Bits and Pieces

Well, I bought my first badge loot... I got [Elegant Temple Gardens' Girdle]. I had a buckle made for it too. Yummy. I got a few other bits enchanted and felt very proud to be back over 2000 plus healing (well, spell power, or whatever you call it these days).

Did a few more heroics last night, which was fun. The guild did Archavon, but I wasn't really in the mood for raiding.

This morning Barkie woke me up 8.30 (it wasnt even light I don't think) with a delicate "do you fancy coming and healing Violet Hold Heroic?" he and 3 other guildies - the only mad fools online at the time of the morning were short on a healer. So, with the promise of a cup of tea, I dragged myself out of bed. Thus it was proved that I CAN actually heal in my sleep.

Today I've been quietly fishing in IF, trying (in vain) for the stupid fish. I had my Kirin Tor Familiar out to keep me company. I didn't realise (because I usually don't have sound on, but needed it for fishing) that he emotes arcane explosions every so often...


Little cutie that he is.

Right - time for a nap I think - stupid husbands and their mad ideas far too early in the morning!

Christmas Chilling

I've been a bit quiet here for a while. RL has been the opposite. Having the kids off and getting prepared for Christmas is HARD WORK. But I'm done. I survived. But I'm shattered now.

Seph and Barkie have been doing heroics. We've done a few, but I can't remember the names of them all. I get them confused. But they were good fun and we've been with a few different groups of guildies and shared ourselves around.

Barkie has been picking flowers for me, so my alchemy is now at 425 and I can make my own mana potions. My tailoring is at 430 and lots of lovely guild members are being very very generous and sending me cloth - I love you all.

I've been fishing in Ironforge for Old Ironjaw. I caught him once - first fish, but my autoloot messed up and it didn't register (didn't show for a GM who could not replace it for me either). I turned off autoloot and carried on fishing. As my bag space was limited I didn't loot all fishes, but clicked and autocast again - I use fishing ace. I was chatting away to my Dad who was here to stay and - you know what I'm gonna say - I fished him up again, autocast and missed looting him for the SECOND time in one day - what a complete and utter noob.

I got my Christmas present from Santa and crashed and thrashed about...


So I now have another title to choose from (picture quality is dubious - sorry)...

What a difference a week makes...

Well, so much for not playing much....

Ding 80 on Saturday, check out wow heroes and be imba and it seems I am OK geared for Naxx first bits.... so, given that we have a lack of healers at the moment, I sign up for Monday's raid.

On Sunday, I find a little gap in my day and head off to do a quick Heroic Violet Hold, also to act as a check that I could cope with healing at 80. I managed. I also snagged my first "proper" level 80 epic... [Azure Cloth Bindings]

Monday evening arrives and off we go to Naxx. We die first try on Anub'Rekhan because I didn't know not to move when I had the debuff. Ooops. Next time, we win.

We head off to Grand Widow Faerlina. The guild had had trouble with her the week before so we were a bit apprehensive. Pow - dead. YAY - much rejoicing.

Off to Maexxna... First try a healer and a dps get shut out - lesson to learn - get inside! But we had a good go and learnt what happened when people get wrapped up, so tried again. We had about 3% health left on her when both tanks died. Almost everyone else followed, but those left did enough damage to pull through and the nasty big spider bit the web :P


Seph managed to snag herself a new ring... [Timeworn Silken Band]

Now what - we'd done what we didn't think possible and cleared the Arachnid Quarter....


Off we went to see what Patchwerk looked like... He's UGLY. We cleared our way in - those streams HURT and eat all your mana.

We gave him a go - and he died too.


He dropped his rather tasty [Drape of Surgery]. One of the other healers (a Paladin, my Dad) had already won 2 items and the other healer said he was likely to go back to Feral in a month or so, so extremely gratefully, Seph took the cloak as well! What a night - 3 new bosses for the guild and 2 epix for Seph. All I wanted to do was go and participate a bit, but it was a fantastic evening.

