Dandelyon's Worlds

I am a filker, a writer, an artist, a dreamer.
For the 2014 A-Z challenge, I did ficlets in a new fantasy world, featuring catkin and other fantastic beings. Here is the A-Z prompt list, with links to the posts as I write them.
I also do online Tarot readings here. You are always welcome to ask if I'm up to doing a paid reading, but I periodically offer to draw a free card for people as well. The landing page is here.
Life has been chaotic in the last few years (siding falling off house, roof leaks, Aunt and Mom dying, covid, and more) and my creative output has suffered. I'm working on fixing that.
I have a Patreon over here, which lately has been mostly poetry and songs. But I write about the creative process, share bits of works in progress, share my photos, and more over there.

You can find links to my flash fiction, to my serialized story, Fireborn, and to my poetry and songs over at my (still under construction, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, in suspended animation) website, www.wyld-dandelyon.com.

You used to be able to find some of my fiction, poetry, worldbuilding, and artwork over at www.tornworld.net, along with the fiction, poetry, world-building, and art of my talented co-creators there. Sadly, at some point the html code was updated in ways that broke the site, and we haven't had the money to hire someone for the many, many hours of work that would be needed to bring the site up to date.  I do have a cozy mystery written in that world, and most of a second one, and hope to do a kickstarter and get it out in the world, but that hasn't happened yet.  I plan to copy a lot of my art and stories over into my Patreon, because i'm proud of them and don't want them to remain unavailable.

If you miss my old, long-winded landing page, you can find it and the landing pages for various projects by searching on the "landing" tag.

My little brother died yesterday. He was in ill health, but it was unexpected. I am very glad we all got to see him over the holidays, and he got to taste the Mulberry Strawberry Jam I gave him. I am also glad that we got to do a little music together. Not nearly as much as I wanted to do, as my energy is still affected by the horrible long covid, and he wasn't always up to hanging out, much less doing music, when I could visit him in Chicago.

It wasn't a great week for me before that. I got word on Christmas Eve that my car was totaled, and directives to be done with my rental by the 30th, and had no spirit to even come here on FB to complain about it, and then on Christmas got some food that badly disagreed with me, so I've been sick ever since. So I'm not in great shape to write about him now. Instead I'll share something I wrote for him a few years ago, and I'll add links to some of our shared music after.

Jammin Hands
Deirdre M. Murphy

He hears the world in rhythms
A breath, a year, a soul
He’s tapping out some healing
To make the broken whole

He’s got Jammin’ Hands
Tapping on the table
Rapping on the chair
Clinking out a rhythm
With the silverware
Jammin’ Hands
Yeah, he’s got Jammin Hands

He drums in the big box store
Over here, then over there
It looks like he’s goofing off
But he’s drumming out a prayer

He’s got Jammin’ Hands
Tapping on a jembe
Shaking shell and bone
Sending out a rhythm
With others or alone
Jammin’ Hands
Yeah, he’s got Jammin Hands

He studies and he teaches
He rocks a keyboard too
He knows that play is sacred
The rhythm will come through

He’s got Jammin’ Hands
Making drums of spirit
Leather, cord and wood
Or from whatever’s handy
To make the rhythms good
Jammin’ Hands
Yeah, he’s got Jammin Hands

Copyright ©2021 Deirdre M. Murphy


Here he is playing on a 4-bell Samba Agogo:
wylddandelyon.bandcamp.com/track/come-to-our-party

When we moved into this house, there was a line of what had been hedge, sandwiched between rusty fence segments, around most of the yard. Weed trees had seeded into this area, and we spent many days removing the fence segments, the old hedge, and plating roses. By the front walk, there was a line of hedge between two snowball spirea, where the segments of old rusty fencing were particularly resistant to being removed. But now that space is open.

We have talked about moving those two snowball spirea to the other side of the yard since we moved in; I'm not sure it will be feasible to do that, but in any case we have some lilac sprouts from the back yard to move, and those will be a lot prettier than the hedge ever was (even imagining it in its prime, before it had weeds and unwanted trees and rusty fencing as a part of the line).

We haven't cleared away all the brush from those hedge plants yet, or decided if we want to keep the ancient evergreen tree in that corner of the yard (which was topped long before we moved in), but I still smile every time I look at it. Slow progress is, as my sister Dragon says, still progress, but actually seeing something I've planned and worked toward for more than two decades (on and off, when I had energy and health and a lack of things that had more immediate urgency) actually, finally, happen, well, it feels good.

