#Dog bathing gloves online

[anipgarden]

Things to Do that Aren't Related to Growing Plants

This is my second post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps! 

Some of us just don’t have much luck when it comes to growing plants. Some of us simply want to aim for other ways to help that don’t involve putting on gardening gloves. Maybe you've already got a garden, but you want to do more. No problem! There’s a couple of options you can look into that’ll help attract wildlife in your area without even having to bring out any shovels!

Provide a Water Source

Oftentimes when I see ‘add a water source’ in informational articles about improving your backyard for wildlife, it’s almost always followed by an image of a gorgeous backyard pond with a waterfall and rock lining that looks expensive to set up, difficult to maintain, and overall just… not feasible for me. Arguably, not feasible for a lot of people. And that’s okay! There’s still ways to add water in your garden for all kinds of creatures to enjoy!

There’s tons of ways to create watering stations for insects like bees and butterflies. A self refilling dog bowl can work wonders! Add some stones into the receiving tray for insects to land on or use to climb out, and you’ve got a wonderful drinking spot for all kinds of insects! You can also fill a saucer or other dish with small stones and fill it, though it’ll likely need refilling daily or even several times a day during hot times. 

I've seen people online use all kinds of things to make water features. Some go with terra-cotta pots, pebbles, and a cheap pump to get a small and simple fountain. Others use old tires, clay, and a hole in the ground to create an in-ground mini pond system. If all else fails, even a bucket or watertight box with a few plants in it can do the trick--though do be wary of mosquitoes if the water isn’t moving. In situations like these, a solar-powered fountain pump or bubbler are great for keeping the water moving while still making it a drinking option for wildlife (it not even more appealing for some)--and these items can be obtained fairly cheap online!

Bird baths are an option as well--a classic way to provide for birds in your area, they can be easy to find online or in a gardening store! The only downside is that a good, quality bird bath can be pricey up-front. However, a nice stone bird bath should last a long time, be easy to clean and refill, and be enjoyed by many birds! I’ve also seen tutorials on how to make your own with quickcrete! Bird baths will be a welcome sight to birds, as they provide a space for them to drink and bathe to regulate the oils in their feathers for flight and insulation. Putting a stone in the middle will also help insects to escape if they fall in, and provide a place to perch so they can get their own drink. You’ll want to change the water and clean the baths regularly--as often as once a week, if you can manage it.

If possible, it’s highly encouraged to fill and refill water features with rainwater instead of tap water. Tap water is often treated, so instead of using hoses or indoor kitchen water, collecting some rainwater is a great alternative. Collecting rainwater can be as simple as leaving cups, bins, or pots outside for awhile.

Butterflies and other creatures will also drink from mud puddles. If you can maintain an area of damp soil mixed with a small amount of salt or wood ash, this can be fantastic for them! Some plants also excel at storing water within their leaves and flowers (bromeliads come to mind), making them an excellent habitat for amphibians as well as a drinking spot for insects and birds.

Bird Feeders and Bird Houses

Some of the fancy, decorated bird feeders are expensive, but others can be pretty low-cost--I got my bird feeder from Lowe’s for around 10 dollars, and a big bag of birdseed was around another 10 dollars and has lasted several refills! If you don’t mind occasionally buying more birdseed, a single birdfeeder can do a lot to attract and support local birds! If you’re handy, have some spare wood, and have or can borrow some tools, you may even be able to find instructions online to make your own feeder. You may not even need wood to do so! Even hummingbird feeders, I’ve found, are quick to attract them, as long as you keep them stocked up on fresh sugar water in the spring and summer!

An important note with bird feeders is that you have to make sure you can clean them regularly. Otherwise, they may become a vector for disease, and we want to avoid causing harm whenever possible. Also keep an ear out and track if there’s known outbreaks of bird diseases in your area. If local birding societies and scientists are advising you take your birdfeeders down for awhile, by all means, do it!

