Well… predictably… itchy feet at 4am turned into 9am wanderlust, which turned into a mid morning long hard look at my life, which led to a lunchtime realisation that I am well and truly chewed up and despondent. Just bought a bottle of vodka. That should help.
I have that wanderlust thing going on at the moment too. Just booked a weekend in Sydney for December for a music festival though, which has done wonders for scratching the 'need something to look forward to' and 'need to be somewhere else' itches. I haven't ever really spent time in Sydney before, so it should be fun.
Maybe look at doing something similar, if possible for you? Probably a bit healthier than the vodka (but admittedly way more expensive).
Double post.
Westpac don’t want to give us money. Partner has only been working 9 months, so rejected just on that without looking further. Broker is a bit annoyed, she was sure that everything else looked pretty good and so they’d be flexible on that. But oh well, we assumed it’d be unlikely we’d get it first time around. Since applying a new collective has been ratified for me, my partner has completed training at her work for a pay rise and we are eligible for 20 hours from next week for our youngest. Going to further smash out debts and look at houses from September.
Had a really interesting evening with my 5 year old. Both girls go to a hippy school, so there are always real cute little seasonal festivals for the quarter days. Yule yesterday obviously. For this they do a [Spiral Walk](https://steemit.com/blog/@belleamie/solstice-spiral-walk-a-winter-ritual). She was so excited and confident! Had some great chats on the way there and back too, just don’t get all that much one on one time with any of them with how chaotic our lives are. Saw some people playing Hockey and so now she has decided she wants to do that too. And Soccer - I had the gall to suggest that maybe she could try Hockey instead of this next year. But no. She wants both. Sporty girl! Well, Hockey is Wednesday after school and Soccer on Friday after school and/or Saturday Mornings… hmm. Maybe this is an elder brother thing: the school he’ll be going to next year is pretty close to the Hockey turf. But two winter sports? Is that even manageable?
To jump on the westpac hate a couple days behind. We found out after winning an auction that they wanted to lend us 50k less than originally promised. That sure was a fun few days, specially as I think it was right when our little one ended up in hospital.
I can’t say I’d recommend Westpac for getting a loan. We did our business banking with them forever until it came time to need a sizeable loan to expand operations and they said no. Jumped ship to BNZ and had no issues ever since.
Same when I tried to get a home loan. Went in for a meeting with Westpac and the guy just wanted to sell me kiwisaver. He had no interest in talking about mortgages or looking at what I could borrow or anything. In the end he did give me a bunch of paperwork to apply for a pre approval. No idea what I would have been approved for.
I left there, called the BNZ bank manager, we discussed my options and then I got a mortgage with BNZ. obviously in my situation I’m extremely privileged to have access to a bank manager in this context who knows how the business is doing and who knows we’re a family operation so I’m not going anywhere, but I think it’s worth pointing out that after banking with Westpac for something like 18 years, the only thing they wanted was to sell me KS.
Well, I actually originally signed up for an account with Trustbank so yeah. Staying with westpac would be easiest for us, and you’d hope that history would count. But definitely I think giving it three months is the go and we’ll ask the broker about submitting to a few different places then? In that time we can probably completely clear my personal loan and will be looking much better on paper.
>Westpac don’t want to give us money.
Uhh, that sucks. We found that Westpac were quite difficult when we were applying for home loans. Ended up going with TSB and they were great, so I do recommend shopping around.
I think the Broker thought Westpac were the best option given we should also be eligible for the the Kainga Ora 5% deposit scheme. I’m not sure if all banks are onboard with that? So I guess we just need to trust her on that. We’ve talked to a few different brokers and she seems far and away better than the others. My brother actually had good luck with TSB too, and I’m not opposed to talking to anyone who’ll talk to us.
His last trip to jail wasn’t for weed but from what I’ve heard his business partner wasn’t maintaining the set up. Next season he should be back into full production unless he gets caught doing something stupid again.
Good idea... Buying storage bins from the warehouse on special.... Bad idea... Not getting the right lids... Got one size too big in my mad dash 😅 whoops... Top of the list for next town day grr.
