I wax squirically

(photo from Pixabay)

While other people dream of fancy vacations and luxury cars, my dream had always been to own a vermicomposter. Imagine my joy when I saw someone else's vermicomposter, asked if they'd be willing to share some of their worms, and they said yes!!!

The little guys live in a black plastic tub with a lid under a chair in our hallway and convert our food waste into nutritious soil. Carrot ends? Avocado peels? A failed (moldy) attempt at microgreens? They eat it all! And since their home is so inconspicuous, nobody even knows they're there! No, actually, that's not true. I tell everyone because they make me so happy!

(yes, I'm weird, we've established that already)

Composting worms are the least demanding pets on the planet. All they require is darkness, food scraps, a bit of air and water, and paper or other carbon-rich material like dry leaves. What they give you in return (worm castings) would cost you dearly at a store, and also they're super cool.

It's super easy to care for them: Get an opaque container with a lid, and drill a few small holes somewhere (not the bottom). Place some shredded paper (or leaves) in the container, and tip the worms (gently!) onto it. Slowly start adding your food waste (avoid anything super acidic, spicy, or processed) and more paper. Monitor your composter over the next few days. If the contents of the composter are super dry, add some water or wet food waste (like cucumbers or tomatoes), if it's too wet, add more paper. They should be wet to the touch, but shouldn't drip water upon squeezing.

And that's it! As the worms multiply, you can give them more and more food waste daily (they're supposed to eat their weight's worth of scraps in 24 hours).

I'm going about growing my balcony garden totally chaotically this year - no tutorials, no expensive tools, just growing things at the wall and seeing what sticks, so to speak. Learning from experience. Because, once I start reading stuff online, the desire to go outside and actually do some gardening somehow passes.

Today, I got the urge to plant some radishes, but didn't have any seeds on hand ... or did I?

I talked about the easy, cheap way I grow my microgreens here. Among the seeds I used were radish seeds (China Rose variety) that were marketed specifically for sprouting. Is there a difference? 🤷‍♀️, but let's try it. Has anyone else done this?

This thought just occured to me while making over a cheap, boring fanny pack 👝 that I bought for a trip some years ago.

🎨 Make things. 🪛 Upgrade them. 🔧 Improve them. Don't be set on always 💵 buying 💵 the exact thing you want.

I mean, sure, you might think "Things are expensive today as is, if I buy something I don't want to spend my time and resources fixing it as well."

And I see your point. But wouldn't it be a comforting thought to know that you can provide yourself with things you want and that you don't have to rely on big corps to provide it for you?

If we adopt this philosophy of 🌟I can do it myself, 🌟 not only can we save so much money (that, let's be honest, is very tight nowadays for a lot of us), but we can also save soooo many things from landfills that we might have sent there just because they weren't exactly what we wanted from them.

I am also a firm believer that our mental health as a society is getting worse because we have been conditioned out of using our hands in creative ways in favor of spending money. We've been convinced that handmade is tacky, worthless, better just go to the store and buy another mass produced thing. Let me tell you, the dopamine rush when I look at (or even better, use) something I made myself is much bigger and longer lasting than for something storebought.

👝 As for the fanny pack, if anyone is interested, it was a boring, basic, gray, one compartment thing that I painted black and am planning on embroidering with lazy daisies. I am also going to replace the zipper pull tab with a crochet flower.

They are tasty, very nutritious and very simple to grow. You don't need fancy pants equipment like trays, grow medium, lights and such, you only need seeds, something for them to grow in, something to hold moisture, and water. All of which can be obtained very cheaply (if not for free).

I've been growing my microgreens using three very basic things: a tray from a restaurant that once held sushi leftovers, toilet paper, and a zip bag.

How? Wet some toilet paper, wring it out so it's wet but not dripping, put on a tray, sprinkle seeds on it and put the whole thing into a zip bag. Wet the paper slightly once every two days (I put it under a barely dripping tap but a spray bottle would be better), leave the bag open slightly when the seeds start sprouting, wait a few days and badaboom, microgreens!

You can supposedly grow most seeds into microgreens. Sure, there are special seeds that you can buy specifically for this purpose, but I've also used storebought chia seeds meant for consumption, and they grow like crazy.

I'm also going to try growing some sunflower seeds that I bought for birbs (sorry birbs) because I can get them in a local store for pretty cheap. In fact, I'm gonna go do it right now!!

(photo from Pixabay because I'm too lazy to go look for my phone)

As chronically ill people, the struggle to keep our homes tidy is real. We often let things pile up and they become overwhelming and, in time, attract even more things, making us even more overwhelmed. I've taken to the web in search of some good hacks or rules and I've found three that help me at least somewhat keep on top of things:

DON'T PUT IT DOWN, PUT IT AWAY. It's not much work to put the salt container back in its place instead of placing it on the counter. Or putting the laundry detergent back in the cupboard instead of leaving it on the washing machine. Of course, the important thing here is that you create an environment for yourself in which putting stuff away is no more taxing (or less so) than simply putting it down (keep things where you use them).