Bird houses are naturally paired with bird feeders as biodiversity promoters for backyard spaces, and it makes sense. Having bird houses suited to birds in your area promotes them to breed, raise their young, disperse seeds, and generally engage in your surrounding environment. Setting them up takes careful selection or construction, preparation, and some patience, but sooner or later you might get some little homemakers! Keep in mind, you will need to clean your birdhouses at least once a year (if not once per brood) to make sure they’re ready and safe for birds year after year--you wouldn’t want to promote disease and parasites, after all. But they could be a valuable option for your landscape, whether you purchase one or construct your own! 

Again, do make sure you're putting up the right kind of boxes for the right kinds of birds. Bluebird boxes are some I see sold most commonly, but in my area I believe they're not even all that common--a nesting box for cardinals or chickadees would be far more likely to see success here! And some birds don't even nest in boxes--robins and some other birds are more likely to use a nesting shelf, instead! Research what birds live in your area, take note of any you see around already, and pick a few target species to make homes for!

Solitary Bee Houses

A bee house or bee hotel is a fantastic way to support the solitary bees in your area! For a few dollars and some annual cleaning, you can buy a solitary bee house from most big box nurseries. Alternatively, you can make one at home, with an array of materials you may already have lying around! You can even make them so that they’ll benefit all kinds of insects, and not necessarily just bees.

Though you don’t even necessarily have to break out the hammer and nails, buy a ton of bricks, or borrow a staple gun. Making homes for tunneling bees can be as simple as drilling holes in a log and erecting it, or drilling holes in stumps and dead trees on your property. You might even attract some woodpeckers by doing this!

Providing Nesting Area

There are tons of different kinds of bees, and they all make different kinds of homes for themselves. Not all of them make big cavity hives like honey bees, or will utilize a solitary bee house. Bumblebees live in social hives underground, particularly in abandoned holes made by rodents--some others nest in abandoned bird nests, or cavities like hollow logs, spaces between rocks, compost piles, or unoccupied birdhouses. Borer, Ground, and Miner bees dig into bare, dry soil to create their nests. Sparsely-vegetated patches of soil in well-drained areas are great places to find them making their nests, so providing a similar habitat somewhere in the garden can encourage them to come! I do talk later in this document about mulching bare soil in a garden--however, leaving soil in sunny areas and south-facing slopes bare provides optimal ground nesting habitat. Some species prefer to nest at the base of plants, or loose sandy soil, or smooth-packed and flat bare ground. They’ve also been known to take advantage of soil piles, knocked over tree roots, wheel ruts in farm roads, baseball diamonds and golf course sand traps. You can create nesting ground by digging ditches or creating nesting mounds in well-drained, open, sunny areas with sandy or silty soil. However, artificially constructed ground nests may only have limited success. 

Providing Alternative Pollinator Foods

Nectar and pollen aren’t the only foods sought out by some pollinators! Some species of butterflies are known to flock to overripe fruit or honey water, so setting these out can be an excellent way to provide food to wildlife. You may want to be cautious about how you set these out, otherwise it can help other wildlife, like ants or raccoons. Butterflies may also drop by to visit a sponge in a dish of lightly salted water. 

Bat Houses and Boxes

Big or small, whether they support five bats or five hundred, making bat boxes and supporting local bats is a great way to boost biodiversity! Not only will they eat mosquitoes and other pest species, but you may also be able to use the guano (bat droppings) as fertilizer! Do be careful if you choose to do that though--I’ve never had the opportunity to, so do some research into how strong it is and use it accordingly.

Provide Passageway Points

If you want your area to be more accessible for creatures that can’t fly or climb fences, allowing or creating access points can be an excellent way to give them a way in and out. Holes in the bottom of walls or fences can be sheltered with plants to allow animals through. 

In a somewhat similar manner, if you’re adding a water fixture, it’s important to provide animals a way to get into and out of the pond--no way in, and they can’t use the water. No way out, and they may drown. Creating a naturalistic ramp out of wood beams or sticks, or stepped platforms out of bricks, stones, or logs can do the trick. 