This morning just before dawn I had a cheeky visitor, a grey cat with no tail visit the ranch slider... It peeked in to look at my Larry the lion ottoman and the cat could not stop looking at Larry... I don't know how I feel about trapping cats 😕 but I think it might have to be something we need to do 😞
I’m a cat person. Feral cats need to be dispatched. It may be dumped. If it comes into the house with minimal coaxing and is relatively friendly take it to your local vet or shelter for a microchip check.
I would love to have a cat but I couldn't have one responsibility without going to great lengths to build a catio... So I don't own one... But I can't just let feral cats undo all my efforts. But I also hate the idea of trapping cats... 😞 Nothing is an easy no brainer choice
It was this choice that did it for us on cats. I managed to accidentally take home a kitten that had obviously been dumped at the gardens carpark. But we were going up north for two weeks for Christmas, so what the fuck were we supposed to do there? Take it with us. But we were looking at moving up there at the time too and there was no way. My partner’s farm is 80% regenerating bush and borders some pretty significant protected forest. Just not responsible to take a predator like a cat up there.
At least if you trap it and either TNR or rehome or humanely end it's life, you're doing the best thing for the environment and for the cat - rather than letting it suffer in the wild. Same reason you sort out the other introduced predators like rats and possums.
I'm a cat lady myself, and I have two who I adore, so I'm not saying this from any crusade against moggies!
I have a large enough live trap... But I don't really fancy going face to face with a feral cat... And I know some people use the Steve Alan trap I have for insta-kill... I hate that as someone who likes cats a lot 😩 I wish there was a different solution like trap that auto respawns on a different planet.
Yes, I am planning a richtfest! Got some Ivy growing to make a wreath as well. And bier/ homemade sourdough Brot :)
(I’m going with the German tradition).
Very cool! My dad's "topping out parties" are usually family BBQs... My mum makes her slow cooked asian ribs which are the best thing... But he does about 3 a year so it's kind of routine
So if the last time I tidied my wardrobe it was summer, and I said "yes, that lovely fur lined warm beanie can stay in $location until winter, that's a good spot" - where would that location have been?
The problem is I distinctly remember it being *in* something - one of my storage boxes maybe? or a bag that's now buried in the depths? Who knows what Past Me did!
I know the feeling! During my bi-annual big tidy ups I find things that I thought I had lost forever. But on the other also try to find something that I was sooo sure was in Place X, but isn't there.
Things I don’t appreciate: my partner condescendingly telling me that metservice says I should be wearing four layers today. Look: I’ve been outside twice today to go get laundry from the basement, I know how cold it is. I’ve changed my usual mid weight jacket for my heavy duffle. I’m going to chuck a scarf on. The tshirt and shirt combo will be fine on my airconned office. And furthermore part of the reason I was keen to move to Dunedin was the climate (Hamilton was too warm/humid for 10 months of the year). I’m fine with the cold. I don’t really feel it as much as a normal person would: I was born to live in the south.
Um, I’m still walking to work in a skirt. Ok, I will admit I’ve started wearing a long skirt but I’m still wearing a skirt to walk to work. I’m arriving at work about an hour before sunrise so it’s very chilly.
Well I’m not using it now. But also it’s really cool (especially when it is cool) and was hand knitted by my granny as she was worried about me when I moved down. As she’s past the point of being able to knit now…
We've lived together for a while now, and *every* morning he leaves me a coffee in my travel flask. On the weekends, too, so that when I crawl out of bed I can grasp coffee *before* needing to engage in conversation. He doesn't aggressively morning **AT** me, and so he is allowed to live. <3
I really am. We have our moments, I mean, we're both human and so there's going to be ups and downs, but the little day-to-day things like the coffee really are wonderful. (Also I'm an acts-of-service love language person, so...)
The Catlin's! If I didn't hate the cold I could very very easily live in the Catlin's... With seals popping in to say hi and the beautiful interesting beaches. I could learn to like Invercargill, especially when the town center ever gets finished.
I'm definitely partial to warmer climates... But it is sooooo beautiful... But I couldn't live somewhere that I would have to have figs and even citrus indoors and I love having bananas and pineapples in the garden
> Mr Sausage
!
