Stickses and Stories

I Wrote!

2009-12-16T00:05:23Z

I actually wrote something, lol! I was inspired by Llinos' new grandson, Ellis, a lovely photo of whom can be seen below (I hope! I don't remember how to do any of this posting stuff!)...

It's a double-drabble over on Stories of Arda called Worthy Of The Name.

Important KnittedYule Announcement! : )

2009-12-10T01:56:11Z

Hullo Everyone! It's been a very long time since I have posted here but I have come out of lurkerdom to let everyone know who hasn't seen it yet that KnittedMerry has posted some V.Important news concerning Yule!

You can find his post here: http://knittedmerry.livejournal.com/17856.html

Hope to see lots of familiar names over on his post!

KnittedHobbit Yule Card!

2008-12-14T01:39:58Z

As some of you already know, knittedmerry is preparing his list of lucky recipients for this year's rather amazing and spectacular KnittedHobbit Yule Card!

If anyone has missed his very important post which explains how to request one, please pop over asap so that your card can arrive before Yule!

Birthday Wishes!

2008-07-01T13:18:14Z

Very Happy Birthdays to both Angiet and Dreamflower! We wish you both a happy day and a marvellous year!

With lots of love from Llinos, Marigold, LoneWolf and the KnittedHobbits : )

Bruce Springsteen?

2008-05-24T12:44:47Z

Hullo! Any Springsteen fans out there? I have two extra tickets for the concert at Old Trafford in Manchester this coming Wednesday night, the 28th of May, that I am selling for face price, £55.00 + the 5.75 booking fee per ticket. I'd love it if an LJ friend or two could join LoneWolf and me for the show!

I have put the tickets on Buy it Now on eBay if anyone is interested - my seller name over there is marigoldcotton but the link should take you right to it!

Happy Birthday!

2008-05-11T10:49:37Z

Happy Birthday Llinos!

I hope that you have a fantastic day and a wonderful year!

marigoldg @ 2008-04-08T19:00:00

2008-04-08T18:03:44Z

knittedmerry has posted the thrilling conclusion of KnittedPippin's Exciting and Interesting Birthday! This episode features some very special guest stars and should not be missed, not least because both knittedmerry and knittedpippin would be frightfully sad and upset.

Those of you who haven't seen the suspenseful first instalment can find it Here… : )

A KnittedHobbit Adventure!

2008-04-07T14:56:01Z

Although knittedmerry is most incredibly busy managing his many business ventures and generally overseeing the smooth running of the known (and unknown) universe, he has taken time out of his overwhelming schedule to make you aware of the important events that took place last week on knittedpippin's birthday.

He has requested that I, as one of his many minions, should provide you with the link to KnittedPippin's Exciting and Interesting Birthday!

As you have come to expect, the pictures are packed with visual delights and painstaking detail, the story is filled with both rapier wit and thought-provoking moral values, and as always, knittedmerry has no doubt that you will not fail to find his post fascinating and worthy of your immediate attention and comments.

(Personally, I think that the pictures are some of the best ever and I urge you all to go and see for yourselves! knittedmerry worked very, very hard on this post and it took him several days to document the events. I hope that everyone will comment as I am worried that he will stop posting if he doesn't get the recognition that he so magnificently deserves for his hard work! I'd be devestated if he stopped posting!)

What is Sam saying?

2008-03-17T18:03:55Z

1. "When I was a hobbit I was this high."
2. "Where did that large dog go?"
3. "Do you like my yo-yo? The string is invisible!"

Other suggestions?

For the correct answer check out the latest entry on llinos's journal

Squeeing over Empty!

2008-03-09T19:20:22Z

llinoshas put links to both episodes of Empty (starring Billy! of course) on her lj along with some terrific stills!

I really loved this weeks episode and thought that Billy really got to showcase his talents, especially doing the Mr Pastry dance! For those of you that don't know the story behind this comedy classic it's all explained in Llinos' post, complete with a clip to the original as well as a clip of Billy's version. Here is the link to the fun!

