FYI, heads up: I'm planning on running Santa Shark again this year. If all goes well, I'll open it up Dec. 1st. If you haven't kept your wishlists updated... now's a great time to do so ;)

Oops I fell off doing quests and stuff again. Now this GA will kick us into gear. Looking forward to when the lag is solved so I can farm my quest points. It seems that my avatar died in the maintenance war because I haven't seen it since then lol. Tried clearing my cache on computer and phone and still just a broken image. I can see everyone else's. Can you see mine?

Haha yeah, I'm trying to work my way through some quests right now. I know they're probably still working on some things, so hopefully the lag will go away soon enough.

And your HA is showing as a broken image for me too. I can see most other people's though, and my own. Have you tried maybe re-converting it in the wardrobe? Although I'm not sure if that would help or not.

Yay, Secret Shark! I liked it. I can’t see your HA, either. I will have to wait for the lag to end before I attempt quests. Too frustrating. Thanks for the ping back to this board. I’m sorry eager for Fireside!

Hey Hun hugs Welcome! I some times lose track of the board when an event (or downtime) happens. I get lost easily lol! I am looking forward to it too! Although when I look outside it feels like we skipped right over Fall. Love your HA ❤

LOL, I have no idea why autocorrect decided that I was "sorry" eager for Fireside. SO eager, is what I meant. It's been cold here, but not brutal. We have a firepit out back that' we've been using. So far, we haven't used our indoor fireplace. I think tonight will be the coldest night of the year, down close to freezing.

I love your HA, too!

No worries :D I got what you meant lol. I would love to have a firepit, but it would not be good for my health. I would be out there roasting marshmallows every day :P I would gain about 50 lbs every winter! Freezing cold weather is the worst. Fall was way too short. Everything feels off since Thanksgiving is going to be so late this year. Thanks Hun!

This will be my first Luminaire with all you Sharkies, what’s Santa Shark? The picture makes me giggle though. It’s like Tim burton but yet like the “fish are friends, not food” shark from Finding Nemo.

We totally skipped fall here too. We’ve had several snows and we just came out of a quick below zero cold snap. The first big snow was bad because the leaves weren’t even off the trees yet for the most part. The poor trees were breaking from all the weight! The big huge tree outside my work decided to wait until after that snow to suddenly strip and dump almost all its leaves in one day. ???? Yeah thanks for the ping too. I forget to come back after events, especially after Morostide because I’m always sad it’s over. I got busy too because unfortunately my remaining uncle passed last week and I was dealing with that and stuff for his service.

I would be very happy if it would snow on Dec 24, and be pretty for Christmas. Then it can all melt on the 26th and be done for the year lol. Welcome Hun hugs Very sorry about your loss.

Santa Shark = Secret Santa. Since we're a "shark" themed group, we come up with creative names for things ;)

Snow helps insulate plants... but the brisk colder weather has many feeling sorer than usual.

My condolences for your loss ❤

I could totally go for that lol. Where do I sign up? XD Thank you. ❤️ I’m sad sometimes but I think knowing that he isn’t sick or in pain anymore helps. He had health issues for as long as I can remember but the last few years have been really rough. My aunt asked me to make a picture board for his service and I feel like going through all the pictures looking for ones of him helped me feel better.

I did notice all the shark names but I just wanted to check and be sure that’s what you meant. Can’t wait to participate in the fun! Didn’t know that about plants. But the soreness I believe it. I’ve definitely been feeling it in my knee. I had surgery on my leg about 4 years ago and they went in through my knee so that area gets painful during the bitter snaps sometimes. I’m already over it lol, can we skip to March? I’d even take February at this point. Thank you. ❤️

The majority in my building are 60+, others have chronic pain, etc. many of us in the building have been sore (or sorer) this past week. Some can't wait (and are actually counting down days) until spring... I prefer winter over summer... just crank up the heat, drink teas, bundle up in blankets... summer there's only so much you can remove and in this new building that's been highly insulated we roast to a dangerous degree in summer.

