September 2017

Preparing for PoF

stargrace September 20, 2017 1 Comment

I managed to find a little time to get back into Guild Wars 2 over the past couple of days and I’ve been trying to figure out who I wanted to play (and what account) when PoF went live. I know, I’ve waffled back and forth a bunch of times, sending all of my crafting supplies from one character to another – but I have FINALLY settled (for now). We’ll see how long it lasts.

Because my original characters had so much completed and were already 5 years old, I decided to put my second account on hold – even though that account has a deluxe version of PoF, and my “old” account does not (just couldn’t afford the upgrade). I have 4 level 80 characters, and a level 65 slacker. On my other account I have 9 characters, with the ability to have a total of 16 – but honestly, why do I need that many. I don’t. Plus on my “old” account I have a hall of monuments, with points into it. That’s missing completely from my second account.

So the first decision I made was stick with my old main account. Easy. Next I wanted to decide who to play going forward in PoF. Yes, I realize I’ll probably end up playing everyone, and bouncing around some too – but for the release I’d like to (try) to stick with one character. Two of my favourite classes to play are my mesmer and my guardian.

I played both over the course of the day and honestly, the classes are both just so fun for me. I have a good build on each, and I’m comfortable. What it came down to was something pretty silly, but hey to each their own. My guardian is an Asura, and I LOVE small races. I love the asura. My mesmer, is a human, and while humans are cute and adorable, they’re not asura.

So I settled on playing my asura guardian, Velours.

Will I stick with it? Who knows, my decisions change day to day, but I felt pretty good about the choice.

I also learned today that there are housing instances. What?! How did I not know this. I had enough laurels to purchase the candy corn house item that will give me some candy corn every day (harvestable). With halloween upcoming, I figured why not. I also purchased some gauntlets that look fantastic, dripping magma and smoking because baby, I am one HOT asura.

I had enough airship parts to pick up one of the miniatures from Verdant Brink, now that I have FINALLY unlocked the beginning of the frog language. Have I mentioned yet that I’m not a fan of HoT? Well, I’m not. I’ve completed Verdant Brink and the beginning of Auric Basin, and that is it. I get stomped on so hard in Auric Basin that I can’t get anything done, and I just can’t progress. Nor do I have any idea where to go or what I’m doing.

I’m hoping that things will be different in PoF, but we’ll just have to see.

As always, happy gaming – no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

Diving into Divinity Original Sin 2

stargrace September 19, 2017 No Comments

I own the original game but I never actually completed it because I ended up getting to a point I just found too frustrating. Plus I almost never (ever) finish a game. Why stop now!

I noticed a few days ago a lot of my friends were picking up the game, and I started hearing trickles of talk about what a good RPG game it was and how the story was fantastic. Then @scopique stumbled into the fact that there’s a GM mode, something I had not heard from ANYONE so far. Well now. That’s something pretty unique and awesome. He has a much better write up about it here, so I won’t go into a lot of details, but I do highly suggest you watch his video and also check out the amazing Matt Mercer video (he has a link of that, too). Fascinating stuff.

I was going to hold off buying it until I had a bit of extra cash in the budget or until it went on sale, whichever came first – but my significant other ended up buying it as a surprise for me (along with STEINS; GATE which I’ll get into later)! It took a bit to download (it’s not a small game) and I debated adding mods right from the start but decided to hold off for now and go with the vanilla experience.

When you start up the game there’s a bunch of different ways to play listed. GM mode is pretty self explanatory but since I had never really played before I had no idea what the difference was between “explore” and “classic”. I ended up going with the classic experience, at least for now.

Without giving any of the story away (which is fantastic, by the way) you create a character and find yourself shackled on a ship headed some place to do something! Your character has a ton of RPG replies for those around them and the voice acting is absolutely superb. I’m not that far in yet because I keep getting distracted by items I can take. Kitchen pot? Sure why not grab that. Laboratory equipment? Sure, I may need that. Rotten stuff from the floor? Why not.

Oh and my character does have the corpse eating trait. Why not. I ended up rolling with one of the pre-created characters until I got a better grasp of things.