The post is friends locked but if you'd like to see all of the goodies just friend Llinos and she will friend you back post-haste! Here is a little sample of what delights await you in her post!

Billy doing his version of Gypsy Rose Lee!

Story Update!

2008-02-18T18:35:30Z

I am both pleased and saddened to announce that Llinos has posted the final chapters of The Great Hobbiton Race of 1435. The last parts are You Knocked The Green Dragon Down! in which there appear some very unexpected guests, and the Epilogue, Dignified Vegicide For A Worthy Cause, to tie up any loose ends.

I am really sorry to see this story end - I've enjoyed it immensely! Of course now I have free rein to poke her mercilessly to finish Recaptured!

marigoldg @ 2008-02-16T17:26:00

2008-02-16T17:27:45Z

Llinos has just updated her hilarious (and very exciting!) tale, The Great Hobbiton Race of 1435! The latest chapter is called You Never Did Like That Engine! Only a couple of chapters to go now I am sorry to say, as I am loving this story!

marigoldg @ 2008-02-08T18:47:00

2008-02-08T18:59:58Z

I am very pleased to be able to announce at last that Llinos has finally updated The Great Hobbiton Race of 1435 ! Not only has she updated it, but she is also making good progress and has the next chapter well on its way to being finished, so she will be updating the story regularly now!

This latest chapter is called I'll Wager It's A Dragon! and it concludes with a really intriguing cliffhanger!

Now I can start poking her for the next instalment of Recaptured!

marigoldg @ 2008-01-17T20:53:00

2008-01-17T21:01:54Z

First, thank you so much to everyone who has been so supportive the past few days and left comments on my LJ. This weekend I will be answering the many that I was not able to do before work began for me again and I wasn't able to get over to Llinos' house to use her computer. I appreciate each and every one of them!

The reason that I am posting tonight is because something came up that I felt couldn't wait. Llinos read this post by Pearl Took to me over the phone while I was on the train home and I asked her to come and fetch me so that I could respond tonight.

It is a most honourable and honest admission and apology and I urge you all to go and read it and commend the writer, for it had to be hard to post something so heartfelt in a public forum. Llinos and I have both accepted the apology and hopefully that will be the end of it.

Although I still have heard nothing from the person that has removed the beta credit from her story (and not for the first time) at least Pearl, who has been my friend for many years, had the decency to own up in public and I am very happy that we were able to resolve this and carry on being friends.

Thank you all again, from the bottom of my heart - I am incredibly touched by everyone's heartfelt support. As I told Pearl in my comment to her post, one good thing came out of all this and that is the evidence once again of just how supportive people in this fandom can be! All of you are awesome!

Update

2008-01-11T18:17:56Z

Hi Everybody

Not Marigold here, but Llinos.

Just to update you, Lesley and I managed to get the last load of their stuff into storage today and then she had to dash back to her flat for a delivery - which of course didn't turn up!

Tomorrow morning she has a prospective buyer coming to view the flat so fingers crossed! She also has a fight with the delivery people and some painting to do (which I am rubbish at and so can't help her with - I get more paint on myself than I do on the wall and am officially banned!) and then hopefully she can squeeze in a quick visit to my house to do her laundry as she can't do it at home in the state that it's in.

While the washer and tumble dryer are doing their work she will have some time to reply to all of the kind comments you have made about her post of yesterday. I have been reading them to her over the phone and she is very touched by everyone's support. She gave me her lj login and asked me to post this brief note to you all.

Both of us thank you for making such nice comments about Lesley and me and our participation in the fandom over the years. It was nice for me to be able to reassure Lesley through your comments that the consensus was that she had in no way failed, worry over which was making her very upset.

It's particularly gratifying that everyone is so supportive of the idea that she can restart the challenges at a later time, when things have settled down. I feel that sometimes Lesley really undervalues herself and her contributions to others, as well as her own ability as a writer. I hope that she will have more time in the future to devote to that as well.

If this post seems incomprehensible because you missed her original post of yesterday you can find it here.

Again, thank you all very much for your support!

