A Journey of Self Discovery - how the Old Bat lost her mind!

This is a personal blog dedicated to my fan-projects and to my personal opinions....and as an Old Bat, I have MANY opinions!! So, follower beware!! btw...I will NEVER get tired of watching these OTPs kissing!!

[batwings79]

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL BAT APPRECIATION DAY!!  Hope all my batty friends are having a good day and a great weekend!!  

[batwings79]

Calling all Brit-peeps...

This is a new one on me and wondering how it compares to Yorkshire Gold and Builders which are my "go to" morning cuppas. Is this more of a “dessert tea”?  Something to be had at the end of the day to relax and unwind?

[batwings79]

ITV Press Centre on Twitter

“Confirmed: Unforgotten returns Monday 22 February at 9pm on ITV Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar reprise their roles as DCI Cassie Stuart

FYI... Very excited for this program to make a return!!

[batwings79]

The Flame Trees of Thika - streaming on AcornTV USA

[batwings79]

Saw this come across a friend’s FB feed and thought of the Youngest Spawn, @revfrog

[batwings79]

[batwings79]

Tree decorated? Check!! We had fun going through the decorations. The candle figurines on the mantle have been in the family since I was a very little girl in the ‘60s and the Baby Bro has never known a Christmas without them. The lamppost with the gingerbread couple was a gift to Mom from one of her students back in the day.

[batwings79]

Sky TV on Twitter

“A magical story of what really can happen when you're brave enough to follow your dreams. 🐭 Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious

Ooh... Wonder if this will make it’s way across the pond one day??

[batwings79]

[batwings79]

totally forgot about this graphic....for a total shipwreck.  So very disappointed in the direction that Fellowes chose to move Isobel’s life!!  

[batwings79]

/BEGIN RANT

I completely understand that we give up a certain amount of our online privacy when we use “free” platforms like Tumblr and Facebook.  When we look stuff up in our browsers, these platforms are either allowed to monitor our travels (or purchase the data) and then provide us with “targeted advertising.”  I don’t like it, but I put up with it because that’s how the game is played.  

BUT...I think I might just draw the line at monitoring my personal desktop.  Now...I could be wrong but riddle me this Bat-Peeps....

I have several friends from work who use sticky note apps on their desktops to keep track of important tasks that need doing.  This morning, I decided to see if there was a sticky note app already installed as part of the PC package on my personal computer.  

Yes, there is one and I opened it up this morning.  It recommended that I log into my accounts (assumed they meant my Google accounts) so that I could sync across my devices.  I chose NOT to log in because I was experimenting before beginning to use them on my work computer.  I closed the app when I was finished.  One would THINK that would be the end of it since I didn’t connect to any internet accounts.  But NOOOOOOO...

I decided to check my Tumblr dash right afterwards and what to my wandering eyes should appear??....an ad for using Google Notes!!!  The App was connected to the internet enough to know that I have Google accounts and in a split second, Google sold that teeny-tiny piece of “sticky note” data off to Verizon Media (Tumblr’s current owners)!!!  

I just want to know where, when, and IF it will ever end?  Where do we draw the line (in the USA)?  Better yet....when do I start getting a piece of the pie for 3rd party use of my data??  It’s one thing for Google to use my data when they are the one’s harvesting it - but they’re getting paid millions (if not billions) to use that data - where is OUR share??  

/end rant

[batwings79]

I’m very sad right now. I usually take a week off in October and make an epic road trip to visit one of my Downton Tumblr friends - and last year, I added another Downton friend to that trip.

In this time of COVID, I can’t even imagine a scenario when I might expose these friends to something I might pick up along the way. So color me sad and anxious that I have to cut a very large part of my life out of this year!!

Imma miss you gize!! You know who I’m talkin’ ‘bout!! @charles-carson-butler and @revfrog

😔

[batwings79]

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dead at 87

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday, the court announced. She was 87.

[batwings79]

Diana Rigg, Avengers and Game of Thrones star, dies aged 82

Actor who played Emma Peel in hit spy series and Bond’s only wife was diagnosed with cancer in March

[wredundant-writer]

Write fanfiction guiltlessly. Do it not only because it’s good practice, not only because you don’t feel like putting your energy into original stuff, but because you do feel like putting your energy into fandom. Write fanfics of epic proportions or tiny one-shots; write fluff or angst or cliches or tropes; publish the roughest version or keep the twelfth draft for only yourself. Do it without feeling bad. You owe no one anything; the act of creation is a gift in and of itself, and it doesn’t matter if you’re creating fanfic or original stories or whatever else you want. All that matters is you enjoy it, because why else would you do it at the end of the day?

Write fanfiction guiltlessly.

[dduane]

This is good advice.

:)

[batwings79pix]

Been working on this “off and on” for a few weeks now.  It’s from a “printable worksheet” developed by UK-based artist Matthew Palmer, and is available with a membership at WatercolorTV.com

Digital watercolor using Rebelle 3 software.  Used a tracing layer for the sketch, masking layer for the ruins and the stone wall, and separate layers for each aspect of the painting - i.e. hills, river, stones, grasses, etc.  Could use more grasses but a stylus isn’t quite the same a tree and texture brush, LOL!!

[batwings79]

Posted here for @megaoutlanderfan who knew I was working on this tutorial.

Tutorial from WatercolorTV - Matthew Palmer, artist

[batwings79]

Well...I was going to do a link post so folks could click and be taken to the Downton Abbey Exhibit Biltmore which is reopening on June 27th and running until September. But apparently link posts are no longer a thing in the phone app? Ah, so it works like Facebook now...incestuous lot don’t you think?! 😉😂

Downton Abbey: The Exhibition - Biltmore

Downton Abbey: the Exhibition at Biltmore. This immersive exhibition celebrates the global hit television series, offering never-before seen