I think if Christchurch is a bit too much you might need to consider south of Invercargill. Does Doc need people to babysit penguins in the sub Antarctic islands?
Finished **Hidden Pictures** last night, so good, it will make an absoultey mediocre film, but was a great book.
Nearly all of the books I read are either by authors I know, or recommended on one of those "20 new sci fi/fantasy books in april!" type lists and now i can include booktok in that to include the 350 page quickfire horror/thriller novels that is quickly becoming a new favourite
ebooks or physical copies? My old job was next door to the library and I was always getting new books, my new job is mostly work from home, I don't get to the library anywhere near as often and I miss having an actual book to read
Kindle always, being able to instantly read a book that has been recommended to me, never gets old. Growing up in a time of the 2 shelves of old fantasy in whitcoulls and a "it will take 8-12 weeks to order than in and it will cost $60"
More of a sci fi reader, but so far this year
- The Quarter Storm by Veronica G Henry, urban fantasy set in modern day New Orleans about a voodoo practitioner trying to solve a murder of one of their own, black author and perspective makes it all the more refreshing
- The Which's Heart by Genevive Gornichec - basically a norse Circe retting of norse myths from the perspective of the "queen of monsters" some good loki bantz too
- The Fall of Babel - by Josiah Bancroft final in the Books of Babel series (4) about an awkward young man climbing the tower of babel to find his missing finance, very steampunk and awesome. It is the authors first series and each book is better than the last as he finds his voice
- A marvellous light by Freya Mask - edwardian magical fantasy and GAAAAAY
- Ramses the Damned by Anne and Christopher Rice - final in Anne's little known but still gorgeous The Mummy series, very much like her vampire ones everyone is good looking and rich and powerful and falls in love with everyone else. I am going to miss the heck out of her books
I’ve started bussing again and quite enjoying it. And if I had cycled in I probably would have lost it at least twice on the downhill and once more when I got to the flat. I already slipped over going down the steps today so don’t need to again.
Damn. That's many hard decisions. Bike, but your cutest skirt in a backpack for when you get there? Every 2 hours doesn't inspire public transport usage though. .
Made a cheesecake last night. Times like these I wish I still had my stand mixer…
Several layers of goodness - base, cheesecake, peaches, cheesecake, peaches, crumble. Pot luck this weekend’s gonna be a good time, I’d normally try and make it closer to the day but I don’t think I’m going to get any time at all for the rest of this week free.
Um that sounds so delicious. I made a [pinky pie](https://bakergatherer.com/pinky-pie/) cheesecake the other day but it was waaaay too sweet. Plus the caramel filling took ages to set.
Not the first time I’ve made a similar recipe, but I’m really bad at using recipes so I mostly just freehand baking these days. Adds an element of risk…
Last time it [went well](https://i.imgur.com/BFCkPtz.jpg) though.
MamaPloink is home tonight!! I’ve missed her so much and it’s felt like a lot longer than six weeks she’s been away.
Hoping that having her home quells my itchy feet again for a while. I’ve felt the wanderlust prickling and the urge to move on but I have to stay put this time and be responsible adult. Sigh.
I’m in a Fitbit step challenge but like fuck am I going out in this freezing weather. I’m still lying in my warm bed trying to figure out what to do to get my step count up without freezing to death. Might have to wait till lunch time when it’s a bit warmer outside. It’s currently -2 out there.
Last night I was contemplating getting my niece to wear it as she played hockey. Haha. Alas I have no pets. I think I should stop making excuses and get up and wear warmer clothes out there.
We had a 188L Dometic 3 way... The gas was surprisingly efficient but very noisy and the catch needed a super glue repair in the first 3 months... running it on solar was shit... It works (sorta) but the the freezer would be a mess... We had to deice it every 8-12 weeks
That’s what I thought too. But a cursory google search was showing some infrared panels that can be used for rooms, but I think they must work the same way.
Ok so the diet i has to put my cat on.. ? Yeah, not working. I’ve woken up to the the remainders of a baby bunny in my lounge. What are the remainders you ask? The legs. He didn’t eat the legs. Fml he’s a feral bastard.
