Becca Jane St Clair

A strange thing happened to me after I voted. Someone decided to challenge my right to vote, along with many other overseas voters in NINE counties across Pennsylvania. A hearing was set for Friday (I was informed on Wednesday!). I found out the person who was challenging my vote was a prominent member of the Lancaster County Republican Committee who I had never heard of, but after locating their Facebook page, it was clear who they supported. I also verified with Lancaster County that I was registered to vote.

I posted on our facebook group for Pennsylvania Ex-pats, and a half dozen people who voted in Lancaster County replied that they had the same e-mail. One of the members passed me the email address for a lawyer within the PA branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The lawyer wrote to me and explained that they were contacting Lancaster County and informing them that if they did not withdraw the challenge, the ACLU would be stepping in and suing the county. Within an hour, I received the following:

Funny how the fear of a lawsuit made the person withdraw their challenge.

I’m glad there wasn’t a hearing because one of the questions they were poised to ask was about my ties to Lancaster…and I have none, other than some cousins and second cousins in other areas of the county. Would have been fun explaining. But, under federal law, overseas voters vote where they last held residency. For me, this is Manor Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Hopefully in four years, I don’t have any trouble.

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[This post was written in May, but I never pressed post. OOPS!]
Yes, I know. So did pretty much the entire population of the UK and most of the US, too. You’re probably sick of posts about the lights. But we saw them and it was just incredible.

On Friday, Tim and I were driving back from our friend Jen’s house in Teeside when I scrolled on Facebook and a friend down in Kent posted a picture of the Northern Lights. I started looking out the window while Tim was driving, but as we were on a main road there was a lot of light polution, but I managed to see a few faint streaks of green, so we decided to pull off the road and go down a dark country lane until we could no longer see any lights and we just observed. With the naked eye, we could definitely see green and blue streaks. Tim’s camera took better images than mine, so I’ll include his as well as mine. It was amazing. It was a once in a lifetime chance and something that Tim had never seen before in his life (I saw them when I was in a Northern part of Canada years ago).

To our surprise when we got home, we could see them from our driveway! More images were taken, and as it was already well past 1 in the morning, we stayed awake a little longer and I went outside around 3 and it was even brighter than it had been.

Seriously, what an incredible sight to see.

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Pennsylvania REAAAAALY doesn’t want you to vote absentee from abroad, let me tell you. Originally, I just though it was Lancaster County being awkward, but no. It’s the whole state.

As an American abroad, my vote gets counted in the last township I physically voted in before I moved. So in 2008 when I first voted from abroad, that was my mom’s address in Lancaster County. Despite the fact that no one in my family lives at that address or in that township, that’s still where my vote goes as it’s my last address on file in PA with DMV.

As a Pennsylvanian abroad, I am restricted to Federal and State elections only. I tend not to bother with the state elections and only vote in Federal elections and I have voted in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 by absentee….OR SO I THOUGHT.

I filled out the forms from Vote From Abroad back in September to request my absentee ballot. A friend of mine in PA said that PA had a delay in preparing the ballots, so I shoudn’t worry….but then my friends who live abroad who are from PA started getting their ballots….but nothing for me.

I contacted Democrats Abroad, who told me ot contact Vote from Abroad, who gave me the contact email for Lancaster County…

Yeah. I was apparently dropped from the roles for NOT VOTING….uhm. But I voted! So there was more back and forth with them where they asked me if I was SURE I voted in 2016 and 2020. Uhm. YES. So then I got told to re-register, except that the form I had filled out said it covered registration as well as an overseas ballot request. In my reply, I said “It really is beginning to sound as though you do not want overseas voters to vote in this election”…and what do you know? I was suddenly registered!

But then….then comes the CRAZY hoops you have to go through as a PA voter to get your online ballot…which still has to be mailed back, but at least I don’t have to wait for anything to arrive in the post here.

Step One….You get an email that contains a PASSWORD for your ballot PDF and instructions on how to access the “encrypted email”
Step Two….You click on the link in the second email that leads you to the encrypted email with PDF attached.
Step Three…You use the password provided in the first email to open the PDF. Only…my PDF is 4 pages long and only contains instructions…no ballot. WHAT THE HELL PA?

Fortunately, they are on the ball with replying to email, so I sent off an email and explained that my PDF contained 4 pages of instructions and a declaration form, but no ballot…..but here’s the HILARIOUS part. They wrote back and PUT MY BALLOT AS A FILE ATTACHMENT WITH NO PASSWORD.

Uhm.

Soooooo loads of emails and instructions and they can just email me the ballot. Nice.

Anyway, I voted.

Posted it on the 16th of October, so it had plenty of time to arrive and I received an email on the 24th stating my ballot has been received.

Now, we cross our fingers.

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Around Mid-August, I noticed my hair was getting dry and brittle. At first, I chalked it up to summer because my hair also had started going blonde since we had so many bright sunny days and when we were on holiday in Austria the temperature never got below 25 during the day. But even using my aloe bar shampoo and conditioner from Foamie with my 2-3 times per week Garnier Papaya Hair Mask and Aussie leave-in conditioner it was still really dry. I went off to Boots with the intention of perusing the hair care aisle to find a product that would help my dried out hair.

Charles Worthington is a brand that I have used in the past – mostly when travelling as their travel sized containers are more like foil packets that can squish as they get empty – so when I saw they had developed a line of products designed for peri- and menopausal hair, I decided to check out the shampoo, conditioner, and hair mask (no link for the mask! Sorry!).

They claim that their products reduce 90% of breakage that occurs during peri- and menopause as the products contain Hyaluronic Acid that will “deeply hydrate and condition hair with a lightweight, non-greasy formula to deliver stronger hair that looks and feels healthy.” So I gave it a go.

On the days that I only used the shampoo and conditioner, my hair definitely felt a little softer and less brittle. I noticed less hair coming out on the hair brush, which I thought was amazing since I have such thin hair to begin with! The mask…not so much. The mask left my hair feeling dryer than just using the conditioner and I also felt that I couldn’t go multiple days between washing my hair like I usually did.

The two bottles plus hair mask lasted 6 weeks, and cost £21 at Boots during a 3 for 2 sale.

Will I buy it again? I’m wavering between probably not and maybe. I think the shampoo and conditioner could be great products to use when my hair is feeling dryer than normal or if perimenopause makes my hair situation even worse. But I won’t buy the mask again, as I think I get better moisture out of the Garnier mask (and it certainly is better value).

I’m writing this in September and saving it for Blogvember content, so I’ll update this post with how my hair feels going back to my bar products!

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Welcome to Blogvember, where I plan on blogging at least every other day in an effort to get blogging again, since I haven’t really blogged since 2020 and WOW a lot has happened in four years!

This post has been pre-written, since at the time of publication, I’m on a train somewhere between Wuppertal and Brussels, on my way home from Dresden, where I participated in the Dresden Marathon (I ran the quarter). I’m sure there will be an entry about that at some point this month.

Anyway, if you’re still around….thanks!! I appreciate the support.

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It’s been a hot minute since I blogged anything at all, and for that I don’t really have any excuse other than I have been using facebook more and more to post updates over the years and hardly anyone actually reads this blog anyway, so part of me felt what was the point?

But anyway.

I was going to sign myself up for NaNoWriMo again this year. I will be away at the beginning of the month, but I was confident that I could catch myself up easily and make it to the end of the month. The last time I did a proper NaNo was in 2018, where I wrote my Star Trek TNG Picard/Crusher epic story, Milestones. I wrote Milestones as a 40-chapter epic (over 165k words!) to celebrate my 40th birthday in 2019. I wrote it during November 2018, and published chapter one in the last week of November, with a chapter per week going up until my 40th birthday with chapter 40. It was amazing. I had such great time participating, but I didn’t participate in future years because I completely lost my writing mojo during the pandemic and still haven’t entirely found it. I actually stopped writing TNG fanfic during the pandemic, leaving a few stories unfinished and even my switch to Harry Potter (Snupin) hasn’t been prolific. I have a few in-progress stories there that haven’t been updated in almost a year or more, too.

But I thought this year would be my year. I would commit to writing something. But….then the people who created NaNoWriMo have decided to issue a statement saying that they will allow people to use AI to create their novels and this doesn’t sit right with me or really, most of my author friends. You see, we work HARD for our writing. AI jumping in has really ruined people’s careers, especially for those who relied on writing articles (usually without credit but with PAYMENT) for websites, journals, and magazines. but now many places have either turned to AI or turned to asking for volunteers to do it for the exposure/experience. I don’t think AI has any place in novel writing, especially not in a “competition” Ok, NaNo isn’t really a competition, but you get my drift.

So I won’t be doing NaNo. I will pick a different month where I will sit down and commit myself to daily writing until I have something.