A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE. All things need to have a home where I place them (most times) when I am done with them. When I am tidying a space, I need to know exactly where a thing goes. If an item doesn't have a home, I'll just scoot it around and it'll always be in the way. If I can't find a place for an item to live, I'll reconsider owning it.

IF A TASK TAKES LESS THAN TWO MINUTES, JUST DO IT NOW. I can vacuum my bathroom, wipe down the toilet, quickly scrub the sink and rinse the bath tub in under two minutes. Granted, my bathroom is tiny, but you'd be surprised how much better you can make your space look and feel by just following this one rule. Timers can be of great help if you have trouble estimating how long a task will take.

Instead, I've started thinking of my days as A-days, B-days and C-days.

A-days are when I get up in the morning and finish work at a previously determined time. These are great because there is a clear line between work and free time.

B-days are when I have a little less energy or my ability to focus is somewhat impaired, so I have to pace myself. I'll work in chunks throughout the whole day and get at least 2/3 of my daily work done. These are a bit tricky because I'm extremely prone to spending the whole day in "gotta work" mode but getting next to nothing done, just procrastinating by doing stuff I don't really wanna do (scrolling, watching yt shorts) and then still feeling exhausted and like I've wasted the whole day because I didn't work or do anything I actually enjoy. So I have to constantly remind myself to check in with myself and go do something enjoyable (or just rest) if I'm unable to work.

C-days are when I cannot focus for the life of me and leave most of my work for another day. These are days where I accept early on that it's just not gonna be a productive day work wise and go do stuff that I enjoy that makes me feel rested and relaxed.

It's absolutely key that I pay attention to how I'm feeling, and try to determine in the first hour of working what kind of day it's gonna be. That way I can make a good balance between work and fun stuff and self care.

Now, I will do everything I can to ensure that I don't have more than two C-days a week, because girl still has to earn a living. That means keeping a consistent sleep schedule as best I can, taking my pills regularly, meditating, exercising, eathing healthy, drinking plenty of water or other non sugary drinks, and not stuffing my schedule with too many social activities (because, fun as they are, they are NOT restful to me). So if it looks like it's gonna be a second C-day in a row, or third in a week, I'll reevaluate, try to find the problem and do my best to solve it.

If you've ever had your headphones break right above the ear piece, you probably know it's nearly impossible to glue them back together as there is not nearly enough material for the glue to hold properly. Boy do I have a hack for you (disclaimer: this is not my idea, I found it online and thought it worth a share).

The magic ingredient: ✴️ B A K I N G S O D A ✴️

Idk what the chemical process behind it is, but it creates a kind of cement in combination with superglue that sets rock hard and makes your headphones sturdier than new.

What you need to do: Put superglue (liquid, not gel) on one end of the break and put the two pieces back together approximately how they were before they broke (aka. just glue them like you normally would).

Now, we start doing magic. Put a drop of superglue over the break and sprinkle baking soda on top. Wait a few seconds for the glue to set. Brush off excess baking soda and repeat. Do this all around the break - do a couple of layers. You can even put some material (a toothpick, a piece of ziptie etc.) over the break to reinforce it. You should end up with a very visible, yet extremely sturdy repair. I've done a stress test on my headphones, bending them every which way, and I was honestly more worried about the other side breaking.

I've literally been wearing these every single day (and on long walks, too) and, so far, not a single problem.

You'll need a flip flop sole (I gote em for really cheap but they're very pretty; or you could use an old pair if you have one), tights or T-shirt yarn in matching colour, and at least two metal washers.

First, cut off the straps of your flip flops. Remove the plugs from the bottom of the soles. Cut a whole leg off your tights and cut it in half lengthwise, and then in half again.

Step on your sole. Take one piece of leg (or T-shirt yarn, you can double or braid it if it's too thin) and wrap it around your ankle so that you're holding both ends in your hand. Tie a knot (or not, heh) a little above your toes, then push both ends into the hole in the sole between your toes. Also push them through a washer (it has to be pretty tight) and tie a knot so that the washer sits on the bottom of the sole and prevents the knot from slipping out.

Then, take another piece of leg and thread it from the bottom up through one of the side holes of the sole. Guide it over your foot (instep), and down through the other side hole. Tie both ends together tightly at the bottom of the sole, or you could also use washers like between your toes. IMPORTANT: Make sure that the straps are sufficiently tight/loose before tying. Repeat with the other sole.

I currently have two pairs, a black one and a tan one. The tan pair was made from much thinner tights that I tripled up and braided. I've worn both extensively over the last month or so and either pair has yet to fall apart.

My dream is to one day have a barefoot pair. I've only ever used already made (non barefoot) soles, but I would probably use a couple thin layers of vegan leather for the barefoot sole, or I'd crochet it with thin cord and a small crochet hook. This would also allow me to sew the straps onto the soles, thus avoiding the knot bumps and making a sturdier shoe.