The less there's snow, the more there's a risk of plant roots freezing & thus plants dying. Snow also protects against freezing rain, hail, etc. It even helps keep plants warmer. Last year we had less snow (more freezing rain... not good for plants and dangerous for humans)... it was more difficult for pre annual plants to survive. We've already had a snowfall that's staying... I moved all my potted plants on the balcony near the apartment wall (helps keep them warmer) and then shoveled the snow towards the bases to help give them the best chance possible. I also put styrofoam between the dirt and pots when I planted my lovelies to help protect them. Hopefully, they'll be ok :) I even wrapped my lilac tree with a special synthetic burlap that's on my balcony... as well as blueberry bushes in my community garden. If they would have more snow and faster, there would be less risk with mother nature but can't take the chance.

I wish I knew! Last year was the first year in a very long time that we had a pretty white Christmas.

hugs It is nice to remember the good times we had with loved ones ❤

ohhh gotcha. I’m just not a fan of winter. The cold, the snow, the ice. I don’t like being cooped up inside all the time either. And I’m not a fan of socks...I have to be particular about the material of them and the style because some hurt my ankles and I’d just rather not wear them at all lol. Pants/jeans are hard too because of materials and then my bad knee. I prefer living in flip flops and sandals and shorts. We have good air conditioning so if it’s super hot outside, we’re fine inside.

I’m not really too fussed about snow on Christmas actually. If I have to go outside, I just want it to not be bitter and no snow. If I can stay inside, I don’t care if it snows.

Definitely. His daughter (my cousin) is gone as well, she passed about 5 years ago and there was tons of pictures of her in there too. It was fun to see all those and realize just how much her daughter looks and acts like her.

Well now I learned something new! Thanks for the nature lesson! I love lilacs, they smell amazing. Oooh blueberry bushes? That sounds like fun. I hope everything turns out alright with all your plants!

The type of lilac I have is Syringa vulgaris ‘Charles Joly’. I call it bunny head because they have double blooms.

I have two types of blueberry bushes (2 smaller varieties & 1 bigger).

The lilac & blueberry bushes are quite young so they're more fragile. I had to learn a lot about both and blueberry bushes can be a bigger challenge since they have special dirt requirements (more acidic = adding peat moss & other things) as well as pollination needs (at least 2 bushes, ideally more than one species). If I'm successful, I'll be very happy and proud of myself :)

I'm hypersensitive, so I hear ya on the clothing limitations. Air conditioning is a challenge... building restrictions, bad air circulation, etc. Hopefully, they'll find better solutions for next year.

Anyhoo... I better try and finish my quests as I rarely do them due to reading disability... but when I start on gardening it's difficult for me to stop :P

oh that looks interesting! Does it smell like the more traditional lilacs? The coloring of it is pretty anyway though. I would totally love to know how it goes with those plants! Crossing my fingers for you.

Hypersensitive is a new word for it lol, I call it material phobicness or sensory disorder. I really hate it sometimes, it gives me anxiety and it’s really annoying having to pass on things I like because of a certain piece of material or something else random. Hmm, that’s rough that AC is not great for you there. Maybe if they don’t do anything for it, you could see if there’s tips on Pinterest? That’s where I go for random info lol. There’s always things to try on there.

Yeah I’m trying to do quests too but the site is still struggling. Haha, I’m glad you have something you’re avid about though! Everybody should have something they love to share information about!

Although there's lag, we've had much worse in the past... I'm thankful the staff is trying to make our experience here better. I find it sad how many have been complaining in the news... It's easy for people to whine but takes a lot more to give compliments. Ok, questing is slow but at least I'm getting some done :D

The flowers have a stronger smell than regular lilacs. It'll be a few years before it's at its adult height and has more branches... right now it's equivalent to a Charlie Brown Christmas tree :P

I'm eventually planning on making my balcony an oasis ^^

If you look into autistic or sensory-friendly clothing there are various things that can help :)

Oh absolutely. I do appreciate that they’re trying to make things better. They’re pretty good about trying to keep things updated and working out kinks when we see them. I’ll just keep trucking along however slow it gets!

Oh wow, that must be a great smell! Aw a Charlie Brown lilac sounds adorable lol.

An oasis sounds beautiful!

That’s an idea I’ve never thought about before. I might have to try that. Thanks!

The only quests I've been affected more with the lag is wizard... got 10 tokens less than usual but got 640 instead of my normal 250 so it's good for me :D

I'm hoping to get a special swing chair that looks a bit like an open egg, a big wall fountain, storage benches, etc. eventually for the balcony. It's a place I like to meditate ;)