#this has been living in my head rent-free since Flour

[lunasohma]

a twist of lemon

[ chapter list / bakery au tag ]

[ ao3 / ff.net ]

Seiji’s just a little bitter. / a bakery au

Le Petit Chaton. A charming bakery and café known for its cat-themed pastries, sweets, and breads. Enjoy drinks and light fare on the outdoor patio shaded by fruit trees.

Catering available.

Le Petit Chaton is closed today.

—

The batter for the genoise had gone irreparably flat, but that couldn't be helped.

For Matoba Seiji has an immense need to be beating something to a near-death right now, and this was the only thing he could do for that something not to be a someone. As they say: Better spilt batter than spilt blood. Probably.

To his credit, the someone in question is keeping his distance now.

“Mice?” Shuuichi had posited, barely a squeak. Fitting.

“They got into the locked front cases!”

“…Opposable thumbs?”

“Natori Shuuichi, so help me—”

Shuuichi was now quietly attending to the mess. A macabre graveyard of half-nibbled pastries and buttered crumbs that they had walked in to this morning.

Seiji had not screamed.

When Nanase comes in, she listens to more of their theories, arbitrating effectively until the discussion gets heated again. Ever quick to avoid the ensuing crossfire between them, she hightails it to the back office to deal with orders and rescheduling.

Seiji tracks Shuuichi as he half-paces half-sweeps, stopping every now and then, muttering under his breath and lost in thought. He’s always thought that Shuuichi’s thinking face was cute, but Seiji doesn't think he can take much more of this.

He is about to say something when Shuuichi passes the kitchen and pauses to peek inside.

“Hey Seiji, did you see that one of the windows is open?”

“What?” A flash of irritation. An open window is a very Shuuichi move. There’s nothing he relishes more than a night’s breeze.

‘Fresh air is good for you!’ While they're washing up for the night. Like a puppy with his head out the car window, Seiji swears. Something about growing up in the countryside.

‘Yes, yes, make sure you close them.’

How many times has he told him as such?

He stalks over to Shuuichi.

“I didn't leave it open, I—” All at once, his excuses fall silent. He quickly shuts the kitchen door.

“What are you doing? Covering up your crimes?”

“I would never.” Shuuichi flashes a grin at him, back up against the door. Guilty.

“Seiji, listen.” He narrows his eyes in suspicion. “I'll be right back. And you, uh, stay here and don’t go into the kitchen until I get back. Sound good?”

He's sparkling in earnest and the joke’s on him because Seiji has built up an immunity to those sparkles a long time ago. He feels his temper spike.

Don't go? How ridiculous. What are you saying? I’m not the one gallivanting off to who knows where in the middle of this crisis!

“So what you're saying,” Seiji lets ice creep into his voice, “is that I should stay here and not go into my kitchen while you run off to—?”

Undeterred, Shuuichi presses a kiss to his forehead. “That’s it! I promise I'll be right back.” Another kiss for good measure.

Before he can escape, Seiji grabs him by the back of the collar and hauls him back around to face him again.

“What is the meaning of this, Shuuichi?”

“Do you trust me?” The question startles him as does the earnestness Shuuichi asks it with. He answers the only way he can.

“Of course I do. But I don't see what that has to do with—”

“Thanks, Seiji.” His eyes are gentle. Tucking a piece of Seiji’s hair behind his ear, he laughs fondly.

“You've got flour on your nose.” Seiji furiously swipes at it, ducking his face, feeling his ears begin to redden.

“Promise me? I'll come right back.” And he leaves.

—

Has Seiji ever been good at promises?

He disposes of the poor, abused genoise, flips the front sign to ‘closed’, and draws the shades partway. He pesters Nanase one too many times and is chased out of the office.

Where are you, Shuuichi?

Then he remembers the croissant dough chilling in the walk-in.

Don't go in the kitchen! The voice of Seiji’s conscience has long since been replaced by the voice of Natori Shuuichi.

Has Seiji ever been good at doing what he’s told?

—

Seiji pushes his way into the kitchen and forgoes the lights for the early morning sun streaming through the (still open!) window. With a sigh, he leaves it for now. The birdsong cheers him a little. They really do like the trees.

He starts to make his way over to the walk-in. And stops.

He knows it's only Shuuichi’s paranoia that is making his rationale quail in the face of… something.

No, he means nothing.

It's just a prickle at the back of his neck. Easy enough to ignore as he retrieves his pastry.

And now, the window.

Seiji freezes. No, he can't move.

Well.

He can breathe.

He can blink.

But there is a fear that stays his voice.

Only after a small eternity, it is over.

Seiji does not run. But he does lock the door behind him.

—

“I've brought Takashi!”

Seiji looks up from rolling croissants.

“…Why have you brought Takashi?”

Takashi looks to Shuuichi expectantly. But all at once, Seiji forgets his own question.

Because in Takashi’s arms, there is an impossibly round tri-colored cat. A veritable potato on toothpicks. The cat looks awfully soft and Seiji reins himself in.

“Good morning, Seiji-san,” Takashi greets him. “You haven't met my cat yet, have you?” It looks like a maneki-neko. A thought floats through his mind—the cat deciding that it’s done with beckoning fortune and going for a stroll instead.

“This is Nyanko-sensei.” Seiji didn't know what he was expecting, but somehow it was very Takashi.

“That’s very… charming.” The cat’s eyes meet his, unblinking. He seems to appraise Seiji in a way that makes it feel like his very soul is on display. Well, that's no surprise. Cats are special like that.

He is ever charmed as Nyanko-sensei sniffs his offered hand before lowering his head to accept a pat. So… soft!

Takashi smiles. “I think he likes you.”

“You've been keeping him from me, haven't you?” Seiji glares venomously at Shuuichi. The cat gives a rumbling purr that almost sounds like a laugh.

Shuuichi holds his hands up in surrender, but he can't help his expression. He looks like a man in love. Seiji can't help but stare.

—

“Coffee!” Shuuichi makes his way over to his beloved espresso machine.

“Yes, do. It’s only fair. You dragged poor Takashi out at this ungodly hour.”

Takashi shakes his head good-naturedly.

Natsume Takashi knows how to be patient when it comes to Shuuichi. It's a patience learned early on when Shuuichi used to babysit the younger and only reinforced when Takashi grew out of that age. He's recently moved to the city for school, close enough to their place for him to be a regular dinner guest.

And he's quite the goldmine of embarrassing childhood stories starring one Natori Shuuichi, which he never hesitates to dispense over said dinners with a pleasant smile.

He can also occasionally be seen talking to thin air.

Seiji had meant to mention it to Shuuichi at some point but kept missing the timing. He still hasn't. Maybe he was being silly, but it felt private.

Seiji sets a saucer of milk and a fresh croissant down for Nyanko-sensei.

“That’s very kind of you, Seiji-san.” He's slightly embarrassed. “I spoil him too much.”

—

“So, Shuuichi told me about the—” Again, he glances at Shuuichi. “The kitchen.” He finishes hesitantly.

“Yes, what's in the kitchen?” The immediacy of his question was his misstep. He's better than that.

“You didn't, did you?” Shuuichi knows him all too well.

“He did.”

“Nanase-san!” A ghost summoned by the scent of coffee, she now disappears back into the office without another word. Typical.

Shuuichi’s attention snaps back to him.

“Seiji, I told you not to!”

“Yeah? And when has that ever worked out for you?”

The look of genuine upset and disappointment leaves Seiji feeling utterly chastised. Shuuichi shakes his head, eyes darting to Takashi briefly.

“Well, are you all right?”

Seiji carefully considers his words. “Why do you ask?”

Shuuichi sets his jaw and Seiji wants to punch him. Or kiss him. Or both.

All the while, Takashi has been watching them. He's used to their spats by now and that doesn't bother Seiji because he's not the self-conscious type. But something about the way Takashi’s looking at him right now—

All of a sudden, something round and furry lands on his back. He doesn't startle too badly and the cat hangs on well enough.

Seiji turns his head and it almost looks like a grin that Nyanko-sensei offers. He lightly touches his nose to Seiji’s forehead.

“Nyanko-sensei!” Takashi admonishes. “Oh, I'm so sorry!” He reaches over to gather him up and only then does Nyanko-sensei release his shoulder.

The cat swallows something.

“It must’ve been a fly or something.” He frets and Seiji tries to parse his sincerity.

While Takashi is as red as a beet, Seiji can't help but feel that there is something performative about the way he stands to bow his apology. Held to Takashi’s chest as he does so, Seiji swears he sees the cat wink.

Shuuichi is staring at Takashi too and he is as white as a ghost.

“Or something.” Seiji finally says.

Nyanko-sensei flicks his right ear and Seiji feels like he's getting closer.

—

“I'm just going to take a quick look around.” Nyanko-sensei patters after Takashi through the kitchen door.

Out of the two of them, Seiji would be the first to say that he's not the best at comfort. He knows Shuuichi’s favorite desserts by heart—the man isn't too much for sweets, go figure—but there's no time to whip up tarte tatin or yuzu chiffon.

“Hey. There, there.” His heart breaks a little when he feels Shuuichi shaking slightly. “I’m all right.”

“Seiji,” Shuuichi whispers into the crook of his neck.

“I’m right here.”

—

“It's spiders.”

Oh, it is most definitely not.

If there is anything that Seiji hates, it is being unaware. Unprepared and unapprised. So frustration is an understatement. They are talking around something but Seiji doesn't know where to push to get a straight answer. He doesn't want to snap at Takashi and certainly not at Shuuichi when he looks like this.

He decides.

“I don't think so.”

Takashi looks at him. Nyanko-sensei lets his eyes drift closed. He's found the perfect patch of sun to curl up in.

“Okay,” Takashi starts again. “It's like spiders.”

Seiji knows that's as good as he’s going to get, but he still feels obstinate. “What do we do about not-spiders?”

“You guys are in luck.” Takashi smiles. “Lemons.”

—

It's always hindsight. All of the lemon pastries were miraculously untouched.

Seiji sets a pot to simmer and takes the chef’s knife out of Shuuchi’s hand.

“Why don't you go help Takashi?” They've unearthed an old ladder and Seiji doesn't trust the thing as far as he can throw it, despite Takashi’s assurances.

Shuuichi looks at him helplessly.

Nyanko-sensei makes a show of marching across Shuuchi’s toes with a Cheshire grin.

“We’ll be just fine.”

.

“That would be good too,” Seiji agrees. Nyanko-sensei has stopped by his sage plant on the windowsill. He tears off a handful of leaves and his lips twitch up as he watches the cat pounce after one that flutters to the floor. Seiji thinks about getting some catnip.

Outside, Takashi looks at home up in the branches of a tree. Below, Shuuichi braces the ladder and Seiji watches the tension finally wash off him.

—

Takashi tucks something else into Shuuichi’s hands before he leaves. A sheaf of papers.

“If it's not enough. Or just in case,” he says quietly.

“From the start, I should've—”

“You didn't know,” he says firmly with a shake of his head. Takashi pulls Shuuichi into a hug.

Seiji looks away.

—

‘Overtime’ is Nanase’s word of the evening and she sing-songs it at them when she leaves, not before snagging a lemonade to go.

Shuuichi is up to his elbows in aromatics.

He hands Seiji another glass. “Rosemary and mint. What do you think?”

“I like it.”

“Kind of basic, though, right?”

“Well, excuse me. What do I know?”

Shuuichi tucks a sprig of rosemary behind Seiji’s ear.

“I'll add it to tomorrow’s menu.”

Then he presents Seiji with a tiny rose, crafted from a twist of lemon peel.

“You are such a show-off.” Seiji slots it into one of Shuuichi’s buttonholes.

“Only for you.”

—

Later, still—

“Maybe they're just hungry?” He still doesn't know exactly what he's talking about and he's ready to pull his hair out.

“Seiji, they're not like stray cats!”

“Then tell me what they are like!”

Shuuichi’s mouth snaps shut. Braced against the counter, knuckles white, he goes ever so still.

Seiji slowly counts to ten.

“Hey, Shuuichi,” he says, “tell me about not-spiders.”

Shuuichi is somewhere far away. “Yokai.”

Seiji knows about yokai. The storybooks he pored over with his sister at bedtime and the games they used to play. Superstitions that sent them scampering across a bridge, giggling with their eyes closed, or diving under their covers, even though all the lights were still on.

“Oh,” he says faintly.

“I can't see them like Takashi does.” He slips his glasses off. “But I can still sense things, to an extent.”

Seiji approaches Shuuichi now, and maybe he should learn to be more patient, but—

“Tell me something else.”

So he does.

—

Is the world a different place now that he knows that monsters exist?

‘They're not all monsters,’ Shuuichi said. ‘Think of Nyanko-sensei.’

‘I'm generalising, my worldview is undergoing something profound.’

Shuuichi looks more relaxed than he has all day. ‘Then I'll leave you to it.’

—

Seiji pulls the window shut. Shuuichi smooths a paper charm over it.

The air is all but citrus.

.

.

.

[ au / author notes if you are interested! ]

[ part ii: interlude ]

#horrible exorcists #bakery au #natsuyuu #natsume yuujinchou #matoba seiji #natori shuuichi #natsume takashi #nyanko-sensei #nanase #my fic #fanfiction #this has been living in my head rent-free since Flour #again! years! #p.s. #the fruit trees are loquats and lemons. SOMEHOW

[nekojitachan]

Hi, I love your fic'❤️ and I wanted to know if you could write even a short one about what would happened if Riko didnt find Andrew and Neil in WDWG

Thank you! 💖 Okay, so I did my best to keep this as short as possible, just a glimpse of the boys’ life if Riko had never found them/if they were able to live on undisturbed, just the two of them.