In previous years, I’ve also participated in NaBloPoMo, but even that leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. It’s also too late for me to organize myself for flufftober as I’m away at the end of the month. So…Blogvember. Maybe.

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I used to post a lot about my Slimming World journey. As some of you know, I did manage to lose a bit of weight through Slimming World, then gained some of it back and struggled quite a bit. Then, the pandemic hit and I felt that there wasn’t really much support out there and I decided not to return after the pandemic, and especially after they upped their prices! I know Slimming World struggled during the pandemic and they tried creating virtual meetings via Zoom and giving us half-price meetings if we already had purchased a countdown before they had to shut down groups, but I just didn’t feel as though there was support. We obviously were expected to weigh ourselves at home, too, and I don’t even own a scale because I would honestly step on it multiple times per day to check my weight if I did. And it’s very hard to receive personal attention over a Zoom call. There was nothing personal about it. I don’t even recall our consultant contacting us if we stopped attending the Zoom calls. I certainly felt as though the £45 I paid the week before we had to stop meetings was completely wasted!

But let’s get back to my struggling. When I first joined SW, my goal was to get my weight down to a weight that a doctor told me I needed to get down to for a procedure. I got down to the weight I was told, and they basically told me I hadn’t that I actually needed to lose more and get down to an amount that I wasn’t comfortable weighing. But I returned to Slimming World anyway and I struggled whenever we would get told to “remember why you walked through that door.” or “remember your goal”, because I no longer actually had a tangible goal.

I also struggled with “do you know why you gained weight?”/”Do you know why you didn’t lose anything this week?” because I felt like it was shaming people for the choices they made throughout the week. If it was my birthday, anniversary, or heck, just a bad day and I wanted to have a piece of cake…I was going to have the piece of cake.

We got told to “eat in moderation”, yet foods like pasta, rice, and potatoes were “unlimited”…talk about a carb overload! Speaking of carbs, I actually did lose 30lbs before I joined Slimming World by cutting out carbs entirely. Even now, I don’t eat pasta as often as I used to, and rarely rice, but I do like potatoes and bread. Other “unlimited”, sorry, “free” foods included yogurt brand Mueller Light and people were not discouraged from eating an entire 6 pack of yogurts in one day. Pickled onions were also considered “free”. I’m allergic to onion so I never ate them, but you would see people posting pictures of the weirdest plates with their little onion garnish.

Packet of lunchmeat? Fine. Eggs? Fine. Apples? Fine. Banana? Fine. But don’t you dare put that banana in a blender or press the juice out of the apple. Now it’s synned. A tin of chickpeas was fine, but if you roasted chick peas, you guessed it…synned.

Now I’m not saying that the plans don’t work. I’m sure they do for some people, and I know people who have had great success on the plans. In fact, I have an entire category on my blog dedicated to my experiences on Slimming World and recipe sharing. The problem is, you pretty much have to be on the plan for life. The “maintain” part of the plan involves you weighing in every week and if you fall above or below something like 3lbs off your original goal, you either get put back on the plans, or told to eat more.

And the plans just don’t work if you have other dietary restrictions. For example, people who require Gluten Free foods will struggle on the plans. As a diabetic, I struggled because a lot of the “free” foods still had quite a bit of sugar in them, including the yogurts. I’m allergic to onions (and garlic), so that made some of the recipes hard to follow as a lot of them rely on adding a ridiculous amount of either. I’m also allergic to maple syrup, so can’t use that as a sugar alternative. If you can’t drink cow milk, you can’t use almond milk as your dairy option. In fact, I don’t even know what someone would do if they were both gluten and lactose intolerant as one of the big daily requirements is a Healthy A (dairy) and a Healthy B (Bread/Wheat).

The plans also struggle to cope with any amount of exercise or training above just going on a walk. In fact, they claim you don’t need to do any exercise at all and you will still lose weight. I recently started running, and I know that if I was still at SW I would get reprimanded for a “gain”, when actually, I’ve lost inches on my waist and hips and the fat on my calves has all been converted back into muscle.

I also know some people who developed eating disorders because of Slimming World and the idea of “binging” on pasta or potatoes. or the idea that meeting night is also “cheat night” so you could stuff your face after the meeting and it wouldn’t matter because you’d get right back on the plan on the following morning. We were encouraged instead of using our 15 “syns” per day, that it was ok to save them up for one big meal during the week instead. My own view of food is pretty skewed and I barely make pasta anymore because I feel like I used to make too much pasta but I ate it anyway because it was “free”.

But no, I shouldn’t completely poo poo on Slimming World. I have made several really good friends through the group who I still talk to regularly. I gained confidence in cooking and creating recipes. And yes, I did lose some weight, even if I’ve put some of it back on.

But I won’t be returning to Slimming World, or Weight Watchers, or any of the other “weight loss plans” that claim they aren’t diets while being diets.

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DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

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Today should have been Aunt Janie’s 92nd birthday, so I thought I would share some words I wrote after her death a few weeks ago when I saw that the obituary provided by the funeral home wasn’t quite up to standards.

I was unable to attend any services for Aunt Janie since I only found out a few days before the burial, with no time to try to organize flights, accommodation, etc., but I’ve tried to make peace with it.

Catherine Mary Jane Sweitzer (Janie) passed peacefully on February 18th. She was 91. Janie was born and raised in York County and attended William Penn Senior High. She was a lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church, where she also worked as a secretary until her retirement in the 1990s. Janie enjoyed reading, puzzle books, and sewing. Her favourite books were historical Christian romances and her favourite colour was pink. She liked tigers, but wasn’t a fan of domestic cats. Roses were her favourite flower, and she always used rose scented soap. She enjoyed making clothing for both herself and her family, including prom dresses and wedding dresses. She enjoyed travelling with her brother, including once to the Rose Bowl where she sat and talked with people instead of watching the game. Janie also enjoyed baking, and a Christmas staple was her Red Velvet Cake!

Janie was predeceased by her parents, Emory Sr and Rozadie, sisters Marcella, Beatrice, Barbara, Patricia, and Jesselean, and brothers Emory Jr and William. She is survived by her sister, Linda, and many nieces and nephews spanning several generations.

Janie enjoyed hosting the annual Thanksgiving dinner for our extended family and organizing the post-meal bingo game. Her favourite flavour of ice cream was coffee, which she especially enjoyed with a slice of mince pie.

Janie was an avid walker, and would go on daily walks either to one of the local parks, or if it was raining, she would walk around the mall. She loved Doris Day and Sandi Patti. She also loved watching Oprah, and particularly enjoyed the giveaway shows.

Aunt Janie introduced me to some of my favourite books – Anne of Green Gables, CS Lewis, and Harry Potter. She made my senior prom dress over a weekend, and helped mom and I make my wedding dress in six weeks. Every Summer growing up, I always looked forward to my week long stay with Aunt Janie. She would take the week off from work and we would spend the week playing board games, visiting the ducks at Kiwanis Lake, or the miniature ponies.

On mowing day, she would make a container of lemonade to quench her thirst and every evening she could be seen snacking on pretzels and cheese and drinking a Dr Pepper. Aunt Janie made the best grilled cheese sandwich I have ever had.

Aunt Janie encouraged me in all of my endeavours. I don’t think she missed a single recital, concert, or theatrical production I was in unless it was mid-week. She always came to visit on the weekends I was singing in church and would ask for recordings of my singing.

She will be forever missed, and always loved.

I love you. So very much.

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I’ve been considering coming back to blogging after a long hiatus. Watch this space!

Two weeks ago, Tim and I kept our autumn travel plans and went to Dresden. We went for a few reasons – some I’m sure a lot of you can sympathise with. We had to cancel our big trip because there was no travel allowed at that point, and we had to cancel a rescheduled trip in August due to a family death. But we still had October booked – originally to go to Destination Star Trek in Dortmund and Stadtfest/Canaletto in Dresden. Both of those events were cancelled, but we thought as long as travel to/from Germany was still permitted with no quarantine that we would still go but for a shorter break. Ryanair flies direct to Dresden currently on Tuesdays and Saturdays (They used to also fly on a Thursday) from Stansted for the low base price of £12.99, but the flight is at 0630 in the morning, which for us requires an overnight down by the airport (The Premier Inn is around £40).

We kept an eye on then news out of Germany before we went, in addition to the COVID restrictions in the UK. The day before we left, Germany added Yorkshire/Humberside, Wales, and the NE and NW to their quarantine list..but not Lincolnshire, and not Essex (where Stanstead is) and fortunately, we changed trains at Peterborough and Ely. But we obviously would have cancelled the trip and taken the £500 hit (between flights and accommodation and pre-booked steam boat tickets) if it was deemed to be unsafe or if WE felt it wouldn’t be safe.

