Parentverse - behind the scenes of fanfiction

Warning for teases about my next big Parentverse story, "Branching Out". I wouldn't really call them spoilers, your mileage may vary. One of my hobbies is writing fanfiction. Specifically, Cristina/Owen "Crowen" from Grey's Anatomy. I just loved this pairing so much that I started writing to fill in the gaps. If they were butting heads onscreen or not communication clearly, I could write a story where they work things out. I had some little vignettes in my first story "Six Times That Owen Says Thank You to Cristina" and people told me that they...

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Noro waves scarf in progress

#knitting #noro #woolA photo posted by Angelamermaid (@angelamermaid) on Dec 12, 2014 at 6:21pm ...

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As seen on Cute Overload years ago

Mother elk kisses baby postcard by Angelamermaid Full Color postcard printing on zazzle...

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Finished products

Postcard of a knitting brown mouse by Angelamermaid Browse more Postcrossing Postcards Postcard of a grey hamster knitting a scarf by Angelamermaid Create a Full color postcard with zazzle.ca...

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Work in progress

#work in progress #knitting #mice #drawingA photo posted by Angelamermaid (@angelamermaid) on Nov 11, 2014 at 10:09pm ...

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Honouring the Fallen

Veterans lining the Highway of Heroes. Our #veterans standing proud #CFBTrenton #CanadaStrong pic.twitter.com/lindAT0PA8— Dawn Marie (@inkdgirl55) October 24, 2014 This has been a difficult week in Canada. My dad was in the Canadian Armed Forces, I grew up around soldiers. To have two killed in one week because of who they were and the uniforms they wore is a terrible thing. Patrice Vincent, soldier killed in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, was close to retirement http://t.co/QMRNIfo4LL pic.twitter.com/trMSk7v8gn— CBC News (@CBCNews) October 24, 2014 We...

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Light the Night

I'm having a "Damn, I took that?" moment. Light the Night by Angela Boyko on 500...

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Light the Night

It was an honour to be asked to photograph "Light the Night", a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. I wanted to share the most meaningful photo to me. An older woman was holding the little girl up, and she said to the little girl, "Write your name on his shirt, because he's walking to support you....

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It's like 2010 all over again.

Because I'm finally using Instagram...

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My contribution to Wikimedia

I couldn't help but notice the Wikipedia Loves Monuments contest happening this month. I looked at it, and discovered that there was an unphotographed monument very close to my house. So I went for a walk recently and ... now Wikimedia has a photo of the Bow Valley Ranch House, aka the William Roper Hull Ranche Hous...

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Being someone's little sister

One of the best parts of having a long-lost sister is learning what it's like to have a big sister. I called mine last night, in some frustration over my job search. She was sad that she couldn't get her Skype to work because she couldn't see me. I told her I looked like crap. She told me that she wanted to see me anyways. Long-lost sisters are the best. Everyone should have one. ...

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Lake Agnes hike

My first fitness goal of 2014 was going to San Diego and walking a 5K Mermaid Marathon in February. Done. My second fitness goal was the Colour Me Rad 5K. More challenging because part of it involved walking up Canada Olympic Park. The gain was 131m. My third fitness goal was to hike to the Lake Agnes Teahouse, by Lake Lousie in Banff National Park. Now, a 3.5 km hike may seem easy, until you realize that it's uphill all the way. I tried to...

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Postcard blog

Rather that turn this into a postcard blog - I made a separate postcard blog. :-) --> Mermaid's Postcards. Please let me know in the comments if you have a postcard blog you'd like me to check o...

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Postcards in the mail, week of August 18

Another great week of postcards in my mail box! August 18 A private swap from within Canada! This adorable critter was an official Postcrossing postcard from Finland....

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Charge!

Brooks Medieval Faire, August 1, 2014...

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Hermione

Someone did not enjoy her visit to the vet for a check-up. :-...

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Postcards in the mail, week of August 11

At this point last week, I was a little sad because I'd only received three postcards through Postcrossing, and I'd been signed up for over two months. I had sent 16 postcards and my first card still hasn't been registered, it was sent to Russia and is now marked as expired. One week later, I have zero complaints! Because this was the week that things started to balance out. On Monday, I received this lovely card from the US: AND - what turned...

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Mormons and Google

The Mormons are interfering with my job search. Type "Calgary Employment Resource Centre" into Google, and the first hit is http://ldsjobs.org, which is not the government resource I was looking for. I thought I could circumnavigate them while using Google Maps to navigate to the closest government Calgary employment resource centre near me today ... nope. I ended up outside an LDS church. I'd say it was quite deliberate on their part - they list themselves as "Calgary Alberta Canada Employment Resource Centre" on Google without mentioning the...

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Postcrossing postcards for swap

I've started a new blog for postcards. My postcards for swap are now at http://mermaidpost.blogspot.ca/2014/08/postcards-for-swap.ht...

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Trail along the water

If you are in the neighbourhood of Moraine Lake, and want to hike, the trail along the lake is a good one. No hills! You will need to walk on gravel and dirt and around trees. And there is the occasional footbridge. And it's beautifu...

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Robin Williams

Genie, you're free. pic.twitter.com/WjA9QuuldD— The Academy (@TheAcademy) August 12, 2014 This death was like a punch to the gut. I've been sad about other beloved actors passing, like James Garner recently. But Robin Williams dying is just so hard to comprehend. My family lived in Moscow from 1977-79 - the one in the USSR. We heard about this brilliant new comic and when we got back to Canada, one of the first TV shows we watched in the hotel room was Mork and Mindy. He lit up the screen and was so wonderful and electric - but you knew that. I...

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Water level

Moraine Lake, July 30, 2014...

