Half-Pint Hazard

Hello, and welcome to my blog! I'm Kelly. I'm a Christian, Introvert, Writer, and Total Mess just trying her best. I post a lot of OC stuff, poetry, writing, art, and birds. If you wanna read a story of mine, check out my tag #annabel and the red umbrella! If you want to check out my poetry it's under the tag #lullabye birdie. You can send me a prompt in my ask box if you'd like me to write you a poem. I'd also be more than happy to answer any asks about my ocs!

[nattousan]

ok so, I approached my local library with a proposal to donate a mural as a way to A: build portfolio/gain practical experience and B: give back to a beloved public institution. The director was very enthusiastic about it and i've been working on it since the beginning of March. Come with me as I endeavor to paint what is in all honesty an excessive amount of birds

I wanted the birds to look like they were actually in the space so first thing after doing the draft was to do a lighting study

after that I covered the walls in letters in lieu of a projector/vr headset bc i have neither of those :) Then i take a picture of the section of wall and superimpose the lineart over top of it so I can pencil in the lines

et voila

and that was a whole week on it's own so next comes the paintin' >:)

[nattousan]

and now, the birds

Birds 1 and 2/14: Red Winged Blackbird, Male and female, Agelaius phoeniceus

[nattousan]

Bird 3/14, American Robin, Turdus migratorius

[nattousan]

hoo boy, ok *out of breath*

GIVE IT UP FOR BIRD NUMBUH 5, THE CANADIAN GOOSE, Branta canadensis!!!!

this guy took me about 4 days to completely finish, all of those freakingk coverts were a bear to render

[nattousan]

speaking of obnoxious coverts:

bird 5/14, Bluejay, Cyanocitta cristata

the friggin stripes almost got me chat, i may not make it

[nattousan]

Madam....

[nattousan]

birds 6 and 7: American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis, male and female

pleasantly simple to paint! next is the flickerrrrr

[nattousan]

*melts into goo*

BIRD NUMBER 8, (yellow shafted) NORTHERN FLICKERRRRR, Colaptes auratus

genuinely made me start questioning my sanity around day 3, it's half the size the of the goose, WHY did it take me 4 days to finish??

nothing but pain and suffering, i'm sure hope the next bird will be much easier and with FAR less barring :)

[nattousan]

in other news, I am losing my mind hairline

[nattousan]

SHE'S DONE!!

Bird number 9: Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis

my chains are broken i am FREE. although i did have a great deal of fun with this, the barring on the wings itself took me like four days and i am READY to move on

this was a week and a half of continuous work so please excuse me for getting a little emotional in the bg 🙏

[nattousan]

*does a little jig*

BIRD NUMBER 10!!! The Male Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos

the male and female ones are gonna be posted separately bc they're taking a lot longer lol but yea! super happy i was able to capture the iridescent green of the head, i found metallic green and blue paint at a craft store that really made his head POP. it looks better in person i promise

ALSO!! As this is the 10th one, BIG announcement. The end is in sight!!!!! I plan to finish within the next 3 weeks and there will be a small dedication ceremony/ unveiling happening at the library to commemorate its completion on the 16th of May. If you live in the Western New York region and want to check it out for yourself shoot me a dm!

Also thank you everyone for your kind words and support throughout this whole process, it's been a genuine treat thinking there are potentially thousands of you out there cheering me on while I paint this 🥹

[nattousan]

aaaand another one bites the duck,

we're movin right along with bird numero 11!! The lady Mallard!! Anas platyrhyncos

the 16th is looming in the distance so i'm trying to get thru these as quickly as i can so i can have as much time for the GBH as possible. i still need to do the names next to all of them so i've got about a week and a half to finish everything which is GREAT because i have adhd and nothing gets my ass in gear like a fuckin deadline, let me tell you

[nattousan]

power couple that they are, here's bird number 12 and 13,

the Northern Cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis

and NOW that they are complete, ITS GO TIME, in the next five days (library's closed for mother's day 😭😭) i need to have the GBH fully rendered, the names of the birds vectored, weeded, masked, applied to the wall, and then painted, plus additional cattails throughout. I may be able to get away with just getting the GBH done in time for the unveiling and then just have the names and cattails added later, but i'm gonna really try to get it all done in time. BUT, i have a plan. Part of why i take so long on these is because i really am just figuring it out as I do it lmao. there have been many a time where i am sitting on top of the ladder googling "how to paint birds" but I think if i take the time tomorro to do all that figuring out how to approach it beforehand, this will go a lot faster. I may also recruit some of my artist friends to help with the placing of the names... hrmm we'll see.