The trains were all fairly empty on the way down to Stansted. People followed the guidelines and everyone was wearing a mask, though wearing it correctly was another story. The shuttle over to the hotel was full but not overcrowded and we opted to walk over to the petrol station to pick up dinner in the M&S Simply Food instead of the attached restaurant.

Naturally, the airport at 0430 was fairly deserted….as was our flight! I was really surprised because I know Ryanair likes to take full flights, so I don’t know if a lot of people cancelled last minute or if they were just running planes at low capacity.

The flight home was slightly more populated, but still empty enough that Tim and I had a row to ourselves, and the last row that we hadn’t been able to book was actually empty (indicating to me that there were people who weren’t using their booked tickets).

Once we arrived in Dresden, our plane was the only plane there and passport control was easy (after their machine worked again) and we were soon in a mostly empty airport on our way to the S-Bahn. On the way to the escalator down to the platforms, I noticed a vending machine selling facemasks for a two euro coin with a notice that you needed to be masked on the trains (but not on the platforms – a lot of people we saw would remove their masks as soon as they exited the trains). The S-bahn was fairly empty, and I think we only had one train that was crowded – and that was the morning we left as we were leaving during peak commute time. The same with the trams. They were busier during peak commuting times, but mid day pretty empty.

We prepared for the trip to keep ourselves safe by packing facemasks (We each had 4 and since our accommodation had a washing machine, I washed them frequently. IF we didn’t have a washer, I’d have washed them by hand). We also had hand sanitizer (in our liquid bag, naturally), and I packed some Dettol wipes. We also carried a thermometer and checked our temperature the day we flew to Dresden, and each morning before we went out for the day. I also made sure I had some paracetamol packed just in case it was needed. We wound up spending the first and half of the last day hanging out in our accommodation because we felt unwell. Not with COVID symptoms, but we felt it was safer to stay out of the public even if it meant losing time in one of our favourite places to visit.

We also picked Dresden because it’s someplace we’ve been multiple times so we’re familiar with getting around the city, we know what we want to do, we know where the shops are, etc. I don’t think I would have gone to a city I wasn’t familiar with.

We self-catered (We always do) and this time didn’t eat out any days (other than grabbing a knockwurst or a croissant at a station). This way we also kept our contact with the public down. We visited both narrow gauge railways and on both we pretty much had the entire carriage to ourselves, but we kept our masks on per guidelines.

Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be getting to go in December for our usual market trip….but on the other hand, I’m not sure the markets are going to happen, either.

IF you’d like to see what I packed, you can check out my youtube video here:

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

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The lockdown has me reaching for easy and quick recipes since I haven’t been able to get a delivery slot in over 2 months and my husband’s been doing the shopping. I like to find recipes that don’t have a lot of specialist ingredients or that can use plenty of substitutes to make the shopping easier and this egg fried rice has so many possible ways to make it!

You will need:
bite sized meat or meat substitute of your choice, enough for 2. (I’ve used chicken, quorn chicken, and pork in the past)
1 packet of Bachelor’s Golden Vegetable Super Rice or generic version (or other flavour)
1 bag of mixed vegetables
3 eggs
soy sauce

Directions:
1. Stir-fry meat with soy sauce.
2. Check rice packet for instructions and add required amount of water and rice packet to the frying pan with chicken and bring to a boil.
3. Steam vegetables (unless you want a crunchy stir-fry, then skip this step)
4. Add steamed vegetables to the pan.
5. Whisk the eggs with a little soy sauce and once the rice has absorbed all the water, add the egg mixture and constantly stir until eggs are cooked.
6. Divide between two plates, use more soy sauce as needed.

If you are following Slimming World, the only syns are the syns in the packet of rice, which depending on brand range from 1/2 to 1.5 Syns per serving.

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DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.

Please note: Syn values are based on my exact ingredients using the online calculator. Your Syn value may vary based on your ingredients and the size of your baking containers and portions, so use this number as a guide only. Syn values also frequently change, but these values are correct at the time of publication.

The contents of this post, including personal images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

I feel like the luckiest girl right now. Not only did I get to go down to London to watch the red carpet for the Star Trek Picard premiere, but I was handed tickets to the actual premiere!!!

So, let me backtrack. BTW, this post will contain NO SPOILERS for Episode 1, but will mention things like cast (which has been announced for ages). I won’t be offended if you click out and come back on Friday after you watch the first episode.

When I first heard about the premiere happening in London, I immediately checked trains and sighed. The first train of the day wouldn’t have arrived early enough for the 8AM wrist band distribution, and I couldn’t get anyone to pick one up for me, so I was pretty sure I was out of luck. Until I decided to go down the night before on Tuesday.

I arrived to the theatre around 0645 in the morning after a not so great night of sleep. My friend John had been there since 6, and there was about 6-8 people standing around. Weirdly, the majority were actually autograph hounders/dealers…and it had never crossed my mind to bring something to get signed!(oh well). John and I recieved our wristbands and I was #4!

We were told to come back around three to be let into the viewing pens, but John and I decided we didn’t want to stray too far. Of course, it was now just past eight in the morning, so we headed to a Costa for a coffee and wound up hanging around chatting for about an hour, maybe two. John was told they might be giving out tickets to the event, too, so we became hopeful.

After our coffee, we headed back towards the cinema and watched set up for a while until we decided we were getting cold and decided to have an early lunch.

After lunch, we headed back to the park and basically just hung around some more until around 2 in the afternoon, when John suggested we get another hot drink and utilize toilets (it wasn’t his first premiere!). Naturally, we drank Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. By this time, the wind had really picked up and where we were told to wait for our escort was basically in a wind tunnel. BRR. We hoped we would feel warmer once we were in the viewing pen with the others, but they had only given out about 60 out of the 400 wristbands so far.

They put us in the pen around three, with guests set to arrive around five, so we basically spent the two hours standing up against the fence watching set-up finish.

The evening finally got underway with a bit of entertainment for the crowd, and a giveaway of the new comm badge we see in Picard made by Fan Sets. As they were going down the line, I held up Mini Picard because, I mean, I had a Mini Picard on me. I got the Emcee’s attention and he came over and we had some interaction and he gave me a pin and asked me to take a picture with the minis and post it to instagram.

He then started doing an easy quiz to pick people to win tickets into the actual premiere. I wasn’t super hopeful that we would get in because he wasn’t over in our direction, but then there were two guys – one dressed in a TOS uniform and on in a TNG uniform who were duking it out for “best Trek series” and I was heckling the TOS Guy (“Why did you come to a Picard premiere then?” etc) and the Emcee came back to us because he forgot to give John a badge. And then….the best thing…he handed us tickets into the premiere! I hugged him.

Then, the red carpet got underway!

My only complaint about the red carpet walk was that they decided to bring the ticket holders through on the same side we were standing on, so we sometimes had to stretch and crane our heads to watch the arrivals. A better plan would have been to have the ticket holders go in on the other side, especially as it seemed that was where they were directing people to watch the red carpet arrivals. But oh well. So my pictures didn’t come out as great as I would have hoped, but I grabbed a few.

The first arrival was Michelle Hurd, who immediately came through on our side to do signings and selfies.

Jeri Ryan also arrived, and I got to tell her I thought her dress was gorgeous. A few more arrivals from the cast arrived (my photos turned out terrible) and then the man himself arrived!

I also was excited to see Sir Ian arrive to support his friend and I got to witness their reunion, but again, my photos turned out pretty bad. (but there are plenty online!)

…and then my phone battery completely died! Fortunately, I had my battery box along and I quickly plugged in and turned back on my phone.

I won’t go into the bad experience I had just after Patrick Stewart walked past me, that will be in a separate post. But shortly after, an obnoxious man started shouting “Jason, Jason, Jason” over and over at Jason Isaacs, who was in the middle of giving an interview. He walked over and said “WHAT?” to the man, followed by “I heard you shouting my name for ten minutes.” and then he promptly ignored the guy and I got to say hello to him and tell him that #TeamBasement (his unofficial fan club he knows about) said hello, and he told me to tell them hello back, and did I want a selfie to share with them?

…Uhm, YES.

The red carpet (Well, white and silver!) portion ended, and most of the people left, except for those of us who were given tickets to go inside. They let us in and John and I climbed…and climbed…and climbed. Row Q was at the very top of the balcony level…but it didn’t matter, we were IN!

Patrick Stewart and Alex Kurtzman took to the stage and welcomed us, and Patrick asked us not to spoil anything we saw that night, and Alex added that we could after Thursday (US release date), so I will not be adding any spoilers for the first episode other than to say that it was amazing and I’m really excited for the series. The show was dramatic and it had it’s funny moments and at one point we heard Ian loudly exclaiming in surprise!