Uhm, I think it’s pretty safe? Just the ongoing burying bodies joke....

*******

Neil had just sold the two tourists from New York a (very ugly) tea set and couple rare blends of tea (Jodi would be pleased) when Massey’s recommendation returned. Neil gave him a stern look to convey ‘not now’ while he waited on a regular, Mrs. Huang, taking the time to let her sniff the lu’an tea they had in stock to ensure that it was up to her high standards before he bagged the requested amount, chatting with her in Mandarin the entire time. It was only after she left (and he was certain that the store was empty) that Neil motioned the anxious man forward while he reached beneath the counter for the wrapped bundle he and Jodi had worked on earlier.

“It’s ready?”

“Yes.” Neil answered in French as he set the bundle on the counter, just out of reach, then slid his phone into view. “New passport, bank account, driver’s license, birth certificate, the works.”

The man, face haggard from stress and freshly bleached hair falling onto his forehead, gazed at the package as if it a holy grail of sorts. “Let me see the passport. Please,” he added, his voice hoarse with need.

Used to being asked such a question, Neil shrugged and unfolded the brown wrapping paper enough to slip free the passport (French) and flipped it open to prove to the man (no names had been exchanged, which he much preferred) that it would pass for authentic (he did excellent work). Some of the tension left the man’s stocky body upon seeing it, as did a quick glance at the other items in the wrapping paper; he pulled out his phone to transfer the agreed upon amount of money to the account number Jodi had given him last night.

Neil checked his phone to ensure the money had been deposited then slid the items across the counter. “Good luck,” he told the man, who snatched up his new life, nodded in acknowledgement, then fled the Jade Leaves tea store.

Neil dealt with a few more tourists (not his favorite thing) and a handful of regulars (which he much preferred, especially when they brought him snacks) by the time Jodi returned. “Bah, it’s raining,” she complained as she pushed back the hood of her jacket; fall in Montreal could be unpredictable, could be an extension of summer or an early taste of winter, and now it looked as if the warm spell was giving way to colder temperatures and rain.

“Be thankful it’s not snow,” he told his boss as he handed over a cup filled with oolong, which he brewed throughout the day for customers and staff (well, him and Jodi) alike.

“Hush, you,” she chided before she took a cautious sip. “Hmm, how was business?”

He held up his phone, and huffed when she gave a pleased smile in return; she’d noticed the money deposited in the account earlier, an account which would soon disappear after she transferred the funds elsewhere (some to Neil). “Steady. I managed to get rid of the awful tea set.”

“The one with the gibberish on it?” Jodi’s pale brown eyes went wide and she laughed with joy as she reached to pat Neil on the shoulder. “Ah, sending you here was the best favor Gabe ever did for me.”

“Hmm.” Neil had to agree; as Aidan’s senior year of high school had drawn to an end, they’d been uncertain as to what to do next. Stick around until Neil graduated? Have Aidan apply to university? Move on to a new set of identities? They’d made a home of sorts in Racine, but Neil worried about his father’s people catching up to them at some point and Aidan was tired of them pretending to be siblings.

It was during a check-in with Durand that the forger had brought up that his cousin in Montreal was looking for help: an assistant who could speak French and if not take part in forging documents, at least keep their mouth shut. Neil and Aidan had debated it for a few days, but in the end they trusted Durand (as much as they did anyone else), Montreal put them farther away from the remnants of Nathan’s gang, and they could start anew.

Instead of half-brothers, they were newlyweds.

(Neil barely managed to not freak out when Aidan told Durand to create a marriage license for them, saving it until they were alone in the car. Only to be stopped mid-rant when Aidan held up a ring and asked him ‘yes or no’.)

Neil kept his first name (he didn’t want to let go of it after keeping it for so long), while Aidan became Andrew once more. Neil and Andrew Keenan, two young fools in love who struck out on their own rather than be apart (or so most people assumed). Neil spent the last couple months before they left Racine learning Mandarin, and was now picking up Arabic as well. He sold tea in a small store in Chinatown, gossiped with the locals, learned from one of the best forgers in North America (Jodi Liu was every bit as good as her cousin), and very rarely had to use the gun hidden beneath the counter.

“I haven’t heard from Gabe or Massey, so we should be good for the night,” Jodi said as she checked her phone for messages. “Go home.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. He ran back to the small breakroom in the back to fetch the container of pork dumplings Mrs. Dai had given him (she kept telling him he was too skinny) then was out the door after wishing Jodi ‘good night’. Despite the rain, he stopped at Tony’s food truck to get a couple cartons of noodles to complete dinner, laughing at the older man’s retelling of a small group of Americans trying to order with appalling French.

“I guess it was better than them trying in Mandarin,” Tony said as he handed Neil his takeaway.

“Andrew complains about the French thing all the time.”

“Yeah, I imagine he’d get it a lot, working in a pastry shop.”

Neil waved goodbye and, after making sure the food was safe in his waterproof messenger bag, jogged down the mostly deserted streets to where Andrew worked, right outside of Chinatown. The bakery was empty of customers, probably because of the rain and the time of day, but the mostly empty display cases indicated that they’d done a good business earlier.

Andrew arched an eyebrow at Neil’s arrival and popped the petit four he held in his hand into his mouth. Once it was chewed and swallowed, he stepped toward the doorway leading back into the kitchen area, covered with a cloth divider. “Naseem, some riffraff just blew into the shop. I’m going to take it home.”

“What?” Andrew’s coworker, a young man with a closely trimmed black beard and a white scarf tied over his short, curly black hair, poked his head through the curtains and smiled when he saw Neil. “Why do you put up with him?” he asked, just like he always did, while he brushed at the flour which dusted his face; he probably was working on some of the pastries for the next day.

Neil gave the same answer, as always. “He knows where the bodies are buried.”

“Ha, you kids and your jokes.” Naseem shook his head as he glanced around the empty shop. “Just lock up before you go.”

Andrew gave him a two-fingered salute then quickly set about clearing out the register and turning off the lights (it looked as if he’d already done a lot of the closing duties already), then grabbed a small box before he ushered Neil out the door, which he locked behind them.

He gave Neil a pointed look as he pulled an umbrella big enough for the both of them out of his own bag and opened it. “You trying to catch pneumonia?”

“I’m open to new experiences?” Neil smiled when he was given the ‘you’re an idiot’ look. “I got dinner.”

“I know, I can smell it.”

“Are you going to share dessert with me?”

“No.”

Neil smiled the entire way home, especially when Andrew hooked their pinkies together; they didn’t have far to go since they rented an apartment in a building which Jodi’s family owned. It had a balcony where they could sit together as they smoked cigarettes or drank something hot, a bathtub big enough for them both to soak in together, and a gas fireplace in the living room which Andrew spent half the winter in front of, along with the cats.

Aibee greeted them at the door, certain to make the deplorable state of her empty belly known, while Elbee sauntered in from their bedroom and flopped down at Andrew’s feet after he kicked off his boots. He sighed and bent down to give the orange tabby a gentle pet before he prodded him to stand up, while Aibee was quick to run into the kitchen once she realized that Neil was headed that way, her fluffy black tail straight up in the air.

Andrew caught the strap of Neil’s messenger bag, which brought him to a halt. “Go change into something dry,” he chided as he maneuvered the bag from Neil’s shoulder.

“Okay.” Neil leaned in for a lingering kiss then did as he’d been told, pulling his damp sweatshirt over his head along the way. It and his jeans were draped over the hamper, swapped out for a soft sweater (that was Andrew’s) and sweatpants. Once dressed, he went into the kitchen to find that his husband had divvied up the food onto two plates, which had been placed on the table, and was feeding the cats.

“Shut up and eat, you ingrates,” Andrew said as he set down their bowls, his deep voice mild and expression almost tender.

“I thought I was the ingrate,” Neil commented as he picked up his chopsticks.

“You’re the idiot ingrate,” Andrew clarified as he sat down, and sighed when Neil stuck out his tongue.

They concentrated on eating for a couple minutes before they (well, Neil) started talking about their day; Andrew nodded along as he went on about the tourists and the documents he’d created. As expected, Andrew complained a bit about the tourists who just had to try out their lousy French on him.

“Jodi send you your part of the job yet?”

Neil frowned as he pulled out his phone and checked the special account where the money from the forgeries went. “Yes, another twenty-five thousand.” He gave Andrew a curious look. “Do I need to route it somewhere?” They were careful with the remaining money his mother had stolen from his father, most of it still tied up in investments for another couple years but a nice amount available for use – especially after Neil had started working for Jodi.

Their biggest expense to date was Andrew’s brother Aaron; when he’d learned about his long-lost mother dying from an overdose and how she’d allowed his twin to become an addict, he and Neil had arranged it so that Aaron’s cousin, Nicky, was able to win custody of Aaron and that Tilda’s ‘life insurance’ was more than enough to support the two until Aaron graduated high school. A little bit more money, a few more pulled strings had gotten Aaron into a university in South Carolina, and Neil had thought that was that.

Or so he had thought.

Andrew got up to fetch the pastry box (along with two forks) and set it on the table, the top open to reveal that inside was some horrendous chocolate thing and a small fruit tart. “We both have vacation time leftover, I thought we could go somewhere warm toward the end of the year.”

Neil gazed at his husband for a moment before he narrowed his eyes. “You just want to get away from the snow for a while.”

Andrew shrugged as he set the tart on Neil’s plate. “You won’t have to listen to me complain about the cold for a couple weeks.”

“Hmm.” That had possibilities, Neil thought as he picked a blackberry from the tart and popped it into his mouth. “You didn’t happen to research ‘the top ten ice cream places in Bora Bora’ or something like that, did you?”

He was given a blank look in return.

“We never had a honeymoon,” or a real wedding, for that matter, “so I get some say in this.”

“No Exy,” Andrew declared as he stabbed his fork in the chocolate monstrosity.

No, no Exy, Neil thought with a wince. He’d soured a bit on the sport after the whole Edgar Allan scandal. “No burying bodies.”

“Again with that? It happened twice.”

“And twice is more than enough, considering the second time, someone was all ‘oh look, I’m bleeding sooo much, you have to do all the digging this time,” Neil said in a mocking voice.

For a moment, he thought he’d be the one bleeding (Andrew had only grown more impressive with those flat stares of his), until his husband clicked his tongue. “Fine, we’ll go somewhere with plenty of water so we can sink the bodies.”

“Huh.” Neil considered that as he had a bite of the fruit tart. “That’ll work.” Not that he wanted to have to sink bodies into the ocean, but… well, it was him and Andrew. Things just happened.

There was a very slight curl to Andrew’s full lips, which meant he was smug as hell at the moment. Neil narrowed his eyes, uncertain about what he’d just agreed to, then figured ‘what the hell’. It would work out in the end, it always did with Andrew.

*******

Forgive me for any liberties taken with Montreal.

The cats’ full names are Anklebiter and Lazybones. If you can’t guess, Andrew named them, and Neil shortened them.

I figured this is set a year or two after Andrew would have graduated. He may be taking online university classes (more as something to do), but Neil’s happy with being a forger (and damn good at it).

It’s like... trying to figure out what to write next. I’ve one or two prompts I want to get done, the next chapter of Casts a Shadow, wrap up the soulmate fic, and another part of Not in the Stars. Decisions, decisions....

#wdwg #wdwg fic #andreil #neil josten #andrew minyard #wdwg au #Anonymous

[waveridden]

sebastian/mike and 19 bc townseb has been living in my head rent free since you talked about them & they make me emo

19. things you said when we were the happiest we ever were

“I could never get the hang of baking,” Sebastian admits.

“Cooking’s an art, baking’s a science,” Mike says serenely. He doesn’t even pause in kneading his sourdough. Sebastian is not allowed to touch the sourdough. Apparently it’s a whole... thing, for him. Which is fine, because Seb’s perfectly content to watch Mike in his element. He’s focused and content, and it’s kind of incredible to see.

“I could be a scientist,” he says, trying to sound mockingly upset. “I’m incredibly smart, you know. A genius.”

“Whatever you say,” Mike intones, and Sebastian grins. “If it helps I’m not much of an artist.”

“You cook just fine, shut up.”

Without even turning, Mike grabs a fistful of flour and throws it in Sebastian’s general direction. Most of it dissipates in the air, but some of it hits Seb’s face, and he splutters indignantly. “Mike-”

“Can’t do that when you’re cooking,” Mike says smugly.

“Can do it when you’re spectating,” Seb says. Mike looks up just as he scoops some flour off the counter and throws it straight at his face.

“Huh,” Mike says, and takes off his glasses. Sebastian laughs, bubbling up before he can stop it. It just looks ridiculous, his whole face covered with flour except the area around his eyes. Mike shakes his head. “You’re a goddamn menace.”

Seb leans one hip against the counter. “What are you gonna do about it?”

“Finish kneading my sourdough,” Mike says dryly, but his eyes are sparkling.

Sebastian hums and leans in. “What about after that?”

