Peony Morte
As our own peonies are a long, long way from blooming and my wife is incredibly impatient - she went and bought a few from the shop. They don't last too long cut, but these ones started off a midrange pink, turned peach and now are almost a white, as they are coming to the end of their cut-short life in a vase. They are still pretty though, so until the petals are falling, they can keep on evolving.
We are all evolving.
Slowly.
I was talking to the psychologist for what was our last session today, and mentioned how I have been trying to get over my fear of power tools, by diving in and learning about them. And, like I mentioned the other week about how men and women have culturally changed but might not have the developed the correct tools to support each other - if we don't know how to use the tools we have to solve the problems we need to fix, then the tool is useless to us.
Having a shed full of equipment doesn't make a handyman.
And I am no handyman.
Nor do I have a shed full of tools. But, I am going to start building my arsenal slowly and as I get each piece, I am going to get used to using them and practice until I can do at least the basics with them. I have been having a lot of fun with the mitre saw, though I am still trying to get more accurate with the angled cuts. Overall though, it has been surprisingly easy to get into and I can see myself going a little "cut crazy" and building lots of random things that will hopefully last more than one season.
I am looking forward to having a garden to sit and enjoy this summer.
I am cutting wooden edging for the garden beds to hold the mulch back and keep the grass out, and I am hoping that we can plant the rest of the grass on the weekend so that in six weeks or so, it will be ready for when my wife and daughter are on their summer vacations and we are able to spend time out there, grilling and enjoying the weather, and killing mosquitoes.
There is still a tonne to do before that can happen, though I know that it is an ongoing job that will continue forever. But, I want to get the plants into the flower beds at least, to give them a chance to establish some roots before the winter comes around and kills them off.
They need to grow too.
I don't know about you, but I have many ups and downs of late, where occasionally I feel everything is going to work out alright, but mostly I think it is going to be a continual struggle from here on out. I try to remind myself that day to day doesn't matter as much as the overall trend, and I try and zoom out, but that trend line doesn't look to great either. So, sometimes I just have to focus on the details in front of me.
And I have a macro lens for that.
Taraz
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Those pictures turned out beautiful! Especially the first one, with the blinding light coming from one side, tuning out the petals on that side.
The third one is my second favorite, the lighting makes it special, so many layers.
About the rest - I always tell my daughter that "no master has yet fallen from the sky", a German proverb. She gets frustrated quickly and sometimes doesn't realize all the progress she already made. This week we're working on writing and spelling, and she's learning very quickly. But as soon as she's stuck, she wants to throw everything away, immediately stops to focus, making it worse, and then gets a little dramatic over it. Fortunately, a little hug and breathing slowly calms her down, and suddenly she realizes that she knew the answer.
Sometimes, we're all just little children, which is fine I guess. My tantrums are different now. Rants about politics and society and everything going wrong is my refuge, when I need a break from that exhausting introspective work. I wish it was gardening, though, sounds much more productive. I hope you'll get those beds done, and have some home-grown peonies, soon.
I like that one also.
Now this sounds familiar!! My daughter does it very much like this - and so do I! ;D
I think we need a better outlet for life frustration. Hopefully gardening will help me, but I am not sure it is enough. What do you think would be better for you?
I do most of the things that are a good outlet. More social life might help, working on that. Gardening, too, but I just can't get into a routine there. Maybe I have to put it on our week planer, a gardening day for me. I already to quite a bit of exercise.
Writing does help, though. And I don't have to be productive in everything I do. So I'll just keep on with that - the bonus is that it helps another outlet, the playful one, the game.
I hate power tools but it's a sensory thing as much as a "fear of getting bits chopped off" thing XD Noises that I consider "too loud" (which are perfectly fine for everyone else apparently) really hurt and vibrations annoy me.
I am actually in the worst possible job for me but it's a really, really fun job
I think this is normal but this conclusion is drawn from a statistically insignificant sample size of me and the very small amount of people I actively talk to.
Would rooting hormone and a pot work for those flowers? XD
The photos came out nice at least :)
I reckon Smallsteps might have a bit of this in her. She has always had sensitive hearing and shied away from anything loud.
I am guessing "rooting hormone" isn't what I imagine it to be....
Poor thing x_x I mean it's not bad by any stretch but can occasionally be inconvenient like when you want to go out with your friends and they happen to like clubbing or pubbing. Just make sure she can filter out background noise otherwise you may have another problem on your hands :D which is again more slightly inconvenient than a serious problem (at least for me because I don't like going out much anyway).
I can take a wild guess what you were imaginign rooting hormone to be XP it's a gel or powder that you put on the end of a cutting and then stick it into potting mix and it encourages the cutting to put out roots and grow into a full on plant.
Beautiful photos.
OH MY GOD, what kind of Australian man are you? No wonder you live in Finland! For the shame!
Just joking you know.
My Mum loves power tools. She's 75 and we had to beg her not to get a chainsaw. When Dad died she went and bought a heap of things that she wanted like a hedge trimmer.
Thank god I've got Jamie to use powertools. Chainsaws and angle grinders terrify me.
I love the juxtaposition of flowers and power tools here - a flowerpower post, perhaps!
You think that's bad.... I also don't drink beer.
I have a little electric chainsaw, which I used while renovating. It scared me too. Angle grinder? What is that for!!! ;D
It is very cool your mum is into it - Keeps her young and more independent. And she can always start hunting people in Belanglo State Forest.
You should check out the Thermacells if you can get them there. They are great for the mosquitoes. We have several we keep at home and take camping. I know a bit of your fear. I've been so hyped for this cycle and crypto in general that it is going to change my life. Then I think what if it doesn't? What if the rest of my life is saving to take the occasional big trip and life pretty similar to how it is now. Am I okay with that? It's not a bad life, I shouldn't be disappointed in "average".
I will look into them. I have always been sceptical as to what works!
The fear is very, very real. Average is fine - but is below average enough?
My wife is allergic to mosquito bites and she swears by ours. My buddy has a cabin up in the deep woods and he keeps one under each bed at night while they are sleeping. I feel they are decently effective. I don't think below average would be enough. At least not mentally.
Foto foto yang indah :)
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My wife said she will sell the lilies from our garden this summer. An extra $10 once a week is a nice bonus to the beauty of our garden. With that money you can buy 2.5 kg of marinated pork for the barbecue in our garden.
Lilies smell great! So does barbecued pork! :D
You have turned being unemployed into an opportunity, improving your home developing yourself for such stuffs. I have been doing so since pandemic, and there is still much to do :)
One day, I hope I can show pictures of a pretty garden - rather than a patch of dirt :)
Our neighbors have peonies and they are starting to flower, they will be in full bloom within a week for sure.
Beautiful pictures of the peonies that your wife bought.
they are great bushes in flower, though not quite as pretty the rest of the season. Still, they are green and lush.
In the basement we have a few electrical tools. I think that I only used the drill. There is also angle grinder(?) and some other tool I think.
I enjoy cutting grass but I don't really like most of earth related works. Our favorite neighbor is different- she spends entire days outside.
Maybe you could start using them in combination with your art and sculpt something?
You should help her from time to time. Just for the community of it.
that seems like an interesting idea. I do help her sometimes.
Beautiful macro Shots dear friend
!DIY