After the episode, we go to have a Q&A with the cast who was present, although that did contain spoilers as well.

And then, the evening was over, and I found my friend Duncan, who said he wanted to talk to me for his podcast. You can hear me in The Line, available on Trek.fm!

I made a quick detour to check out Picardilly Circus before heading to King’s Cross and my train back home.

I managed to catch the Portal 47 folks briefly on our monthly Euro call to tell them about the evening, and then I napped the whole way home.

What a night!

***
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

Tickets to the premiere of Star Trek Picard and the Fan Set’s delta badge provided by Amazon Prime UK.

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This year, I was presented with an interesting challenge for our Christmas celebration. My friend, Jen, is gluten free. After some quick consulting with her and reading through both of my previous pudding recipes and a few more online, I came up with a Gluten Free Pudding that honestly tasted no different from a pudding full of gluten.

Please note: This recipe contains dairy and eggs.

You will need:
550-600g dried mixed fruit (I used a whole bag of mixed fruit, a small bag of dried cranberries, and chopped up dried apricots)
250ml alcohol (I used the last of my brandy and topped it up with gin, rum, and krauterlikor)*
75g butter
85g dark muscovado sugar (aka brown sugar)
100g Gluten Free Flour (I used Freee by Dove Farms)
3 eggs
2 1/2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
110g Gluten Free bread crumbs (I bought seeded buns by Genius and used 2)
85g suet (I used veggie suet)
50 ml orange juice (this is in lieu of the peel ad juice of an orange that many recipes call for. I’m lazy.)
150ml Gluten Free IPA (Easy to locate in the GF section of Tesco)*
2 x 2 Pint Pudding basins

1. Soak the fruit in the alcohol. Overnight is best.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, and eggs. Add the GF flour, spices, and breadcrumbs.
3. Using a spoon (I have one dedicated to GF cooking!), stir in the suet and soaked fruit adding in any leftover alcohol from soaking the fruit. Add in the orange juice and Gluten Free IPA.
4. Cover and sit overnight.
5. In the morning, check the mixture. If it looks dry, add more beer, booze, or juice.
6. Prepare the basins by cutting rounds of parchment paper for the bottoms and tops and butter the sides.
7. Spoon in the mixture and steam the puddings as usual. I use my crock pot and steam for 8-12 hours. I had enough mixture for 2 large puddings and one small tester pudding, which I cooked in the microwave for 2 minutes to test the flavour.
8. Serve flaming (if you’d like) with brandy sauce or cream.

*You can make this alcohol free. Soak the fruit in fruit juice and use strong tea instead of the IPA.

And it was a hit with both Gluten Free and non-Gluten Free folks!

***
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Two weeks ago, I got my first tattoo! There’s a story behind the design, but I’ll get to that a bit later as I really wanted to walk through my experience for anyone curious about getting a tattoo.

My first suggestion is to go with a tattoo artist your tattooed friends recommend, especially if you like their tattoos. I wound up getting my tattoo over 100 miles away in Middlesborough at Skins and Needles because my friend Jen had tattoos from there and she was going in to have colour added to hers and asked if I wanted to get mine at the same time. I also had recommendations for a place in Essex, but that was a little too far away. Plus, I see my friends in Middlesborough pretty regularly, so if I had any problems or it needed a touch up it would be easy to arrange.

We arrived for our appointment and the first thing the artist, Lotti, did was talk to me about my design. Placement, size, and even double checked with me that I knew my tattoo would look “upside down” to other people (but be right side up for me). She tweaked the design another friend had made and made sure I was ok with the new size, though she also explained her reason was so that the stars would stand out better. I Ok’ed the design, and she headed off to the printer and came back with the stencil – which was basically a rub-on version of my design. This was my last chance to change my mind on location and size.

I should also mention the sterilisation/cleanliness – The bed was completely sanitised and covered with plastic, the instruments were sanitised and covered in plastic, and she wore rubber gloves ever time she touched my arm. The entire shop was very clean, and I felt 100% comfortable.

She also shaved a bit of arm hair that might have been in the way of my tattoo and cleaned my arm with alcohol swabs before placing the pattern on.

Getting the actual ink took about 20-25 minutes because it was small and only one colour. It barely hurt – in fact, I could feel the heat of the needle more than any pain, except for the part right across my wrist tendons. That part was very tender and I said “Ouch!” a few times. Interesting, there was a man sitting at a chair across from me who seemed to be having more pain than me!

After she was finished, she wrapped me in clingfilm and gave me instructions to keep the plastic on for 2-3 hours (which I learned was VERY HOT since it was a hot day!), then it was fine to keep it uncovered. I also received a sheet of instructions on how to care for my new tattoo, and I have followed them to the letter.

I was told to use Palmer’s Cocoa Butter on it first, and once the shiny skin came through switch to E45. Because of the placement, I was advised not to submerge it in water for the first week or so, so rubber gloves were purchased. I also decided to cover it with plastic in the shower, but only because of the Hibiscrub that I need to use for my Hidradenitis. Once my tattoo is completely healed (which it almost is!) I won’t cover it in the shower.

It honestly has been a lot easier of a process than I thought – possibly because I got a small tattoo and a black tattoo. I don’t know what the recovery time for a coloured tattoo would be. It probably also helped that I am used to having blood drawn, and needles barely make an impact. I think if you were more sensitive to having blood drawn, getting a tattoo might hurt more.

So on to what my tattoo signifies, since it shocked a lot of my friends that it wasn’t Star Trek or Harry Potter related! I’ve wanted a tattoo for many years, probably since I was in my early 20s. I wanted to get something for my dad, who passed away when I was thirteen, and I knew I wanted it to incorporate the constellation Orion because when my dad died, Orion was the brightest star in the sky when my youth pastor took me outside to look at the stars. in Particular, Orion’s belt.

my facebook post about my tattoo.

I have LOADS of Orion images saved and even tattoo ideas. I thought about getting the stars as dots only on my arm, I thought about getting the constellation joined up, I had all sorts of ideas.

A friend on a cat page posted an elegant tattoo they got which was a cat’s body made to look like a treble clef. I really liked it and I was talking to my friend, Babs, about it and that I thought it would be neat to do and add Orion’s belt and maybe a leaf for the band, Carbon Leaf. To my great surprise, my friend sent me three drawings she did based on my idea and I sat on them for a further two more years before finally getting my tattoo!

I’m really glad I waited to make sure I really wanted a tattoo and this one in particular….but I’m already thinking about #2, and Babs is already drawing!

###

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I became inspired by a fellow Slimming World member who used a giant mushroom as a pizza base, so when I spotted big field mushrooms in Asda, I had to get them and this became Sunday Brunch.

Mushroom Benedict (SP)

You Will Need:
2 Large field mushrooms (look for mushrooms the size of muffins)
2 Thick tomato slices
2 Slices smoked salmon
2 eggs
(I added a handful of sliced gherkins because I like them, but they’re optional!)

1. Remove the stem from the mushrooms and put them under the grill for 10-15 minutes until tender.
2. While you’re grilling the mushrooms, put a pot of water on to boil.
3. Grill tomato slices for 5 minutes.
4. While you’re grilling the veggies, bring a pot of water to the boil. Once it reaches the boiling point, carefully crack in two eggs and poach for 3 minutes.
5. Layer each mushroom with a tomato slice and smoked salmon.
6. Top with a poached egg.

If you follow Slimming World, this recipe is FREE and can be used on an SP day!

***

DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.

Please note: Syn values are based on my exact ingredients using the online calculator. Your Syn value may vary based on your ingredients and the size of your baking containers and portions, so use this number as a guide only. Syn values also frequently change, but these values are correct at the time of publication.

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

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The past year for our family has been…a bit of a rollercoaster. There have been some amazing things that happened, but underneath it all was a level of darkness. I don’t want to give out a lot of details because it’s not my place to decide what information is made public, and of course, out of privacy for people involved.

On Saturday, May 12, 2018, Tim’s younger brother was in a serious cycling accident. He was doing a charity ride up Great Dun Fell with some of his friends. They reached the summit, and then on the descent his bike skidded in some gravel, and came off his bike.

He was airlifted from Cumbria to Middlesborough to the neurological specialists at James Cook Hospital. He was in a coma when he arrived. I imagine they rushed him straight into surgery, but I didn’t arrive until around 10PM.

I had been in Nottingham for the day, planning on seeing Sunny Ozell perform. I was hanging out around the venue when I received a phone call from Tim’s mother that she needed to speak to Tim right away. I can’t remember why Tim hadn’t answered his phone – he might have been on nights and sleeping. I asked if everyone was ok, and only got told that there had been an accident….now, if you know me and know my history – those are words that strike fear in me. Those are the words spoken to my mom and I the day my father died. So….panic.