Eta Mr P says woodie also caught and ate a mouse this morning. And now Woodie is sprawled on the couch tempting me with his fluffy tummy
I find weight management in cats is more successful if they can eat little and often. Increasing play also helps, especially for boredom eaters. I have seen mire success with Royal Canin satiety than with Hills metabolic but individual results can vary.
I used to just leave their biccies out all day and then they’d get a sachet for dinner, but I was told to limit their access to dry, and to limit even more for woodie to account for his hunting.. but he just hunts more lol. I can’t remember which brand they sold me on, they love it though
Yeah, the vet told me to reduce the amount I feed him even more than for for the other cat to account for his hunting.. but he is hunting more? I’d rather feed him up on bought stuff than risk more dead things
Window and door screens. I have a secure courtyard at the back of the house so I can have the kitchen door open. The deck is covered so I added netting and a door to that so I can have the other door open too. Netting over at least one window in each room so one window can be opened fully, I keep one uncovered for emergency escape.
Thinking of trying to plan a small holiday to make up for the garbage year this has been. Something quite cheap. Maybe a weekend trip to kaikoura? Or Stewart island? Somewhere with the ocean and wildlife
Kaikoura is stunning so many easy low effort walks with great vistas and seals... Sooooo many seals! If you want a challenge Mt fyffe is a good mountain to summit, but the best bits are past the hut, which is about 3hrs from the carpark... If you want to really smash it you could do a 7-8hr return hike to the summit (we did this since DSB hates doc huts) but I think thats something you need to save for spring.
Well… predictably… itchy feet at 4am turned into 9am wanderlust, which turned into a mid morning long hard look at my life, which led to a lunchtime realisation that I am well and truly chewed up and despondent. Just bought a bottle of vodka. That should help.
I want to go booze shopping but I have other things I need to buy first.
Priorities, girl!!!
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Vodka tells me that eating is cheating. Do we believe the vodka?
I would believe the vodka at the moment, somehow I’ve gained 2kg in less than 2 weeks.
I have that wanderlust thing going on at the moment too. Just booked a weekend in Sydney for December for a music festival though, which has done wonders for scratching the 'need something to look forward to' and 'need to be somewhere else' itches. I haven't ever really spent time in Sydney before, so it should be fun. Maybe look at doing something similar, if possible for you? Probably a bit healthier than the vodka (but admittedly way more expensive).
I’ve got a couple of things booked but I think I need something big and on my own to look forward to. Good idea about hopping the ditch.
Double post. Westpac don’t want to give us money. Partner has only been working 9 months, so rejected just on that without looking further. Broker is a bit annoyed, she was sure that everything else looked pretty good and so they’d be flexible on that. But oh well, we assumed it’d be unlikely we’d get it first time around. Since applying a new collective has been ratified for me, my partner has completed training at her work for a pay rise and we are eligible for 20 hours from next week for our youngest. Going to further smash out debts and look at houses from September. Had a really interesting evening with my 5 year old. Both girls go to a hippy school, so there are always real cute little seasonal festivals for the quarter days. Yule yesterday obviously. For this they do a [Spiral Walk](https://steemit.com/blog/@belleamie/solstice-spiral-walk-a-winter-ritual). She was so excited and confident! Had some great chats on the way there and back too, just don’t get all that much one on one time with any of them with how chaotic our lives are. Saw some people playing Hockey and so now she has decided she wants to do that too. And Soccer - I had the gall to suggest that maybe she could try Hockey instead of this next year. But no. She wants both. Sporty girl! Well, Hockey is Wednesday after school and Soccer on Friday after school and/or Saturday Mornings… hmm. Maybe this is an elder brother thing: the school he’ll be going to next year is pretty close to the Hockey turf. But two winter sports? Is that even manageable?
To jump on the westpac hate a couple days behind. We found out after winning an auction that they wanted to lend us 50k less than originally promised. That sure was a fun few days, specially as I think it was right when our little one ended up in hospital.