Mike turns and leans in. Sebastian holds his breath, and Mike’s lips brush over his, just faintly, just for a second. When he pulls back he’s smiling, wide and breathtaking. “After that,” he says, “is the fun part.”

#anonymous #blaseball fic #townseb #mike x sebastian #THANK YOU............... THANK YOU #they deserve to be HAPPY #Anonymous #waveridden.ask #blaseball minific

[kamariamei]

Designated Cuddler

Reader x Chris Motionless Surprise!! I’m your Secret Santa @fanpagesforbands570

I hope you like it :) ////////////////////////////////////

December 24th

Tours were always hard but tours during the holidays were the hardest. These were times when most people spent time with their families and loved ones, but instead we were on tour until two days after Christmas. Of course the guys are needy since they have been away from their wives, girlfriends or…”other”. But this is taking the cake.

“Dude I don’t care how much I look like your chick from the back, stop trying to cuddle me!!” Vinny yelled in annoyance (and slight terror) at Ryan as he broke free from his arms.

“Dude when you joined you knew what you were getting into.” Ricky reminded him as he edited the new batch of clips for the update video.

“Then you cuddle him!!”

“Hell no I a one cuddler kinda guy.”

“Yeah Vin how would he explain it to Ghost.” Ryan laughs as Ricky chucks his shoe at him.

“Where Y/A? Ask her to cuddle you.” Vinny says as he wraps an giant bulls blanket around him, got to love fan gifts.

“Hugged up with Chris. He hasn’t let her go for the last 3 days and it’s not fair!!” Ryan yells back to bunks.

You giggle quietly at Ryan’s frustration and squeal when you feel Chris tighten his grip on your waist in his sleep. You see you were the merch girl but had recently earned an additional job title as the “Designated Cuddler” which the guys have been taking full advantage of…if they could get you away from Chris long enough that is. At first they tried scheduling times but that lead to fighting, so now it’s first come first served, whoever is awake at 5am when you’re up gets you first. Chris has been the early bird 3 days in a row and right after you both wake up he drags you back to his bunk. He is not an early bird. Anyway, it was Christmas Eve and you all decided to rent out a place for two days and do Christmas right. It was a quaint little place made or brick and had large picture windows, and a wrap around porch. It was two stories and had beautiful views of the lake and city lights right across. To be honest you couldn’t wait to get there.

“Chris, Chris…Christopher! Wake up!!” In a rather quick movement Chris had you turned toward him, his legs wrapped around yours and your face in his chest. You look up gazing at his neck tattoo as as he sits his chin on your head. His deep morning chuckle making your blush as he kisses the top of your head and lets you go. You swing your legs to the edge of the bunk and slide out.

“We should arrive soon so get up and get ready.”

“Alright, alright. But only if I can get a kiss.” He says winking at you. You blush and get as far away from the bunk as possible to your embarrassment but to the happiness of Vinny, Ryan was starting to get handsy. /////////////////

The pictures you saw online didn’t do this place justice. It was gorgeous. There had been a fresh snow fall just before you arrived so it definitely gave it a Christmas feel. The outside was decorated with lights and they even had a tee inside waiting to be decorated. These people were definitely getting a good review!!

Everyone piles out of the bus and indoors with their bags, happy to be out of the rolling bullet (why do you still let Chris drive?!) but also happy to be spending the holidays in a house with showers and a washing machine.

“Dude this is awesome!!”

“Finally a real shower!”

“Thank God because you all stink. And wash your bunk sheets while we’re here!!”

“Ok so who’s bunking with who?” Ricky ask looking at everyone as they explore the living room and kitchen.

“Who cares so long as I don’t have to share a bed with any of you. Waking up being spooned and groped by you guys if an experience I don’t want to experience ever again in life.” Vinny says as he glares at Ricky while we all laugh.

“Well I call the room with Y/N. You fucks can figure out your own rooms.”

Chris picks you up without warning and hoist you over his shoulders as you squeal and laugh up to one of the rooms.

Chris dumps on one of the beds with a bounce as he drops the bags in a corner. There are two full sized beds in the room but if history keeps repeating itself you and Chris would only be using one. Either he would drag you to his bed or half l way through the night climb into yours. Not that you mind since this was how your “job title” started. Chris sits on the edge of his bed plugging his phone up to charge.

“I’m going to go soak in the tub then take a long comforting nap, think you guys can figure out the menu?”

You stretch hearing your joints pop into place before go to your bags and pulling out the things you need, especially the lavender and honey bath bomb Chris got for you on you last day off some stops back. He pulls you between his long legs and looks up at you. His thumbs rubbing soothing circles on your lower back.

“Yeah, we might just or something to be delivered. After everyone calms down we’re all probably going to pass out. It’s a good thing we got food before we got here.”

You slide your hands up his chest to his shoulders and down his back he leans his forehead against your chest the both of you enjoying the soothing silence of falling snow and the possibility of the over grown children probably passed out somewhere on the house.

/////////////

December 25th

Cuddled into Chris’s chest is probably one of the best perks you could get. He was warm, comfortable and gave the best hugs. Half way though the night after a afternoon nap, and wrangling the “children” for tree decorating ( one of these days I’m going to kill Ricky and his camera), baking cookies ( thank god they were the precut holiday ones, Vinny and Ryan are not allowed to be in the kitchen with flour EVER again) and taking a family photo that looks like parents trying to control their kids and just accepting defeat; we were able to get gifts under the tree and everyone to bed. You and Chris were sleeping heavy with you across his chest and his arm wrapped tightly around your wait as you both snore away.

“Are they awake?”

“Not yet, should we wake them?”

“Not til I get the camera ready, aaaaannnnnddddd…..NOW!!

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!”

“THE FUCK!!??”

A loud scream from you and a loud thud as Chris face plants the carpet. There’s a loud cacophony of laughs and hollers as Ricky gets a good recording of you looking like a deer in headlights trying to decide to fight or flight and Chris in nothing but his sweatpants just laying on the floor contemplating killing and burying his band mates in the nearby pine forest.

“Ok ok, let’s go open presents now.” Ghost says trying to get everyone to calm down and out the room before Chris can act on his thoughts. After the guys leave and the door closes you crawl across the bed and look down as Chris starts to slowly sit up. You place a gentle kiss on the bump forming on his forehead.

“You ok?”

“Yeah I’m ok”

He stands up fully and takes your hand. You grab one of his sweat shirts and he take another and the both of you make your way down the stairs to the battle ground of wrapping paper and gift boxes.

///////////////////

As the day of gift giving and hyper activeness started to winding down, the guys decided to go pick up dinner for tonight from a restaurant on town that was lucky still open and some more treats for after dinner. You and Chris’s decided that your parental duties have finally come to a pause enough for you both to relax next to the fire place and look at the tree with snow falling past the window outside.

“Hey Y/N”

“Hmm?”

You rub the tiredness for your eyes as you cuddle back into his chest.

“I still have a special gift to give you before the others get back. He say in his low soothing voice.

“What is it?” You say looking up barely keeping your eyes open.

He smiles and gives you a gentle kiss on the lips. Your eyes slowly open fully as he pulls away from the kiss.

“I was wondering if you would be my designated cuddler?”

“I’m already a designated cuddler..”

He chuckles and kisses your forehead.

“No, I mean like my girlfriend. You don’t have to answer right away, but I hope you will.”

You lay your head on his chest and smile, “I will.”

“You will?”

“Yeah”

He smiles and kisses the top of your head. You both lay there in blissful silence…

“MOM, DAD!!! WE’RE HOME!!”

#secret santa

[awashsquid]

Next in The Death of the Moon, all of which is here. This chapter is around 2000 words and it’s overall a long saga, but I’d say we’re about 1-2 chapters from the close. Like what I did here? Leave a nice comment and make me smile! If you really like it, I have a Ko-Fi here as well.

“How’s she holding up?” Makoto stirred the dip mixture in her bowl absently, more focused on Minako’s facial expression than evenly distributing the ingredients.  The movie nights at her apartment had become almost a weekly tradition now, a means to keep all of them together even without meeting over Senshi duties.

“Good as can be expected,” Minako replied flatly, reaching for a cookie even though she knew Makoto would swat her hand away.  She did so, and the blonde responded by sticking her tongue out playfully.  “I mean, she’s honestly doing great with the leg thing, she’s too distracted by her soul having been ripped from her body,” she deadpanned, rolling her eyes at the conclusion of the sentence.

Makoto silently wondered if she should feel guilty that Haruka wasn’t angsting over her leg any more given the circumstances as Minako prattled on.  “I mean, Miss Succubus isn’t doing super well, according to Rei. Guess it’s good to know there’s a heart in there somewhere.”  She rolled her eyes as her hand dipped into her pocket, pulling out her vibrating cellphone.  “Rei says she’ll be here in five.  Ami’s just got a nasty car accident in the ER, so they need all the interns on deck and she’s gonna be late.”

The dip was spooned into its serving tray, already crowded with various vegetables and crackers. “Cool.  Take this into the living room, will you?”  She thrust the tray into Minako’s hands, causing her to fumble putting away her phone before accepting the offering.  “And don’t eat it all!” Makoto called after her, turning around to take the cheesecake bites out of the fridge.

“Holy SHIT, Mako, where did you get this TV?  It’s massive!” Minako cried, ogling the new television that easily took up half of Makoto’s wall space.

Makoto crossed her small apartment quickly and set the food on her coffee table, already crowded with other treats.  “That would be a gift from the Succubus, as you called her.”  She shrugged at Minako’s stunned expression.  “It came this morning with a little card.  She said she felt bad she never comes so she wanted to send a ‘small token of appreciation,’” she added with air quotes. Michiru’s idea of “small” was obviously much different than their own.

The Outers had been invited to the movie nights, but none had ever showed up.  Haruka had been too busy drowning in her own self-loathing, Setsuna just sent polite refusals, and Michiru had never even replied.  Minako had spitefully commented that she must have felt herself too good to even lower herself to an RSVP, but Michiru’s rather lavish gift told a different story to Makoto.  She was still debating what she was going to make and send as a thank-you of her own—she had decided on a few Petit Fours but was still tossing up different flavor combinations in her mind.

“Well.  That was nice of her.”  Minako spat out the words with difficulty, sounding about as convincing as a child who had received socks instead of games for their birthday. “She’s still a soulless squid monster though,” she muttered petulantly, crossing her arms as she flopped down on the couch.

Makoto was spared from responding when the door opened, Rei marching in and slamming it behind her. “Sorry, the line at the video store was insane,” she huffed, tossing a bag with several rented DVDs onto the floor.

Minako rolled her eyes and popped a pretzel into her mouth.  “Rei, I told you, we should just get Netflix.”

“I don’t watch TV at home, Mina, and using the service once a week, its cheaper to rent a movie overnight.”

Makoto chimed in, “Actually, Rei, my new TV came with a year free of Netflix and Hulu, so…”  She trailed off and looked at the sad plastic bag wilted on her floor, a cracked corner of a case poking out.  “I didn’t set it up yet though, so this is fine for tonight!” she finished, cracking a smile to try and diffuse the tension.

Thankfully, Rei was too distracted by the mention of a new TV to go on a diatribe about corporate greed and small businesses as she spun around to look at the appliance.  “Damn, I didn’t think she was going to do this,” she said quietly, eyes roving over the huge curved screen, currently displaying the options menu.

“Wait, you knew she was going to send me this?” Makoto asked.  “Why didn’t you warn me?  The guys showed up when I was covered in flour, I felt so bad I wasn’t prepared—”

Rei shook her head as she sat next to her on the couch.  “Michiru told me she wanted to send you some kind of thank-you gift, and she told me she wasn’t sure what, so I said maybe some DVDs or a little sound bar but this…” she trailed off, hand gesturing outward lazily. “This is just Michiru not knowing what a ‘small’ present is, I guess.”

“She didn’t have to give me anything.”  She plopped onto her ottoman and nibbled the corner off of one of her cheesecake bites. She had really just invited Michiru on principle, knowing that she would never come, but it didn’t seem right to just invite Haruka and not her too.

“Of course she did,” Mina snorted.  “Her Highness is too good to slum with us peasants, so she sends us cake from the palace instead.”  She bitterly snapped a cracker in two before popping half of it into her mouth.

“Actually,” Rei snapped back, “she doesn’t come because she knows you hate her, and she thinks everyone else doesn’t like her and we just put up with her because of Haruka, and she doesn’t want to spoil our fun. But you wouldn’t know that, because you’re too intent on looking at her as some kind of monster.”  Rei’s face was flushed, and she knew immediately that she had just betrayed Michiru’s confidence, but she was too mad to care. “You know, she’s my friend, and you bitch about her all the time, and I want you to know that she never talks about you, she actually never talks about any of you, in a bad way.  I’m sick of you bashing her.  Michiru’s not perfect, but she’s a person, and though it may shock you, she does have feelings, Mina.”

Minako had slowly been grinding what remained of her cracker to dust in her fist as Rei spoke. “Haruka has feelings too, Rei. You know, Haruka?  My best friend?  That woman who Michiru fucking cheated on?  Sorry that I care a little bit more about her because she’s not some manipulative, back-stabbing —”

“That’s enough!” Makoto roared, standing up to tower over the sitting women, the veins in her neck beginning to throb.  “Minako, Michiru just did something really nice that she didn’t have to do for me, so stop badmouthing her for a few fucking hours while you’re here.  Rei, just…calm down,” she finished lamely.  The other two shut their mouths and slunk back into their seats looking thoroughly chastised, although Rei was a little smug under her abashed expression.