Last night was going to be a TV night. We only had one other healer signed for Naxx and I wasn't in the mood for going. Barkie and I logged in for 10 minutes before TV and decided to have a quick go at Heroic VH again. We had a few challenges as one of our party was playing while on a train and had some lag issues, but we swapped him for another one (mages - 2 a penny - one dies, get another...) and managed to finish the place up. They were all keen to go somewhere else and Barkie said yes, so what else could I do? We went to try Heroic Drak'Tharon.

That was fairly easy too. The big raptor deaded us once, but we rallied and hit back harder. I died on the last boss - I'm not great at moving about and controlling other things, but Barkie did some healing, ressed me and we did it - woo hoo!

Seph got lucky again. She found some new gloves... [Overlook Handguards] and picked up another ring along the way too... [Spectral Seal of the Prophet]

Another good evening. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all at the moment - getting to 80, lucky drops, helpful generous guildies, ....

Today I've manged to do a bit of tailoring. I spent some gold on Moonshroud and another guildie crafted me a [Moonshroud Robe] and I made myself some [Aurora Slippers] and all of a sudden I'm looking a bit more level 80 priest-worthy.

We're back in Naxx on Thursday for another try at things after the reset. Tonight I'm going to try harder to have an evening off - I don't want Barkie to burn himself out and stop playing - but there's so much to do - so many zones to quest in, so much rep to gain, so many instances to try.... argh!

Yay - level 80

Well, we made it. Barkie and I dinged 80 together at the same time, on the same mob (boss 3 in Utgarde Pinnacle). It was a lovely feeling. It was exactly a month after WotLK was released. Uncanny that it took us exactly a month to level from 60 to 70 when TBC came out.


Yes, I know my screen is messy - it's on my to-do list.

I liked UP - was a fun instance with different sorts of fights.

I have a shed load of other screenies. Barkie and I have been having more fun questing - playing with our future and past selves and helping all the dragons. I think we've finally finished all the Dragonblight quests now - so here we are at 80, having only completely done 3 zones. I want to find the Oracles and make friends with them and Barkie is chasing some quests for gear.

Today I got well on the way with my Christmas Achievements. I need to complete the Orgri'la bombing and then get some snowflakes from kissing those Winter helpers. I did manage to make a few gold selling small eggs that I had collected (hoarded) during the year - I sold 2 lots of 5 eggs for 30g each. Managed to get in there before a load of others and cash in. Kind of wish I'd made a stack of clothes and boots too in advance - they were selling well too. Ah well, maybe next year... If I only had enough time.

On a side note - daughter (who is 7) managed to get her rogue to level 46. I don't think she will achieve her Christmas wish of being 70, but she's getting there.

I've also done my first heroic and been to Naxx - but more of that later - it's 2 in the morning, I couldn't sleep, so decided to write this - now I think I better go back to bed....

Friday Five

I've been a follower of Anna's for quite a while. I love the imagination. I sometimes wonder how I would have gone on had I rolled on a RP server. For whatever reason I was inspired to answer the questions today. Maybe it will become a regular thing, maybe not...

1. Describe your character’s sleep habits. Do they eat breakfast or have other routines?

Sephrenia is very much a creature of habit. She needs a lot of sleep and gets quite cranky and emotional if she doesn't get enough. She eats the same thing each day for breakfast, but not always at the same time. She doesn't like to eat as soon as she rises, but can't function properly until she's had a cup of tea.

2. What do they dream about at night, if anything?

Seph's dreams usually are about people dying because she missed a heal. She likes to keep her friends at maximum health, so gets frightened by being silenced or stunned.

3. Is your character a night owl or a morning songbird?

Needing so much sleep means that Seph isn't really a morning or evening person. Some days she wonders just when she really IS a person.

4. What do they wear to sleep?

A guild member recently bought her a [Dalaran Nurse's Gown] which she is quite taken with for bed-time attire. Otherwise anything warm goes down well.


5. Is your character ticklish?

She's not particularly ticklish, having been bullied a little by bad "uncles" in her youth, she trained herself not to be.

Almost there, almost there, stay on target, stay on target...

Yay - I got another Star Wars quote in :)

Sephrenia is now lvl 79. Barkie and I ran Violet Hold and Gundrak last night and both dinged in the process.

