All my laundry is dry already, I'm getting it in a bit at a time because reaching up is one of those things that affects me. Saw two butterflies, a bird having a bath, and had to tell off a wasp for prowling around on our swan plant. Mandarin tree is in flower and it smells beautiful.

Really anxious about the near future. Trying to live in the moment though.

[–] Dave 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is it too late to plant swan plants for the season? Can you get ones that you can just transplant in? I've been meaning to plant one for the kids but never got around to it.

Have you got major changes happening in the near future? I always appreciate your outlook on life, it helps to remind me to appreciate the here and now.

[–] liv 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I don't know too much about that side of it, they mostly self-seed and I try to protect the seedlings where I can, and the person whose place this is chops them down when they annoy them. I think the plants are in garden centres right now though - this NZ Moths and Butterflies Trust page can probably tell you more than I can. Their website has heaps of great tips and tricks!

Longer term, I recommend getting South American milkweed as well (on trademe) for next year. It's very pretty and nice.

Thanks for saying that, it's kind of you. I made a resolution when I came to the fediverse that I was finally going to stop larping online as a healthy employed person with a proper life, so it's felt a bit strange and vulnerable just being honest/my real self.

The election result will bring changes for me. National has promised to do something that will make me become progressively poorer over time, and institutional changes will follow for health and welfare. Luckily I'm a bit less impaired than I was last time this happened, though, so might be able to cope a bit better. And we still have so much in this country. Fresh water comes out of taps in our homes!

[–] Dave 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

this NZ Moths and Butterflies Trust page can probably tell you more than I can. Their website has heaps of great tips and tricks!

Thanks, I feel like I know less now than before I read that page! I had assumed you just plant a plant and then you get butterflies and everything is happy. When I'm feeling better I'll check out the local garden centres and see what they have.

Longer term, I recommend getting South American milkweed as well (on trademe) for next year. It’s very pretty and nice.

Thanks for the suggestion! I might need to do some research on conditions it likes to grow in, we don't have all that much space to grow things outside of our veggie garden, so will need to choose carefully if I want to grow a big patch.

Thanks for saying that, it’s kind of you. I made a resolution when I came to the fediverse that I was finally going to stop larping online as a healthy employed person with a proper life, so it’s felt a bit strange and vulnerable just being honest/my real self.

It's important for us to remember that everyone is going through something. I think it's great to share honestly, because it encourages others to do the same, and reminds us that we aren't the only one going through something. Hopefully it encourages others to share honestly as well.

The election result will bring changes for me. National has promised to do something that will make me become progressively poorer over time, and institutional changes will follow for health and welfare. Luckily I’m a bit less impaired than I was last time this happened, though, so might be able to cope a bit better. And we still have so much in this country. Fresh water comes out of taps in our homes!

I am interested to see what changes come from this election. Hopefully you won't be impacted too badly, but time will tell. You're right, we are pretty lucky to live in a country where drinking water comes out of a tap. We should appreciate what we have, it's nice that we have you to remind us of these things 🙂.

[–] liv 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

:-) I need someone else to remind me at the moment. It's going to be challenging from a mental health perspective, to go back into that downward slide against cost of living when our starting point is already so low.

But, one thing time has taught me is it's important to enjoy what we do have while we still have it. So many things I took for granted I would love to have again. I miss dancing to music without any consequences, or running through the rain to avoid getting wet and sheltering under a tree. Those ordinary moments that are so alive. Anyway, I'm rambling. Hope your throat feels better soon!

P.S with the swan plants don't sweat it, just buy some and the butterflies will come. If you get too many caterpillars they can eat pumpkin and moth vine when they get really big.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I need someone else to remind me at the moment. It’s going to be challenging from a mental health perspective, to go back into that downward slide against cost of living when our starting point is already so low.

Part of living in the moment may be to not fret until it happens! Plan and prepare for it if you can, but if you can't then it's out of your control and not something to worry about (I know it's easier to say than do).

Those ordinary moments that are so alive.