“God, all you two do is fight,” Makoto muttered, flopping back down and putting her head in her hands. “Usagi would be so upset if she saw us like this.”  She had meant for it to stay in her head, but she had whispered the thought aloud accidentally.

The silence lingered heavy in the air, their shared grief thickening the room with its cloying heaviness. “I miss her,” Rei whispered, and they looked up to see her crying, mascara tears falling steadily down her face. It was the first time they had seen her really cry since the funeral, and Makoto gently put her hand on Rei’s lap.

“Me too,” she added, allowing her own tears to fall, adding unneeded salt to the half-finished dessert on her lap.

Minako stared stubbornly at the television, her eyesight going blurry from the tears she was trying to not let fall.  Rei saw this and shifted towards her, trying to be tender, thinking of what Usagi would do. “Mina, it’s okay.  It’s okay if you want to cry.  We can blackmail each other into keeping it a secret that we feel things,” she joked badly, touching her hand gently to Minako’s shoulder.  Minako jerked out of the touch, and Rei, always so resistant to fire, felt for the first time what it was like to be burned.

“You guys cry.  I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, Minako.  Fuck, none of us are fine,” Makoto added derisively.  “But we’re trying. Maybe it would be easier if we tried together instead of apart.  It’s what she would have wanted.”

“We don’t get to know what she would have wanted because she’s dead, Mako, she’s dead and she’s never coming back, and it’s —” her sentence ended with a shuddering intake of breath as her head dropped down to her chest, blonde hair falling in a thick curtain to hide her face.

“It’s not your fault.” All three whipped their heads to see Ami, who none had even noticed enter, standing with tears in her eyes.  “She’s gone, but it’s not your fault, Minako.”

Minako let out a barking laugh, and the attention turned back to her, tears now streaming freely down her face, lines of black marring her perfect complexion.  “That’s funny.  Maybe you should have gone into stand-up instead of medicine.”  No one responded.  “I told her to do whatever was necessary.  I gave her a command because that’s what General Venus was always meant for, wasn’t it?”  She glared at the ceiling, howling, “I did what you wanted, Serenity, you bitch!  I hope you’re fucking happy!  Maybe next time you should pick a better leader, or maybe wait until we’re not literally children to fucking decide that we get to give up our lives to be your- your puppets!”

Ami approached her and knelt.  “Minako, I ran the numbers, you know that.  If she hadn’t done what she did, the world would have ended.  She would have never been able to live with herself.” She sighed as her eyes looked away, seeing a battle that wasn’t there.  “She was going to do it whether you told her to or not.”

Minako slumped down, the tears falling fast and thick, dotting her leggings with dark spots.  “I know.  It doesn’t change that I was the one that gave her the order, though.”  She looked at her friends uneasily.  “If- if you don’t want me around for a while —” There was an uncharacteristic smallness, a touch of vulnerability in her voice, her self-sure veneer slipping for just a moment, the visor lowered.

Makoto said nothing, but instead crossed and enveloped Minako in a tight hug, which caused her to start sobbing in earnest again.  “You- are- the worst hugger, Mako,” she hiccupped, burying her face into the warm shoulder in front of her.  “Your hugs- make- me- cry.”

“I know, I know,” she replied soothingly, stroking Minako’s hair gently, holding her the way she remembered being held by her mother as a child, trying to convey love through just her embrace as her mother had done.  She felt Ami scoot closer and envelop Minako on the left, and after a moment of hesitation, Rei rounded out the embrace on the right, her still slightly warmer than average body temperature adding extra warmth.  They allowed themselves to cry and to mourn separately, each thinking of what they missed about Usagi the most, each thinking of what they wish they had said to her, and they held each other tighter for all of it, the silent acknowledgement that they would never have to deal with it alone.

Outside the full moon rose, its light shining gently through the window and touching the four women with its shine.

#the death of the moon #my writing #sailor moon #fanfiction #moon death au #makoto kino #minako aino #rei hino #ami mizuno #SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THIS CHAPTER #before anyone asks yes usagi is really dead no she is not coming back magically #but there's something to be said for loved ones watching over us from afar and that's the vibe in the last line there

[pearcar93-blog]

Upside Down Walnut, Chocolate, & Pear Cake

Our little back house we are renting is about four miles from the ocean here in Costa Mesa/Newport Beach. We get the foggy marine layer on the mornings it chooses to hang over the coast, and we have a very tempered climate year round. In the past I’ve brushed southern California off as having no seasons, but this just isn’t true. I think with social media these days we see so much in the fall of the iconic leaves changing, and more clearly defined seasons of certain regions of the world, that is has become commonplace to standardize these quarterly shifts. Maybe it’s just me and my tendency to seek out change, but I’m coming around to seeing a more full, open picture. Every little dot of latitude and longitude on the map has it’s own unique characteristics when it comes to seasons, and I’m beginning to appreciate our a-typical southern California ones.

September and October are two of the warmest months here where I live, which is wonderful if you can get past the photos of falls leaves and warms mugs of cocoa elsewhere. Why is it wonderful? The crowds of people have all gone home, the kids are back in school, and the beaches and national parks are now near-empty to enjoy. Around here we call it “locals’ summer”. I don’t do well in the heat, so this time can be tough for me to get through, but November and December are the greatest gift after these few warm months. This is my season, this is the time of year I fall in love with California. The air is chilly and as crisp as you can get with the pacific ocean nearby. The light is the most beautiful light I’ve ever seen. The sunsets make you weak in the knees. And the smell that permeates the entire city is pure heaven. The farmers market is still overflowing, with fall produce finally coming in alongside unlikely jewels such as tomatoes, avocados, oranges, and so many greens (kale, chard, herbs, etc). Local pomegranates are half the size of my head and two dollars a piece.

Approaching Thanksgiving this year, and hosting for the first time with my parents coming into town, I tried pondering a new theme we could base our cooking around that felt more fitting for our area. As is typical this time of year, we have a three day heat bump that lands right over Thanksgiving. Normally I would say something negative about California and how I wish I lived somewhere cooler. But not this year, I’m celebrating where we live. So we are having a California-themed Thanksgiving with dishes made from all of the produce that was overflowing the most at the farmers market this past weekend. Our backyard will be in shade in the late afternoon, so we will set up the table under our twinkle lights and eat outside. Roasting a dozen heavy dishes on a warm day doesn’t sound right to me, so I’m planning a few lighter twists. I’ll be sure to share them on Instagram stories a bit if you’re curious to see what we are making. I’m really excited you guys, it feels good to be going with the grain and not against it for once.

Part of my inspiration to dig deeper into understanding and loving the unique spot in the world where I live came from reading Valentina‘s pages in her new cookbook, Everyday Vegetarian. She lives in a small medieval town on the eastern side of Italy and shares her region’s history and culinary traditions in a way that reads like a poetic novel. From cover to cover you are immersed in recipes and stories that overlap each other into one beautiful picture of her culture. Valentina takes traditional recipes that have been passed down for generations in her family, alongside some newer ones of her own, and shows how to make them vegetarian (and many of them vegan too) without compromising the tradition. It’s beautifully photographed, with such a lovely cover to have sitting out on your kitchen counter too (see photo below recipe). She shows how there is so much more to Italian cooking outside of pasta and tomato sauce (although she has recipes for both from scratch that are incredible) and how to cook throughout the seasons in her nook of the world as well. I want to make every recipe from cover to cover and book a trip to Italy ASAP to experience so much of what she describes.

The first recipe that jumped out to me was her grandma’s upside down prune cake, which she suggests in the fall making with pears, nuts, and chocolate instead. So I did just that, and it was so scrumptious I had to share it with you here too! I used a mixture of freshly milled flours from the incredible people over at Eat Grain, which I link to individually in the recipe below. You can taste the freshness, and even see it, in these flours. I’ve never experienced anything like it – and the nutrition is suppose to be even better as well! Check out their line on their site here if you’d like, they are shipping anywhere in North America for free for the rest of the year – which is perfect timing for some holiday baking.

I hope those of you celebrating Thanksgiving this week have the most wonderful, joy-filled time. Maybe this cake could even squeeze onto one of your holiday tables too ;). -xx

SHOP MY PANTRY >>

RECIPE NOTES: The recipe below is pretty darn near exact to Valentina’s, with a few small exceptions. Here are the few substitutions I made which you can convert back to the original if you desire to: I use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar, apple sauce instead of sunflower oil, and a mixture of whole spelt and rye instead of whole wheat. I also halved the recipe below and prepared it in a 6 inch springform pan in the photos above, since I knew we would have lots of sweets on hand this week. This worked out really well, but I know I’ll be making the full recipe next time – it was just too good.

UPSIDE DOWN WALNUT, CHOCOLATE, & PEAR CAKE Makes one 10 inch cake, serves 8 to 10.

1 3/4 cups almond or soy milk 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup of water 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce (or sunflower oil) juice and zest of 1 lemon 1 cup coconut sugar, plus 1 teaspoon for the pan 1 cup of sifted spelt flour (white) 3/4 cup whole spelt flour 1/4 cup whole rye flour 1/3 cup potato starch 1 heaping teaspoon baking soda 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon pinch of salt 15 small pears 1/3 cup chopped raw walnuts 1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate

optional: extra chopped walnuts and dark chocolate for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper and lightly oil the sides (I forgot to oil mine and it still removed itself nicely, but it is probably safer to do so). Sprinkle about a teaspoon of coconut sugar on the bottom.

Combine the sifted (white) spelt, whole spelt, and rye flour with the potato starch, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, coconut sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl and whisk to remove any lumps (I sifted mine, and added the sugar and zest afterwards).

In a large glass measuring cup, combine the almond or soy milk, vinegar, and lemon juice and stir. After a few seconds, the milk will start to curdle. Immediately add the water, applesauce (or sunflower oil), and vanilla. Stir well. Slowly pour this into the dry mix, stirring with a whisk to break any lumps. The batter will be somewhat on the liquid side.

Core each pear and slice into 1/4 inch thick wedges. Arrange in a circle in the prepared springform pan, until the bottom is completely filled. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts and dark chocolate on top, and slowly pour the cake batter into the tin. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (mine took 50), until cooked through when tested in the center with a toothpick. Once cooked and golden on top, turn off the oven and let it sit inside for 5 minutes more.

Remove the cake from the oven and release from the springform pan onto a wire rack. Flip upside down so that the pears are on top, and peal away the parchment paper. This is optional, but while the cake is warm I sprinkled some dark chocolate on top, and when it had melted I added a small handful of additional chopped walnuts. Once fully cooled, slice and serve the cake. Store leftovers in an airtight container on the counter, or in the fridge (it’s really good cold), and enjoy within three days.

This recipe was originally found in the cookbook Everyday Vegetarian, and is being republished here with Valentina’s permission. See more of her beautiful work on her blog, Hortus Cuisine, and on Instagram. 

I love seeing what you create! Be sure to tag your photos on Instagram with #FWmakers.

This post contains affiliate links (they are underlined for clarity). Purchases you make through these links will help fund the work I do here on Faring Well at no extra cost to you. Thank you sincerely for your constant love and support.

Naturally Vegetarian by Valentina Solfrini O R D E R  H E R E

Source: http://faring-well.com/upside-down-walnut-chocolate-pear-cake/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

[tiny-taepot]

The Cat Cafe(Yoongi)

Genre: Fluff/Angst 

Word count: 1,566

Request: Okay so what's up.. I'm thinking of something as y/n is an exchange student that starts to study in Daegu and wants to get a job and then she finds a restaurant that needed a waitress and she applies and gets accepted however the restaurant is yoongi's Mom's new restaurant that just opened last week pls make it angsty and it's (reader x yoongi) as he being an idol and his mom is very protective of him.. anyway add some of your magic to it and surprise me 😎😎❤❤

A/n: I want to make this a series cause it’s gonna take years for me to finish in one whole piece.

Part One//Part Two//

Scattered newspaper were all over your bedroom floor of the two-bedroom apartment you shared with your roommate. The apartment wasn’t much but it was just enough for you to live in. You threw the last sheet of the newspaper off your bed, sighing in frustration, it’s been a month since you’ve been looking for a new job and with your rent payment coming up you started to worry more and more. Being a transfer student, you didn’t have a lot of money after moving to Daegu. You, already stressed with studying and finding work, were on a breaking point and needed a break from the world for a bit. Taking your coat you walked out of the apartment, strolling down the street you glanced at the store window displays, a tiny sign caught your eye. 

‘Help Wanted’ 

The bold red letters seemed to speak out to you, as you looked at the store. It was a tiny cafe, a cute cat cafe. You smiled to yourself, when you saw the tiny cats that were cuddling with the customers, you wondered where the store was a couple weeks ago when you were walking down here. You walked into the store and headed towards the cashier, a lady in her mid-forties, smiled at you. “What would you like today, miss?” She asked as you smiled shyly.

“I was wondering about your help wanted sign, I would like to apply for a job here.” You explained, trying to sound as professional as possible. She smiled brightly.

“Great, do you have a resume I can see?” She asked as you smiled back, pulling your resume from your purse. She looked at your resume and smiled brightly. “When can you come into work?” 