I had a little trouble with the healing because one of our guildies has named his pet gorilla Barkie (quite aptly as well, as it happens). Grid couldn't cope! Both were showing as druids and both showed the same health, magic, disease etc. I made sure I kept MY Barkie alive but sadly pet Barkie died. His was the only death though, so I was happy.

There was some strange "dancing" going on though...


We were crying laughing. I love crying laughing - it makes me feel alive.

Barkie and I will try for 80 over the weekend, but there's still no rush. Reading my diary last night I noticed an interesting thing. When TBC came out, it took us exactly a month to level from 60 to 70. We bought TBC on 16th January 2006, and hit 70 on February 16th 2006. We bought WotLK on November 13th and on Saturday it will be December 13th. I'm mentally allowing for us to ding on Sunday 14th, as January has 31 days and November only 30, but it's good to know that we're consistent anyway! (Yeah, yeah, consistently slow, I know).

Thinking back I've enjoyed this levelling more than I did TBC. Everything seems so much better, more fun, more scenic, better thought through. I love it.

Have a great weekend all. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride...

I just love Wrath of the Lich King

So - I got over my fit of pique at not going to Naxx, calmed down and continued to enjoy my slow and steady pace with Barkie.

I just love all the different things in WotLK - we've been wolves, threshers, hawks, water elementals, we've fired cannons, harpoons and tanks. My screenshot folder is full of glorious views. I'm kind of reminded of the time Barkie and I lived in Italy and went on a drive through the Dolomites. He had to stop the car every 5 minutes so I could take a photo that was SO much better than the one I took just before.

I particularly like this flying thing I went on...


I've made new friends - this one I wasn't too sure about, but he turned out to be pretty hand in a fight we had against some other evil dude..


We found a great use for Kobolds while farming some of the new spider silk for making spellthreads...



And I finally achieved my exalted status with the Kalu'ak.

and got my first WotLK epic - a lovely [Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole] so no more drowning for me - hurrah! I also got pet number 74 - [Pengu]

Happy girl!


One day I'm going to have to upload all my artistry and stuff too, but my posts seem to be full of screenshots already. Someone has posted a blog challenge for funny screenies, so that's on my to-do list as well.

I've got 4 bars to level 79 and Barkie and I may push this weekend for 80, finding quests should not be a challenge - picking the right ones to start with and start of the right rep and stuff could be - there's so much I want, so many places to visit. I need Oracles rep so I can continue on my pet collection with their egg. I want all the other reps for various bits of gear. I need cloth for my tailoring, herbs to start my alchemy, ..... the list is endless!

100 posts - a Thank You

Well, after yesterday's sadness I thought I'd inject a little happy today.


I DO have a lot to be happy about. This is my 100th post. When I started I didn't really see it going on this long, or getting this far, so thank you all for reading, commenting and supporting me.

Thank-you to my Husband (Barkie), my bear/cat/chicken/tree (for a little while for me so I could do a guild all druid run). Our lives have at times felt a little like WOW - a long, never-ending journey of quests. We've collected our own pets - our beautiful, wonderful, gifted children. We've set our hearth and changed it a few times. We've failed a few quests, but have re-taken them and completed them. But we've done it all together. He's my best friend (permanently on my friends list), my happy-fun rock, my soul-mate. He tolerates my collecting obsessions, my drama, my ups and downs and without him I would be a spirit unable to release.

I'd like to thank my guild. If I was to spend all day typing I'd still forget someone who I should mention from my past and present, something that someone has done for me - I appreciate everything all of you have done and still do for, with and because of me . It's not fair to name particular people because I talk to and share so much with so many of you, and each of you are special to me in so many different ways. Some I chat to, some I whine at, some make things for me, some farm things for me, some I make things for, some I take the mickey out of, some laugh perpetually at me. We've had so many fun times, times where I have laughed until I cried. We've had times that have made me cry for other reasons. But we're still together, we're growing, developing, sharing, enjoying and having FUN!

This stupid game means so much more to me that just a game - it's a large part of my social world. I treat all of you as my friends - real friends. I know I've never met most of you and probably never will, but to me, it feels like I have. Every time I play the game you touch my heart. Probably too much sometimes, but you do.

