Received the sad news the other day that Esther the Wonder Pig has passed away at 11 years old.

I first discovered Esther online quite a few years ago. She'd been adopted by a couple, Steve and Derek, under the illusion that she was a "micro pig" (a designation they later learned doesn't exist.) She was, in fact, a commercial pig that grew to be 650 lbs. She inspired Derek and Steve to not only become vegan but to take their love of animals and Esther and open a farm sanctuary, Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary (HEEFS), that I've talked about many, many times.



Esther struggled with cancer and a ongoing hoof problem that required her to wear a prosthetic, but she was always such a happy, joyful piggy. She loved cupcakes and belly rubs and her mattress. She lived in the house and was trained to do her business outside, which she could do by opening the sliding door with her snout! She was so smart! She inspired me to give up pork and to donate to HEEFS and other sanctuaries too. She was a special piggy who had been struggling so much in the last year of her life, and I'm going to miss her.

( Look at this beautiful girlCollapse )



Rest In Peace, beautiful piggy.
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Week 27 – January 09 to 15, 2022

In Progress

08. Revisit qaf_faves
* I started at the beginning and clicked on all my own recs. So far I've only found two journals or sites where the fic is still available. All the others (so far) have been purged or the fic itself has been taken down. So much great fic LOST. Hoping to continue looking through the recs this week.

13. Rewatch 5 series (0/5)
* Watched 5 more episodes of Prison Break S4.

22. Complete 9 jigsaw puzzles. (07/09)
* Puzzle #7 complete. This is my fave gal, Esther the Wonder Pig. This was one of my Christmas presents.



26. Work on something creative monthly in 2022 (01/12)
* Started and finished a new puzzle.

100. Complete 52 Week Savings Challenge (02/52)
* Week #2 complete with $15
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Tonight was the monthly donor online Zoom pizza party for the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary. I don't think I stopped grinning for an hour. First the guys had set up about 50 pizzas in two pastures. Then they opened the gates and let the piggies go wild! Oh my god, watching these pigs scurry from box to box was hilarious. They are SO adorable. Last year Captain Dan (he's the head of his herd) ate five pizzas alone! This year he only had 2.5. He's slimming down and watching the calories, obviously.

I took some pictures (of my computer screen, so crap quality) of the other animals getting their treats. I didn't even think of it during the pigs coz I was so enthralled!

( Cute Animals Here!Collapse )

And that was my Saturday evening! :)
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I took the survey over at The Story Graph today. Based on my responses, the site spits out 30 book recs. Pretty cool. My list was too heavily weighted toward fantasy - I'm going to have to eliminate that from my choices when I retake the survey - but out of 30 recommendations I did get 4 that I've added to my Want To Read List (and there was also one rec that I've already read.) I also didn't do the supplementary part of the survey where I can add in other search terms, which I realllllllllllllly should have done (because hi, zombies? vampires? yes, please.)

Anyway, it was pretty neat and I may add to it my 101 Things list as something to take every 3 months. I think that's a good range to get new recs to replace what I've read.

Also! A couple of weeks ago Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary held on online Pride event, both to thanks everyone who contributed to their Summer Sparkle fundraising campaign and because Toronto Pride was cancelled again due to COVID concerns. It was SUCH a fun time! They blew up their giant pig balloon, put it on a trailer and road it around the farm, stopping at all the different area to give the animals some treats (or in the case of the goats and the pigs, some smoothies!) Steve and Derek, the owners of Esther and the sanctuary, are just a couple of amazing guys. They go above and beyond for their animals (who they call residents) and their supporters!

Here's a couple of pics taken of my computer screen, so not great quality, but you get the gist:

( Happy Pride!Collapse )

Now, to decide how to spend my Saturday. Working on the 101 Things list? Relaxing with a book? Bit of Column A, bit of Column B? Hmm....
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REJUVENATION. My visit with my sister and brother-in-law ending up lasting from Tuesday until Friday morning. I had a great time! We actually went to the mall that is across the street from her apartment building. It's the first time I've been in a mall in a YEAR! Actually, it's the first time I've been in a store that doesn't sell groceries in a year. It was super ODD seeing other people and buying something that I didn't have to eat!

It was my birthday, so my sister made my favourite homemade apple pie, just like my mom used to make.