You walked to the tiny cat cafe, opening the door you were greeted with the fresh smell of baked cookies and coffee. “Ah Y/n you’re here early” She smiled, as she took the fresh baked cookies out of the oven.

“I wanted to be early for my first day, do you want me to do anything before we open?” You asked as she nodded.

“Can you feed the cats? I want them to have some food in case we don’t have a lot of costumers” She said as she started to decorate the cookies. You took the cats out, putting some food in their bowls, stroking the cat as she purred and ate the food. You did this for the other cats, once you finished you headed to the kitchen to wash your hands. Putting your apron on, you started to help decorate the cakes and sweets. “What did I do to deserve an angel to work for me?” She praised, as you smiled. “Can you go grab some more flour? We should refill the day starts.” She asked as you nodded. Walking towards the cupboard you tried to get the flour, now on your tippy toes, you stretched your arm out to grab it.

“Need help with that?” A male asked as you looked over, seeing a boy not too far from your age maybe a year older at most, brown hair slightly damp with a towel wrapped around his neck. He smiled gently as he grabbed the flour for you, you smiled and thanked him. “You must be the new worker my mom hired, my name Is Yoongi, Min Yoongi and I live right upstairs.” He explained as you nodded. You couldn’t help but blush a bit, now that he was so close to you.

“Y/n, have you grabbed the bag of flour yet?” Yoongi’s mom called out, as you started to back away from Yoongi taking the bag.

“So your name is Y/n? What a pretty name.” He flirted, as your face heated up. 

“Y/n?” You heard her call again, this time she entered the kitchen. “Ah, I see you’ve met my son, Yoongi.” She smiled, as she gave him a hug. “Yoongi here is going to be a star one day, I wish he would just continue the business but I guess he was always meant to rap.” She smiled softly, as she grabbed the flour from your hands. “Let’s finish up before we open.”

You tried not to slouch as you waited for customers to roll in, there were already a couple customers chatting while petting cats, all of them were couples. You sighed, you wish you could see your boyfriend right now but he always had school when you didn’t and when you had school he would be studying and using his free time to study or do homework. You fiddled with a pen while you waited for a customer, suddenly you felt a tap on your shoulder. Looking behind you, you saw Yoongi, smiling, he had headphones resting on his neck as he grabbed a couple cookies from the cookie tray. “Hey! You can’t just take cookies out of there, they’re for the customers.” You explained, as Yoongi only grinned.

“Relax, it’s fine my mom always lets me grab treats. She thinks it’s a good thing that I’m eating while working.” Yoongi explains, taking a bite out of the cookie. 

“What are you working on anyway?” You asked him, as Yoongi grinned, placing his headphones over your head, grabbing his phone out to play the track. You started to hear a beat as the beat got faster, you started to hear electrical instruments, and soon you heard Yoongi start rapping, bobbing your head to the beat you saw the look of happiness within Yoongi’s eyes. Once the song finished, Yoongi took the headphones off your head, placing them back to rest on his neck. “That was super good, I didn’t know you could rap so good” You praised as Yoongi laughed.

“Thanks, I’ve been waiting for someone other than my mom to listen to it to see how they would feel about it,” Yoongi explained, as he grabbed another cookie before trying to escape but you grabbed his hand, keeping him in place.

“Where do you think you’re going? Give it back” You laughed, as Yoongi turned around patting your head as he handed you a cookie.

“Here have one, you’re probably hungry.” Yoongi smiled, as he picked up one of the kittens who snuggled up against him. “This one’s my favourite.” 

“He’s really cute” You commented, as you stroked the jet black cat, while it purred.

“Table for two please?” Someone asked as you looked over to see your boyfriend, Kiwoo. He smiled, as you smiled back.

“Kiwoo!” You smiled, as you walked to give him a hug “I thought you were studying for midterms right now?” 

“I am, I just thought I would visit my girlfriend while she was at work as a surprise since we never see each other.” He gave you a peck on the cheek as you smiled.

“Do you want some coffee? Or maybe some cake?” You asked as he nodded.

“How about one cup of coffee and one cup of tea and two slices of cake, for you and I?” He asked as you looked at the clock seeing that your break was in a minute.

“Yeah of course.” You smiled, as Yoongi put down the cat.

“Who’s this? Y/n” Kiwoo asked as he pointed at Yoongi.

“He’s my bosses son, he lives right upstairs from here, he’s really cool” You smiled, as Kiwoo nodded.

“Ah...I’m Kiwoo, Y/n’s boyfriend. Nice to meet you” He introduced, emphasising boyfriend.

“Yeah...whatever” Yoongi glared, as he walked back upstairs.

“What’s wrong with him?” Kiwoo asked as you shrugged not even knowing what that was.

A week later since you started your job at the cat cafe, you started to see Yoongi less and less, and even when you saw him he wouldn’t talk to you, he wouldn’t even glance your way. Yoongi’s mom caught on right away and noticed the tension when Yoongi would be in the same room as you. You got to work, decided to start icing the cookies, Yoongi’s mom stood beside you trying to help finish icing the cakes too. “Did something happen between you and Yoongi?” She asked as you shook your head. 

“I’m not sure, I don’t really know why he’s not talking to me.” You told her honestly, as she let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry dear, I thought you two would be the best of friends but I guess he’s having one of those weeks where he get’s moody.” She explained in hopes to cheer you up, you gave her a soft smile as she smiled back. “Now let’s get these puppies on the display case.” 

You grabbed the tray of cookies, placing them nicely on the display tray before placing it in the treat display case. Yoongi walked downstairs, letting out a yawn as he smiled at his mom giving her a hug. “Morning mom” He smiled, as his mom smiled back.

“Yoongi, I want you working with Y/n today, I’m going out to lunch with the girls and I want you to watch over the store while I’m gone” She explained, as Yoongi groaned.

“But mom I ha-” Yoongi tried to explain before being cut off.

“You can take a day off your music career to help your own mother.” She cuts in, as you can’t help but cheer on for the mother.

“Ugh fine” He groans, as he grabs the cakes placing them in the display case.

#kpop #kpop angst #kpop fluff #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #bts #bts angst #bts fluff #bts imagines #bts scenarios #bts yoongi #bangtan #bangtan angst #bangtan fluff #bangtan imagines #bangtan yoongi #yoongi #min yoongi #yoongi fluff #yoongi imagines #yoongi scenarios

[ginnyzero]

Completely Harmless Ch. 18

Completely Harmless An SSO SilverGlade Re-imagining Story (Or Fix it Fan Salt fic) By Ginny O.

When Lily and her friends wanted to buy horses and were directed to the Silverglade Manor and its myriad of problems, they didn’t expect to start a revolution. They were just a bunch a stable girls. Completely harmless. Right?

A/N: Things are only canon if I say they’re canon. Pre-Saving the Moorland Stables compliant for the most part. Posted in its entirety on my website. Posted in 2000 to 4000 word bits here. Rated T for Swearing Word Count 177,577

Chapter Eighteen The Silverglade Farmer’s Market

The next morning, they were up early and eating toast on the run as they ran around the Manor doing maintenance chores and getting ready. Even Linda was excited. She was going to cover it all on her social media. Antonia had ingredients that needed to be taken down to her outdoor kitchen at the pavilion where she’d be making a smaller version of the menu, mostly the lunch and dessert items with the chicken soup.

They loaded all the boxes up on their horses with the items for their display, choosing the most loyal of ducks to go with them and made quite the parade to Silverglade with Antonia riding ahead of them on her scooter like a pacer. (Linda got several pictures.)

Sally met them with a clipboard. “The Silver Glade Fine Dining is in the food pavilion. We have had to put up three pavilions!” Her eyes got big. “This has been amazing. There’s a card with your name on it for your spot, Chef Antonia.”

Antonia nodded and the girls with the boxes of food went with her.

“And we’ve set up an entire section for the Clubs in Pavilion two with the crafters,” Sally said and checked her clipboard.

“Got it!” Lily saluted.

“Pavilion one is the farmers,” Sally said. “And Andy has put in a petting zoo.”

“Good of him,” Regina grinned. “We’ll go get set up.”

“Oh, and while Loretta and Tan didn’t have anything to do with the planning, they’re more than willing to take advantage of the publicity,” Sally curled her lip. “So, they’re here too. Just a warning. But so is Justin with a display about Camp.”

They made faces and nodded at her before heading inside tent two. They set up their display, a big board about the Silverglade Equestrian Center with pictures of everything underway and everything they hoped to accomplish.

The ducks settled into a barrel full of straw they’d brought with them. They had big bows around their necks similar to the one that the Baroness had on the back of her dress.

Lily went around and shook all the President’s hands, including Loretta’s, and thanked them for coming. The others gushed. Except Loretta, she sniffed.

Across the way, Lily could see Ferdinand’s Horse Market, though there was a farmer’s wall and a couple fields between them. You didn’t need binoculars to see their horses. “I’m going to go over, say hi, and see if they want to send someone over to direct tourists to check them out.” She got on her horse, waved, rode over.

“Morning!” She called out to the older couple who were getting some horses settled.

“Morning,” the older and somewhat portly man smiled at her.

“I’m Lily of the Silver Drakes Riding Club,” she slid off her horse. “And um, I’m sure Pia has been by to tell you that today we’re having a Farmer’s Market by the Golden Fields. And, you’re more than welcome to send someone to direct them down here to check out your beautiful horses.”

Ferdinand beamed at her. “Pia did tell us that was going on. We’ve been watching those pavilions going up with quite a bit of interest.”

Eddie nodded. “Thank you for riding over to tell us what’s going on. Oye! Goofy Lars!” She raised her voice only slightly. She didn’t want to scare the horses. “You go with this young lady and tell folks about our horse market, you hear?”

“Sure thing, Eddie,” Goofy grinned. He chose one of the horses and tacked it up.

Lily smiled. “Pia might be by later to tell you again, or Kate, the leader of the Summer Chipmunks.”

“We’ll be just as appreciative of them as of you. Might want to go take a gander myself later,” Eddie said. “But can’t leave the horses by themselves.”

“I’ll mention it to the other clubs. We can spell you for a bit so you can check it out. Course, they might want to buy your horses after,” Lily said with a sly smile and twinkling eyes.

Ferdinand laughed.

Eddie smirked.

Lily tugged on her hat. She mounted her horse and joined Goofy Lars. “So, is there a reason they call you Goofy?”

He shrugged and pretended to fall off his horse.

“Right,” Lily giggled and they rode off together.

People other than the vendors were beginning to arrive when they returned. The chefs were meeting each other and shaking hands talking about their menus for the day and where they were situated.

There was a blonde man with a mustache named Mario who claimed he was from the observatory. He was dreadfully French. He wanted to put in an eatery and a store up there. But the only way anyone could get up there was if there was a reliable lift to get there. Melissa reassured him that they were working on it. Lily said she might have the perfect chef for him. Did he like bouillabaisse?

He adored bouillabaisse.

Lily gave him the French chef’s number. She hadn’t gotten five feet before Mario was on the phone and grilling them about their different French dishes and if they wanted a job.

Melissa tapped her shoulder. “Thank you. We had no idea who to ask.”

Lily smiled. “Not a problem. That chef’s nose is probably out of joint since the Baroness hired Antonia. He’ll probably leap at the chance to have a restaurant in the sky so to speak. Maybe you can get Franz’ restaurant plans he had before taking up with Courtney out of him.”

“Which one is Franz?” Melissa asked. “And Courtney?”

“Courtney Summers, big girl in the farmer’s cap,” Lily tugged her over to the restaurant tent and pointed Courtney out. “She probably has a bunch of sandwiches and is doing fried chicken wings.”

“Oh, her,” Melissa said.

“Real snooty attitude, better deal with him.”

Melissa nodded and trotted off to chat up Franz.

Lily went to check out the farmer’s tent. Each of the farmer’s had made up a display or the different clubs had help them make up displays. Lily wasn’t sure. There were pictures and they all had produce and finished products on their tables.

The first farmer was Steve’s Farm and Stable. Steve was a grain farmer. He grew wheat, oats, and corn. His fallow fields were full of alfalfa and hay that he used to help feed the Tinker Horses he kept at the stable. The other farmers paid him to rent the horses to plow their fields. They were cheaper, sort of, than tractors. Though, they did have some smaller tractors they could use if the horses got stubborn.

And horses could get stubborn.

Steve was the reason why there was the grist mill on top of the hill. Most of the places around got flour to make bread and such from Will’s Mill that was supplied with grain from Steve!

Steve also, along with the Baroness, and the Camp, supplied a lot of the fertilizer that the farmers put out on their fields to keep them nitrogen rich. Horse manure was richer than cattle manure.

He was the leader of the little farming cooperative around Silverglade.

Landon was a sheep farmer. And his sheep provided milk, meat, and wool. He tended them out on the Everwind Fields. It could be lonely. The sheep helped the grass stay short though. But sheep could be delicate and they got bugs and things. They were constantly wandering off too. That’s why he was grateful to have the Summer Chipmunks around. They were farm girls and knew the signs. They also had a good knack for finding strays.

Barney and Marley Summers were brothers. (They were related to Carney and Courtney. Lily sensed a theme.) They both had produce farms. They grew things like potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, turnips, peas, beans, onions, garlic, spinach, and the like. They sold a lot of their produce to Jorvik City high end restaurants and were thrilled that more restaurants like that would be coming to the area.