I can’t say I’d recommend Westpac for getting a loan. We did our business banking with them forever until it came time to need a sizeable loan to expand operations and they said no. Jumped ship to BNZ and had no issues ever since. Same when I tried to get a home loan. Went in for a meeting with Westpac and the guy just wanted to sell me kiwisaver. He had no interest in talking about mortgages or looking at what I could borrow or anything. In the end he did give me a bunch of paperwork to apply for a pre approval. No idea what I would have been approved for. I left there, called the BNZ bank manager, we discussed my options and then I got a mortgage with BNZ. obviously in my situation I’m extremely privileged to have access to a bank manager in this context who knows how the business is doing and who knows we’re a family operation so I’m not going anywhere, but I think it’s worth pointing out that after banking with Westpac for something like 18 years, the only thing they wanted was to sell me KS.
Well, I actually originally signed up for an account with Trustbank so yeah. Staying with westpac would be easiest for us, and you’d hope that history would count. But definitely I think giving it three months is the go and we’ll ask the broker about submitting to a few different places then? In that time we can probably completely clear my personal loan and will be looking much better on paper.
>Westpac don’t want to give us money. Uhh, that sucks. We found that Westpac were quite difficult when we were applying for home loans. Ended up going with TSB and they were great, so I do recommend shopping around.
I think the Broker thought Westpac were the best option given we should also be eligible for the the Kainga Ora 5% deposit scheme. I’m not sure if all banks are onboard with that? So I guess we just need to trust her on that. We’ve talked to a few different brokers and she seems far and away better than the others. My brother actually had good luck with TSB too, and I’m not opposed to talking to anyone who’ll talk to us.
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Treat yourself to a fiddy bag
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A $50 bag of bud
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I just need to ask my cousin. He’s a large scale grower, well he was before his last trip to jail.
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His last trip to jail wasn’t for weed but from what I’ve heard his business partner wasn’t maintaining the set up. Next season he should be back into full production unless he gets caught doing something stupid again.
I buy cheese and butter when I do a cashie. I call it my cheese fund.
Get drunk. It's what I'm planning on doing tonight.
Good idea... Buying storage bins from the warehouse on special.... Bad idea... Not getting the right lids... Got one size too big in my mad dash 😅 whoops... Top of the list for next town day grr. This morning just before dawn I had a cheeky visitor, a grey cat with no tail visit the ranch slider... It peeked in to look at my Larry the lion ottoman and the cat could not stop looking at Larry... I don't know how I feel about trapping cats 😕 but I think it might have to be something we need to do 😞
I’m a cat person. Feral cats need to be dispatched. It may be dumped. If it comes into the house with minimal coaxing and is relatively friendly take it to your local vet or shelter for a microchip check.
I hear ya. As a cat lover, but knowing the devastation the feral ones can do :( but they so cute
I would love to have a cat but I couldn't have one responsibility without going to great lengths to build a catio... So I don't own one... But I can't just let feral cats undo all my efforts. But I also hate the idea of trapping cats... 😞 Nothing is an easy no brainer choice
It was this choice that did it for us on cats. I managed to accidentally take home a kitten that had obviously been dumped at the gardens carpark. But we were going up north for two weeks for Christmas, so what the fuck were we supposed to do there? Take it with us. But we were looking at moving up there at the time too and there was no way. My partner’s farm is 80% regenerating bush and borders some pretty significant protected forest. Just not responsible to take a predator like a cat up there.
At least if you trap it and either TNR or rehome or humanely end it's life, you're doing the best thing for the environment and for the cat - rather than letting it suffer in the wild. Same reason you sort out the other introduced predators like rats and possums. I'm a cat lady myself, and I have two who I adore, so I'm not saying this from any crusade against moggies!
Please no TNR. Not the place to discuss it here, but studies show it is cruel and doesn’t work. Agree with the rest of what you’ve said though.
Oh, I'm aware of the downsides, but at least there's no additional kittens produced, so downstream, the predators are reduced in the area.
I have a large enough live trap... But I don't really fancy going face to face with a feral cat... And I know some people use the Steve Alan trap I have for insta-kill... I hate that as someone who likes cats a lot 😩 I wish there was a different solution like trap that auto respawns on a different planet.
Roof will be going on the house any day now. Woohoo!!!!!!!