Llinos

About the Challenges...

2008-01-10T21:47:54Z

Hullo Everyone...

At last, here is an update about what is going on with the Challenges and Recs Page, and I apologise for taking so long to fill everyone in.

First though, a bit about what has been taking up so much of my time. I started my new job with Heathrow Express and it's the most challenging thing that I've ever undertaken. Most of my shifts are spent working as a train dispatcher at either one of our two stations at Heathrow or at Paddington.

The level of responsibility is rather scary. I am responsible for everything that occurs on a train platform that is an 8^th of a mile long and that I can barely see to the end of, and that includes the safety of what might, during busy times, be nearly one thousand passengers waiting on the platform, the passengers on the waiting trains, juggling radios and coordinating instructions from Control and various others, making pa's, arranging for the proper signals, keeping to a schedule that is down to the second for up to six trains an hour, ensuring that every train is safe for departure and actually turning the key to allow it to depart from the station.

And that is just when things are running smoothly, which quite often they are not. Just over the past few days we have had incidents caused by everything from an unbelievably callous couple shoving their baby in his pushchair through the closing doors of a train in hopes that they wouldn't have to wait a whole 15 minutes for another one to one of our trains hitting a lad riding his bike along the track which caused significant disruptions (the lad wasn't killed thankfully!)

As you can imagine this is all quite stressful, and at my age extremely tiring. My mind is going every second, trying to be aware of every single thing that is happening around me and prepared every second for any of a thousand possible emergencies. And on top of this I am commuting at least two and sometimes three hours in each direction, meaning that I often put in a 16-hour day. Llinos comes to fetch me from the airport whenever she can and that helps, but it is 29 miles each way and she certainly can't do that all of the time.

On top of all this, LoneWolf and I have put our flat on the market and we have (with Llinos' help once again) been clearing it out, packing, putting things into storage, retiling, painting, repairing, arranging for an electrician, plumber, new carpeting and everything else that goes along with trying to make a rather shabby old flat look appealing and that it's worth enough money for us to buy the little house that we want.

I also worked all Christmas week and we had LoneWolf's mum staying with us over the holiday. And finally, I have had no computer for a few weeks as it has been disconnected due to all of the remodelling.

So you can understand that outside all of this that I have been doing very little other than sleeping and occasionally having a bite to eat. I am numb by the time that I have a moment to sit down and pretty much in a zombie state. I haven't been able to form a coherent reply to any e-mails or to come to a decision about how to proceed with the Challenges or my Recommendations Page, and rather than make a post that had no real information and that I didn't have the energy to post anyway, I have been putting it off.

As well, I knew that any little post that I did make would be commented upon and that I wouldn't have any time to answer those comments, so I didn't say anything. And I do apologise for that, but I know that all of you have been in similar positions before, where you are just too tired to cope, and I felt that as all of you know me so well, and know how dedicated I have been to the fandom for so long, that you would take that into consideration and give me some slack, as I do when positions are reversed.

And for the most part all of you have done so, for which I am grateful!

The other day though, Llinos and I both received a rather rude letter from one of the regular participants, her intention being that it would make me take notice. Well, I certainly did, though perhaps not as she had intended. I was scolded most thoroughly, and Llinos was too, with everything that we had done recently in the fandom pointed out to us in an accusatory way.

Almost everything listed were things that Llinos has done or posted on her own, which has nothing to do with the delay of the Challenges at all – Llinos helps me beta and gives input to the themes, everything else to do with the Challenges are up to me. It is unfair to attack her, and that is what it boiled down to, accusing her of taking the time to do a KnittedHobbit Christmas card or post an older story to SoA when she should have been making posts about the status of the Challenges apparently – no she shouldn't, the Challenges are my responsibility!

As the writer pointed out, I did make a post of my own about the Christmas card on my LJ. I took two seconds to do that so that people who wanted one wouldn't miss out – apparently, according to the letter-writer, I was wrong to have taken the time for that, or for the little comment that I wrote on his post about the cards. It was just a couple of days before Christmas though and certainly not a post that required any significant thought, as would one concerning the Challenges.