So, Sunday night I was having a little ice cream after dinner, thinking of trying to write something before bed, when I heard one of our cats yowling in the bathroom. So I went to see what was wrong, and there was poor Donnflaith, hanging from her two front paws with the (thankfully tiny) bathroom window on said paws. Her hind feet were dangling over the tub. So, I went to rescue the very panicked cat. In the process she bit my left arm, I think to have something to hold onto while I was figuring out how to both hold her securely and lift the window off her paws.

I cuddled her for a bit, letting my arm bleed, then set her down on a chair hoping to check her paws, but she ran off and hid. This upset me, but first I had to deal with my arm. I knew cat bites are potentially dangerous, so I encouraged the wounds to bleed and then doused them with peroxide, rubbing it in thoroughly with a clean cue tip. Then, once the bleeding slowed, I used hydrophilic bandaids on them and took my Zyrtek to reduce allergic swelling.

Then I returned to trying to find the cat. When I spied her, she seemed to be limping—until I almost caught her—and then she was off like a shot. This left me very upset. I didn’t want to have to take her to an ER, but if she needed it, I wanted to know that right away. By now, all thoughts of writing—or anything else productive—had long flown from my head. It wasn’t until I saw that my arm was starting to swell that I found her again, and knew that a visit to urgent care was my first priority the next day, that she showed up again, tempted by canned cat food into letting me pet her forepaws and determine that she, at least, was fine.

I iced the arm, which didn't help, and got some sleep, then shoved some food into my mouth (thank goodness) and headed to the closest urgent care listed for my current ACA plan. Where I was turned away. They don’t, after all, take my insurance. None of the rest were close, but I picked one, started to drive, and called the insurance company to complain. The woman there apologized, saying the first place must have withdrawn from their plan, and they were probably behind on getting the website updated. She didn’t ask me which site had turned me away until I asked, exasperated with repeated useless apologetic re-explaining of the same stupid explanation, didn't she want to even know that? The only impressive thing she did was, finally, after asking if I’d gotten care yet (no, as I’d already told her I was still driving), offering to call the place I was headed for and confirming they would accept my insurance.

They would. Thank goodness. So, thanked her and kept driving. I eventually get to the address. There were no parking places within a half-block of the entrance that weren’t handicapped-only, so I parked and walked to the building with the correct address in foot-high numbers only to be told to go back to my car and drive around the building to the other entrance with the same number on it. Which also did not have any non-handicapped parking within a half-block walk of their door. The area by the door is marked "drop off only" and is next to an ambulance entrance. But at least once I get there, they let me use the bathroom and took me right back to be seen. The nice nurse suggested a local Walgreens that was open until 10 pm. (Again, thank goodness.)

The people there were nice, and looked at things and took my vitals and all that stuff. They told me I needed antibiotics (yeah, I knew that) and I told them that I’d had a (probable) allergic reaction to the first antibiotic of choice, so they settled on the next one. I told them “no corn” and they came back with a prescription. When I asked again about corn, the nice, very young man told me about the antibiotic in the pill, and asked if I’d prefer liquid to a pill. Exasperated (again), I said I’m fine with pills, just not with corn in pills. After I got (minimally) graphic about why I can’t take pills that have corn as a filler (they do no good if they come back up), he went back to their pharmacist. Finally, he came back and said I’d be getting the liquid, because every single formulation of the pill had corn in it.

Somewhere in the conversation, I learned that the urgent care is open until 8 pm, not the 5 pm that the insurance company’s website claimed. (I did not have the energy yesterday to call the insurance company again to complain about their inaccurate website again. Or today.) The doctor assured me if the pharmacy had any issues, they could call him. Oh, yeah, that's when I learned that the hours on the website were wrong. Then the doc wanted to draw a line around the swollen part of my arm to make it easier for me to tell if it’s getting bigger, and for future medical personnel to be able to tell how fast it’s getting bigger, if it does. And he can’t draw. So it was wrong and on my forearm were I couldn't avoid seeing it and that was making me crazy until I got home and discovered I could erase it with rubbing alcohol and fix it with one of my markers. (Next time I'll only consent if I can do the drawing, unless I can't see it!)

Someone warned me that I should eat food with this antibiotic, and I had a happy plan to stop at a natural foods store that’s just a few blocks from there to get some fruit to eat with the first dose, so I could take it before driving home. (The night before, I had planned to grab a bag of nuts on the way out of the house, but that morning I’d been more worried about getting to the urgent care than grabbing snacks.)(
And please, let there not be a next time.)

