I’m currently sitting in the sunroom, desperately trying not to scratch my leg. The Mrs has the week off, so we have been doing a lot of work outside, trying to get the house ready for the summer. Unfortunately, I am extremely attractive to the world’s worst vampires (yes, even worse than the sparkly ones from Twilight). Not only am I insect catnip, I must be extra allergic because I swell up like crazy. Right now the poison ink bottle on my leg looks like a 2 liter Coke bottle.

We’ve been making good progress on the To Do list. The first thing we tackled was cleaning out the garage. A big chunk of this was going through the boxes that have been sitting there since we moved in. After a full day and a half of work, everything is organized, stored, or ready to be picked up on trash day (the sanitation people are going to hate us tomorrow). A bonus of this is that I actually have a covered work space for working on Halloween props, something I will start on after The Mrs goes back to work next week.

We’ve also got all of the outdoor furniture out of storage and on the deck. She spent a ton of yesterday scrubbing canvas. The pool cover is draining and I’ve been pulling the leaves off of it (yay, more leaves). Now that it is consistently warm, we can actually open it up.

And yes, we did pick up life vests for the puppies so they can enjoy the pool too.

One thing which I have not gotten to, and which I’m glad I put off, was putting up the Little Free Library. Unfortunately, it LFL was one of the casualties of this Spring’s windstorms. I’ve been waiting until the ground was completely thawed so I could dig a hole and fill it with concrete (as opposed to the above ground set up I was using). Last week I noticed little yellow flags had popped up along the road, so I decided to wait. It was a good thing, as it appears that the city is doing some kind of work there today.

Note the thumbnail picture of Finn and Quinn staring out the window at the workers from a couch that they are definitely not supposed to be on.

The Mrs had an exciting new animal encounter the other day. A pair of birds managed to fly down the chimney and into the wood stove. She thought there was just one, but once she found the first, the second flew out into the living room. She captured this one quickly and was able to return the pair of them to the wild unharmed.

Listening To: Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi. I’ve just gotten to the point where the bad stuff starts to happen, so I’ll let you know my thoughts next week.

Currently Reading: The ARC of Backstabbers by Eliza Jabore. Halfway through and I’m hooked.

Current Obsession: Trying desperately not to go “rescue” anything from the “get rid of it” pile.

Project Socialization continues with phenomenal success. We took the dogs to Bordine’s on Memorial Day to pick up some discounted flowers and they came along. They were very good about greeting people and not jumping up. The only slip we had was when Quinn decided she needed to relieve herself. To be fair, with that many flowers and plants around plus all of the sun, it’s easy to confuse inside a greenhouse with outside.

I scheduled their surgeries for the middle of next month. The clinic we are going to can not take them both on the same day, so Finn will get snipped first, then Quinn two days later. They will both be wearing cones for Father’s Day, but should be all healed up by the time Independence Day rolls around.

Quinn is currently obsessed with this thing called a Wobble Wag Giggle Ball. It’s a green ball with blue spirals that makes a noise when it rolls. It’s weighted off center so it doesn’t roll in a straight line. It’s just large enough that she can’t pick it up. Originally, this was one of those toys that Finn loved, but then he kind of grew tired of it. Three weeks later and Quinn is obsessed. She gets so wound up chasing this thing that Finn has taken to going into his crate or leaving the room—anything to keep from getting slammed into.

Don’t worry, Finn has his own obnoxious loud toy in Squeaky Freaky Chicken. When frustrated, he will chew and chew, causing it to squeak and squeak, then start howling. Quinn usually snatches it away from him and hides it before this can happen.

We had an excellent turnout for Gymkata last Friday. We hope to see you all again on the 13^th of June for For Your Height Only.

Two weeks after that we will be at our first outdoor show of the year in Port Huron for the first of two Frankenfests.

We are already starting to schedule appearances for 2027! We will be in the Ballroom for Scares That Care AuthorCon VII, 5 - 7 March 2027 in Williamsburg, VA. We know that’s a long way off, so look for more information as we get closer to the event. We had a great time when we were there in 2023 and look forward to repeating the fun.

Hell is for sale.

Yes, that’s right, for the low price of $625K (really a missed opportunity when they didn’t list it for $41,000 more), you can purchase Hell, MI. That price includes over 7 acres of land, a couple of existing businesses (including an ice cream shop, gift store, and putt putt course), a currently unoccupied restaurant, and the sweetest postal code in Michigan.

Don’t believe me? Check out the listing here.

I know what you are thinking, sure people have told me to go to Hell, but have I ever been?

Hell yes!

I’ve been a vendor at multiple shows in Hell. I’ve attended the hearse show there. I even had a celebratory birthday ice cream cone there a few years ago. They make the waffle cones right in front of you!

Did I mention that Hell is about a half an hour’s drive from The New House™️?

Why am I bringing all of this up? Damn good question. I am posting this because my birthday is less than two months away and if you all chip in together…

…it would be a Hell of a present.

Sorry, I’ll show myself out.