While the Vineyard wasn’t really a farm, there was a small display about it with grapes and flats of duck eggs that had been brought down by Godfrey in his car. (No one really wanted to trust eggs to horses.) The Silver Drakes had help him unload it.

In Valedale, there was a dairy farmer. However, every day they shipped their milk off to the Sunfield Creamery over by Jarlaheim. Their cattle were free range cattle that wandered about the oaks of the Hollow Woods. They supplemented their feed with alfalfa and the cows were heavy creamers. They made a decent living off of this.

Andy, he who had set up the petting zoo, had a sheep farm in Firgrove. Or, he had sheep and no farm. He wasn’t really old enough to own a farm yet. He had some chickens but not enough to do more than supply the local cafes and his grandmother’s pancake cakes. He mentioned that there was an abandoned farm out by the mountains he had his eye on for when he was older. But, he had to beware of wolves and the bear who saw his sheep as easy meals.

There was also a large apple orchard in Firgrove run by a rather boisterous family. They’d tried other trees, but apples had liked the area best. They too sold a lot of their apples to Jorvik City. Though the stables did buy their fair share as treats for the horses.

And that was the main Silverglade area farms.

Lily hugged Maya. “I’m so glad you came.”

“So am I,” Maya said and she brandished a sheaf of papers. “Look at all these orders,” she looked ready to cry. “When we said we were an animal farm for eggs, milk, and meat, they almost overwhelmed me with things they needed.”

“That’s wonderful, Maya.”

“And, your Chef Antonia gave me shillings to cover the olives she’s been taking from the farm. I can’t believe it. It’s working. You were right.”

Lily beamed at her. “That’s great. Antonia is really mad about what G.E.D. is doing to your family. We all are. In fact, where is Luciana?”

Luciana was deep in talks with Anastasia Silverglade.

“Anastasia,” Lily said and tugged Maya forward. “This is Maya Dew of the Epona Dew family.”

“Yes, my darling, Luciana and I were just talking about your family’s little predicament.” Anastasia gushed. “With the right publicity, we will be able to wrap this up before summer is over and get your family back where they belong.” She kissed Maya’s cheeks. “You leave it to us.”

Maya blinked. “I don’t understand.”

“We are doing a charity event to help your get your farm back,” Luciana explained. “Organized trail rides that riders will get sponsors for, the more trails they do, the more their sponsors will pay them! Anastasia has friends in the city that will match the amount of the private donations. We’re all very excited.”

Maya’s face slackened. “You, you’d do that for us, but, we’re nobodies.”

“You are an integral part of this county,” Anastasia said. “And we aren’t going to let the G.E.D. bully our people into hiding.” She stamped her foot. “My mother is going to hear about this, I swear it.”

“Hear about what, Anastasia dear,” Annabella Silverglade said in her bland but frosty tone.

Anastasia put her arm around Maya’s shoulder. “Mother, please meet Maya Dew of the Dew family. They had a lovely olive farm in Eastern Epona, but that wretched Ms. Drake and Mr. Kemball of the G.E.D. have run them out. They’re now hiding somewhere in shame.” Anastasia glared at her mother. “We can’t let them control our lands.”

“Of course not,” Annabella said. “They should have come to me immediately.”

“Well, they own the land now, but we have plans mother,” Anastasia raised her chin.

“I’m more than willing to hear them.”

“Ms. Luciana, these are your ideas, please explain,” Anastasia said, her tone imperious.

Luciana explained the idea to the Baroness as best she could.

Annabella nodded along. “Put down our Winery for one of the corporate backers.” She said to Anastasia. “We’ll get your farm back, young lady and run that horrible corporation out of my county for good.”

Maya nodded pale and her eyes wide.

“Silverglades know how to get things done,” Annabella declared and then moved off.

Thomas Moorland moved over. “And put down the Moorland Summer Camp as well. We support you, young missy.”

Maya burst into tears.

Thomas reached out, grabbed her into a big hug. “Oh, don’t be like that. I knew things were bad. I didn’t know they were that bad. You should have said something.”

“I wanted to. I didn’t know how,” Maya wailed.

Thomas rubbed her back. “That’s a good girl. We’ll get this all settled. You heard the Baroness. Not in her territory.”

Maya nodded. She returned to her table sniffling and wiping her eyes. The other farmers came around and gave her supporting hugs and shoulder squeezes. “Scary thing.” “Could be any of us, really.” “We’re here for you.”

Lily continued to learn about the farms. In the Harvest District, the Goldspurs had a large grist mill. They were also grain farmers like Steve. And they’d raided the Greendale forest for strawberry and blueberry plants, turning a couple fields of their farm into berry fields.

The Sunfield Farm was a dairy farm. They had a creamery. They kept chickens but only for themselves and a few local businesses. They grew grain and alfalfa to feed their cows and any extra they sent to the Goldspurs to make into flour.

The Jarlsson’s Farm was another produce farm.

Jasper in the Golden Hills may have called his farm a pumpkin farm, but he was another produce farmer. He grew mostly pumpkins and other squashes. His farm was really popular in the autumn months as he set up displays of carved and joined together pumpkins to be toured for a small fee and he had so many pumpkins that ranged from the size of his hand to bigger than your average toddler in height, it was great fun to look at them all. But an old man such as himself couldn’t live off the profits of pumpkins alone.

The Storm Garden display was as full of plans as the Silver Drake’s and Silverglade Winery display. They were another vineyard and they also had a maple orchard. Though, all of Western Epona was a big maple forest and they had permission to tap those trees as well. So, they made maple syrup and wine. Their wine cave was an actual cave that had an exit in the New Storm Garden’s house cellar.

This amused Lily and Ami. Both were making syrups and wine. It was silly. The other farm in the Epona area was the Rockwell Farm. They were quite a large farm as they were the primary tenant farmers for the Winterwell family. They did everything from having sheep wandering about Sunset Islands, to growing produce and growing grains. They didn’t keep chickens or have cows however.

The Buttergoods grew cotton and flax.

Ginny pulled Lily aside and whispered to her that the Buttergoods were in league with G.E.D. That didn’t sound good at all. They had an inside man in the family, Robert Buttergood who was sabotaging the G.E.D. equipment. And the middle brother seemed like a good enough fellow, it was the eldest brother who was in charge that was the problem.

Pamela Moonriver had beehives and her honey was really quite delicious. She was looking to expand her operation if at all possible.

Lily put her into contact with Agnetha (who was wandering around looking at the displays herself.) And with the family who ran the Firgrove Apple Orchard, apple trees needed pollinating too! Mrs. Holdsworth wandered by and got into a conversation with Pamela about checking up on Mrs. Holdsworth hives. She was an old lady and wasn’t as spry as she used to be and bees made honey, lots of honey. (Hers was Dandelion honey or so she claimed.)

Birk’s Grange was a new farm, or well, an old farm under new management. Most the farming in Dundull was small family operations. Luciana though had encouraged the woman to come out and see what she could grow if she wanted to sell things like eggs and milk or extra produce out of her farm.

The South Hoof Farm was another family farm run by the Hightowers. They worked a rescue ranch for sick horses and so a lot of their produce went to feeding and taking care of their rescues. They didn’t always have a lot left over.

“Why not import some Highland cattle for the moors?” Lily asked.

“Highland Cattle?” Erik Hightower sounded dubious.

Lily showed him a picture on her phone. “They’re from Scotland. They’d do well on your land.”

He hemmed and hawed.

Lily took the idea to Kelsey.

“Oh it’s useless to ask him to do anything,” she rolled her eyes. “I know who to take that information to, it’s not like the younger two really know anything about farming or, care about it that much.”

Lily winced.

“I swear, the place runs on hopes, dreams, and Madison’s sugar high.”

Lily winced more.

Kelsey bit her lip. “I was also going to encourage sheep.”

“We might be over inundated with sheep.”

“Too true,” Kelsey nodded.

Deciding she’d seen everything, and that she was hungry, Lily jogged over to the restaurant tent to get some food. Out of loyalty to Antonia, she got a Gyro and some baklava. “Going well?” She asked after she swallowed.

“Amazingly. You wouldn’t believe all the corporate people Anastasia brought in who are raving about the countryside, the food, the hospitality. We’ve got an entire two busses of brides. It’s a madhouse.”

Lily grinned. “But that’s good for us.”

“You bet it is,” Antonia said as she rapidly sliced up the meat. “By this time next year, we’ll have weddings two to three times a week.”

Lily nodded and kept eating. She removed her gloves so the tzatziki sauce wouldn’t mess them up and she could lick her fingers. “You need anything, text me, and we’ll go get it for you.”

“Oh, Tracy came by half an hour ago, checked the stocks and ran off to the Manor before I could say boo.”

Lily grinned. “Good.”

“And that butler of the Baroness brought me more eggs without asking, Tracy helped him unload.” Antonia wiped her forehead with her sleeve. “You go be president of the club and make connections.”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am,” Lily said as she finished her gyro, wiped her mouth and went to do just that. She was flagged down by Anastasia as soon as she got into the woman’s sight range and was introduced to Herman’s brother in the music business and soon all the names swam together.

She saw Conrad in the crafter tent. And a couple vendors from Silverglade she thought, a tailor and a baker. There was someone selling stuffed animals and riding vests at least. (nothing she would ever wear, far too many colors.) But Ingrid was talking to each of them and it sounded from what little Lily could hear (before Anastasia whisked her away) she was trying to set up a flea market in Firgrove.

That could be something.

It seemed to be a rousing success.

FOR THE ACCOMPANYING IMAGES PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE MY WATERMARK AND CONTACT INFORMATION. THANK YOU. I get it. Some of you might get excited and want to see this stuff in the game, especially the clothes, tack, and pets. However, the only way I want to see this in the game is if I get paid for it. If I see it in the game and I’m not paid for it, there will be hell to pay. You think I’m salty. I’d be angry. Personally, I’m not going to send this info to SSO. If you do, leave my contact information there! Don’t give them any excuses to steal.

Now, I’ll know you haven’t read this note if you leave me comments about how ‘salty’ I am about the game and if I hate it so much I should do something else. I am doing something else. It’s called Mystic Riders MMORPG Project. Mystic Riders however is a very baby phase game. You can check out our plans on the game dev blog. (Skills, Factions, Professions, Crafting, Mini-Games, 25+ horse breeds!) If you know anyone who would be interested and has money or contacts about game making, direct them to the blog.

#star stable #sso #star stable online #jorvik reimagined #fanfic #star stable salt #completely harmless #silverglade reimagined #many nods to ruth westside #the plot picks up soon #two more chapters to fashion #next time:oil rigs

[mykatesingh-blog]

  We continue with the little book I’m having fun writing during April’s NaNoWriMo challenge.  Once again, for those who are just starting on this novelette, no editing energy has been expended so ignore the errors and enjoy the book.

  Chapter 6

Super frugal and thrift. It Ain’t borin’

  Everyone talks of frugality now. It’s interesting and inspiring for those trying to make big changes in their budget. If it’s a new thing to you it can be very fun to get on the thrift train and ride all the way to a lifestyle that will be so much easier and less stressful.

I don’t know what the future holds for any of us, I know that we are not as prepared as some of these amazing homesteaders I see on YouTube. We don’t raise animals for milk or meat or eggs. We just planted our orchard and will be waiting years before we have a basket of fruit or berries. My seeds haven’t sprouted…I may have started too late and I’m working with a new climate. However, we started and we dove into what we do know and understand.

The frugal and thrifty lifestyle has been ours for years and years with constant improvements each season and passing year. To me, it is a game and with this game we have seen our abundance increase and have doubled our properties. Things I never thought we could accomplish have been done. Yet we live on so little. The trick is simply this: have NO debt. Have vehicles paid off, take good care of them, try and have cars that last like Toyotas and get great gas mileage. Live on far less then you make. Have a small mortgage or rent. Practice every frugal trick you can learn from the wise ones that went before us (mostly grandmothers and great grandmothers).

Then there are all the details to living frugally.

We have already discussed growing a garden, cooking from scratch, stocking your pantry, but what about stocking your savings? What about saving all those pennies for a rainy day…or to move to a better location, buy land, start a business, travel, or one day work less?

Buy less. Have month after month of no spends. Make saving money and stretching that paycheck a game. Set goals and challenges each month. Each time you grocery shop. Each time you shop for anything. Free is a magic word and making it yourself is a craft.

When I need something, say some extra shelving in the pantry, I try and find it free on Craigslist. Even the side of the road. It takes waiting and foraging. If I can’t find it I may make some shelves with old boards and crates or buckets. I may find them cheap at last from Big Lots or a yard sale.

I try to use what I have. I decorate with what I have. We just moved into a 120 year old house. My furnishings looked perfect in the other little 1941 stucco bungalow for which I slowly found and selected pieces. They don’t really fit this old house that has seen two World Wars, the Spanish Flu, and the Depression. But we are here having our own bit of history with the COVID19 and a looming recession. I don’t dare spend a dime on furnishings, not even thrift store furnishings half off on the first Saturday of the month. I just keep rearranging what I have, throw a new piece of cloth on the couch, rearrange the paintings. It’s shabby chic, for sure. Do I really care? No, as long as we are warm and dry in the winter and cool and sheltered in the summer. I make things cozy with throws, rugs, candles, lush plants, and my beloved TV.