Have you picked up the game? Curious but waiting? Love it so much you haven’t stopped playing? Let me know in comments and as always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Crochet Knitting Yarn

Knitting / Crochet Goals for… 2018?

stargrace September 18, 2017 1 Comment

I like goals, and I like lists. There are lots of crafty projects I wish I could do that I haven’t mastered the skills for yet. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m completely self taught when it comes to both knitting and crochet. I’ve been knitting for two years this September, and crocheting off and on for a number of years. I find crochet very difficult, knitting was much easier to pick up. As such I’ve included a list of ‘goals’ that I’d like to accomplish when it comes to my two crafting passions for 2018. Hopefully I get a few of them done, but we’ll just have to see.

Two sided knitting. Oy. How many tries have I given this one now? How many failed attempts? My brain just can’t seem to wrap itself around this form of knitting. It’s a shame too, because it’s absolutely beautiful and I have the yarn for a magnificently geeky blanket if I could ONLY double knit. I want to learn this more than anything else. Practice, practice, practice and then practice some more.
Crochet more than single crochet. I can do granny squares (I did make a granny square blanket after all) and I can do simple single crochet, but that is as far as my crochet skills go. I don’t seem to be able to keep track of half double crochet, or triple crochet, or any of that. I get a few rounds in and then my mind goes blank and I end up reverting back to single crochet. Every time. I want to learn the more complicated stitches.
Crochet more amigurumi. Pictured above is my small collection (minus my octopus which is on my desk living happily). The “teddy bear from hell” is a very failed experiment when I was first getting started but I still love it. Norbert the unicorn is my pride and joy, and I’d really like to attempt more cute little guys to add to my collection.
Fix my first ever knit socks. This is just a matter of finding the socks, and finding the time. I knit them before I knew how to do the kitchener stitch and the toes are completely wonky to the point of being uncomfortable. I’d like to rip back the toes, re-stitch them and close them up properly. If I can remember where they are. Maybe in my yarn bin…
Fix my first ever knit shirt. I love the shirt, it fits, and it’s lovely except for one major issue. I used a non-stretchy bind off, which means that there’s no give when you try to wear it around your waist or when you put it on or take it off. Having some give is absolutely essential otherwise you’re just wearing a tight piece of yarn around your hips. I need to first make sure I have some spare yarn, then remove the current bind off (just a regular plain one) and find and learn a stretchy bind off. Once that’s done I’ll have a new shirt I can wear. Again this one comes down to time.

Those are the main goals I’d like to accomplish – and I think it’s a pretty reasonable list. We’ll just have to see how it goes. Do you have any crafty goals you’re working towards? Let me know in comments! Tomorrow we’ll have a regularly schedule gaming post.

Real Life

Sunday: Meals of the Week Post

stargrace September 17, 2017 No Comments

The meals from last week were a huge hit. I didn’t get bored of the meatloaf / stuffing for dinner, and I didn’t get bored of the corn quesadillas. One thing I did add was pickled red onion. I am pretty sure I could eat that stuff on everything, and it’s incredibly easy to make.

This week I’m opting for simple flavours again. Chicken is on sale (two whole chickens for $15, normally you get one for $10-$15) and shrimp is on sale. I still have ground beef frozen since I only used half of it for my meatloaf, but I’m thinking that might get turned into a burger later on, or maybe chili. Anyway. This weeks meals –

Blackened shrimp tacos with a lime slaw

Quinoa fried rice: this recipe was adapted from the myfitnesspal blog.

Ingredients:

2 chicken thighs, cooked, shredded
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
2 large eggs, whisked
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 diced small white onion
1 cup sliced carrots (thin)
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fine chopped fresh ginger
sriracha to taste

Directions

Cook quinoa according to package instructions (I cooked mine in a rice cooker with a cup of water, and I also used ancient grains instead of regular. It has a really nutty flavour).
Scramble eggs in a non-stick pan over low heat. Slice into strips and set aside.
Add oil to a large pan over medium heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook until soft.
Add peas, corn, and cooked chicken. Heat until warm.
Add quinoa, and scrambled eggs. Mix it all up.
Add soy sauce and sriracha to taste.
Can store in the fridge for up to a week. Serve warm.