I texted Tim, PMed him on Facebook, and was nearly about ready to ask my friend with a key to our house to go over and let themselves in to wake him when he responded to me. He spoke with his mother and called me back to tell me he was driving his mom and sister up to Middlesborough and he asked if I could meet him there. So we looked up trains and I figured out a way there, grabbing whatever food I could from the food trolly on the train – I actually remember having a cup of coffee, a kit kat bar, and a bag of crisps. Highly nutritional, let me tell you! I also remember plugging my earphones into my tablet and watching three episodes of TNG on the train as I couldn’t concentrate on reading.

When I arrived at 10, we still had no information. Tim’s brother’s wife and her dad were there along with Tim, his mum, and sister. We finally were spoken to sometime after midnight by the surgeon, and it wasn’t a very pleasant conversation. We were let in to see him, and I think we all thought this was it. Of course, we would have many more moments like this over the course of the year.

We got to a hotel in Middlesborough around 230 in the morning with nothing but the clothes on our backs. The hotel (The Holiday Inn in Middlesborough) was amazing to us. They gave us free toiletries and water bottles, found us a phone charger to borrow, and even gave us a reduced rate. In the morning, we were told to take whatever we waned from the breakfast area, so we grabbed plenty of food for the rest of the family still over at the hospital. I spent about an hour on a Sunday morning wandering around an unfamiliar town centre looking for a Boots and a Primark – Tim needed shaving supplies, we both needed deodorant, and we needed clean clothes. Tim had thrown on the first clothing he could find at home that day, and it happened to be his gardening jeans. Fortunately, I found some inexpensive Cargo pants at Peacocks, and I picked up a clean shirt for myself.

We found out his brain was swollen. They removed part of his skull to allow for the swelling to calm down (he’d get a titanium plate later). He had fluid in his lungs, which turned into multiple lung infections. At one point, doctors asked us to think about “what he wants”. I can look back in the messages I sent to my best friend and read the despair in them.

And thus began our lives for the next six weeks – twice weekly trips to Middlesborough with the occasional overnight and one emergency overnight when the trains were cancelled stranding us in York. We got to the point that we kept a change of clothes in the car with toiletries for Tim in case he needed to go straight from work, and anytime I left the house, I threw in toiletries and clean underwear into my backpack just in case of an unexpected trip up north.

We hated when the phone rang, even more so if it was during “unsocialable” hours. Our lives came to a total standstill, not knowing from one day to the next what was going on or going to happen.
We were both totally drained. Like, barely functioning at this point. Each day when we came home from the hospital, we collapsed into bed for 8-12 hours and then were zombies the next day….only to do it all again a day or two later. Tim took a few days off from work here and there, but we tried to organize our trips up around his days off – which also meant we no longer had a social life. A small price to pay, I know. But being cut off from your friends isn’t very fun, especially when you need their support.

We shortened our Summer holiday. We originally had been planning a two-week trip to visit the Harz, but we shortened it to just one week with full knowledge that we might get called home if anything happened. We still managed to enjoy ourselves, but we also felt so guilty for going away.
A bed became available a little closer to home – Nottingham – and Tim and I were there the day they transported him down, taking with us some of his personal belongings so they wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle.
He stayed there for a few months in different units – at one point he was in his own private room due to the lung infections until he was finally moved to Lincoln.

Now, due to my own illness that seemed to never quit, I haven’t been to see him many times in Lincoln, but Tim tries to go twice per week as long as he’s not at work. Some days are good visits, others aren’t so good.
Parts of it aren’t my story to tell, and I still want to respect his privacy by not putting in too many details, but I did want to write something as we arrive at the one year mark from a life-changing event. Some lives (Tim’s brother, his brother’s wife, and their kids) are changed more than ours, but it’s still very life changing….and we’re only now beginning to come out of the black cloud that seemed to be following us around for months on end.

I’m also extremely grateful we have the NHS. Out of pocket, all the family has had to pay for so far in regards to his hospital stays has been parking at the hospitals, food/transportation/lodging to visit (We personally probably spent around £500 those first weeks), and that’s been it. All of Ben’s care – from the air ambulance to the surgeries to the medications to the hospital stay – have been covered. Seriously. I don’t understand why the US can’t wrap their heads around nationalised health being a good thing.

For those of you who knew about this this past year and have sent positive thoughts, vibes, prayers, smoke signals, etc, I thank you for your continued support.

***
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At Destination Star Trek in October, I perhaps had one of the best experiences in my life.  I finally met Gates McFadden, the actress behind Doctor Beverly Crusher, and a woman I’ve admired for years.  Trying to put my experience into words is hard because there are so many emotions attached to this moment, but let’s go back a few months…

It was around January 2018 and Destination Star Trek announced that Gates would be one of the guests.  I burst into tears when I read the news, booked a hotel, and booked tickets.  Then, the loooong countdown began.  Somewhere in the middle, I started up the Twitter account @gates_daily, originally to mark the time while Gates was taking a brief hiatus from Twitter, and then it took off with a mind of its own and Gates herself has retweeted some of the pics I’ve managed to find.

So, armed with running a page basically dedicated to her, and our interactions on Twitter…I was nervous to meet her.  I also knew we wouldn’t have a lot of time to talk initially because DST would probably be rammed and the “gatekeepers” wouldn’t let you through the line unless you paid for an autograph.  So  I wrote her a letter telling her how much she meant to me and a little about myself and put together a small package – some vegan snacks and a pair of cat slippers (because I mean, cats!)  When I handed it over to her I was shaking and the first time I met her I went to introduce myself and she said “I know who you are!”  I about died.   She was signing my (first) item, a trading card of Beverly Crusher as drawn by Lee Sargent,  and the person behind was trying to push in.  Gates turned to her helper and told her she needed to keep the next person from crowding as I was special. (!!!)  She then saw MiniBev and MiniPicard stuck in my cleavage and laughed because as she says,“Picard is a breast man” and she saw the lamp (Ronin) and thought it was hilarious.    She also told me how much she loves and appreciates her dedicated Twitter crew.

On Friday, I also did my picture with her and she made sure the photographer got the lamp in the pic. (haha!)    She told us she was funnier at 4AM, but she was still in good spirits.

Tim and I spotted a print of the TNG cast as cats playing poker out of the TNG Cats book and I decided to be really silly and I had Gates sign the poster for Hexe & Merddin.  She thought it was a brilliant idea and then had Tim get her a poster, too. (funny side story – she handed Tim an old fiver and Tim had to tell the poster guy it was for Gates for him to take the old note).  So she had me stand to the side while we waited for Tim to come back and we chatted some more about things I can’t really remember.

Saturday, we didn’t have a lot of time to talk as it was the busiest day of the con and I spent about an hour trying to get our photoshoot with more than three people approved.  I tried to get through to Gates, but couldn’t without paying so finally got it approved by the photographer if we were the last pic of her session.

We walked in and Gates saw us, looked at me, and and just mouths “Oh my God”   followed by “I don’t know them!”  I think we amused her and we explained we should have been more people, but some people backed out.   She might have wanted to talk to us more, but she was called away to do some other photos.  When she signed my pic later, there was more giggling.

Sunday was quiet when we got in and I asked if I could go and talk to Gates and was told it was fine since there wasn’t a crowd.  Nick had asked me to pass on a message and I just wanted to thank her again for the day before.  Gates read my note, too and told me she loved the card and it was “so you” (it had a ginger cat wearing glasses on it and was glittery) and we talked about my letter a bit and she told me how strong I was to have gone through everything I had been though and she was glad to have been a part of my support network even if she didn’t know it. She sympathised with me over a few personal things I told her and she even made a comment about how much in love Tim and I looked.  I passed on Nick’s message, and she gave me a hug.

Then, it was on to the TNG panel and somehow her eyes tended to go in my direction where I was snapping pics at a furious rate to try to get some good shots for @gates_daily.

I didn’t get to talk to her again. I was going to go up to her table  to say goodbye, but I decided I didn’t want to become a nuisance.

And I’m still on cloud nine three months later.

***
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Today is #BevCrusherDay. 13 October is Beverly Crusher’s birthday, so what better way to celebrate than writing a short fic or two about our favourite doctor? This will be cross posted to Ao3 and my personal blog, and Tweeted on both AnnaOnTheMoon and Gates_Daily.. It’s also Flufftober, so if you follow me on Archive of Our Own, you’ll find a daily fluffy piece about our favourite couple!