We aren’t going out anymore. Well, we can’t right now. We are sheltered in big time. If we even walk downtown a cop will pull over and ask what our mission is? We can walk in the woods…that is all we have left outside the house and yard. So, what a great time to start the practice of not going out. Perfect time for a no spend!

I cook delicious meals at home. We love good food. If I cook good food with flavor, variety, and throw in treats, baked goods, and snack plates, then we don’t long so much for restaurants.

I have an Italian stovetop espresso maker and handheld milk frother. I always have a big stash of good coffee, Cafe Bustelo, which is divine (literally the best coffee I’ve ever had) and cheap, grass fed milk and some sort of flavored creamer that I add just a smidge to the milk to get a fantastic creamy, sweet latte every morning. Do you thinking I miss the coffee shop? No, I am actually disappointed in the coffee cocktails I pay for at the café. I make the best ever and I rise and shine each morning in great anticipation of my golden coffee beverage.

I can bake wheat bread and Amish white…trying to prepare mentally for sourdough. Then there are my crackers (a bit thick but great with cheese) and graham crackers (also a bit thick but they pull it off better than the crackers), and my blessed tortillas!

I love beans…and potatoes, so this is not a hard life. Fries, baked taters, then burritos, or combine the two and make chili fries or just a plate of fried onions, potatoes, and pintos. It sticks to the ribs.

So, we eat well but it doesn’t cost much because our base foods are simple, inexpensive foods. Sometimes we do have baked brie or something luxurious now and then but it is usually a sale I’ve discovered at Grocery Outlet.

And my dear Grocery Outlet. I get organics and good hair dyes, make up, luxurious lotions, and frozen pizzas now and then.

Then there are the things I do to save and reduce spending. I use cloth everything; menstrual pads, stovetop coffee pots that don’t need filters, cloth napkins, and towels, washable dishcloths, washable mop cloths. I clean out my vacuum bag over and over making a disposable bag last a year. I water down dish soap, shampoo, laundry soap to make it stretch.

I use a Berkey water filter and we have the cleanest water, never buy bottled water.

I’ve graced the movie theater a handful of times since being married and having babies. Now it’s sort of out of the question. I did spend a little cash on a Roku TV for my bedroom. Cost $118 and is the greatest joy of my evenings…No cable bill, not even a Netflix payment. Free movies and TV and music galore for the whole family.

I know this life isn’t for everyone. Many a man and, woman, don’t find spending their days cleaning and cooking fun. But this is my job and career. I take great joy and pride in making my home cozy and keeping it clean (for the most part). I enjoy cooking. Gardening is a great pleasure for my husband and I because you reap so much abundance from it and the savings is tremendous when you can grow tons of organic food for free. An organic nectarine can be $3.99 a lb. We grow our own now. We can gorge ourselves on organic nectarines and the only cost is the labor of picking it each morning filling a breakfast basket with this delicious fruit.

I love cleaning and decorating my house. It is my grown up dollhouse. When I was a child I loved my dollhouses. I had a nice victorian one and one made of boxes that I painted, glued hand made curtains and made rugs from scraps of old towels, furniture made from egg cartons and various cans and little food containers. I think I loved my box house more than the victorian.

Today I have my old grown up dollhouse that we live in and I rearrange the furniture and decorate all the time while I have my music or an old movie playing in the background. I put on a pot of coffee and go about tidying my house, giving thanks that I have a roof over my families’ heads. We have soft beds and all the luxuries such as TV, washer, and dryer. If you have had to use the laundromatt in the past or present you know what a luxury this alone can be. To have a full kitchen with working stove, to have a bathroom with a tub. To have a pantry! I never had a real pantry before…and I probably don’t have an official one now but I had so much room in my laundry room that with the addition of a fridge and shelving it was quickly transformed to just such a room.

We have a quarter acre to garden like mad. Gardening is a craft, maybe even an art form. We can decide to have orchards, kitchen gardens, bees, chickens, rabbits, goats. We could raise almost all our food except flour, rice, and coffee. We could trade with our homegrown groceries.

Each day I can choose to greet the day with gratitude and delight in that we have a home and land that we can build and create for as long as we choose. I can turn my duties into rituals and ceremonies. I light candles when I wash dishes and spend that time in quiet to rest my mind. The burning of incense when I vacuum and dust to change the air. A good movie while folding the laundry, afternoon tea and biscuits with the boys, a book in the evening, a walk on forest trails anytime we like. People plan trips and drive long distances to walk forest trails on vacations. We take nothing for granted.

To drive here and there, shop at the malls, go out to eat, these things can be fun but they are also a waste of money and precious life. Going out should be a once in a while treat, not a daily or weekly habit. Driving should be reserved to a day of errands and appointments. Groceries only need to be purchased twice monthly and maybe not that often. There is too much wasting of gas and time because everyone is used to being busy. They fill up their days running about.

The only way to save money and grow your life is to nestle into the home and focus your energies there. Those of us that stay home have orchards and gardens, we have homes that are cozy and inviting, we have pots of coffee or tea on the stove, we have hot meals at dinner time. It cost very little to keep a nice home, to cook homemade meals, to sit in your yard and enjoy the birds and bees and flowers, to cuddle your children while watching Moana for the tenth time…or in my case Godzilla.

Find your entertainments, joys, and fulfillment at home. Grow your wealth and use it for good and a piece of mind. My greatest fun right now is planting things…vegetables, fruit, flowers. I can see how my huge, bare yard will look in a few years. My other is having my coffee and a chat on the phone with other friends and family that are sheltered in. People that are normally too busy have time to chat, to sip a hot drink and plan out a new yard. They are pondering more time for fun, rest and family.

Well, time for my chamomile and book. We’ll chat more later on this wonderful subject.

    Make it Stretch…Chapter 6 Super Frugal and Thrift. We continue with the little book I'm having fun writing during April's NaNoWriMo challenge.  Once again, for those who are just starting on this novelette, no editing energy has been expended so ignore the errors and enjoy the book.

#frugal living #living a simple life #living on a fixed income #living on one income #living on unemployment #living on welfare or food stamps #thrifty living

[grassshrimp56-blog]

Upside Down Walnut, Chocolate, & Pear Cake

Our little back house we are renting is about four miles from the ocean here in Costa Mesa/Newport Beach. We get the foggy marine layer on the mornings it chooses to hang over the coast, and we have a very tempered climate year round. In the past I’ve brushed southern California off as having no seasons, but this just isn’t true. I think with social media these days we see so much in the fall of the iconic leaves changing, and more clearly defined seasons of certain regions of the world, that is has become commonplace to standardize these quarterly shifts. Maybe it’s just me and my tendency to seek out change, but I’m coming around to seeing a more full, open picture. Every little dot of latitude and longitude on the map has it’s own unique characteristics when it comes to seasons, and I’m beginning to appreciate our a-typical southern California ones.

September and October are two of the warmest months here where I live, which is wonderful if you can get past the photos of falls leaves and warms mugs of cocoa elsewhere. Why is it wonderful? The crowds of people have all gone home, the kids are back in school, and the beaches and national parks are now near-empty to enjoy. Around here we call it “locals’ summer”. I don’t do well in the heat, so this time can be tough for me to get through, but November and December are the greatest gift after these few warm months. This is my season, this is the time of year I fall in love with California. The air is chilly and as crisp as you can get with the pacific ocean nearby. The light is the most beautiful light I’ve ever seen. The sunsets make you weak in the knees. And the smell that permeates the entire city is pure heaven. The farmers market is still overflowing, with fall produce finally coming in alongside unlikely jewels such as tomatoes, avocados, oranges, and so many greens (kale, chard, herbs, etc). Local pomegranates are half the size of my head and two dollars a piece.

Approaching Thanksgiving this year, and hosting for the first time with my parents coming into town, I tried pondering a new theme we could base our cooking around that felt more fitting for our area. As is typical this time of year, we have a three day heat bump that lands right over Thanksgiving. Normally I would say something negative about California and how I wish I lived somewhere cooler. But not this year, I’m celebrating where we live. So we are having a California-themed Thanksgiving with dishes made from all of the produce that was overflowing the most at the farmers market this past weekend. Our backyard will be in shade in the late afternoon, so we will set up the table under our twinkle lights and eat outside. Roasting a dozen heavy dishes on a warm day doesn’t sound right to me, so I’m planning a few lighter twists. I’ll be sure to share them on Instagram stories a bit if you’re curious to see what we are making. I’m really excited you guys, it feels good to be going with the grain and not against it for once.

Part of my inspiration to dig deeper into understanding and loving the unique spot in the world where I live came from reading Valentina‘s pages in her new cookbook, Everyday Vegetarian. She lives in a small medieval town on the eastern side of Italy and shares her region’s history and culinary traditions in a way that reads like a poetic novel. From cover to cover you are immersed in recipes and stories that overlap each other into one beautiful picture of her culture. Valentina takes traditional recipes that have been passed down for generations in her family, alongside some newer ones of her own, and shows how to make them vegetarian (and many of them vegan too) without compromising the tradition. It’s beautifully photographed, with such a lovely cover to have sitting out on your kitchen counter too (see photo below recipe). She shows how there is so much more to Italian cooking outside of pasta and tomato sauce (although she has recipes for both from scratch that are incredible) and how to cook throughout the seasons in her nook of the world as well. I want to make every recipe from cover to cover and book a trip to Italy ASAP to experience so much of what she describes.

The first recipe that jumped out to me was her grandma’s upside down prune cake, which she suggests in the fall making with pears, nuts, and chocolate instead. So I did just that, and it was so scrumptious I had to share it with you here too! I used a mixture of freshly milled flours from the incredible people over at Eat Grain, which I link to individually in the recipe below. You can taste the freshness, and even see it, in these flours. I’ve never experienced anything like it – and the nutrition is suppose to be even better as well! Check out their line on their site here if you’d like, they are shipping anywhere in North America for free for the rest of the year – which is perfect timing for some holiday baking.

I hope those of you celebrating Thanksgiving this week have the most wonderful, joy-filled time. Maybe this cake could even squeeze onto one of your holiday tables too ;). -xx

SHOP MY PANTRY >>

RECIPE NOTES: The recipe below is pretty darn near exact to Valentina’s, with a few small exceptions. Here are the few substitutions I made which you can convert back to the original if you desire to: I use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar, apple sauce instead of sunflower oil, and a mixture of whole spelt and rye instead of whole wheat. I also halved the recipe below and prepared it in a 6 inch springform pan in the photos above, since I knew we would have lots of sweets on hand this week. This worked out really well, but I know I’ll be making the full recipe next time – it was just too good.

UPSIDE DOWN WALNUT, CHOCOLATE, & PEAR CAKE Makes one 10 inch cake, serves 8 to 10.

1 3/4 cups almond or soy milk 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup of water 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce (or sunflower oil) juice and zest of 1 lemon 1 cup coconut sugar, plus 1 teaspoon for the pan 1 cup of sifted spelt flour (white) 3/4 cup whole spelt flour 1/4 cup whole rye flour 1/3 cup potato starch 1 heaping teaspoon baking soda 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon pinch of salt 15 small pears 1/3 cup chopped raw walnuts 1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate

optional: extra chopped walnuts and dark chocolate for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper and lightly oil the sides (I forgot to oil mine and it still removed itself nicely, but it is probably safer to do so). Sprinkle about a teaspoon of coconut sugar on the bottom.

Combine the sifted (white) spelt, whole spelt, and rye flour with the potato starch, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, coconut sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl and whisk to remove any lumps (I sifted mine, and added the sugar and zest afterwards).

In a large glass measuring cup, combine the almond or soy milk, vinegar, and lemon juice and stir. After a few seconds, the milk will start to curdle. Immediately add the water, applesauce (or sunflower oil), and vanilla. Stir well. Slowly pour this into the dry mix, stirring with a whisk to break any lumps. The batter will be somewhat on the liquid side.

Core each pear and slice into 1/4 inch thick wedges. Arrange in a circle in the prepared springform pan, until the bottom is completely filled. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts and dark chocolate on top, and slowly pour the cake batter into the tin. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (mine took 50), until cooked through when tested in the center with a toothpick. Once cooked and golden on top, turn off the oven and let it sit inside for 5 minutes more.

Remove the cake from the oven and release from the springform pan onto a wire rack. Flip upside down so that the pears are on top, and peal away the parchment paper. This is optional, but while the cake is warm I sprinkled some dark chocolate on top, and when it had melted I added a small handful of additional chopped walnuts. Once fully cooled, slice and serve the cake. Store leftovers in an airtight container on the counter, or in the fridge (it’s really good cold), and enjoy within three days.

This recipe was originally found in the cookbook Everyday Vegetarian, and is being republished here with Valentina’s permission. See more of her beautiful work on her blog, Hortus Cuisine, and on Instagram. 

I love seeing what you create! Be sure to tag your photos on Instagram with #FWmakers.

This post contains affiliate links (they are underlined for clarity). Purchases you make through these links will help fund the work I do here on Faring Well at no extra cost to you. Thank you sincerely for your constant love and support.

Naturally Vegetarian by Valentina Solfrini O R D E R  H E R E

Source: http://faring-well.com/upside-down-walnut-chocolate-pear-cake/

[childrenneedsfoundplc-blog]

Childrenneedsfoundationplc

Childrenneedsfoundationplc

Life in Africa is a struggle for anyone, but the life of a child is even harder. Imagine, growing up in a world where you lack the very basics in life, food, clean water, medicine, shelter, safety, a bed of your own. Beyond that, there are no toys, no dolls, no soccer balls, no sweets and treats, at best, a bed of reeds to sleep on. School would be wonderful to attend, the path out of poverty, but there is no money for school fees, so you stay home and wait for a miracle, but for most there is none, life is simply survival, staying alive.