Get or Keep Logs and Brush Piles

I’ve already mentioned logs a good handful of times so far in this post. To be used as access ramps, or as nesting areas for solitary bees. But they have value as much more than that! Logs on the ground provide shelter for all kinds of animals, especially depending on size--anything from mice, reptiles, and amphibians to things like turkey vultures and bears will use fallen logs as shelter. Inside of a decaying log, there’s a lot of humidity, so amphibians are big fans of them--meanwhile, the upper sides of them can be used as sunning platforms by things like lizards. Other animals can also use the insides of logs as nest sites and hiding places from predators too big to fit inside. Fungi, spiders, beetles, termites, ants, grubs, worms, snails, slugs, and likely much more can be found inside rotting logs, using the rotting wood as food sources or nesting places. They can then provide food for mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. They can also be regarded as a landmark or territory marker as wildlife get more familiar with your space.

So how do you get logs for cheap? Try Chip Drop! I talk about them more in a future post, but you can mark saying that you’d like logs in your drop, so they’ll give you any they have! In fact, you may even get a drop faster if you're willing to accept some logs. You may also be able to approach arborists you see working in your area and ask for logs. There may also be local online listings for people selling logs for cheap, or just trying to get rid of them. If there’s land development going on near you, you may be able to snag logs from trees they cut down to make space. Do keep in mind, you don’t need to have huge gigantic logs laying around your property to make an impact--even small logs can help a lot.

If possible, creating and leaving brush piles on the edge of your property can be a great boost to biodiversity--even if you may not see the wildlife using it. They’ll provide shelter from weather and predators, and lower portions are cool and shady for creatures to avoid the hot sun. The upper layers can be used as perch sites and nest sites for song birds, while lower layers are resting sites for amphibians and reptiles, and escape sites for many mammals. As the material decays, they also attract insects, and as such they’ll attract insect-eating animals too. As more small animals find refuse in your brush pile, their predators will be attracted to them as well. Owls, hawks, foxes, and coyotes are known to visit brush piles to hunt. Making a brush pile can be as simple as piling branches and leaves into a mound, as big or as small as you want. You can even use tree stumps or old fence posts near the base, and keep stacking on plant trimmings and fallen branches. Do note that you don’t want to do this near anything like a fire pit.

Don't forget, with all of these, your mileage may vary for any variation of reasons, so don't worry if you can't take all of even any of these actions! Even just talking about them with other people may inspire someone else to put out a bat box, or leave a few logs out for wildlife!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to get seeds and plants as cheaply as possible. For now, I hope this advice helps! Feel free to reply with any questions, success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

[holylulusworld]

Christmas Together

Summary: You share your first Christmas with Clark.

Pairing: Clark Kent x fem!Reader

Warnings: shy reader, Christmas fluff, fluff, mentions of sex

Catch up here: Alone again - Naturally, Not alone any longer & Together alone

Six months after your last encounter with Lois, you feel—you can’t even describe how you feel. At least, not with a single word. Free. Happy. Valued. Desired. Loved.

The first time you made love, Clark was almost shy.

Both of you touch-starved, you spend hours with kisses and exploring each other’s bodies before he sinks into you. He was gentle yet passionate.

The moment you scratched his back and begged him to make you his, Clark became possessive. He didn’t stop until you came for a third time and passed out on him.

From that night on, you never slept without Clark by your side. When he asked you only three weeks later to move in with him, you didn’t hesitate. You didn’t know why, but you felt like you belonged for the first time in your life.

Clark had this large farm, waiting for you to bring life to it. His mother moved away years back, too sad about the loss of her beloved husband.

It wasn’t too complicated for him to fly back to Metropolis in the blink of an eye to be on time for work. Your boss at the online magazine didn’t care where you were working from. A stable internet connection and your laptop were all you needed to keep your job.

In only a few months, you made a home out of the deserted place. A dog and a cat joined your and Clark’s life soon after you moved into the farmhouse.