The sender of the letter didn't mention though about the reviews that Llinos or I managed to find time to make on some of her stories, or the stories of others, for the MEFA's; also something that had a specific time limitation, like Christmas. We made a point to do as many of these as we could as the authors deserved to be recognised and we knew the stories for the most part anyway and didn't require any time to read them in order to write our reviews. Most of my reviewing was actually done from an internet café during my lunch break.

The letter-writer says that both Llinos and I have been "unbelievably rude" and hurtful by not making any post about the Challenges. Once again, I reiterate, Llinos has no part in any perceived rudeness, in fact she had replied to the writer earlier explaining that I was busy. The writer also says that I have received e-mails from several others about my silence – I haven't; just one other person has written about them, at least in the past few weeks that I am able to scroll back and it was a nice little note of inquiry.

Added to which, after the author had received a reply from Llinos to her e-mail and had written a subsequent one on the same day, to which Llinos also replied, the letter-writer actually phoned me on my mobile at work when I happened to be on my lunch break to restate her complaints about my silence. She says that she meant it in concern and friendship as well as in anger over my lack of availability and likely she did, but the result was that this just added to my stress and frustration over the whole situation, particularly when she said that quite a few people were discussing my rudeness in private e-mails.

This was very hurtful to hear as you can imagine, to whatever extent that it is true. As I said above I had assumed that people would be understanding of my situation, which most folks that I am in regular contact with are well aware of and sympathetic about.

I had already been rather annoyed during the last posted Challenge when one of the participants not only posted her Challenge story two days early on a Yahoo group that she moderates but also went to the trouble to consciously remove a beta credit for Llinos that was already on the document when it was sent back to her, an appallingly rude and dishonest thing to do. That particular group has over 300 members and to post her story consciously removing the beta credit was taking away credit from a friend and editor where it was due. Not the first time that she has done so, but the first time that I wrote to her about her actions. I have never received a response to that e-mail.

To make a long rant short, the incident with the removal of the beta-credit had already made me question whether I should continue to put so much time and effort into the Challenges, but this latest incident with the letters and phone call has made me decide that perhaps it would be better to stop the Challenges, for a while at least.

The Challenges were meant to be fun and to contribute quality hobbit fanfic to the fandom. And for nearly four years that is what we all accomplished by working together, and I thank each and every one that participated in any way.

It is clear from the incidents described above though, that the whole business is being taken too seriously by some people at the moment and perhaps this would be a good time for a hiatus. I could obviously use one anyway, at least until LoneWolf and I manage to move to our new house and I get my British driving licence which will ease the commuting burden.

So, with reluctance, instead of proposing a bi-monthly Challenge, which is what I had finally decided to do, I am stopping Marigold's Challenge. I can't possibly live up to what certain people are expecting of me – I have a job and a very busy life outside the fandom unlike some others – the whole thing was meant to be fun for me as well, but others seem now to take for granted the fact that I spent so much of my free time to produce the Challenge every month. It was my pleasure to do so and I am sorry that I finally failed along the way.

I certainly am not including everyone in this rant or in making my decision! I have made so many friends throughout the fandom and through the Challenges in particular and I value each of you, even though I may not post constantly on your LJ's or exchange long e-mails. That doesn't mean that I am not thinking of you though, just that I am overwhelmed sometimes by RL issues and demands, as, I am sure, are most of you as well.

My Recommendations Page will be on hold indefinitely as well, as I obviously don't have time for searching out good stories at the moment.

Hopefully the Recs Page will be back in action soon. I am not so certain about the Challenges, but perhaps someday I will be in a position and a frame of mind in which to start them up again, though I doubt that it will be on a monthly basis.

So, anyone that sent a story in for a Challenge that was not posted, please feel free to consider those postable where and when you please to do so.

And once again I apologise for not updating you sooner than this as to the situation, even though I wasn't sure myself exactly what the situation was going to be!

Brief Hullo!

