Sorry. My negativity was unwarranted, and misdirected. I think it's just been one of those days things go wrong one by one. It's been super hot inside, and I spent a bit of time over the gas stove getting even hotter just for it to ultimately prove a fruitless endeavour
I like those self contained ecosphere things, the ones you start off with a small amount of water and develop their own little closed off ecosystem. I'd really like to do one of those. But I think the initial setup is a bit sensitive and fiddly because it's such a small system
I let Jason loose on the hallway and laundry today. I think I want to install some kind of holder thing in the laundry so that I have somewhere to put mops and brooms that isn't the floor, and maybe a shelf or something for replacement mop heads (there's no real storage in or near the laundry)
I can probably work out the broom mounts myself. Just a couple of screws into the stud seems easy enough. Not sure about the shelf though. In the meantime I'll just relocate an old bookshelf or something
Haha I almost killed the old LTs cacti when he went on holidays for a month 😂
I forgot to water for the first 3 weeks of his holiday, and then realised "oh shit, everything's almost dead" so compensated by overwatering. They weren't happy about that, but did eventually dry out and calm down. I find aloe to be the easiest thing to grow, because it never seems to fully die, at least the big nature plant I have. It'll just go brown then bounce back. It also doesn't seem like it can be overwatered, not that I'll be testing that
Growing a mini human is definitely more of a feat!
Thanks, but no hugs needed! I'm actually fairly okay with it. I haven't personally invested in most of it, I kind of just got it all through gifts or cheap from Bunnings
I know garden beds are kind of easier in some regards, but I prefer planter boxes for a few reasons. Largely because I hate having to bend over and kneel down. Not a mobility thing, I just don't really like having to kneel down into the garden beds or suffer the consequences of hunching over while weeding or whatever
Also I'm very arachnophobic, and contrary to what everyone also keeps telling me, trying to remember they're more afraid of me than I am of them, or its their home, or they won't harm me, or trying to do DIY exposure therapy has not helped at all. Bugs in general freak me out a bit. With planter boxes, they're mostly isolated to the rims of the boxes, with the occasional small ones building homes in the strawberries. But they usually move on pretty quickly when they feel the water from the hose. The lack of weeds also means I don't have to stick my hands into deep foliage and hope for the best (a terrifying proposition for me, even with gardening gloves!)
I gave it a quick google and it doesn't look like it
Lemmy, Reddit, and OzBargain (and possibly YCombinator if I was after something easily jailbroken) would be my backup option if choice wasn't worth it. Maybe Whirlpool for certain things as well. I feel like Reddit is a bit weird when it comes to products, though. Lots of random out of the blue and unexplained hate for particular products or product categories (i.e. "What's the best coffee machine I can buy" top response: "none lol. Cafe coffee really aren't that expensive when you look at rhe quality", etc)
E: actually, no, choice does have a reviews section I think. I was looking at instant coffee the other day, and their #1 listing had an average of 1.7 stars. Everybody was saying it was shit. Most products didn't have any reviews though, and I don't think it's members only. The products with reviews usually only had 1 or 2 reviews, so hardly a good poll of people who use x product
Apparently my current library doesn't offer it, but my last one does, and I'm still a member. I've also heard that apparently in Victoria, you no longer need to just be a member of your local library and can now become a member of any Victorian library as long as you live in Vic. Not sure if that's true, but could be worth a comparison
I'm a bit confused by Choice's system, though. They have a product reviews section on their website which is what I'm interested in, but I don't know if that's also available in the magazines or not. Or if the magazines are more like "the best products of 2024" or "how to make the most of your coffee machine" type things
Most stuff died off, and I've come to the conclusion I don't really have the time or energy for active or regular gardening. By which I mean getting out every week to rip up weeds, watering every single day, getting rid of pests and insects, etc. the gardens at the last place went fully feral, turned into a jungle. Mostly coriander and kale taking over. The garden beds were never really my domain though, the old LT handled that and I was mostly just in it for the sake of getting into the sunshine for a few hours a week and having a good chat with him on weeding day
The planter box I had packed to the rafters with herbs and such completely died. Not sure if it was the lack of watering, or the overwatering that did them in. But yeah. Completely 100% dead and beyond repair. I've been watering it hoping that there's something still there just waiting for the right moment to come back up through. Worst case, it's a nice planter box still, so I kept it and might just dump the soil and plant something new
The pineberries and strawberries completely died, then they came back, then they died again. I kill them everytime they start flowering and fruiting. Not intentional, and not from overwatering. Mostly lack of attention and forgetting about them. The pineberries (I think) are flowering a little bit, so I might get some fruit soon. The strawberries aren't flowering, but I'm hopeful once they realise it's safe, they will
I gave most of the front patio plants back to the old LT before I left because I don't have the capacity to look after them all, and he bought them out of his own money for the sake of licensing the place up. Seemed a shame to either let me kill them, or leave them behind, and let them die themselves. I took most of what was left
Everybody keeps telling me all about how mint is invasive and will go everywhere with basically zero care BUT I'VE KILLED 4 FUCKING MINT PLANTS, ALL BEYOND RESURRECTION
TheStench™️ is still in the bathroom. It seems less bad than a few days ago, but I don't know if that's a good sign, or just a reflection of the reduction in temps and relative lack of sun recently. Still makes me nauseous though, even with Glen 20
The flies are entirely gone. Haven't seen one in a few days. They never really got extreme, just maybe 5 or 6 at any given time, which I sprayed on sight. Again, don't know if that's a good thing, or just means there's a few thousand incubating up there
Oh, and TheSmell™️ is still contained to the bathroom. Since today was a chill day, I skipped the morning shower and don't dare open it. Tomorrow (or today ig) when I go for a shower, I'll probably spray a healthy (or maybe unhealthy) amount of Glen 20 in and let it sit for 10 or 20 mins. I know that won't fix it, but it can hopefully make it bearable for a quick two minute freshen up
Sorry. My negativity was unwarranted, and misdirected. I think it's just been one of those days things go wrong one by one. It's been super hot inside, and I spent a bit of time over the gas stove getting even hotter just for it to ultimately prove a fruitless endeavour