Title: Balfour [BevCrusherDay]
Rating: G
Fandom: Star Trek The Next Generation
Pairing: Beverly Crusher/Jean-Luc Picard
Summary: Jean-Luc helps Beverly recover from her ordeal with Ronin

Disclaimer: I don’t own TNG, Beverly or Jean-Luc. I don’t work for Paramount, CBS, PocketBooks, Simon & Shuster…etc, etc. I’m just a fan! I also ask for forgiveness from Gates McFadden and Sir Patrick Stewart for using (abusing?) their characters.

Captain’s log, supplemental. Commander La Forge and Mister Data have recovered from their exposure to the anaphasic energy, but I’m afraid Doctor Crusher’s recovery will be of a more personal nature. – Sub Rosa, Star Trek TNG episode 7×14

Jean-Luc pressed the chime outside Beverly’s quarters and waited for the door to slide open.  Beverly was surrounded by her boxes with a frustrated look on her face.  Jean-Luc walked into the room and surveyed the crates. “Can I help?”

“Ugh. Yes.  What was I thinking packing everything? And leaving?  I mean I just…threw away everything. My career…my friends…you….”  Jean-Luc enveloped Beverly in his arms and rubbed her back.  “You weren’t in control. I’m just glad I never transmitted your resignation.  I knew something was off.”

“I wish I had known,” Beverly grumbled.  She rested her head against Jean-Luc’s shoulder. “You came to take me out to dinner and here I am blubbering to you…I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.  You were taken advantage of by an alien.  It’s natural for you to need comfort from your friends.”

“Not my Captain?”  Beverly raised her eyebrows at Jean-Luc.  He shook his head. “No, tonight I’m not your captain.  I’m just Jean-Luc.”

“Well then, just Jean-Luc,  what are our plans for dinner?”  Jean-Luc reached down and took her hands in his. “Well, I thought we might go on a stroll along the Danube.”

“Sounds lovely.  Just let me change first.”  She gently kissed Jean-Luc’s cheek and disappeared into her bedroom.  Jean-Luc peered into one of the open crates, and seeing the jumble of books inside, he decided to help her by putting the books back on her shelf. He didn’t know if she had a particular way of organising them, but at least it would get them out of the crate and she could arrange them later.

At the bottom of the crate, Jean-Luc pulled out a picture frame with a photo of Beverly, Jack, Walker, and him taken over twenty years ago.  He studied the picture and grinned, remembering the day well.  They had gone camping together at Balfour Lake and they had spent the day splashing in the lake before Walker set up the camera to take a timed photo of the four of them.  In fact, picture Beverly was sporting a deep sunburn on her chest, and Jean-Luc remembered  Beverly complaining about how much she had wished she had thought to pack a dermol regenerator that weekend.

He placed the photo on a shelf as Beverly emerged from her room.  “Unpacking for me?  Thanks.”  Her eyes fell on the photo.  “One of my favourite memories of all of us together.  I think shortly after, Walker was transferred away, wasn’t he?”  Jean-Luc nodded. “And then it became the three of us.”

“The three musketeers.”  Jean-Luc grinned and his grin faded as he looked at the photo and he gently ran a finger down Jack’s image. “And then, there were two.”

“Mm. But at least we have each other.”  Jean-Luc reflected on her words and made a snap decision.

“Change of plans. Want to go camping at Balfour for old time’s sake?”  Beverly glanced down at their clothing. “Well, we’re a little overdressed for camping, don’t you think? And can we really use the holodeck all night long?”

“Course we can.  I’m the Captain.  Meet me at Holodeck 4J in…an hour?”  Beverly nodded.  “Any gear?”

“I’ll take care of that.”  Beverly grinned.  “See you then, Johnny.”

“In an hour, Bevvy.”

###

Beverly laughed as she approached the holodeck doors.  Jean-Luc was wearing hiking boots and zip-off trousers with his shirt, and he had a bucket hat perched on his head.  On his back, he had a frame backpack, and he was holding another in his hand.  He passed one of the backpacks to Beverly and she shrugged it on. “Wow, really going for the experience, aren’t you?  I just thought you would program our campsite into the holodeck program.”

“No, I thought we would enjoy the hike…is that ok?  We can alter the program if you want.”

“We’ll see.  It’s been twenty years since I carried all my gear like this.”

“It’ll be good for you.  We’re going soft serving on a galaxy-class ship.”  Beverly poked his stomach, which was still as firm as it had been twenty years ago. “Soft? Who you calling soft?”  He chuckled. “Maybe soft was the wrong word.”

“I take you point though.  That training we did for Celtris Three nearly killed me…” she trailed off.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

“It’s alright. I…I did what I did to keep you safe.  That was all that mattered to me.”  Beverly wiped a tear from her eyes and she adjusted the straps on her pack.  They were treading towards their feelings again, and she still wasn’t sure if she was ready.  She had patted herself on the back for managing to keep her feelings hidden when they had been attached to each other’s thoughts, but the more she thought about it, maybe it would have been better if she had just admitted her feelings.  He knew.  He had to know.

“Computer, open doors.”  The holodeck doors slid open and Beverly felt like she was immediately in the woods surrounding the lakefront.  She inhaled deeply and the air smelled crisp.  Full of pine trees, mountain flora, and that heady scent she associated with bodies of water.  “Which direction?”

“Pick one.”  Beverly headed off on a trail to her left and turned back to talk to Jean-Luc. “And, you’re sure there’s nothing you need to do tomorrow morning?”

“Nothing that I couldn’t hand over to Commander Riker.”  Beverly snorted. “Do I want to know what you told him?”

“I told him I would be on the holodeck with you all night.”  Beverly raised an eyebrow. “Was that wrong?  I am on the holodeck with you.”

“Yes, but…Jean-Luc, when you say things like that, people might think….”  Jean-Luc reached for her hand and clasped it in his. “Think what?”

“Oh, never mind.  I suppose the scuttlebutt would be nothing new…what about Sickbay?”

“Well, technically you’re still on the leave  I put you on when you tried to resign, so it’s still in the hands of Doctors Hill and Selar.”  Beverly pursed her lips. “I see.”

“Beverly, stop.”  She abruptly stopped and Jean-Luc tugged on her hand so she was facing him.  “Something’s wrong…talk to me?”  She sighed. “Sometimes…I wish we still had those psi wave implants.”  Jean-Luc grinned. “You sure about that?”

“Well…alright, maybe not all the time.  I mean,  when I was with…that…thing….I’m not sure I’d have wanted you to feel…what I was feeling.”  She blushed.  He grinned.  “I take your point, but maybe if you could have felt what I…” he trailed off, embarrassed.

“Yes?”  He shook his head. “Later.  Let’s get to our campsite first.”  Beverly gave him a wry grin, but took off down the trail.  “I don’t think it’s far, at least, not if we started where I think we started . Do we have a map or a compass?”  Jean-Luc patted the hip belt on his pack.  “Do you want it?”  She nodded and Jean-Luc passed her the compass.  “Of course, this only really helps if I know what direction the lake is in….”

“Should be northwest of where we entered the holodeck.  I didn’t program a long walk for us.”

“So, you know exactly where we should go?”  He nodded.  “Well then, why don’t you lead?”

“I thought it would be more fun this way.”  Beverly rolled her eyes and stood to one side and swept her arm out in an ‘after you’ pose. “Lead me to our camp site.”

Jean-Luc led her to a small clearing, nearly identical to the campsite they had used twenty-odd years ago, and the same site she and Jack had taken Wesley to when he was three.  She and Wesley had been back a few times after Jack passed away, but they hadn’t gone camping since he was 12.

“Just like I remember it.” Jean-Luc nodded . “I haven’t been here in years – the real one, I mean.  You?”  Beverly shook her head. “Not since Wes was about twelve.  It was around that time when he became too cool to go camping with his mother.” She frowned.

“Ah, yes.  I remember what it was like to be twelve.”

“Do you,” she asked with a smirk.  Jean-Luc shook his head.  “Right then.  There should be a tent in one of these packs. Shall we get it set up?”

“Just one?” Beverly raised her eyebrows.  “Well…I can have the holodeck provide a second one if you’d prefer.  I’m sorry.  I wasn’t…I wasn’t really thinking, was I?”

“No, no, it’s fine.  We all shared a single tent twenty years ago. Why would you think to get two when it’s just the two of us?”  Jean-Luc chuckled. “And Jack rolled over and cuddled me instead of you.”  Beverly snorted. “Walker and I couldn’t stop laughing. Especially when Jack went to cop a feel and got a very interesting surprise…”  Jean-Luc blushed. “Don’t remind me.”

“From what I recall, you seemed to like it,” she smirked.  “Beverly!  I was sleeping.  Someone touched me, of course I was going to react!”

“Hmm. Did you think it was me?”