2008-01-07T12:49:27Z

Hi Everybody : ) This is just a very short note to let anyone concerned know that I will be making a lengthy post here on Wednesday or Thursday about what has been going on with me and to let everyone know the state of the Challenges and the Recs Page.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful New Year so far!

Marigold

KnittedMerry Alert!

2007-12-21T00:40:37Z

Hullo! I haven’t been around in ages but I was very excited to find that KnittedMerry has posted with the offer of a most magnificent Christmas goodie for everyone and I wanted to let everyone know. To make sure that you get one please pop over to his most illuminating and splendid post and follow the instructions there. Please make sure to leave him a comment when you drop by! He’s in a festive mood and feeling very chatty!

Late Challenge Stories!

2007-11-12T04:06:48Z

Llinos and I have posted two late submissions for Challenge 46. The first is A Birthday To Remember by Pippinfan and the second is a poem that I wrote called A New Light. You can find these and the other Challenge stories on the Tale Challenge Archive!

Thanks Pippinfan for working so very hard to get your story done this weekend!

Tale Challenge 46 : )

2007-11-10T00:16:48Z

Hullo! Welcome to Tale Challenge 46! The theme of this Challenge was to write a story that included a bonfire in honour of Bonfire Night, which is celebrated in Britain of the 5^th of November. Many thanks to Pippinfan, our Lovely Challenge Assistant and to Slightly Tookish who designed some very appropriate icons!

The theme for Challenge 47 was thought of by Llinos and is called "Take your partners". It's going to be really fun! Participants will be teamed up and will receive a plot bunny from their teammate, the subsequent story to be dedicated to that person. For example, Dreamflower and Pearl might be teamed up, and Pearl would have to write Dreamflower's plotbunny and dedicate the story to her, and Dreamflower would have to write Pearl's plotbunny and dedicate the story to Pearl.

Author's that would like to participate should write to Llinos at Lizallinos@aol.com and once we have several people on board we will advise each person who their counterpart will be. If you have any questions please ask! This Challenge will be posted the weekend beginning the 7^th of December.

Now, for this months Challenge stories! We are expecting at least one more so be sure to check back!

Kiss The Lasses One Last Time by Llinos

The Last Summer by Golden

The Very Large Jumper by Grey Wonderer

Hobbits Dance by Pearl Took

A Premature Celebration by Dreamflower

Turning Points - Chapter Two by Cathleen

You can find the stories on the Tale Challenge Archive! Please don't forget to leave comments for the authors!

See you next week!

Marigold and Llinos

Challenge News : )

2007-11-03T22:58:03Z

Hullo! As we mentioned last week, Llinos and I had hoped to be able to post Challenge 46 this weekend, but because we didn't give folks very much time we have been asked by several authors to delay it for one more week. So, expect Challenge 46 to be posted next Friday!

The theme this time is to write a story that includes a bonfire of a celebratory nature, in honour of Bonfire Night which is observed here in the UK on the 5th of November. Llinos is in charge of this one so if you have any questions about it write to her at Lizallinos@aol.com. There aren't any starters or elements though, so no need to write and ask for them.

Many thanks to the authors who did manage to get us their stories and we hope to have any beta's back to you asap. Those of you still working on your tales please get them to us as soon as you can : )

In place of the Challenge we will be posting a couple of Recs on Sunday!

Cheers!

Marigold and Llinos

(More) KnittedFame!

2007-11-01T02:22:24Z

It’s been an exciting day here in the Shire! As befits their celebrity status KnittedMerry and KnittedPippin have got their pictures in the Daily Mail!

KnittedPippin is thrilled but KnittedMerry is of course used to this sort of thing – he has, however, made a very modest mention of it on his livejournal.

KnittedPippin has made a post too, letting us know just how he found out about the exciting news!

Personally, I think that they are the most oustanding KnittedCelebrities in the article!

marigoldg @ 2007-10-27T22:00:00

2007-10-27T21:11:29Z

Hullo! For this weeks Recs we want to remind everyone that Challenge 45 is posted at last! A late story has just gone up, Turning Points - Chapter One by Cathleen!