Death is very common to you (20% of Africa’s children do not reach the age of six). Life is hard, and yet, most of the world is unaware of your plight or of any of Africa’s children. They are among the voiceless of the world, needing others to speak on their behalf. This page and others on this site are my attempt to be voice for the voiceless, Africa’s children.

Growing up in Africa

Growing up anywhere brings its share of problems, but growing up in a place like East Africa is a struggle that is beyond imagination. Put yourself into the shoes of an East African child; I should say feet, (many children do not wear shoes, but might wear sandals, flip–flops as I call them).

You are fortunate to be still alive at the age of six, many of your friends have died of things such as malaria, dysentery, malnutrition, and the like. The fact that both father and mother are alive is another miracle. Life expectancy for men is 40 years in East Africa and 42 years for women (rarely do you encounter gray haired men.) Malaria is still the number one killer in East Africa, but AIDS comes into second place. Wherever one goes, one can see the evidence of the ravages of AIDS. Go into any school and ask how many children have only one parent, or no parent and you would be astounded. In a country like Uganda with a population of 20 million, there are as many as 1.5 million AIDS orphans. Yes, there is rebel activity in the north and west of Uganda. Yes, there is malaria and other illnesses. This is the other war, AIDS, the silent killer that sweeps through offices, villages, banks, schools and government institutions. In fact many businesses refuse to give time off for more than one funeral a month to their employees, since death comes so frequently to families. (One of the most secure jobs is to make caskets along Entebbe road in Kampala; unfortunately, there is never a shortage of customers

So here you are, a child in Africa, living in a small shack, made of sun baked, mud bricks, covered by a corrugated tin roof (they are called iron sheets here), that leaks whenever it rains. The room is small, yes, the house is one room, and if you are really lucky it will be two. No kitchen, you have a stove outside, a charcoal one, charcoal costs about 7 dollars (£5) a bag and for some that lasts all month. If you have no money you find some wood and use a fire to cook over. The bathroom, consists of an outhouse down the path, shared by many families, there is a common one used by the men and by all to wash in. Most Africans bathe using plastic wash–tubs twice a day. A house like that rents for 30 to 50 dollars a month in a city like Kampala, and it is in slum areas of town. The income of your parents is only about 70 dollars combined. Father works as a night watchman for a well to do family from 7 in the evening to 7 in the morning. Mother goes off at 6:30 in the morning to work as a maid for some white people from Denmark.

You are a girl of 12, and now you are home alone, well almost. Father might sleep for a few hours, but then he is off into town seeing if he can come up with some extra work and make a few more Shillings for the family. Why are you not in school? Oh, the answer to that one is easy, a girl does not need school, she only needs to take care of the house, get a husband when she is older, have babies, raise a family, cook, maybe work as maid, or in a restaurant, but there is no reason to invest in a woman or so the thinking goes. (Most of the lack of education for girls has to do with economics, the firstborn boy is usually sent to school if any money is available.)

Your oldest brother left at 7 that morning, he had to take a roll of toilet paper to school, since the day before he was scolded for not having any. He also had to take a new broom to class to sweep the classroom and the school grounds after school.

School is expensive. A new law had been passed in 1997 making Ugandan school free through primary grades, but then there are all those other fees, such as PTA, Building Funds, extra this and that. Besides school is six miles away and the mini bus called taxi costs 50 cents each way. There are the hidden costs that no one talks about at school, but are so common. Class size is often about 100 students to the room. Even that is supposed to change but has not. Mother had to come up with extra money so that your brother could pay the teacher to sit up at the front of the class, where he could hear and learn better. Money had also to be paid to have homework checked and corrected, and if you wanted extra help called tutoring for the Primary 7 exam, there was something extra for that. That is why only one of your brothers goes to school, while the others hang around until maybe some of the uncles and aunts in the family can contribute something for the education of them. For that is how it works in Africa, no family can ever come up with the money alone, it takes combined resources of the extended family to send children to school in most cases.

Daily, it is your job, to look after the little ones. Do laundry in two plastic tubs with water that you had to carry in a 5–gallon can up a hill to the house. Not only washing, but there is cooking. You do not have to worry about preparing meat, there is no money for that, except a few times a month. The shop is just around the corner from you. No, you can’t ask for a cut of meat, you get what is there and the price is the same. You really do not care about that chewy, tough meat anyway, plus it is covered with flies, yuck.

Live chickens can be bought in the market, but they are expensive, costing between four and five dollars. It is only on special occasions that one will buy them, it is your job to kill and pluck clean if your brothers are not around. The main staple of Uganda is Matoke (green bananas, masked and steamed under banana leaves) and Posho made from corn flour. Every evening you buy a plastic sack of milk, for immediate consumption, since it would spoil if you bought it during the day. It is sold along the roads by vendors with carts, and if you pick one from the bottom of the pile, it is still reasonably cool, well warm. Bread, can also be bought there from the same roadside hawkers who call out what they have for sale, as it gets dark small oil lamps illuminate their wares.

In the mornings it is your job to head to the market to buy stalks of bananas, some sweet potatoes if any money is on hand. There are also red kidney beans, but during the two rainy seasons of the year they may be filled with maggots and you do not like getting your meat and protein that way, but that is reality and what can one do. Rice is available but you have to pick the rocks out of it since it is no fun chewing on them. It is also very expensive. There are potatoes which you like and sometimes use when you buy beef, but it always comes down to how much money the family has.

The future does not look bright for you. You hear people talking about things getting better, but you have not seen it. Malaria still comes to visit you on a regular basis, there is dysentery, cholera that one has to look out for, and as you have gotten older and developed as a young woman has, there is the hidden problem in Africa. Your uncle has been coming around saying things to you, and suggesting that you come to visit him and learn how to be a woman. Yes, things are not getting better for you.

It would be nice to learn how to read and write, but it may never happen, in fact that are not many in the family that do. There are only two ways out of the slum in which you live. One is to get an education and the other way is what your Aunt Asha is doing, selling herself to White and Indian men who have money and just might take you in as a live in girlfriend. That however is not the way you learned in your church, just up the path from your slum called Eden Revival where they spoke of Holiness, right living and faith in God to bring about a future with hope. You have had a lot of hope, prayed a lot, but not seen the bright future, but then God must be busy in other parts of the world.

You like going into town with your mother to Owino market where you see clothes for sale, not that you get many, it has been some time since you last gotten a new skirt, and the detergent had long ago washed out all the brightness that had been there (Omo does get the dirt out, but also the color). You reach down to scratch your feet, and notice that a few more jiggers have lodged themselves there and it would be time again to cut them out, since there was no money to go the doctor, and mother did a good enough job with a knife.

Fun, for you was playing with other children, going down to the place where the men drank out of common pot the homebrew that some of the women prepared. There you could dance to drums with some the other girls. You liked it and everyone would join in while the old men would talk about yesterday, today and tomorrow, always looking for that miracle to help them out of the slum.

A new lottery had come to Kampala and Uncle Fred had taken all of his salary of 30 dollars, (30,000 shillings) and bet it and won nothing in return. Others laughed about it but you felt sorry for him.

There was something new you had heard about. Some organization from Great Britain had set up a little office at the edge of the slum and was signing up children to go to school without school fees. They also provided school uniforms, books, transport and some food. The cost would be paid for a by a family far away and it was called sponsorship. Maybe, just maybe this was true and someone did care about children like you.

Maybe there was more to life; maybe there would be a chance, an open door to have hope. Maybe, someone did care.

The reality is that you and I can make the difference in the lives of children in Africa. You can go there like I and many others have done and actually work amongst them, or you can contribute your money to an agency that will do so on your behalf.

  Latest:Africa’s Children – Struggling to Survive Life in Africa is a struggle for anyone, but the life of a child is even harder.

[runawaywidow]

Traveling helps me to be happy in the moment. Stopping to smell the roses and notice everything wonderful in life seems easier when you are away from regular routines. I am on a discovery search for new places and adventures. So this February, despite unseasonably warm weather in New York, I spent a week in Florida.

Honestly, I have been to Florida quite a few times. I made an effort to experience some new things on this trip and as always had some fun adventures with my travel buddy. We planned to visit some family and friends during our stay.

Visit Family – Free!

One way to have a free stay is to know someone. My friend and I stayed at my mom’s place in Bradenton, Florida.  She bought a condo 7 years ago in the Heritage Harbor community. My mom met her second husband at a bereavement group after my dad passed away.  Their group became very close and continued to meet every Tuesday night for 12 years. Addie and Phil got married in 2011 and had all 16 grandchildren participate in the wedding. He still has his house in New York, and she has her condo overlooking a pond and golf course in Florida.  The pond is beautiful and home to many birds and even an alligator who we saw everyday. Addie and Phil are now snow birds since they come to Florida to avoid our long, cold winters and then return to New York when Florida gets too hot.

After breakfast, my friend and I tried out the gym attached to the club house and pool area.  We did a few weights and heard someone shouting out instructions from a nearby room.  After about 20 minutes the doors opened and a dozen fit women in their 60’s exited glowing with perspiration.  It seems they had been taking a Zumba class.  It appeared to be working for them! After we gave a solid effort on the machines, we left to spend the day lounging by the pool and hot tub.  The pool area also has a bar and we enjoyed lunch outside from the club’s restaurant.

  Robinson Preserve – Bradenton

I went on a solo adventure to the Robinson Nature Preserve.  This 487 acre waterfront preserve has biking and hiking trails as well as kayaking along the river.  The Osprey Loop is a 3 mile loop that is either on a packed sand trail or a boardwalk.  The trail goes along Tampa Bay where the Skyway bridge is visible.  I saw quite a few birds including Ibis, Great Blue Heron, Egrets, and Osprey. It was partly cloudy and 70 degrees which made for nice walking weather. It was free to park here and no cost to enjoy the preserve.

Palma Sol Botanical Park – Bradenton

This 10 acre park is also free and has a variety of different plants and fruit trees all equipped with small wooden signs labeling the flora.  The park has quiet paths around three small lakes and bridges.  My sister met me at the park after my hike across the street at the Robinson Preserve.  She has an extensive garden in her yard and was impressed with the variety of fruit trees, however this was not the season for them to be bearing fruit.  We met 2 cute little donkeys who the owner told us like to pose for photos, so I took one.

As we were heading toward the parking lot, we saw what looked like a baby Great Blue Heron who was stuck in the weeds of a pond.  We located the woman who worked in the office and she called wildlife rescue.  They were happy that we hadn’t tried to save the bird ourselves since a vet would be needed to see if the legs were damaged. The woman showed us a new flower that had just bloomed on the Shaving Brush Tree.  My sister spotted a female cardinal and then, sure enough, I spotted a Blue Jay.  I feel that Mike likes to send them to me and I usually see at least one every day.  My sister said it’s unusual to see Blue Jays in Florida.

Lido Beach – St. Armands Circle- Sarasota

I drove south from Bradenton to meet up with my friend and her college roommate at Lido Beach.  Parking is free at Lido beach public lot.  There is a concession stand and a very short walk to the water once you step onto the sand.  The waves were bigger here and some people were surfing or using their paddleboards to surf. We had lunch at a Tiki bar in a nearby hotel.  The shops in St. Armands Circle are fun to browse around in, especially if you are looking for art, jewelry or warm weather fashions. The restaurants and ice cream shops are also quite popular.  My only complaint would be the traffic getting to the beach during February break is really slow.

Siesta Key Beach- Sarasota

Voted the #1 Beach in the U.S.A., I made two day trips to this beach during the week.  The Beach is beautiful.  The walk to the water is quite long and they even have some type of rug  path to make it easier for people with wheels to access the water.  The sand is extremely soft and fine.  The texture is a mix between sugar and flour.  It sticks to your skin, but comes right off in the clear, salty gulf water.  The waves were not big at all on the days that we visited.  I walked 3 miles the first day and started coughing.  I soon realized that quite a few people were coughing too.  It seems they were experiencing “red tide”. The water looked turquoise and when I waded in I could see my feet. When the red tide is in the air people may experience respiratory irritation causing people to cough.

The second day I visited was sunnier, not so windy and very crowded.  Parking is free, but the public lot was filled by 12:00 noon.  We had lunch in the Siesta Key village and I enjoyed an oyster Po’ Boy at The Old Salty Dog.

After a visit like this it is interesting to think about what my plans are for the future?  Can I imagine myself retiring and moving to Florida?  I have family there.  The beaches are nice.  I could probably teach in Florida, but maybe my next chapter in life will be different.  I think I could be happy renting out umbrellas or lounge chairs from a shaded cabana at the beach.  I would just need to live closer to the water since the traffic seems to be an issue.  Although the amenities in the gated communities are nice too. Well, I probably won’t be retiring for a few years anyway – so I’ll keep working and so I am able to afford more travel adventures.  Sounds like a plan!

    Finding FREE fun things to do in Florida - it can be done! Traveling helps me to be happy in the moment. Stopping to smell the roses and notice everything wonderful in life seems easier when you are away from regular routines.

#adventure #beach #Florida #travel #Widow