Thank you to all the other bloggers out there who provide me with inspiration, admiration, laughs, ideas, lists... I know my blog roll needs a lot of work - it doesn't match my feed list, but I read and follow so many wonderful lives. If you do one thing today - read a blog - it can brighten your day, it can make you emotional, it can give you a new idea.

So - as I achieve my "100 posts" - I'd like to give you all a reward - much love, hugs and kisses. Thank you all. The sun is shining, life is good, live it to the full, experience all you can and share it with someone else.


A little motto I'd like to leave you with today - "If you see someone without a smile - give them one of yours". One for you all :-) xxx Seph

I has a sad

Well, I knew it was likely. I thought it wouldn't upset me. It did and it has. A lot of my guild have done very well and got to 80 and, seeing other people calling for PUG groups to Naxx, have decided to schedule some for the guild. I am only level 76. I stupidly thought that it would be like TBC - get to level 80, do some heroics and prepare for Naxx. It isn't. People seem to be going straight for Naxx. Without me. I figured I would have a few months to sort myself out, see the new content and stuff and that I would be OK with that. I'm not.


This will be the first guild raid that I will not be in the first steps somewhere and it's hurting. It's also annoying because it's only a game and I'm having a lot of fun playing with Barkie, taking my time and stuff. But a small part of me is dying inside that I'm being left out.

I hate the way I'm feeling. Reading Seri's post doesn't make it any easier. We lost a guildie to a raiding guild recently. She was a priest, in MP5 gemmed gear. I am a priest and I don't have MP5 gemmed gear (read the article to understand that). She even asked the other day how to gem her gear, didn't listen and put in MP5 gems anyway. I read, I work hard to improve, I KNOW how to play my class. I love being a priest and I think I'm quite good at it. Oh, I don't really know what I'm thinking or where this is going and I'm not even sure I'm thinking straight having only had 5 hours sleep last night.

But I'm sad, confused, lost, hurt yet also happy too that the guild is going to be doing stuff and that we hopefully won't lose any more players. I don't like people leaving the guild, although generally those that do weren't quite a "fit" for the guild anyway. But I'm worried that the loot hungry, keen for progression people who do fit will want more. I knew it would happen, I said it wouldn't affect me, but it does. I want a "Guild Mum" who I can cry on now.

I think I need some chocolate..... this is currently top of my list of dairy free chocolate - I have 3 bars in my desk drawer.... they are calling to me.


OK, that was a rant, a vent, a little bit of a whine. I've thrown my toys out of the pram and am going to go back to bed to lick my wounds. Hopefully I will wake up brighter and happier and remember that this isn't RL, it's not that important really in the grand scheme of things. Tonight I will try to get to level 77 and be able to fly again and that will feel good.

Think positive, Seph, think positive... *cries*

OMG! I healed Halls of Lightning at level 75

I have such a headache! I healed Halls of Lightning tonight. Barkie and I (both level 75) joined a lvl 80 Warrior, lvl 80 Rogue and a 79 Warlock and we did it! No wipes, 5 deaths (3 for me, one for Barkie and an oops one for the warlock), but we did it!

Poor Barkie was seeing a LOT of missed spells, but back-up healed a bit when it was needed and it was amazing.

I realised again why I LOVE my priest. The range, depth and diversity of heals is incredible and I used them all this evening. I totally forgot to screenie anything, but just had to write this before I go to bed as I am so excited and so high.

Ah well - back to questing in Howling Fjord - we've not finished there yet because we keep getting side-tracked and going instancing, but it's all good fun and having 8 zones left at level 80 or whatever means more cash in the end I suppose ;)

The turtles are plotting something

Hmmm - those pesky sewer turtles are getting together with a (smaller than my giant) sewer rat and are plotting something...


I think that they may be preparing to order some pizza, coloured headbands and getting ready to go Ninja something...

Anyway - I thought they looked cute :)

A bit familiar? A Kirin Tor Familiar.

I've been hanging around in Dalaran visiting different parts and reading all sorts of books, waiting for spawns, reading some more and FINALLY, I've read them all...


