And it probably doesn't sound like all that much stuff... but it was mentally draining, while also not being completely the worst for large swaths of time.
So really, just file me under tired and cranky right now.
Things really picked up on Wednesday... DnD Day. The game was fine, but there were a couple of totally new people, one of whom was A Lot. In a "we really have to deal with this at the table" way. But not in a "fuck you solidly and never darken my door again" way.
Wow... I'm absolutely abusing quote marks today.
Anyway, he wasn't irredeemable, and I think we got him to settle down a little. But at the same time his character did step through a portal into the Feywild, aka the plane of Faerie, where he will undoubtedly end up as the pet human to some horrific fey creature.
And a better end to a character there has not been.
But because he was sitting next to me, and I was both trying to help him play his first game while at the same time trying to make sure he didn't ruin my enjoyment but without biting his head off, it was fucking draining.
Thursday afternoon I had my appointment at the Ear Nose and Throat doctor to deal with my ears. And that was great, it was fine, the doctor maybe wasn't as personable as the guy I used to go and see... but the main thing was that I swear it cost like twice as much. It probably didn't, but I swear it was definitely more expensive. Which isn't great, even if I get half of it back from Medicare. Half of a lot is still kind of a lot.
But at least I can hear all the things now. Too many things perhaps. But definitely all the things.
Then, because it didn't make a huge amount of sense to go all the way home from North Adelaide, then come back into the city to pick up my friend for Thursday boardgame night, I drove up to O'Connell Street and went to the bakery.
I fucking miss North Adelaide. Even if I was slightly disappointed by the quality of the stuff I got at the bakery (I'm guessing it might have been in the warming oven for a bit too long, given the time I went in), just sitting there in the window, looking out at places I've been quite literally 100 times before. I miss it.
After having what can best be described as a sad boi moment, I headed into the city, a little early admittedly, to pick up my friend, and ended up just sitting in the car for about half an hour.
Board Game (Fort)Night was good... we played the same thing as last fortnight, which was fun, but I am just really bad at it. There were some fun moments though, which makes a difference. And it's fortunately one of those games, for me at least, where even though I have no clue what I'm doing and don't get anywhere near winning, I still enjoy the journey. Which is good.
Friday was my Chiro appointment, the usual tuneup, but it also meant another trip into town, more people. Otherwise, unremarkable.
Then Friday night was ostensibly DnD Night, however Fluffy was interstate for reasons, so I went up anyway and we had a boardgame night, so two in two days. And once again, didn't win, didn't especially care. It was a good evening. Got home at like 12:30 I think.
Today was... exhausting. But not in the go places, see people way. Thank all the gods.
We started off with the usual supermarket thing. Honestly, I just want fucking soup weather back again. I'm already tired of having to work out how to feed myself on a day by day basis. I just want to cook once a week and be done. And have food that is as good at the end of the week as it is at the start.
But this isn't news. I've said this a bunch of late.
When we got back I did the usual unpacking and then we faffed around a bit... but given that neither of us wanted or needed to go anywhere, do anything or deal with people, I decided that I would much rather try and do this fabric dyeing thing we set into motion last week (dyeying the boring beige covers I got for my lounge chairs given the chairs are all fucked up now... and they no longer make those chairs in red, and I fucking love my chairs).
It was, in fact, A LOT.
Thankfully I have a giant metal pot that I pulled out of a dumpster outside of a restaurant renovation (if memory serves) in Norwood on a night out with Raury back in the day. I sometimes think that if I hadn't decided to pull that pot out of that dumpster, large chunks of my life would have been different going in the intervening 20 years. Seriously. That fucking thing has come in handy to soak my feet in both hot and cool water, to serve as an impromptu tin bath all those times the hot water stopped working, it's elevated my old evaporative cooler to the right height... and now it has served as a dye pot. And now the inside looks like I murdered a motherfucker. Granted a motherfucker with burgundy to purple-red blood. But yeah.
Theoretically that'll mostly come out... I'm just too fucking tired to even attempt that right now. And that's also why my apartment currently looks like a hot mess. Can't be arsed.
Anyway... made up the dye, used some old bamboo pieces I have to stir and agitate (which are now also stained in interesting and entertaining ways), put one whole cover and seat cushion in, brought the liquid up to while now quite a "rolling boil" the instructions called for, but definitely some very fucking hot liquid. The first one was a learning experience. I shouldn't perhaps have put a whole one in at once... plus I should have unzipped them properly, because air pockets were a very real and direct problem.
However, about 3+ hours later... I don't know, I honestly lost track of time... I had dyed two complete covers, two little "back pillow" cushions and two tea towels, because when you get a bunch of dye on a tea towel, what else can you do? I also used probably more water in a single day than I have ever used ever... because rinsing out dye take some time and some fucking water. And a lot of bending and stretching and picking up waterlogged fabric, which is heavy even when it's not that heavy really.
We wandered across the way to get some lunch, let the covers dry as much as we could within the timeframe, then Ma took it home to give it a proper run through the washer and whatnot. Because, let's be honest, I would have just let them dry and then put the wrinkly ass covers straight on the chairs. So I have to wait a week for completed chairs.
The downside to all of this? The fabric did not, under any possibly interpretation, turn bright red. I mean, yes, I got the red dye, not the scarlet dye, but still, it's a... pale burgundy. I mean not THAT pale, but it's also not a deep colour. It seemed like it would be deeper before I pulled it out... and the zipper definitely took on a ton of colour... but that's essentially dark burgundy purple.
So, yeah... I understand that the fabric started off as beige, it's a polycotton blend that may only have taken on colour in the poly part of the fabric, and I bought red dye, not scarlet. And maybe I could have left it in for even longer... but then it would have just gotten more burgundy.
I'm not disappointed, per say... for my first attempt at dyeing something with no real understanding of much of any of it... it didn't suck. It was exhausting as fuck.
And it's still better than the original beige covers. Also it doesn't mean I couldn't try again at a later point... or just go fuck it and try a black (no boil) dye instead.
And that's my week.
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