Anyway, I left the urgent care and drove to the pharmacy, waited in the long line for the drive-through, watched as they looked up my prescription, looked unhappy, and called the pharmacist over. She picked up the phone and explained very nicely that she didn’t have the strength that the doctor had prescribed, only half that strength. So, I asked, I need to swallow twice as much to get the same dose? Yes, that’s right. Ok, I said. But no, the pharmacist can’t substitute on her own, she has to ask the doc for permission. They promised they would contact the urgent care right away. I’ll be waiting, I said. Oh, no need, we’ll text you. That text thing doesn’t always work, and I’m on the other side of the city from home, so I’m very unimpressed with this plan. But arguing with people you need stuff from isn’t helpful, so I go to where I said I’d wait and I wait. For more than an hour. I wasn’t tracking time well, but the hour-long podcast I started after parking finished, and I started a new one. Finally I get into line again, saying the text thing doesn’t always work, so I’m checking. They haven’t heard from the doctor. They can’t help me until they hear from the doctor.

By now it’s approaching 7 pm. I’m starving. I have no food, no medicine, and the words, “Start the antibiotic today, because if it isn’t working you’ll need to go to the ER for IV antibiotics” ringing in my memory. I call the urgent care. “ThisIsXUrgentCareCanYouHold[click]” and I’m on hold. I wait for 15 minutes or so, hang up and try again. Same result. It is now after 7, and the urgent care closes at 8. I hang up and drive back to the urgent care, and walk the long walk to get inside. Some poor woman is there with a sick baby talking to the only receptionist left. I move to the side and try my best to look desperate and visible to the people in the back. Happily this works.

The nice nurse with the pretty flower tattoos comes up to talk to me. (Was I really too sick to remember to compliment her tattoos? I was. Both times.) She goes back to check. They do not have any communication from the pharmacy. I tell her the pharmacist says they can’t dispense as ordered, and she asks me to wait while she calls them. Eventually she returns to assure me that they are mixing the medicine right now, she took care of the problem.

I drive back to the pharmacy. Finally, they have my prescription—or, rather, a partial fill of it--two days worth, rather than the whole prescription. By this time, Rachel Maddow has started playing on the radio, and I am beat. I drive home (no wheat, no corn, and no canola means no fast food) and finally take the first dose of this stuff. Is it OK that they only have a partial? No. But I have to start the antibiotic, so I accept the partial.

So, I get home and grab leftovers and take the medicine. It doesn’t taste quite as bad as I expected, which is good since I have to manage to swallow 20ml of it (more than 4 teaspoons) twice a day. I managed to stay awake-ish for four hours or so, long enough to take the second dose, slept for nearly 10 hours straight, got up to eat and take another dose, and fell back into bed. I eventually got up again because once the antibiotic started to take effect, I wasn’t sleeping, but I’ve been foggy and low energy all day. And of course it was 90 degrees today, so at least downstairs was less hot than laying in bed.

So far, the score is two days pretty much completely wasted, and they better have the rest of my antibiotics filled in the morning. The swelling is going down, at least a little, so the redness only goes around half of my forearm, and on some of the edges, it also isn't as long. And I get to watch for a fever or other symptoms that, if they show up, indicate that I need to go to the ER anyway. I’ve got my fingers crossed.

This is decidedly not the adventure I needed right now, and I'm not sure it's even mostly over, which is worrisome.

But at least the cat is ok!

Which makes me feel sleepy anyway, but also I stayed up until after dawn playing MTG with my partner, with a wonderful cool night-time breeze coming in the window.

The day lilies are starting to bloom (mostly tiger lilies), and the roses are still blooming, and I should go out and weed around the tomatoes and cucumbers and all. Got to be careful where I planted beans not to "weed" them!

See you soon!

I decided to change my mood icon set. I still like the little bats, but this one makes me smile.

Happy pride month, everybody!

Yesterday left me sad, having missed the aurora (again) and thinking on a kerfluffle in the local filk community (at least, I hope it will prove to be merely a brief fuss), and issues in a different musical group (I got to listen to an elderly man tell me that he knows what racism is because he uses Hitler's definition (!) and people don't get to change meanings of words (!) and I lost my temper with him, not that he cared.) My music communities are my social lifeline, so these things are very troubling to me. I headed to bed only to have sleep escape me for hours, despite pointing my brain elsewhere by doing duolinguo and reading frivolous fiction and petting a purring cat.