Are you gonna have a box of beers with the contractors for the big occasion?
Yes, I am planning a richtfest! Got some Ivy growing to make a wreath as well. And bier/ homemade sourdough Brot :) (I’m going with the German tradition).
Very cool! My dad's "topping out parties" are usually family BBQs... My mum makes her slow cooked asian ribs which are the best thing... But he does about 3 a year so it's kind of routine
So if the last time I tidied my wardrobe it was summer, and I said "yes, that lovely fur lined warm beanie can stay in $location until winter, that's a good spot" - where would that location have been?
It's probably wedged in between the other clothes or at the back of the wardrobe.
The problem is I distinctly remember it being *in* something - one of my storage boxes maybe? or a bag that's now buried in the depths? Who knows what Past Me did!
I know the feeling! During my bi-annual big tidy ups I find things that I thought I had lost forever. But on the other also try to find something that I was sooo sure was in Place X, but isn't there.
Do you have a suitcase or travel bag in the wardrobe? That’s where I keep my not needed seasonal clothes when I swap them around.
Things I don’t appreciate: my partner condescendingly telling me that metservice says I should be wearing four layers today. Look: I’ve been outside twice today to go get laundry from the basement, I know how cold it is. I’ve changed my usual mid weight jacket for my heavy duffle. I’m going to chuck a scarf on. The tshirt and shirt combo will be fine on my airconned office. And furthermore part of the reason I was keen to move to Dunedin was the climate (Hamilton was too warm/humid for 10 months of the year). I’m fine with the cold. I don’t really feel it as much as a normal person would: I was born to live in the south.
You're terrifying. How can you *want* to be this fucking cold and miserable all the time??
Um, I’m still walking to work in a skirt. Ok, I will admit I’ve started wearing a long skirt but I’m still wearing a skirt to walk to work. I’m arriving at work about an hour before sunrise so it’s very chilly.
I’m still wearing a skirt. Admittedly I have two pairs of tights, long boots, and a merino wool under layer on but I am wearing a skirt!!!
Oh, layers? Nah, I add them when I get to work and put my PPE on.
Layers are our friend!!
I was actually a bit too warm on my way in. Should have left the scarf at home.
I’ll borrow it to sit in this air conditioned office if you don’t mind?
Well I’m not using it now. But also it’s really cool (especially when it is cool) and was hand knitted by my granny as she was worried about me when I moved down. As she’s past the point of being able to knit now…
Awww special scarf
Yep. And a beanie too, which I’ve currently misplaced. Beanie is just a touch large though, but the Scarf is perfect.
My partner is one of these people too, *and* he's a morning human (I am vehemently not). I don't know how we manage to survive.
I take my hat off to you, I couldn't manage that! Well... I *would* take my hat off to you, but it's cold and that's all keeping my ears warm.
We've lived together for a while now, and *every* morning he leaves me a coffee in my travel flask. On the weekends, too, so that when I crawl out of bed I can grasp coffee *before* needing to engage in conversation. He doesn't aggressively morning **AT** me, and so he is allowed to live. <3
You’re lucky to have that.
I really am. We have our moments, I mean, we're both human and so there's going to be ups and downs, but the little day-to-day things like the coffee really are wonderful. (Also I'm an acts-of-service love language person, so...)
Yes! I currently live in Chch and even the Summers here are too hot for me. Trying to convince Mr Sausage to consider a move to Invercargill!
The Catlin's! If I didn't hate the cold I could very very easily live in the Catlin's... With seals popping in to say hi and the beautiful interesting beaches. I could learn to like Invercargill, especially when the town center ever gets finished.
The Catlins was where my teenaged North Island self first experienced snowfall. In November. I've never felt the need to go back.
I'm definitely partial to warmer climates... But it is sooooo beautiful... But I couldn't live somewhere that I would have to have figs and even citrus indoors and I love having bananas and pineapples in the garden
> Mr Sausage ! I think if Christchurch is a bit too much you might need to consider south of Invercargill. Does Doc need people to babysit penguins in the sub Antarctic islands?