“I don’t remember.”  Beverly snorted again.  “You’re lying.  Oh, for the psi implants.  Remember, I’ve seen your dreams!”  She giggled with glee.  Jean-Luc sighed. “I am never going to live that one down, am I?”  Beverly leaned over and kissed his nose. “Nope!”

Jean-Luc just shook his head.  He was grateful for her playfulness though.  Perhaps she was beginning to heal if she was acting more like herself.  He laid out the tent poles and studied them.  Beverly leaned over and passed him a sheet of instructions. “Thanks.  I think this is a two-person job.”

They struggled to get the tent together after a breeze blew away the instruction sheet, causing Beverly to laugh.  “Think you programmed that weather in a little too well.”

“We’re almost done.  Now, I think we just need to peg in these guy ropes so the tent doesn’t collapse when we go inside.  I can do that, if you could unroll the bedrolls?”

“Thank goodness for self inflating mattresses.” Beverly tugged the packs into the tent and unhooked the rolls from the bottom of each bag.  After unrolling and pressing the inflate button, Beverly was left with deciding where to place each bed.  She remembered you didn’t want to be touching the side of the tent while you slept or you’d get covered in condensation, which would in turn make you cold.  But placing the beds in the middle…did she give them a small berth between or place them touching?

When they had slept on KesPrytt, they had started out sleeping side-by-side with their backs touching until Beverly had complained and Jean-Luc had told her to use his shoulder for a pillow.  She grinned, remembering how he had gingerly wrapped an arm around her and she had fallen asleep listening to the steady beat of his artificial heart until his dream woke her up. She placed the beds side-by-side and zipped the two sleeping bags together to form a double sleeping bag. If Jean-Luc had programmed the night cycle as accurate as the day cycle, they would want to share their warmth as Beverly hadn’t seen any heating devices in either packs.

Beverly listened to Jean-Luc hammer the pegs into the ground as she looked through her pack.  She pulled out both a bikini and a one-piece and laughed, despite also thinking it was thoughtful of Jean-Luc to pack both for her.  She called out, “I’m going to change now.”

“Alright, I won’t peek.”  She laughed.  “Shall I put on a shadow show for you?”

“It’s not dark enough for that yet. Maybe tonight.”  Laughing, she finished changing and poked her head out of the tent.  “I’ve got my suit on now.  Your turn.” She crawled out of the tent and Jean-Luc’s mouth went dry.  “Uhh….”

“What?  You picked this.”  Jean-Luc rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes…well…I wasn’t sure…what you wanted…uhh…you look…nice.  Really nice.”  Jean-Luc licked his lips and Beverly grinned.  “Go change.  I want to take a dip in the lake.”

“Sure.  Just let me get the fire going first so we have something to warm us up when we’re done.”

Beverly walked into the water up to her ankles and shivered. “I forgot how cold the lake was.”

“We’re halfway up a mountain, what did you expect?”

“True,” Beverly dipped her hand in and splashed Jean-Luc, cold water hitting his chest. “Hey!”

“Cold, isn’t it?”  She smirked.  Jean-Luc wandered over to her and lifted her up in his arms.  “Jean-Luc…put me down! You’re going to drop me and I’m going to hit my head on the rocks.  Put me down!”  Jean-Luc grunted. “You’re not that heavy.”  He carried her until the water was hitting his chest and then he unceremoniously dropped her in.  She came up sputtering.  “Why you!”  She reached for his shoulders and pushed down on him until he was under water.  He came up laughing.  “I deserved that.”

“Yep.”  Beverly swam away from him then, performing perfect strokes towards the centre of the lake where a small wooden platform was.  She turned around and swam back towards him.  “I love swimming in lakes.  So much more fun than doing laps in the swimming pool.”

“True, but the pool is heated.”

“Can’t fault you there.” Beverly crossed her arms over her chest, conscious of her nipples puckering in the cold.  “Aren’t you going to swim?”

“I quite enjoy watching you.  But yes, I think I’ll do a few ‘laps’ myself.”  The two friends swam together, trying hard not to turn it into a competition, but they couldn’t help themselves and started racing each other.  When they finished, Jean-Luc laughed. “That was fun.  I feel younger.”  They headed for the shore and Beverly shivered in the air.  “Stay here, I’ll bring a towel closer.”

“Thanks.”  Jean-Luc glanced at her before turning his back and groaning.  Why was it so hard for them to be in a relationship with each other?  What he really wanted to do was to sweep her into his arms and kiss her, but instead he pulled towels out of their packs and tied one around his waist before heading towards the shore with a towel for Beverly.

Beverly watched him walk away and grinned.  He really did have a nice looking backside.  He brought a towel to the shore, and she wrapped it around herself under her armpits and wrung out her hair.  “Ugh, my hair is going to be so tangled after this.”

“I packed a brush.”  Beverly raised her eyebrows. “I’m surprised.”

“Ha. Ha. Let’s pick on the bald man.” Beverly lightly ran her hand over his head and he closed his eyes. “I like my men bald.”  She kissed the top of his head.  “I’m going to go change into some dry clothing. What’s for dinner?”

“Fire should be going nice by now.  I put a few potatoes and some corn on the cob in there before I joined you, they should be cooked by now.  I did cheat slightly.  I planned for steak to be delivered right about now.”  A transporter beam activated and two large plates arrived, filled with steak fillets and salad, along with two glasses of wine, the rest of the bottle,  and two pots of chocolate mousse.  Jean-Luc shook his head.

“Guinan?”

“Guinan.  I only asked her to beam in steak for our dinner.”  Beverly reached for one of the glasses and took a sip. “Your vineyard, I think.”

She turned and went into their tent and rummaged for something comfortable to wear.  Fortunately, Jean-Luc had packed her a pair of sweatpants and a camisole, but she grinned and dug though his pack until she found one of his soft shirts and pulled it on instead.  She emerged carrying a brush, and Jean-Luc merely raised his eyebrows and shook his head as he went to have his turn at changing.

Beverly was running the brush through her hair in front of the fire, trying desperately to detangle it.  One thing she had forgotten was how tangled her hair would get swimming.  Usually, she would just take a shower and wash it, but unless she wanted to ask the holodeck for a shower or wanted to leave, she was stuck with trying to detangle it.  Jean-Luc came out and took the brush from her hand. “Let me.”

“Mm. Thanks.  I was just thinking that if we weren’t camping, I would just take a shower and wash my hair to detangle it.”

“Do you want a shower?  It’s not like we can’t ask the holodeck for one.”

“Hmm, but that would be cheating.”  Jean-Luc grinned as he ran the brush through her hair. “I suppose, but then we also could have a toilet instead of the latrine block.”

“Alright, you’ve convinced me.”

“Computer, create bathroom complete with shower, toilet, running water and appropriate toiletries.”  A large bathtub with a shower appeared alongside a toilet and a sink.

“Your shower,  Milady.” Jean-Luc bowed and Beverly laughed. “Nice bathroom.  Who programmed a tub that big?  You could easily fit two…or more people in there….Computer, what file did you get this bathroom from?”

“Riker-62”  Beverly and Jean-Luc both burst out into laughter.  “Figures.”  Beverly eyed the bathroom.  “Walls.  It needs walls. Computer, place walls around the bathroom and a door.”

Walls appeared and Jean-Luc pretended to pout.  Beverly laughed and pecked his lips.  “Be out in ten.  Just need to wash my hair.”

Jean-Luc was trying very hard not to think about his best friend naked on the other side of the holographic wall when he heard the shower start.  Instead, he made himself useful and spread a blanket out close to the fire for them to sit on while they ate.  Beverly emerged and shook out her hair. “Thanks.  That helps.”  She sank down onto the blanket and Jean-Luc sat behind her to brush her hair. “It’s alright, I detangled it in the shower.”

“Hmm,  I know.  But let me do this for you.”

“Well, I won’t say no.  I do enjoy having my hair brushed.”

The two sat in silence as Jean-Luc gently ran the brush through her hair.  When he was done, he sat playing with her hair, running it through his fingers as it dried in the heat from the fire.  Beverly finally spoke up.  “I don’t know what possessed me,”  she paused and started again. “No, I do know what possessed me.  I don’t understand why though.  Was I just vulnerable or susceptible?”

“Did the implants we had a few months ago do any lasting damage?”

“No,  I examined you myself and looked over my scans.  Once they were removed, we both returned to normal.  I mean, you stopped hearing my thoughts, right?”

“Regretfully.  I found I almost liked having you in my head.”  Beverly laughed. “Sure, occasionally, but would you have wanted me in there constantly?  Could you imagine?”  Jean-Luc grinned. “Suppose not.  Still, it’s good to know there was no lasting damage, though I still wouldn’t have minded a connection to you.” Beverly turned around to face Jean-Luc.  “We’re always connected, Jean-Luc.”