Anyways, shout out to the librarian who tracked down exactly the thing i needed so i could figure out where to place the highlights in my birds eyes, ur the real mvp

[nattousan]

thanks for the reminder, kid

[nattousan]

at long last, we've reached the end...

Bird number 14 out of 14,

The Great blue heron, Ardea herodius

thank you to everyone who reached out or got excited about this project, it genuinely gave me the fuel i needed to keep going. In total, the 480+ total hrs it took me to cover this wall pales in comparison to how long its expected to spend on there, hopefully imparting a sense of beauty and love for the natural world to the next generation and here's hoping i'm only getting started with these.

i'll see y'all soon :')

[sabertoothwalrus]

I made yeto’s pumpkin/goat cheese/salmon soup and it’s changing my life a little bit, like holy SHIT this yeti knows what he’s doing

[sabertoothwalrus]

heyyyyy it’s october again which means it’s time for

✨Yeto’s Superb Soup✨

I had posted a recipe in the comments last year, but I decided to make a better version

Ingredients:

one 2lb kabocha (you can use an equal-sized pie pumpkin, but in my opinion kabocha has a much butterier texture and nuttier flavor. Also the yeti uses kabocha in the game so it gets points for accuracy)

1-3 carrots (last year the store had the fattest carrot I had ever seen. This year I needed 3 carrots to match that volume. Listen to your heart)

2-3 celery stalks (equal to the amount of carrot)

1/2 white onion

6 garlic cloves

(optional) 2 habanero peppers

mirin/cooking wine

1 box of fish stock (if you want it vegetarian, use kelp dashi stock)

1 box of vegetable stock

4oz goat cheese. I’ve tried making this with cream cheese and feta, but the flavor really doesn’t land right without the goat cheese.

1 cup? (<- it was eyeballed) heavy cream

.7lb filet of salmon

??tbsp olive oil

6 tbsp butter

a few pinches of flour

thyme, paprika, nutmeg, red pepper flakes salt & pepper

(optional) gronions to garnish

Step 1) Preheat oven to 400°F/204°C. Slice and deseed kabocha

Step 2) coat the pumpkin in a thin layer of olive oil. Season with thyme (I like dried thyme but fresh is better!), ground nutmeg, paprika, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper.

Bake for 30-50 minutes until it’s soft enough to scoop off the rind with a spoon. Thinner kabocha might only take 30 minutes, and thicker kabocha (like below) or a cake pumpkin may take 40+ minutes.

note: if your kabocha/pumpkin is especially thick, your soup may end up tasting sweeter. If you want it more umami, use less of your chosen gourd or maybe add a splash of soy sauce to the broth? Haven’t tried that but it’d probably work

Step 3) Prep all your other veggies while you’re waiting for the pumpkin to bake. Dice the onion and set it aside. Chop the celery & carrots into Chunks and mince the garlique

Step 4) Wait until the timer for the pumpkin has 20 minutes or less left. Heat up your pot/dutch oven on high/med-high heat, melt 2 tbsp of butter, and add the onions. After about 6 minutes, add the garlic. After another few minutes, sprinkle flour and stir, and keep frying until it browns.

Step 5) Add the rest of the butter, the rest of the veggies, and stir. Deglaze the pan with a splash of mirin/cooking wine.

If you timed it right, the pumpkin should be about done. Using a spoon, scoop the rind off the pumpkin. While you do that, periodically check on the veggies, adding another sprinkle of flour and a some of the fish stock as it gets dry. It’ll create a sort of paste and the onions will be pretty browned at this point.

Step 6) Chop the pumpkin & add it to the pot. Add the rest of the stock. If you’re using habanero, slice it and add it now. Add any other seasonings (it may need more salt) to taste. Once the soup boils, turn the heat to low and cover.

Personally, I prefer soups with Chunks in them + I think it’s more authentic to what the yeti made, but if you REALLY feel compelled to blend your soup, do it now.

