on vacation and also a good reference guide for when we return to places. (This place had amazing food! This place was garbage!)
Does anyone else keep a travel notebook? What fun things do you keep in there?
Special thanks to the Moths for making our weekend an absolute blast and being the BEST travel buddies! ❤
Oh yeah, I totally jacked that title just because a river runs through my town.
The last couple of weeks have felt very hectic. We’ve been doing something every weekend, so it was good to take a morning and sit by the river. Mr. C&M loves to fish, so he fed all his worms to the nice fish while I took pictures and just soaked in calm, lazy river atmosphere.
Chicory
What was your favorite thing that you did this past week/weekend?
Welcome to my new happy place folks. Mr. C&M and I were wandering around, checking out state parks and happened across this secluded fellow.
Spiderworts
It’s a state park and waterfowl preserve. Certain times of the year, endangered bird species come here to reproduce. No boats allowed and you can only fish during certain months of the year (the ones opposite of breeding season). So, Mr. C&M took up his reel and caught a decent number of perch and sunfish while I wandered around taking pictures of everything under the sun with my fancy camera. (These are phone photos.)
A small herd of deer came down and walked through the water, not caring very much that I was there. A great blue heron flew back and forth across the lake catching his breakfast. Massive bullfrogs called to one another and there were red-winged blackbirds everywhere. The air randomly smelled of wild roses. It was perfect and it’s only 20 minutes from our house. With gas prices being so high, this is probably where you will find us for most of the summer.
For anyone interested, there is a wonderful app called iNaturalist, where you can take pictures of plants and search their database in order to learn what you’re looking at. That is how I learned that this lovely purple flower is called Spiderworts. Not sure what it did to deserve that name but there you have it.
cupcakesandmachetes 