After dawn, I almost gave up and went outside to work in the garden, except it was cold out there, and I was already feeling cold. Finally I fell asleep. Happily, in my dreams, I was at a Worldcon with many friendly filkers around me, with lots of singing and friendly interactions. I particularly remember singing with someone with a very lovely deep voice. I woke feeling healed and hopeful. I hope that dream is a good omen for things going forward. (And many thanks to the filkers who came to my dream Worldcon, and sang and chatted and were good company.)

I got some of the plants I bought on Saturday in the ground, but not all of them. Waking after 3 pm leaves a very limited amount of outdoor time after doing things like getting dressed and eating breakfast, especially with clouds blowing in and rain arriving before sunset. But I now have cucumber plants in the garden! I'm still hoping the stores get Cherokee Purple tomatoes in, but I have some other tomato varieties out there, and some squash too. A few Ausilio peppers. And pea seedlings, finally. Soon I'll have to plant beans too, but they are truly a warm weather plant; no point in planting them until it's warm enough for them to germinate instead of rotting in the ground.

We are also moving some of the now-abundant wood violets that have moved inward from the borders of the garden from where they would be crowding the vegetables to other places in the yard, to make other border areas look nice and maybe to encourage the grass to stay out of where we're planting flowers and/or vegetables. It makes me smile to see all the little purple flowers! Of course, they only bloom in spring, but right now there's a lot of them, even more than dandelions.

And I got to chat with my daughter for Mother's Day (twice even, because she was hanging out at my sister's house and the first call got interrupted by dinner). She's doing well, and is past the probation period of her new job and is taking a training that she's excited about now that the new job will pay for it. So, all in all, a better day than yesterday.

The new moon was ushered in by thunderstorms, here where I live, so I'm not going to be doing gardening today. That makes it a perfect time to do readings for people.  The new moon is a perfect time to consider beginnings, new projects, and the like, but just as every day is a new day, every day is a good day to consider where you are and where you're going.

Also, speaking of new things, ellenmillion is gearing up to crowdfund her lovely Unicorn Key cards, and I'm lucky enough to have an early prototype deck, so I'm offering to use these cards for readings.

For more information, or to order cards once the campaign is started, go here: www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/dd78de0e-e1ac-49a5-8415-a59c4f631500/landing

As always, New friends and old are very welcome.


Status: Still Open

About the readings,

You can simply ask for a single card with no obligation to tip (though tips are very much appreciated, and tipping allows you to ask for one clarifying card if the initial reading is not clear to you).

I am also offering a three-card reading for $20 or a five-card reading for $35, or if you want a larger reading we can discuss costs. A signal boost for readings or for my Patreon (www.patreon.com/Wyld_Dandelyon) will also allow you to ask for a clarification card on some part of this reading, if you still have a question after seeing the first card(s).

The five card circle spread I designed is described here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/dandelyons-five-60824603 If you want a five card reading, that is one option, but not the only one. For a three card reading, you can ask for past/present/future, insight into an issue (or life in general) and two ways to deal with it, or something else. Also, a special offer for this week:  for the three-card reading price, if you ask for a Unicorn Key reading, I'll choose one of Ellen's readings designed for those cards, whichever I think is most apt for your question, even if that reading has more than three cards.

Regardless of the length of the reading, you may ask about real life or a creative project, or even for a character you play in a game. I can draw a card for you to meditate on, to represent the Guide you need right now, or to get you unstuck. I can draw a card for your protagonist or villain, or can draw a card or cards for you to use as writing or art prompts, and I can modify a more-traditional five-card spread into a prompt for a story focusing on plot or characters or a little of both. Let me know if you have any particular request.

You can pick from Ellen's Unicorn Key, or one of the following other decks:   the Daughters of the Moon Tarot (one of the round decks), the Shapeshifter Tarot, or my combined Goddess and Shaman Susan Seddon Boulet art cards (I usually suggest this deck if you want a Guide). If you don't pick a deck, I'll draw a card from the Unicorn Key, since I'm excited for that one right now.

The first card is free (though tips are always appreciated). I understand all too well that when people don't have cash or spoons that is generally when they most need inspiration. Don't be afraid to ask for a card if you can't tip.