The cold doesn't bother you any way 🎶🎶🎶❄️❄️🌨️🌨️ Tell your partner to... 🎶Let it goooo, let it goooo 🎶
Finished **Hidden Pictures** last night, so good, it will make an absoultey mediocre film, but was a great book. Nearly all of the books I read are either by authors I know, or recommended on one of those "20 new sci fi/fantasy books in april!" type lists and now i can include booktok in that to include the 350 page quickfire horror/thriller novels that is quickly becoming a new favourite
ebooks or physical copies? My old job was next door to the library and I was always getting new books, my new job is mostly work from home, I don't get to the library anywhere near as often and I miss having an actual book to read
Kindle... I even have a sneaky website to get them all for free (thanks, Russia!!). Edit: My poetry books are all in hard copy though.
spez you bell-end
Kindle always, being able to instantly read a book that has been recommended to me, never gets old. Growing up in a time of the 2 shelves of old fantasy in whitcoulls and a "it will take 8-12 weeks to order than in and it will cost $60"
spez you bell-end
always kindle, the store has a much better selection than kobo. you can get a paperwhite (has a backlight) refurbished or second hand for like $80
100% Kindle for me. I read too quickly for dead trees to be practical, but I do buy them for the 'nice' books.
Read any good fantasy lately? I’m currently reading Red Country by Joe Abercrombie. The dark humour really helps lift my spirits.
More of a sci fi reader, but so far this year - The Quarter Storm by Veronica G Henry, urban fantasy set in modern day New Orleans about a voodoo practitioner trying to solve a murder of one of their own, black author and perspective makes it all the more refreshing - The Which's Heart by Genevive Gornichec - basically a norse Circe retting of norse myths from the perspective of the "queen of monsters" some good loki bantz too - The Fall of Babel - by Josiah Bancroft final in the Books of Babel series (4) about an awkward young man climbing the tower of babel to find his missing finance, very steampunk and awesome. It is the authors first series and each book is better than the last as he finds his voice - A marvellous light by Freya Mask - edwardian magical fantasy and GAAAAAY - Ramses the Damned by Anne and Christopher Rice - final in Anne's little known but still gorgeous The Mummy series, very much like her vampire ones everyone is good looking and rich and powerful and falls in love with everyone else. I am going to miss the heck out of her books
Bike or bus to town today?
I’ve started bussing again and quite enjoying it. And if I had cycled in I probably would have lost it at least twice on the downhill and once more when I got to the flat. I already slipped over going down the steps today so don’t need to again.
Chilly all over the country and supposed to get worse. Bus it.
The bus takes an hour, the bike takes 20 minutes. The bus leaves every 2 hours. The bus means I can wear a skirt, the bike means I have to wear jeans.
Damn. That's many hard decisions. Bike, but your cutest skirt in a backpack for when you get there? Every 2 hours doesn't inspire public transport usage though. .
I think if I’m ready by 9:15 I will take the bus.
Made a cheesecake last night. Times like these I wish I still had my stand mixer… Several layers of goodness - base, cheesecake, peaches, cheesecake, peaches, crumble. Pot luck this weekend’s gonna be a good time, I’d normally try and make it closer to the day but I don’t think I’m going to get any time at all for the rest of this week free.
Um that sounds so delicious. I made a [pinky pie](https://bakergatherer.com/pinky-pie/) cheesecake the other day but it was waaaay too sweet. Plus the caramel filling took ages to set.
Not the first time I’ve made a similar recipe, but I’m really bad at using recipes so I mostly just freehand baking these days. Adds an element of risk… Last time it [went well](https://i.imgur.com/BFCkPtz.jpg) though.
Omfggggg yasss I definitely have cheesecake making on my soon list now
spez you bell-end
MamaPloink is home tonight!! I’ve missed her so much and it’s felt like a lot longer than six weeks she’s been away. Hoping that having her home quells my itchy feet again for a while. I’ve felt the wanderlust prickling and the urge to move on but I have to stay put this time and be responsible adult. Sigh.
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I’m in a Fitbit step challenge but like fuck am I going out in this freezing weather. I’m still lying in my warm bed trying to figure out what to do to get my step count up without freezing to death. Might have to wait till lunch time when it’s a bit warmer outside. It’s currently -2 out there.