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Rockpile at Moraine Lake

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Elk in Banff National Park

No drive along the Bow Valley Parkway is complete without spotting at least one wild animal. Like this handsome fella...

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Moraine Lake again

Last week I went back to Moraine Lake, this time with a couple of friends. The lake was higher, thanks to melted snow, and oh so beautiful. ...

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Kitties and the heat

After the unusually long winter we had, I vowed that I would not complain about the heat this summer. So all I have to say is "Wowzers, this week has been a scorcher". :-) The kitties are tolerating the heat. Here are a few shots from today. These two are becoming friendlier and friendlier, when Charlie isn't swatting Chloe for some kitty reason. Little Miss Hermione had some hygiene issues last night, ones that long-haired cats are prone to....

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Truly a stargazing mermaid

I don't make resolutions. But after I started photographing the Northern Lights, I realized that it has been a long time since I saw the Milky Way with my own eyes. What with living in a city and all. I decided that I was going to see and photograph the Milky Way at some point in 2014. I've actually made camping plans for later this year to address that. But that wasn't my only plan. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Calgary chapter held...

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My long-lost sister

This story was a long time in the making. When I first found out that I had a half-sister, in 2009, I didn't have all of the pieces of the story. There are probably still pieces yet to be revealed, and there is a huge chunk that can never be known because our father has passed away, taking his point of view with him. But on the fifth anniversary of discovering her, our "sisterversary", I thought I would share what I have. Many people have heard the...

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Test knitting

My friend Susan from Crescent Moon Collective is now selling patterns on Ravelry. For the last couple of months, I watched her knit a new scarf and loved it - I wanted to be notified as soon as she'd written out the pattern. And that's how I ended up as a test knitter. :-) I've gone from this: To this: Row 2 was the worst - I had to redo it 5 times because I kept getting tripped up on how the instructions were written out. But I finally got...

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A dish so nice I made it twice

I like to bake and try new recipes. Last week, I tried a a brownie recipe and brought it to lunch with friends. It was a smashing success. So I made it again yesterday, for a girls' gaming night, and it also got rave reviews. Betty Crocker's Gluten-Free Turtle Brownies This is super easy with minimal ingredients. Don't let the gluten-free label scare you away - it's moist and delicious. I made two changes to the recipe: I couldn't find the GF...

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Winner!

Congratulations to David B, who won my giveaway! He chose this as his art print...

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How to become a famous blogger, in the bad way

I'd never even heard of the blog Halfway to Fearless until the author created a thread about it at Get Off My Internets, intending to increasing her web presence. She achieved her goal, but in ways she probably never expected. Get Off My Internets is a snark site. The forum posters are highly trained to sniff out BS. So they glommed on fairly quickly that the person who started the thread, was actually the author, Beverly Stevens Peevyhouse. They called her on it. Beverly created some sockpuppet accounts* to cover her trail, and even created one...

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Figure Drawing

I was supposed to go to figure drawing Friday night, but after the Eye Drama, felt that I should really just rest. (The eye is feeling better and the blurry spot has faded to the point where I just notice blurriness when looking at high-contrast lines. I haven't heard from the retinal specialist's office yet.) ANYWAYS. There was a photographer at the last event I went to. He blogged about the experience - link is very much NSFW. You may find the post interesting - I know I did! You'll see what the models look like, see different interpretations,...

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One of these things is not like the other

I noticed some strange blurriness Wednesday and chalked it up to extra knitting this week. Last night, while driving home, I noticed that traffic lights were blurry - and I'm farsighted, with excellent long-distance vision. I went home and realized that my left eye has a blurry spot. I Googled and the Internet said "Get thee to an emergency room". So I went to the one at Rockyview, because that hospital has an eye clinic and an ophthalmologist on...

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Grief and heavy appliances

I bought an air conditioner today because of an OMG heat wave and I thought it would be good for my allergies. There was nothing on the box that said it had to be installed in a window and I have never bought an air conditioner before. I hauled it home, hauled it upstairs, unpacked it, and then I discovered that it had to be installed in a window. It has to vent the hot air outside. In some ways, I was reminded of what happened the day before...

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Incoming storm

I caught this incoming storm yesterday - I put my camera in Sports mode, because I was actually a passenger in a moving car when i took the photo. f/8 1/800 ISO 10...

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Contest!

I've been putting some postcards online for sale, and I ordered a bunch to check the print quality. In fact, I ordered extras to give away. Now, Rafflecopter will run the contest for a week, and I thought that postcards wasn't enough of a prize. So I will also throw in an art print of one my photos on FineArtAmerica, 24"x16". The prize package includes: An art print of one of my photographs, no larger than 24"x16" Two sets of five postcards, for...

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Bad and good kitties

Charlie spends a lot of time running back and forth, monitoring the backyard and the front sidewalk for intruders. He'll get agitated and chatter, but normally I don't see anything. Last night he was extra agitated - his tail sticking out from the curtains was three times its normal size. I turned on the light for the backyard, and spotted a cat by the back gate. I've seen it before - grey and white, always leaves when I spot it. So this evening,...

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Baby you're a

Yesterday I went to Heritage Park with a friend, for their Canada Day/50th anniversary celebrations. I stayed all the way to 11, for the fireworks show. It was a fantastic show to top off a great day. Here are three of the 770 pictures I took: ...

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Colour Us Rad

These are all of my photos, plus the one photo my sister sent me (the first). I didn't take any during the hike because I was in "walk" mode and not "photography" mode. If you're curious, I recorded the walk with MapMyWalk and you can see the stats and route here. ETA: MapMyWalk 3D video of the route: 4.93 km walk on 06-28-2014 and more walks in Bowness, 01, Canada on MapMyWalk. Find walk Mary-Anne, my sister,...

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