The nice guy at the Kirin Tor sent me a letter....


.... with ANOTHER book to read...


So, like the good girl that I am, I took it to the big guy at the top of the tower (what a great place I could play hide and seek in). Poor lonely chap was very pleased to see me...


So pleased to see me he gave me a present...


Isn't he beautiful? My very own blue blob.


I've got so many new pets recently it's hard for me to choose which one to have out at any time. With 73 pets there's no room for them all on my bars, so I was happy to find a macro that lets me pick one at random...

/run CallCompanion("CRITTER", random(GetNumCompanions("CRITTER")))

A bear with a bear behind

Reminds me of that joke... something like what do you call a naked bear... a bear with a bare behind. Or something like that - damn I'm old and forgetful.

Anyway - this is my little baby druid, Yssi, with her new pet :) Everyone say, "awwwww".


Now I think I might have to track down that white bear for my little hunter's pet. Then level her up and get a white bear mount..... dreams! We can all have dreams!

Levelling? Hell no - I'm having FAR too much fun with other stuff.

I did a bit of cooking... bought a new recipe... and made a lot of new friends...


First time I ran out of critters, second time someone came to the door, but third time lucky...


Hmmm - I wonder if my recent achievements show some sort of pattern for me and my gaming style?


I'm 2/3 of the way to 74 though - have gone Shadow spec for a change, dyed my hair and had it cut short and am waiting for Barkie to play some more so we can continue our questing together. Oh, while I think of it - scaring bats out of trees is the worst quest ever. It took ages, was frustrating and ranks up there with the headless murloc quest in Southshore. Grrr.

Scabbers! Yay - I have a Giant Sewer Rat

Sunday morning fishing.... cast, hear sound, click, repeat, occasionally feel sad at no rat.... then....


OMG! OMG! I caught a Giant Sewer Rat...


Isn't he BIG, and cute, and totally fitting for my new evil, shadow priestness (more on that another time).


Then.... if you feed him some [Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuit] you get...


BIG BIG rat.

Fishing Wasps!

LOL - I took some [Underbelly Elixir] and continued fishing for my rat...


Interesting how giant pink wasps can hold fishing rods :)

Achievements, questing, FUN!

Well, as I'm trying to cut down a bit on my play time and to NOT level without my Husband, Barkie, I've been doing a bit of fishing in Dalaran. I managed to get to 450 and then got my little achievements...


Someone is very happy with me and sent me a coin of my own to keep and play with.


You can click it to toss it and it emotes the results.


These are the silly sorts of things that I absolutely LOVE about this game. Sure killing monsters and beating instances is good, but these things are FUN and are what keep me hooked.

Barkie and I had an evening of WOW. As he is a druid, it pleased him to help out in the fight against the evil animal killers of Northrend.


I was a little scared piloting my own plane - I mean - just look at my poor expression.


Barkie had to give me a cuddle to calm me down. Here we are enjoying a little break from a hectic evening of questing.


We both managed to get to level 72, before we collapsed into bed, somewhat later than we really should have done, but it was a fun evening and wonderful to be levelling with him again. I look forward to Thursday when we're off again - hopefully finishing Borean Tundra and moving on to Howling Fjord.

The Happiest Girl in WOW

Well, it's been a good few days. My husband, Barkie, has been playing WOW - we've been levelling together (following Jame's levelling guide).

I found a level 74 mage friend and got to Dalaran. I just LOVE Dalaran.

A guild friend gave me some money to buy an [Armored Brown Bear].

I also managed to get my druid and rogue to Dalaran as well (and daughter's level 44 rogue - she's very happy).

I'm level 71 and taking it steady, enjoying my time sifting through Wolf Poo, and flying on airplanes...


You can see the planes and the poor, black, starving, poop filled wolves on the image.

Finally, a friend who had deserted us for Warhammer has returned and one of my LONG standing WOW friends has transferred away from Magtheridon and joined us on Kor'Gall (escaping the 1 hour server queues and a lot of hordes - Nihilum live there - urgh!).

Can WOW life get much better? Well, I've still got 8 zones to discover, so I hope so.