“I suppose you’re right.”  He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Are you hungry?  We don’t want the steak to go cold.”

“Mm, yes. And we don’t want that wine to go to waste.” Jean-Luc turned off the stasis field keeping their dinner warm, grateful for small technological advances.  In the morning, he would have breakfast beamed to the campsite, too.

They ate together, exchanging the occasional friendly barb and when they were done Jean-Luc put their plates to one side and lounged back on the blanket and pulled Beverly against him.  Beverly threaded their fingers together and tried to find the words she wanted to say to him.  He was her best friend…and more.  So much more.  She took a deep breath.

“I don’t think I ever thanked you.”

“For?”

“Coming after me.  Rescuing me.”  Jean-Luc grinned into the twilight.  “Beverly, you don’t need rescuing.  You’re quite capable of taking care of yourself.”

“Clearly not!  I let a ghost…” she shuddered.  Jean-Luc rubbed her arm with his free hand.  “I know you’ve been talking to Counsellor Troi, but if you need to talk…I’m here.”

“I told you about Nana’s journals, right?”

“Hmm. Yes.  You expressed interest in hoping you had a thirty-year-old lover when you were one hundred.”  She laughed. “Nah, I like my men older.”

“Good.”

“Do you know I can’t light candles anymore in my quarters?”

“I had wondered. I noticed last night at dinner you were eyeing the candles on the table suspiciously.”

“I keep waiting for a green mist to come out of it and possess me.”

“No, that won’t happen,”  he brushed a stray hair off her cheek and leaned over to kiss it gently. “I won’t let it.”

“Ah, but you can’t be with me all the time.”  He grinned at her in the firelight. “No, but I can make sure I’m with you if a candle is lit.”

“You’ll have to come over the next time I take a bath then.  I like to light candles when I bathe.”  Jean-Luc groaned. “You would have to bring up being naked.”  She laughed.  “You and I…”

“Yes?”

“We’ve been through so much together.  And I think that’s why I was so afraid.  I was afraid we would lose this,” she said raising their joined hands.  “And I don’t want to lose my best friend.”

“You wouldn’t,”  he spoke so softly she barely heard him. “I suppose…maybe that’s why things happened with Ronin.  I suppose I was looking for someone who….”

“Wasn’t me?”  She nodded. “Like, if I could have a romance with someone else, then you and I would just continue to tick on the way we have been…that’s silly, isn’t it?”

“No.  I understand.  I don’t ever want to let go of you, either.  I never stopped to think what would happen if we didn’t work out. I just assumed we would and we would continue to be us.”

Beverly suddenly turned her head and kissed him.  “I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“I’m sorry that I’m so afraid of taking that next step with you.”

“It’s alright.  I think our relationship is pretty good the way it is.  But if you ever want to be more….you just say the word.”

“You might get a girlfriend.”  Jean-Luc scoffed. “Doubtful.”

“Hmm. There was Nella…and Vash…oh, and Kamala…and I can’t forget Philippa and Jenice.”

“Phil and Jenice were a long time ago.  Jenice was before I even met you. Kamala was never a girlfriend, she just imprinted on me because I treated her well.  Vash…I’m not sure I have an excuse. I’ll blame that one on Riker and his Horga’hn.  And Nella….well, quite simply, my love, she wasn’t you.  So no. I can’t say that a girlfriend would get in your way.  What about you? Planning on dating anyone?”  Beverly shook her head.

“No.  Not after…well, I really haven’t had much luck, have I?  I dated a man who wound up being a symbiot who hopped bodies, a man who turned into light, and then a man who turned out to be a ghost….I think I’ll stick with you.” Jean-Luc leaned over and kissed her.  “I was hoping you’d say that.”  She twined their fingers back together.  “But is it alright if we don’t define this quite yet?”

“Of course.  We have all the time in the world.”  He leaned over and kissed her again.

Beverly shivered .  Twilight had turned to darkness, and Jean-Luc really  had done a good job programming in accurate weather. “Cold?”

“Just a little.”

“We could move the conversation to our sleeping bags.”  Beverly turned and grinned at Jean-Luc. “About that.  I, ah, zipped the sleeping bags together.”  Jean-Luc raised his eyebrows and she smacked his chest. “Not for that!  I just thought we could…share warmth.”

“Sounds like a plan. Do you need to change for bed?”

“Not unless you want your shirt back.”

“Tempting just to see what you would do, but no.  You can keep it.”  He turned on a small lantern so they could see to get into the tent and their their joined sleeping bags.  Jean-Luc turned off the lantern and pulled Beverly against him.  He kissed the top of her head.

“I think,  I could get used to this.”  Beverly smiled and wrapped an arm across his chest.  She tilted her head up and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. “Me too. Goodnight, Jean-Luc.”

“Good-night, Beverly.”

***
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Today is #BevCrusherDay. 13 October is Beverly Crusher’s birthday, so what better way to celebrate than writing a short fic or two about our favourite doctor? This will be cross posted to Ao3 and my personal blog, and Tweeted on both AnnaOnTheMoon and Gates_Daily.. It’s also Flufftober, so if you follow me on Archive of Our Own, you’ll find a daily fluffy piece about our favourite couple!

Title: Birthday [Part 13 of Flufftober]
Rating: G
Fandom: Star Trek The Next Generation
Pairing: Beverly Crusher/Jean-Luc Picard, Beverly Crusher/Jack Crusher
Summary: Beverly turns 25

Disclaimer: I don’t own TNG, Beverly or Jean-Luc. I don’t work for Paramount, CBS, PocketBooks, Simon & Shuster…etc, etc. I’m just a fan! I also ask for forgiveness from Gates McFadden and Sir Patrick Stewart for using (abusing?) their characters.

The Stargazer docked with Starbase thirty-two with a click of the stays and Jack and Jean-Luc were the first to debark alongside their other best friend, Walker Keel.  They had come to the base specifically to celebrate Beverly’s twenty-fifth birthday, and to visit Wesley, the apple of his father and honorary uncle’s eyes.

The three men rushed through the station, playfully shoving one another out of the way as the vied to see who would be the first to Beverly’s door.  Jean-Luc easily outstripped both his friends and he was soon entering his passcode in to the door panel and he gave a cheery wave to the other two as the door slid shut with a soft hiss.  Jean-Luc looked around the familiar quarters.  Despite being on a starbase, Beverly had done her best to create a cosy environment for the fifteen-month old who was playing on the floor with some soft blocks.  Wesley squealed when he saw Jean-Luc and lifted his little arms up to the man.  Jean-Luc grinned and hefted the baby up into his arms and pressed a kiss against his chubby cheeks. “Missed you, my boy.”

“M ssssss oooo.” Jean-Luc laughed. “Good try.  Wesley, what’s your name?”

“Wuhssssss!”  Wesley clapped and Jean-Luc grinned. “Great job, Wes!  Can you wish Mommy a happy birthday? She’s twenty-five today.”

“Hap Burr?” Beverly rolled her eyes and took her son into her arms after Jean-Luc greeted her with a kiss. “Close enough. Where’s Jack?”

“Dada!” Wes exclaimed. “You spend every day with me and can’t say mama, but dada, who you see once a month, was your first word.”

“M m m m m m m m.” Jean-Luc chuckled. “That’s a start. Jack and Walker are down the hall. I won.” Jean-Luc puffed out his chest with pride and Beverly laughed.

“Hmm. What did you win?”

“I get to take you out to dinner, if you’d like. Unless you want to go out with Jack. Then I’ll look after my favourite fifteen-month-old.” Beverly shook her head. “You boys still act like you’re at the Academy.” She rolled her eyes and passed Wesley back to her best friend who grinned back and quipped, “Mm, but you love us.”

Beverly snorted as the door opened and Jack and Walker entered. Walker went up to Beverly and dipped her low before kissing her. “Oi, she’s my wife!”

Walker grinned at his friend as Jack greeted his wife and son. “When Beverly married you, she married all of us.” Beverly took Wesley from Jean-Luc and passed him to his other uncle. “Great! I need husband number three to change Wesley’s diaper.” Walker grumbled, but took the giggling baby into his bedroom. Beverly winked at Jean-Luc.

“So, husband number two. I see you were beat out again by Jean-Luc.”

“Hey, how come he’s number one?”

“He got here first,” Beverly grinned. “You should never race the only Freshman to win the Academy marathon.” Jack rolled his eyes. “Fine. Go out with Johnny.  At least I get to sleep with you.”

Beverly arched an eyebrow. “Hmm.” She tucked her arm into Jean-Luc’s before waving a cheeky good-bye to her husband. “So, where are you taking me?”

***
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

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