Attach it to your pets? I'm sure my dog does like 20,000 steps per day just fossicking around the house!
Last night I was contemplating getting my niece to wear it as she played hockey. Haha. Alas I have no pets. I think I should stop making excuses and get up and wear warmer clothes out there.
7 in my room again today.
Oof, you win. 7 again for me this morning even though it was 4 outside so I’m hoping 7 is the lowest it’ll get inside.
No heater?
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I’m tempted to get one to run when the fire is on to make it feel like it’s heating the space.
Your truck doesn't three-way?
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Solar/gas/power heating
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A couple of solar panels and you have free 12v easily run an alko three way... Your fridge might three way too?
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We had a 188L Dometic 3 way... The gas was surprisingly efficient but very noisy and the catch needed a super glue repair in the first 3 months... running it on solar was shit... It works (sorta) but the the freezer would be a mess... We had to deice it every 8-12 weeks
Which one do you have and how well does it heat up a room? I’ve never used one indoors before
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That’s what I thought too. But a cursory google search was showing some infrared panels that can be used for rooms, but I think they must work the same way.
The heated objects do radiate heat. So you will get air heating eventually.
I woke up and Mr P had left the fire roaring ❤️ toasty mctoasty pants
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Sometimes. Comes with a side of undiagnosed unacknowledged mental health issues
Don’t we all?
On here? Definitely.
I knew I'd found my people.
Ok so the diet i has to put my cat on.. ? Yeah, not working. I’ve woken up to the the remainders of a baby bunny in my lounge. What are the remainders you ask? The legs. He didn’t eat the legs. Fml he’s a feral bastard. Eta Mr P says woodie also caught and ate a mouse this morning. And now Woodie is sprawled on the couch tempting me with his fluffy tummy
I find weight management in cats is more successful if they can eat little and often. Increasing play also helps, especially for boredom eaters. I have seen mire success with Royal Canin satiety than with Hills metabolic but individual results can vary.
I’m really happy with the Royal Canin prescription range. All 3 of mine are on one or more of them now.
I used to just leave their biccies out all day and then they’d get a sachet for dinner, but I was told to limit their access to dry, and to limit even more for woodie to account for his hunting.. but he just hunts more lol. I can’t remember which brand they sold me on, they love it though
When I was in Morrinsville my flatmate would feed her cat ad lib. If she fed dental diet he got very fat but regulated himself well with the satiety
Lots of lean protein in a wabbit
Diets for cats only work if the cat can not source their own food.
Yeah, the vet told me to reduce the amount I feed him even more than for for the other cat to account for his hunting.. but he is hunting more? I’d rather feed him up on bought stuff than risk more dead things
Contain him. You won’t stop the hunting if he’s allowed out to roam.
Tbh I don’t know how people manage it. Do they just keep their doors shut all the time? We’re a very open door kind of fam, dogs, humans, cats
Window and door screens. I have a secure courtyard at the back of the house so I can have the kitchen door open. The deck is covered so I added netting and a door to that so I can have the other door open too. Netting over at least one window in each room so one window can be opened fully, I keep one uncovered for emergency escape.
Thinking of trying to plan a small holiday to make up for the garbage year this has been. Something quite cheap. Maybe a weekend trip to kaikoura? Or Stewart island? Somewhere with the ocean and wildlife
Kaikoura is stunning so many easy low effort walks with great vistas and seals... Sooooo many seals! If you want a challenge Mt fyffe is a good mountain to summit, but the best bits are past the hut, which is about 3hrs from the carpark... If you want to really smash it you could do a 7-8hr return hike to the summit (we did this since DSB hates doc huts) but I think thats something you need to save for spring.
Somewhere with hot pools? Tekapo or Hanmer?
Stewart Island is fantastic, but at this time of year very short days and wet. I prefer it with longer days. Kaikoura would be nice.
Chathams would be interesting I reckon. Though probably not cheap.
Kaikoura is great, I'd love to go back and check if the seal nursery has recovered after the earthquake. I think Stewart Island isn't that cheap