About Mrs. Maple

Welcome — I’m glad you found your way here.

My blog is named after the tree in my front yard: a few young trees that grew so close they fused into one, wide-trunked and beautifully twisted through the middle. My neighbors keep telling me to cut her down — apparently she’s “expensive wood.” I keep telling them to leave my weird, gorgeous, inosculated tree alone. She’s staying. So is her name.

I live on a little retired farmhouse in a rural town, sharing the yard with Mrs. Maple, and mighty Mr. Oak next door to her, at least one cat-sized gargoyle squirrel, and my own small herd of pets who run the place more than I do. I’m an introvert who’s spent a long time trying to build a life that actually fits my personality instead of fighting it — and this blog is part of that project.

Here’s roughly what you’ll find, sorted into the things I actually spend my time on:

🧶 Fiber Arts — Knitting and crocheting projects, in-progress and (occasionally) finished.

📚 Books & Movies — Fantasy and historical mystery are my home turf as a reader, and I’m always watching something. Recommendations, reactions, rambling.

✍️ Creative Writing — I’ve been building fantasy and adventure worlds since I was a kid, with at least two real drafts to my name — one lost to time, one still very much alive on paper. Starting this blog is partly an attempt to coax that part of me back awake. Updates on that journey will live here, slow going and all.

🎮 Gaming — PS4/PS5 and Xbox, with a soft spot for anything medieval-themed. I’m also a collector and player of the vintage/classic games I grew up on, plus newer favorites I’ve fallen hard for — Everdell and Munchkin get a lot of table time.

🐾 Animals & Nature — Life with pets, and a running interest in environmental conservation and the natural world I grew up surrounded by.

🌿 Slow, Plastic-Free Living — I’m working my way toward a lower-plastic lifestyle, one small swap at a time. No judgment, no perfection — just baby steps, documented honestly.

📊 The Bookkeeping Adventure — I’m also quietly trying to get a bookkeeping business off the ground (currently zero clients, high hopes). Consider this the “introvert tries to run a small business” subplot.

If any of that sounds like your kind of thing, stick around. I can’t promise a consistent schedule — but I can promise it’ll be honest, a little weird, and probably involve a tea, hot cocoa, or chocolate milk.

Blessed be.