When you tip, it's helpful to me for you to mention it here so I can connect your Paypal information with your request. Tips should be at least $2 (Paypal charges fees). If Paypal doesn't work for you, drop me a message and we'll work something out. The guitar case below is my personal PayPal link, featuring my own artwork, which does inspire me even though it isn't Tarot-related. Or you can use paypal.me/DeirdreMMurphy

I will reply to all requests. If I start to feel overwhelmed, I will close to free readings; in that unlikely event, that will be in nice bold letters after the word Status above. I plan to stay open at least until late Wednesday for free readings. After that, you can certainly ask for a paid reading, if you want one. Yes, I still have the stupid long covid, though it's getting (oh so slowly) better, so if I'm too tired or can't focus at any particular moment, I'll rest and return later.

I may not post images here because am not comfortable posting other people's art in a public place on the internet without permission. (If I find an already-existing photo of your card, I might link to it.)  However, I do have permission to post the Unicorn Key art here.

Thank you, Blessed Be, and may the new moon bring blessings for joy and dreams made happily true!


As always, while I work hard to offer insight and inspiration, all I can legally promise is entertainment. See my "Dandelyon's Readings" page for a little more about my readings.

Yesterday was frustrating, but it had some high points. I woke up to find that the black cat had once again pooped in the upstairs hallway, and so spent time doing things like mopping there, which was not on my plan for the day at all (and should have been done by my partner days ago, but all she'd done was pick up the solids and spray the floor with the denaturing spray). That eventually led to partner slipping on the stairs and dumping the entire mop bucket on the floor. She's ok (thank goodness), and (also thank goodness) I had a hamper full of dirty towels waiting by the basement stairs to throw on the floor to limit that mess and to keep it from seeping down to the basement and causing huge additional messes to clean, but that led to more mopping before breakfast, and much frustration.

My plan was to go to the gardening store, early, but partner had a medical appointment, so we ended up going to the gardening store late instead, and they didn't have the Cherokee Purple tomato plants I'd hoped to buy. Apparently those will (might) arrive by Monday. A nice manager checked to see if their other locations might have the plants I wanted, which led to arriving home even later than our late start should have led to. They also had only two cucumber plants, but more of those should be arriving later too.

While waiting, we looked at roses and bought an on-sale rose to fill a hole where a rose had died overwinter (I think over a previous winter, rather than the most recent one.) It's bare root, so we can't delay much getting it into the ground, but getting a flower on May Day sale is appropriate.

So we got home shortly before Cathy McMusic's planned Beltaine Concert, and was busy planting the few tomatoes I did buy during the concert, which would have been much more pleasant if the connection didn't constantly break up. I eventually listened to it properly later, improvising playing bass along with her songs.

And then the cat shat on the hallway floor again. Ugh. And looking around at my house, it's hard to remember how much progress I was making before I got the stupid Covid a year ago.

But in better news, in the lonely spot in the grass where we had, long ago, planted a bunch of tulips in a little circle garden that my daughter gave me, which had one lonely tulip show up most years thereafter, we found a little circle of four tulips! I guess the survivor got lonely, and created some new buds. I may yet dig them up and transplant them to a less lonely spot, but not while they're flowering. So that was at least one nice surprise for the day.

And I got to listen to live (over the internet) Beltaine music, and secretly play along with a couple of my favorite musicians in my own music room, and I lit a candle for my Beltaine fire, since I wasn't in the mood for sitting outside in the chill.

The lilacs are starting to bloom, and we still have a few ragged daffodils, and some lovely tulips, and I have some experimental pepper seedlings (experimental because I haven't tried those varieties, so if I get fruit I'll find out if I like them), and some sunflower seedlings, and outside there are lots of violets and dandelions. And I double-checked the 30-day forecast, and there are still no more lows predicted below the 40s (F), so while the beginning of May is historically risky for putting tomato plants outside, I'd been taking the ones I grew indoors out most days to harden them to sun and wind for weeks, and I feel safe getting them properly situated. (Two of the ones I overwintered are even blooming!)

And we did get the replacement seep hose buried, though that delayed planting peas. So there's lots of happy spring gardening news. Here's hoping for no Covid this year, and nothing else serious, and that the long covid keeps getting better. I have things to do and, especially, wonders to create!

YsabetWordsmith is doing poetry to prompts on her blog, here: ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/14359166.html Her topic for today is "Screw this, I'm out of here!" New people are welcome to stop by and leave prompts.