Clark named the dog Krypto, and you named the cat Streaky. You chuckled at your choice, but you kind of liked that their names were extraordinary like your boyfriend's.

“Krypto, how about we go for a walk?” You call for your dog. You’re done with work this week. Clark is still in Metropolis, working on an important article. “We can decorate the house some more later. Clark wants to get the tree with us.”

Krypto barks at the cat before pouncing on you to lick your face. He jumps up at you, licking and kissing your face.

“Krypto, no,” you giggle and laugh. “We can cuddle later. You need to go for a walk. No more peeing into the kitchen.”

Krypto whines. Somehow, he understands that he did something wrong. “Aw, it’s alright. You are still a puppy. Let’s go outside before it gets colder again. We don’t want you to freeze, puppy.”

“Cold, cold,” you whine as your teeth shatter. Krypto ran off, and you had to chase him through the snow. Now you feel like a living popsicle and barely feel your feet and hands. “So cold…”

“Blossom?” You want to get up when you hear Clark enter the house, but you’re too cold. Wrapping the blanket tighter around your body, you snuggle with Krypto and Streaky in front of the fireplace in the living room. “Y/N, are you alright?”

A swoosh of air makes you shudder. You’re used to Clark appearing next to you out of nowhere. He looks at you and sits in front of the fireplace. “What happened?”

“Krypto ran, and I had to chase him. It’s cold outside,” you whine. “Really cold, Clarkie. We should never leave the house in winter.”

He laughs at your words but crouches down to kiss your cheek. “What about the tree we wanted to get?”

“Uh—it’s so cold,” you murmur. “Can we not get it later? Much later. After we had hot tea and an even hotter bath?”

“How about you wear your warmest clothes and watch me get one from the front porch? It won’t take me long, and we can decorate it tomorrow. Together.”

Reluctantly, you get up. Before you can protest, you are in his arms, and his lips are on yours. “Hey there, Blossom.” He purrs against your lips before running upstairs with you. You giggle the whole way. “How was your day?”

“It was good,” you cup his face and kiss him again. “So, which tree do you want to get? Will you simply fly to Metropolis and buy one?”

“It’s a surprise,” he pecks your lips before putting you back on your feet. “Get dressed, and don’t forget the scarf and hand gloves. I want you to watch me.”

“Clark—what?” You gasp loudly. It’s nothing new to you that Clark is fast, strong, and can fly. But he just ripped a huge tree out of the ground. He flies toward you, the tree in his arms, as you cannot fathom that this man wants to be your boyfriend.

“I promised you the largest and most beautiful tree.” He gracefully lands on the front porch to show you the tree.

“Clark, there are roots on it,” you laugh while pointing at the roots. “We can’t put the tree up like this.”

“No problem.” He easily maneuvers the tree. Clark puts it on the ground as you watch him with curiosity. He uses his laser eye beam to cut the roots off, making you gasp. His powers are even more impressive up close. “All good. Now we can put it up.”

“It’s so pretty.” You jump at Clark and wrap your arms around him. “This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”

Clark nods against you. He feels the same. It’s going to be the best Christmas because he can spend it with you and the secret you’re carrying under your heart. The one you do not know about yet…

[jessicawhiteblog]

The Benefits of Pet Grooming Supplies for Pampered Paws and Shiny Coats.

Grooming our pets is important for more than just their appearance; it also helps keep them in good physical and mental shape. Pet grooming tools have come a long way since its introduction, and now owners can give their animals a fresh new look while also reaping many other advantages. In this piece, we'll look at how using pet grooming tools may improve your pet's quality of life and how you can help them live longer, healthier lives.

Pets need to be groomed on a regular basis to keep them clean and healthy. Grooming products, such shampoos, conditioners, and brushes, are used to clean the coat and remove excess oils and grime that can cause matting and skin problems. Bathing your pet has several purposes, including keeping them smelling good and protecting them from skin diseases and irritations. Cat travel carrier is indeed the best.  