Step 7) While the soup is heating up, get out a frying pan and add a tablespoon or two of some olive oil/butter on med-high heat. Add the salmon filet to the pan (scale side down) and just let it sit there. Don’t touch it. When it turns opaque halfway up, flip it until it’s fully cooked.

Once it’s cooked, remove it from the pan, remove the skin, and shred it into bite size pieces. If your salmon was really thick like mine was, and some parts of it are still pink, then toss the pink parts back in the pan to let them cook a little longer.

Add the salmon to the soup.

Step 8) Once the soup has been simmering for a few minutes and you’re too impatient to keep waiting, remove it from heat, add the goat cheese & heavy cream, garnish with gronions or whatever herb of choice, and enjoy!

In the game, this soup restores eight hearts, and it truly does feel that replenishing. This soup could cure any disease.

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

What kind of bread was it? Any condiments on it? Is the turkey imported? Or domestic? Was it packaged or fresh? Was it bought recently? Is the poor mute cebu successful in communicating the eminent danger to the other passengers? Is the boy injurered? Why is the sad cebu sad? Is the canoe wood? Or aluminum?

Achoo moo moo achoo moo moo boo hoo moo moo Cebu!

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

I love being intentionally obtuse when people ask me simple questions. My boss at work asked me what I brought for lunch (which was already open and visible at the table) and I just stared at him for several seconds before saying "Sandwich". And when he prompted me to tell him what was on the sandwich, I gave him the same thousand yard stare and said "Its got turkey." Absolutely drove him up the wall. Minimal effort, endless entertainment value.

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

Y'all please pray for me, I've been feeling sick/vomiting since Wednesday and can barely keep any food down. I'm getting really worried.

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

I'm doing better! Went to the urgent care a couple days ago, got prescribed some nausea medication. It is working very well to keep food inside my body while I finish healing. Yay 👍

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

Y'all please pray for me, I've been feeling sick/vomiting since Wednesday and can barely keep any food down. I'm getting really worried.

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

Stomach troubles yet again, ouuuuuuuughhh

[soundlessdragon]

Roll call fav bug pics!!

@luna-drinker @the-magic-school-bus @f1ve-more-minutes @melisssg99 @littlebiterbeetle @mightylobsterlord @posevr

Baby praying mantis! Be blessed!

[luna-drinker]

I have my own too!

[soundlessdragon]

[the-magic-school-bus]

[soundlessdragon]

🥹

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

Bugs!! Bugs!! Bugs!!

[secret--psalms--saturn]

"Blue Pheonix"

SCREAMING HAPPY BIRTH TO ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS

happy birthday Kelly I hope its great <3 @flightsoffancyonpaperwings

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

💙🩵💙🩵💙

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

Guess who got fooood poisoning!!!

.

.

.

Me, it... I got food poisoning. It sucks

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

Apparently I'm running a 100°F fever, so maybe stomach bug? Yuck

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

Guess who got fooood poisoning!!!

.

.

.

Me, it... I got food poisoning. It sucks

[secret--psalms--saturn]

Settle the debate between me and @flightsoffancyonpaperwings

how do you pronounce 'ornery'

or-ner-ee

awn-ree

other/baldingvanilla/both yall wrong

Voting ended onApr 9

[burins]

complaining works never 👏 stop 👏 whining 👏

[g4yr4t]

do you know these/have a special name for them?

I know them! we call them [leave in tags] where I come from!

I know them but do not have a particular name for them

I have never seen these in my life

Voting ended onMar 15

please reblog, not for science, but for further reach and my own interest! oh, and if you'd like to add where you're from that would be cool as well!

if i ever don’t reblog this assume i’m dead

[sexhaver]

i started thinking about this while driving today and almost crashed

[besidethepath]

I need a splash of color from Africa again (September 2025). So here are a few pictures of the wonderful lilac-breasted roller. It's the national bird of Kenya and Botswana.

[flightsoffancyonpaperwings]

More and more I am flung into yet another circle of hell as my mom continues to buy items with ai generated slop on it. And I can't say anything because I will be told that it "isn't that serious" and I'm "overreacting".

Bad timeline get me ooouuuuuuut