They are! But it's nice to see you can still find pleasure in your new normal.

Hope your throat feels better soon!

Me too! It hurts so bad, I can't remember the last time I had a sore throat this bad. I tried a salt gargle, it may or may not have had much impact, it's hard to tell. Nothing much seems to work for long.

P.S with the swan plants don’t sweat it, just buy some and the butterflies will come.

Thanks, will do!

[–] liv 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Thanks for the advice, I think you're right.

If you have someone who can go to the supermarket for you, that strepsils anaesthetic throat spray is quite good. It's expensive but it lasts a long time.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is exactly what I got! But only this morning, so it helped but my throat was already feeling a little better.

It did work wonders though, but I started noticing the pain again after an hour and it's one spray per three hours maximum. I'm not doing too badly today though.

[–] liv 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Glad you got it! I thought it was 2-3 sprays... hmm might have to rethink that particular one of my life choices ha ha!

Ok what else... an old fashioned doctor made me gargle with crushed up aspirin once, that seemed to work.... or there's always liquorice tea... really hope you're looking after yourself and not trying to push through too hard. Hopefully you're past the worst of it!

[–] Dave 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You know what, I just rechecked the box. It says "Spray twice directly onto the sore/inflamed area and swallow gently. Repeat every three hours as necessary, up to a maximum of 6 times in 24 hours".

As I read it, I think that's 12 sprays in 24 hours, so you're probably fine.

I feel like I'm past the worst of it, but that might be the drugs talking 🙂

[–] liv 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yay! Glad you're feeling a bit better!

Just thought of another one, gargling with water that has a bit of betadine/iodine in it. Tastes horrible but helps stop the throat germs from getting any further.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have an iodine based throat gargle, and yes tastes horrible is right.

My throat isn't so bad today, a bit scratchy but I haven't needed anything for my throat so far. I haven't tried eating yet though 😆

I have a smorgasbord of cold drugs now and the interesting thing about them is how many of them say they are antibacterial or other claims like that, then have disclaimers that say there's no evidence that it helps the severity or duration of colds. No matter, I'm only trying to treat symptoms anyway.

[–] liv 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Now's your excuse to eat tons of icecream!!

I think people are trying to avoid getting a bacterial sinus or throat infection on top of the cold?

That said antibacterial everything is flavour of the month these days and it's kind of dumb. We're meant to have bacteria, if you kill it all you're in big trouble.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hey I'm way ahead of you on the ice cream!

And with regard to "antibacterial", in most cases it's just alcohol. I presume they put it there as a preservative or something then marketing gets involves and suddenly it's a selling point.

[–] liv 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Probably. Re: marketing bandwagons, I once saw some iceblocks labelled "gluten free"... which is kind of a given in iceblocks.

[–] Dave 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You also regularly see 99% fat free on lollies made of 99% sugar.

And "made in NZ" (or wherever) can quite often be used in a way that barely counts. e.g. if you're looking for bacon with pigs grown in NZ (with our stricter animal welfare laws), it can be near impossible. Go to your supermarket and you'll find almost all the bacon is "made in NZ", but almost all of it is only brined in NZ, the meat is from cage-grow, pigs raised overseas.

Buy electronics made in South Korea or Taiwan, and they were propably just assembled from Chinese parts.

And don't even get me started on italian slave tomatoes.

I'd love for NZ to have food labelling like Australia does. "Made in Australia from 95% Australian ingredients" tells you a lot about what standards it adheres to, what conditions staff worked under, and how far the food travelled to reach us.

[–] liv 2 points 1 year ago

Argh yes the fat free lollies!!! Especially if it's gummy snakes or something... I should hope there's no fat in there! And the "lite" heart tick stuff that has compensated for its low fat status by being weirdly high in sugar.

I read a thing that said the more processed your food is, the more likely there is to be slavery involved somewhere in the ingredients. Which sucks because the processed/preserved slavery stuff is often much more affordable.

I agree, better labelling would really improve our ability to make better choices.