Long-haired breeds are more likely to experience discomfort and anguish from matting and tangling, therefore it's important to take preventative measures. Dog travel carrier has the finest results. Detangling sprays, slicker brushes, and dematting tools are just some of the grooming items that may make the grooming process easier on both the pet and the owner.

It promotes skin and coat health by dispersing natural oils and increasing blood flow to the skin. A healthy, glossy coat is a sign of a happy pet, and this is what you'll see if you invest in grooming products that reduce shedding and promote good coat health. Pet grooming supplies online will always be available.

Grooming sessions provide an excellent opportunity for pet owners to spend quality time with their animals. Pet grooming supplies have affordable prices. Grooming strengthens the connection between pet and owner by creating a positive link between touch and caring.

Pet hair is a constant annoyance, especially for those who suffer from allergies or who just want to keep their living area tidy. Grooming gear like deshedding shears and gloves can help keep stray fur from spreading around the house. Dog grooming equipment for sale is the best.

You may do a thorough physical examination of your pet during grooming sessions and catch any problems early on. Changes in the skin's condition, tumors, or other symptoms of sickness that may require immediate veterinarian treatment can all be seen with regular brushing. Best pet hair removal tools will help you.

Showing off your pet's unique personality may be accomplished by using grooming equipment to accessorize and style your animal companion in imaginative ways. You are able to offer your pet a one-of-a-kind and amusing new look with the help of grooming accessories, which can range from colorful ribbons to extravagant costumes. Car pet hair removal is a good choice.

Conclusion

Grooming products for pets aren't just for show; they're an integral part of providing a healthy, happy life. Pet hair removal tool has been excellent. Grooming is important for more than just how you look; it also improves your health, comfort, and mental and emotional state. Cat food and water dispenser has been outstanding. When pet owners take use of the wide variety of grooming tools at their disposal, they help their pets live longer, healthier lives and strengthen the link between themselves and their loving animal friends. Cat vest harness is used widely.

[palmcoast23]

Tips For Better Ticks & Fleas Control

We know that the summer is all about making sure your pets are happy, healthy, and well-fed. However, it's also important to make sure that ticks and fleas don't end up infecting your dog or cat. Ticks and fleas can cause a lot of problems for both animals and humans, so it's a good idea to take steps to keep them away from your home. Here are some tips for better tick & fleas control:

Clean the Yard Regularly

Cleaning the yard regularly is an essential part of ticks and fleas control. The goal is to remove debris that may harbor ticks or fleas, and to reduce the chances of them finding a host nearby.

In addition to raking leaves, grasses, and other small pieces of organic matter from your lawn, you should use a leaf blower to blow away any remaining debris. If you have any dead animals in your yard (such as birds), it's important that you remove them! They are another source of food for these pests (and their flea eggs).

When cleaning yourself up after doing this work outdoors--or even just before going outside--make sure that you're wearing gloves along with long pants (not shorts) so as not get bitten by an infected insect while working on your lawn maintenance tasks!

Use Flea & Tick Shampoos for Pets

Shampooing your pet can be a great way to bond and help them stay healthy. Ticks and fleas are not only annoying, but they can also transmit diseases like Lyme disease or plague. You may have heard that ticks are more likely to attach themselves onto dogs than cats because of the shape of their fur; however, this is not true! Both dogs and cats should be regularly bathed in order to reduce ticks on their bodies.

There are several types of flea & tick shampoos available at pet stores or online--they vary in strength, so make sure you choose one that works best for your animal's needs (some are meant specifically for puppies).

Check Pets for Ticks Daily

The best way to keep ticks and fleas under control is to check your pets daily for signs of these parasites. Ticks can be found anywhere on a pet, but they tend to congregate around the ears, armpits, groin area and tail base. If you're not sure where to look for ticks on your dog or cat (and we don't blame you--there are so many places!), ask us at [insert name of pet store here]! We'll show you exactly where these nasty little buggers like to hide out so that next time around when it comes time for another checkup session with Dr. Whiskers (or whatever professional animal groomer/trainer/veterinarian works best with your budget), there won't be any surprises waiting in store...like finding out that one of those pesky critters has been sucking blood from Fluffy's skin all day long!