Easy and delicious meals for the week. I may mix a bit of brown rice in with the quinoa, but it doesn’t need it, I just use it for bulk. I plan on serving some sweet potato crisps along with the tacos just for a bit extra too (a treat my other half sent me while he’s away).

The only instant pot stuff I plan on making is the whole chicken, and the quinoa / rice. It’ll still save dishes / time / hassle of having to cook it so I don’t mind too much.

My breakfast of chai seeds / oats / homemade yogurt / cubed apple / maple syrup (just a splash) / spices was absolutely delicious. I’m not sure if I want another week of the exact same breakfast or if i want to switch it up. None of the things I enjoy for breakfast are on sale this week, bacon is expensive, eggs get boring. I imagine I’ll figure it out when I do my groceries for the week.

I’m not down any weight this week, still hovering around the 197-198 mark but I’m also not up any weight and some weeks that’s just as good. I know I didn’t eat as well as I could have (my other half sent me a care package with some treats in it) but it’s a marathon not a race, as the saying goes. This week I should be able to stick with things a bit better and hopefully get down another pound (or two).

Making any exciting meals this week? Have a recipe you want to share? A site that you get most of your meal prep from? Let me know in comments!

Real Life

Adventurous Christmas Present

stargrace September 16, 2017 No Comments

Because I don’t already have enough hobbies and projects on the go, I decided to start one more. It’s a Christmas gift for my other half, so I am not going to post a picture here (he probably wouldn’t see it any way, but just in case) and I’m thinking I may have bit off more than I can chew. It’s a complicated cross stitch, and there’s only a few months before Christmas (where I’m working on other projects at the same time). I can’t work on it at night because I’m usually in a dark room, and this particular project is being done on navy aida cloth (18 count). I’m not sure I can get it done in time but I wanted to give it a try. If anything it can be a Christmas present for next year.

My mother taught me to cross stitch when I was probably around 12-13 years old. She had been doing it for years and continues to. Her stuff is very intricate, and she has even won some local awards for her (she did a huge afghan one year). Me, I don’t particularly have the patience for larger projects. I have one on the go that I’ve had started for many years now, a European Bistro. It will look amazing when it’s done, but “when it’s done” is probably not for another 20 years and I think I started it 10 years ago.

I do well with smaller projects, or projects that are near and dear to my heart, like the adventure time one above (completed for the husband, it hangs over his desk. I have a fluttershy one that hangs over mine). Cross stitching is a relaxing hobby that you can customize to suit any person in the world because it’s just taking images and using tiny threaded X’s in different colours to transfer that image.

When I was first starting out I used to buy kits from Michaels or online, but now I prefer to make my own designs, and I just buy the floss (typically DMC). I don’t get a chance to cross stitch as much as I’d like since I am typically busy with the 1 year old or a different hobby (gaming, knitting, crochet, spinning yarn, cooking, photography, you get the point..) but it’s one I like to come back to and one that I pick up a few times a year.

I started an afghan a few years ago and each square of the afghan is going to be a blizzard battle pet, but I haven’t gotten very far on it yet. I’ve also been slowly working away on the Hufflepuff crest from Harry Potter (happens to be my house of course) but that’s on the back burner while I work on this new Christmas present. I have more cross stitch projects on the go than I do knitting projects, which is something I have always wanted to change. I want to FINISH projects, and not just have a collection of half completed bits and bobs. It’s always one of my new years resolutions, actually.

So we’ll see how far I get with this new one. Maybe I’ll buckle down and focus enough to finish the others.

Right.

Preparing for PoF

Diving into Divinity Original Sin 2

Knitting / Crochet Goals for… 2018?

Sunday: Meals of the Week Post

Adventurous Christmas Present

You Missed

Leveling Up With Timewalking

The Construction of Quail Landing

Making Gold – One Sale at a Time

Timewalking, Gets me Every Time