( YummyCollapse )

When I got home I glanced over at Puzzle #2 and got itchy fingers. I sat down with it for a few hours on Friday and finished it on Saturday. Yay!

( Puzzle #2Collapse )

Today was Nancy and Mary's belated Valentine's date at Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary! The sanctuary was started by partners Steve and Derek when they realized the "mini-pig" they adopted was actually a full-sized commercial pig. They fell in love with her, became vegans, crowd-sourced to raise money for land, and now run a successful farm sanctuary. And to raise money, they do things like film two chickens heading out in a jeep for a pasta meal. Yes.

( True loveCollapse )

Somewhere in there I also managed to write (3 Oz drabbles and 1 QaF fic are forthcoming) AND finish another book. Whew!

( Archangel's War by Nalini SinghCollapse )

Books Read: 16/60
Goodreads Challenge: 16/52
LJ Book Bingo Jan-March 2021: 11/12
Total Page Count: 4872 pages

What a lovely week. Tomorrow I may play hooky from work and try to write some more on my Small Fandom Bang fic. Why not?
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Hi folks! Since 2018 is drawing to a close, I figured I should do a catch-all post so that I can start 2019 with renewed vigor and a determination to stay on track and not let months go by without an update (or without checking in on all of your excellent posts!) While I am still struggling with my degenerated disc disease, haven't been online much and haven't done ANY writing, I have been s l o w l y reconnecting in other aspects of my life.

First, I bought two new bookcases, put them together (now THAT was an adventure) and then set them up with pretty boxes to hold office supplies. You can see that I'm also a CD holdout so the little bookcases holds those. Ipod? Music on a cellphone? What's that? Meanwhile, our downstairs neighbour Jocelyn is a massive fan of Christmas, so she decorated the outside of our house with many lights. I put up and decorated my little Christmas tree -- love it! -- and went shopping. I was most proud of myself last Wednesday, when I walked around for a good two hours without needing to stop to sit down. (Granted, by the time I sat down I was in agony, but still.) We've also had many little visitors, including blue jays, bunnies, and a wild turkey.

( ChristmasCollapse )

Part of my Christmas shopping was done online, and.. well.. I also bought a present for meeeee! I mentioned in my last post how much I love Esther the pig, and when I saw this winter toque on her webpage I HAD to have it. To my surprise I also got some freebies with my package -- some stickers and a photo of Esther and her two dads. THEN when I tweeted my thanks I got two separate replies -- one from Steve and one from the beautiful pig herself, LOL. (And look, even the BOX is adorable.)

( Esther!Collapse )

One thing that has made me happy this year is seeing so much generosity. I get off the bus in the heart of downtown, and on multiple occasions I have seen people who've set up a little table in the park and are giving out free coffee and pizza; a group of young college-age kids handing out free hot chocolate to the homeless (and apparently to anyone who looks like they're freezing, as I was offered one too!); and knitted scarves and gloves, blankets and pillows left out on the benches for anyone who is suffering in the cold. Also happiness making: work cookie exchange!

( AwesomenessCollapse )

Since this year was so wonky I really didn't come close to most of my goals. The only thing I really stuck with was my Reading Goal (80 books -- I am currently at 75 and have just downloaded a bunch of what I hope will be short, simple reads from Kindle Unlimited so that I can make my goal before the new year, heh.) and the Money Jar. I continued to put any change left in my purse into the jar. I counted and rolled it up at the end of November and had $410! That basically paid for my Christmas presents, which was awesome!

( All the moneysCollapse )

For 2019 I plan to start easing myself back into writing, and trying to get on track with a bunch of other goals. I'll be making a separate post about that at the end of the year/beginning of next year. I'm excited about using a 'bullet journal' to track my successes (yes, successes. There will be no failures. *stern look at myself in mirror*.) (I had started one for 2018 but the design wasn't working, so I made a new one for 2019.) Bullet journals are sorta actually meant for those artistic people among us 'cause the point is to make 'em all pretty while still being practical. I do not have a single artistic bone in my body, but I still like the IDEA of having every To-Do list, Goal, Writing Prompt, Reading Challenge etc all in one place where I can check them easily.

( Bullet JournalCollapse )

I'm excited for Christmas. I'm excited to have a day off from work, LOL. I'm excited for 2019 to be a fresh start! Hope you're all excited about something, too. :)
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