Mages - all washed up?

Look what I found in the sewers in Dalaran...


So much for the city of mages.

Frosty - love him

Well, I got one. My very own Collector's Edition. There was a gift waiting for me in the mail...


It had a pet attached - one that I'd taken off my lists of pets to collect because I thought I'd never get hold of a CE.


He's LOVELY. But it's a rubbish picture... I'll have to take some more.


More soon (when I get a free moment) about my first ventures into Northrend - well, proper, real ventures, not cheating, "you got in the beta" ventures.

Never give up hope

I had. I thought I'd never have a Collector's Edition. A friend in Sweden said he could get me one, but at over £100 I could not bring myself to say yes.

Today in my blog reader I saw this CE opening by Leafshine. I was jealous.

I planned to go to my local Game store after dropping off the kids at school tomorrow, but thought I'd give them a ring....

Yes, they have Collector's Editions - do I have a Game card?

Ermmmm, ermmm... I think so - can you check?

Yes, I do.

Yes, I can pre-order one of their Collector's Editions....

SQUEEEEE!

I am SO happy. Roll on tomorrow.....

A little tip for tanks and dps players

Here goes...

Turn off your macro / add-ons that say "Player x calls out for healing".


As a holy priest, I am not here just to mess about. My role is to heal. If you're not getting heals it's because I'm struggling somehow. Maybe you got aggro when you shouldn't. Maybe we're all about to die. Maybe I'm silenced. But whatever - I don't need reminding that you need healing - it's something that I am acutely aware of. It's all I watch on my screen - those little grid boxes of dwindling health. I never see much else.

So - do your healers a favour and SWITCH IT OFF. If you don't you probably really will need healing because you can bet that I will somehow manage to overlook you on purpose. That or make a macro that says "Seph calls out for a tank / dps".

/weekend rant off

Sephrenia the Hallowed

It has a nice ring to it doesn't it?



Another great run in BT last night. We managed to kill Gurtogg Bloodboil, which I felt was quite an achievement for my guild as it involves a fair bit of coordination and movement - both things we don't often excel at :)


The beautiful [Staff of Immaculate Recovery] dropped (of course - just after I burned my Suicide Kings place) and went to one of upcoming priestesses, so I was very happy for her. Hopefully we can go again and get it for all our priests.

This week is going to be The Eye, although I'm not raiding tonight - 3 nights on the run is a bit much, even for me! But I will be going tomorrow and hope we can kill a few if not all in there. Early next week will be a return to MH, then WotLK will be upon us and life will change dramatically again for a while.

It's going to be tough keeping the RL:WOW balance, but I'm hopeful that with slow but steady progress I won't get left too far behind on the stampede to 80.

Raiding fun

Well, I've been a bit quiet recently, I know. I wasn't in the mood for blogging. It's been half term, so not a lot of free time and am trying to cut down my WOW addiction a little, so the blog suffers too.

Most of my WOW time has been spent fishing (in the vain hope of getting a croc for Seph), exploring and doing the Halloween stuff. "Sephrenia The Hallowed" has such a nice ring to it I hope that it comes with the patch tomorrow.

Guild wise I've taken a holiday from the Council, but am still raiding. We've achieved a lot of new stuff, but it somehow feels a bit hollow since the nerf. Don't get me wrong, I'm fantastically happy to see all the new stuff and the guild is performing great, but shouting about it will only bring the "yeah, but it's easy now" type replies.

I actually feel GOOD about what we've done. We're 5/6 in SSC (the coordination required for Vashj is a little too taxing for some of out guildies), we've skipped The Eye for now, but I think we may go later in the week. We're 3/5 in MH and 4/9 in BT. We've also managed a 4 timed chest and full clear in ZA. Not bad I guess.


The image is Teron Gorefiend who, as you can tell by all the skeletons, took a bit of learning! He was a very nice dead guy and gave me his [Cowl of Benevolence] - a nice new hat to take to Northrend on my travels.

I respecced Circle of Healing and I love it. I know it wasn't the best spec for SSC and TK, but it totally rocks in MH and BT. I might change it when WotLK comes out, but am still mulling that one over.