You will also find these terrific stories there:

The Great Hobbiton Race of 1435 - Chapter Eight – Please! Not Another Bloody Moot! by Llinos

To Isengard by PipMer

Before Luck Runs Out by Marigold

The Ernil i Pheriannath Takes a Bath by GreyWonderer

A Moot Subject by Pearl Took

A Treasured Piece of Cloth by Golden

It’s All in the Name by Pippinfan

The Great Convocation of 1427 by Dreamflower

The theme for this Challenge was to write a story about a Moot, in honour of ScotMoot! All of these stories can be found on The Tale Challenge Archive!

Please remember to leave a comment for the authors! It really means a lot!

Challenge 46, for November, will be administered by Llinos. In recognition of Bonfire Night on the 5th of November the theme will be to write about a celebration that incorporates a bonfire. There are no assigned elements or starters. If you have any questions write to Llinos at lizallinos@aol.com.

That Challenge will be posted the weekend of the 2nd of November, to get the Challenges back on schedule. That still gives participants over a fortnight to get their stories done - we've received two stories already, so well done!

That's it for this week...

Marigold and Llinos

Challenge 45! Posted At Last! : )

2007-10-23T22:38:40Z

At long last, here is Challenge 45! Thank you to everyone for being so very patient! Between finishing up my training for my new job and barely surviving my first week of actually doing it, I haven't had any time at all to even answer my e-mail since just after ScotMoot.

The past six days I have been doing nothing but going to or coming from work, actually working, or having a bit of sleep in between. Many, many thanks to Llinos who has been acting as my taxi service when I had shifts out at Heathrow that didn't correspond to train schedules! I would have been lost without your kindness!

We are very late too in announcing the theme for Challenge 46, which will be administered by Llinos. In recognition of Bonfire Night on the 5th of November the theme will be to write about a celebration that incorporates a bonfire. There are no assigned elements or starters. If you have any questions write to Llinos at lizallinos@aol.com. Everyone is welcome to participate!

That Challenge will be posted the weekend of the 2nd of November, to get the Challenges back on schedule. That still gives participants over a fortnight to get their stories done and Llinos and I have every faith that all of you will be equal to the task!

A couple of important notes: please remember to put your story title/author as the name of your document and also to put something in the subject line of your e-mails. It is too easy for us to misplace things otherwise. Also, please remember that when Llinos and I beta your Challenge stories and poems to give us beta credit when you post elsewhere. Quite often we click on a Challenge story to reread on SoA for example, and see that we haven't been given beta credit there. It's only netiquette to include an acknowledgement when one is due.

Now, on to the current Challenge! The theme for this one was to write a story about a Moot, in honour of ScotMoot (which was glorious by the way)! Thank you to Pippinfan, our Lovely Challenge Assistant and to Slightly Tookish our superb icon maker! Many thanks as well to Pearl Took for doing such a spectacular job as Guest Recommender while we were Mooting!

Here are the stories received so far:

The Great Hobbiton Race of 1435 - Chapter Eight – Please! Not Another Bloody Moot! by Llinos

To Isengard by PipMer

Before Luck Runs Out by Marigold

The Ernil i Pheriannath Takes a Bath by GreyWonderer

A Moot Subject by Pearl Took

A Treasured Piece of Cloth by Golden

It’s All in the Name by Pippinfan

The Great Convocation of 1427 by Dreamflower

You can find the stories on the Tale Challenges Archive!

Please remember to leave a comment for the authors!

See you next week!

Marigold and Llinos

An Important Announcement from your Train Controller

2007-10-21T18:45:43Z

llinos here, not marigoldg

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X

Your Story Conductor wishes to apologise for the late arrival of Challenge 45.

This is due to a malfunction on the Heathrow to Paddington line, which is causing delays, owing to the wrong type of working patterns.

The Challenge, which is now standing on platform 45, is due to depart on Tuesday at the very latest.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible and passengers are asked to be patient during these busy periods.