I don’t like stress balls that have a tacky or even slightly tacky surface. Some people might, we are all different, but the feel is not for me. To solve the sticky problem I rubbed some corn starch into the surface. It doesn’t take much powder for the stickiness to be gone.
Photo description: no rebound coconut oil stress ball with a thin coat of corn starch to remove the tacky feel
I was actually looking for a different kind of stress ball, but the description of the coconut oil with no rebound was intriguing. I can report that the experience is… meh. It is interesting for about two minutes after I shape it into a cube, then I’m done. I don’t recommend squeezing it very tightly.
Ok, I’ve reached perfection in the Stardew Valley game, again. I think now I can dial it back to occasional play rather than the obsessed dives I have been doing. I should return to more of my regular programming soon.
Photo description: Stardew Valley screen shot filled with kegs producing ancient fruit wine
The hardest part for me was building the money to get the golden clock. I spent frivolously (looking at you, statue of endless fortune), and somehow turned off Junimo collection at one point, so was wasting time harvesting. (If this happens to you, and your Junimos are wandering your field but not actually picking produce, go to their hut and look in, there is a button on the top right that turns collection on and off, credit to my eldest for the assist.) I did have several massive banks of kegs producing wine, and two large fields producing ancient fruit (the beach hut and house fill up with kegs nicely.) Still, I made it in year 5, which is definitely not a speed record, but faster than I did last round. I did not go for completion, I’m missing the polyculture achievement because I should have planned on growing 15 sweet gem berries from the get go. Oh, and I really suck at the in-game video games.
Sorry to those that this post is complete gibberish. I’ll get back to my regular esoteric vocabulary soon.
Photo description: my character standing on the summit in Stardew Valley after reaching completion, of course I caught the pic mid-blink
My content is getting a little thin because I’m currently obsessed with the new update of the Stardew Valley video game. I should be knitting, but instead I’m planting virtual crops and spinning fabric (the “loom” in the game takes raw wool straight to fabric on a device that looks like a spinning wheel). I did the game to perfection before the update, but all the new content from Concerned Ape was worth replaying the game. Like this giant powder melon that grows in winter.
Photo description: screen shot from my Stardew Valley farm with a large blue melon amongst smaller blue melons on a field of snow
I’m getting to the trudging part, where the goal is to get enough money for perfection (either the true game way, or buying it 1% at a time). This is not as fun and I will get easily distracted by real life things, which is good for my blog content.
Of course, the first thing I get distracted with is picking out a harmony part for Bill Grogan’s Goat and singing it through the house. Hm.
Yeah, I can read upside down, and I suspect most of you can too. Backwards, sure. Upside down and backwards? That is a fun brain puzzle! To have fun with your virtual friends and neighbors, it is actually quite easy to create these little text images. I used Autodesk Sketchbook on my phone because I was too lazy to go to my computer. Use the text feature to type in your message, then flip the layer vertically, and rotate it 180 degrees. If you want to be nice, use a san-serif font. I created the background using the synthetic oil brush and going back and forth with different colors.
Text formatted upside down and backwards
Want to read it quickly? Stand in front of a mirror and tip your phone down.
I had to peel an apple for my youngest because she has braces and needs it peeled and sliced. As I applied peeler to skin, I gave a try at getting it all off in one unbroken go. The removed peel makes a nice double spiral with some pleasing shade shifts. Glad all that fine motor practice on other crafts comes in handy.
Critters and Craft 