Sometimes I'm really pleased with my collages, as I was with last week's offering, Fragile.

This week's effort, however, is one of the ones where the collage seems so lame, so bereft of imagination or creativity or anything interesting to contribute that I'm actually embarrassed to post it. But I've spent much too much time tinkering with this one trying to get it right, and although I perceive it as a failure (or at the very least uninspiring), I'm not willing to spend any more time on it. As I pointed out last week, I have very little margin right now for expending extra effort.

Fiona and Alona along with someone I met for the first time, Jake, came over last weekend to help spackle and paint my staircase and upper hallway. Jake is 6'8", which turned out to be exceedingly handy for a project like this. I've barely ever done any wall repair or painting in my house in the thirty-plus years that I've lived in it for the simple reason that for most walls, there are bookcases in the way. Not, however, in the staircase or hallway, and the shabby peeling paint gave me almost physical pain every time I passed by. Everything now looks MUCH better.

(I also realize that part of the problem was that I was so busy spackling and painting that I didn't stop to take pictures, so I have less material to work with).

Many thanks to Jake and the Onas. They deserved a better collage for their efforts, but alas, I cannot deliver. Sorry.

Image description: Two photographs of a staircase from two different angles are superimposed over each other. Foreground shows the staircase from the side. A woman (Fiona) stands on the stairs behind the railing. Background shows the view looking up the staircase. Lower right corner: a can of spackle, a can of paint, and a paintbrush.

Staircase



Click here to see the 2023 52 Card Project gallery.

Click here to see the 2022 52 Card Project gallery.

Click here to see the 2021 52 Card Project gallery.

So, I have big, happy news:

Fiona is engaged!!!

I knew that this has been in the works for a while--they told me when they got the rings together, a couple of weeks ago. They chose puzzle rings, from a vendor at the Renaissance Festival (Fiona's has a diamond, and Alona's is plain).

"So are you officially engaged now?" I asked Fiona.

"I know Alona is scheming," she replied.

Her partner Alona proposed this past Sunday evening on her (Alona's) birthday. I highly approved of the results of Alona's scheming: it was the most adorable fannish proposal ever. Alona commissioned a hoodie for Fiona (Fiona LOVES hoodies) with the AO3 tags that apply to their relationship. Fiona, of course, said yes! (Alona got the same hoodie for herself, so they can match. Adorable.)

Their collective name for themselves is "the Onas." More adorableness.

I love my new daughter-in-law to be, and I am absolutely convinced that Rob would have loved her, too (unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to meet her).

Image description: Bottom center, headshot of two smiling women (Fiona, left, Alona right) facing the camera, heads tilted toward one another. Center: Alona (left) and Fiona (right) sit facing each other, holding hands. Alona looks a little nervous and Fiona is smiling [this is the actual proposal. Thanks to Drew for recording it for posterity]. Between their heads is a close-up of a diamond puzzle ring on a hand. Top center: white lowercase letters on a red background read "u-haul lesbians, mutual pining, and they were roommates, fake dating, there was only one bed, slow burn, idiots to wives."

Engaged!



Click here to see the 2022 52 Card Project gallery.

Click here to see the 2021 gallery.