So many important updates!

Hey! It’s been a while!

Bet you’ve been wondering what’s happening. Well…

It’s been pretty hectic since I last posted/dropped off the face of the earth. And I pretty much did drop right off the planet, and came back to the middle of nowhere (ie. the Northern Territory). It was a hard time. I’d been unemployed for over a year, and then just before COVID was a ‘thing’ I got a call from my parents - mum had been diagnosed with cancer. A big, diffuse lump. Not good.

So, I moved back up to help out. Dad had been struggling for a while with his job - the GP clinic was finding it hard to get other doctors to come to town, there had been reports of widespread contamination of all the town’s water supplies with PFAS from a nearby airbase and there was a lot of stress over the effects of that. Plus, just burnout. We did the only thing that was sensible - dad and I bought a local framing shop.

Yeah, I’m sure you all saw that coming.

“But Tricia, what experience did you have in framing?” you might be asking. The answer is ‘none’.

“How about your dad?” Also ‘no’.

The phrase ‘woefully underqualified’ springs to mind. But the previous owners were happy to teach me, and after a couple months of twice-weekly crash courses we paid for the business and got down to framing.

That’s most of what I’ve been doing for the last two years. Framing, setting up and organising art exhibitions, fighting with the ATO about changing our registered business address so that they can send us mail, because apparently using a PO Box is beyond their capabilities. If you’re curious, you can find us here.

In the interim, I’ve been feeling a bit burned out and down. I’m on antidepressants now, and doing a lot better. Been messing around doing crafts with resin, been doing some painting, been planning a thousand and one stories to write. I’ve also enrolled in a Bachelor of Game Design and Animation - chasing a long-time dream and not letting fear hold me back anymore. I’ve even been feeling the urge to do some more Porcine Paladins work, which I haven’t felt for years now.

I’m not going to be posting more stories in the immediate future, as the business is only barely keeping me afloat despite taking a lot of my time. But I’ve started streaming video games over on Twitch, if people are interested, and also streaming art creation. So if you’re wanting to keep up to date with me and my life, check out my channel (DreyThief), and I’ll be doing my best to be more active here, on Patreon and on the FB page.

I hope everyone is doing well!

Oh, and mum’s doing fine! A few stumbles (including a broken ankle and sepsis) but she’s got the tumour out, finished radiation and chemo and is feeling good. And her hair came back all curly, which was a surprise!