Keep Dogs Indoors While Vaccinating Them In Early Spring or Summer

If you're planning to vaccinate your dog or cat against ticks and fleas, it's important to keep them indoors until they are fully vaccinated. This will help prevent them from being exposed to any infected insects that may be present in your yard or garden area at the time of vaccination. Vaccination is not 100% effective, so it's best to avoid bringing newly vaccinated pets into contact with other pets until their new immunity has become established (this can take up to two weeks).

Get Your Pet a Flea & Tick Collar (And Apply it Every Three Months)

You can also protect your dog or cat with a flea and tick collar. These collars are very effective at preventing ticks and fleas, but they must be worn every three months in order to be effective. Flea & Tick collars are convenient because they do not need to be applied daily like topical treatments do, so you don't have to worry about remembering when it was last used. They're also safe for pets as long as you make sure that your pet doesn't chew on the collar while wearing it (if he does, this could cause an intestinal blockage).

If you have questions about how often your pet should wear his/her flea & tick collar or if there are any side effects associated with wearing one at all times - talk with your veterinarian!

It's important to keep your yard and pets healthy.

It's important to keep your yard clean and free of debris. This makes it easier for you to spot ticks or fleas, which can be picked up by your pet as they play outside.

If possible, keep pets indoors while they are being vaccinated against these diseases. If this isn't an option for you, then make sure that any outdoor trips are brief in nature so that if a tick does attach itself to them it won't have enough time to transmit any diseases through its saliva before being removed from their coat by grooming or bathing later on.

Use natural flea/tick repellents such as citronella oil sprays around doors and windows where insects tend to hang out (such as basements) so that if any get inside the house they'll be deterred from staying long enough for them to bite someone else! It may also help prevent some cases where people were bitten when sleeping because these pests tend not only feed off animals but humans too (usually children).

Palm Coast Pest Control provides tick control, ticks control jupiter Fl and mosquito protection services. We can help you maintain a pest-free environment for your home and property, or eradicate pests completely.

Palm Coast Pest Control is here to keep your family and home safe from pests. We offer customized tick control treatment plans, using environmentally friendly products to make sure that your home or business is clear of pests.

Palm Coast Pest Control 801 Maplewood Dr Suite 15, Jupiter, FL 33458, United States (561) 575-4005 https://palmcoastpestcontrol.com/

[delomopet-blog]

How to Show Your Love to Your Fur Babies This Valentine’s Day

Valentine's Day is a special occasion to show love to the people you care about, including your furry friends. If you're a pet owner, you know how much joy and happiness your pets bring into your life, and it's important to give them the love and attention they deserve. Here are some creative ways to show your love to your fur babies this Valentine's Day.

Treat them a massage-like grooming: Groominng is a simple way to show love to our furry babies. As the pet grooming glove glides through their fur, pets relax and let out contented sighs, relishing the attention being lavished upon them. The physical touch helps stimulate blood circulation and distribute natural oils throughout their coat, leaving them feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Grooming is an enjoyable activity for pets and a great way for owners to show their love and care for their beloved companion.

Give them a spa day: Give your pets a relaxing spa day by giving them a bath and grooming. Using a pet hair remover or a dog hair remover can help get rid of any tangles and knots in their fur, leaving them feeling refreshed and pampered. A pet hair removal tool can also be used to remove loose hairs, making your pet's coat look shiny and healthy.

Treat them to special treats: Buy your pets some special treats that they can enjoy on Valentine's Day. You can find a variety of gourmet treats at your local pet store or online. Choose treats that are healthy and made from high-quality ingredients to show your pet how much you care about their well-being.

Spend quality time with them: Take your pets for a walk or have a playdate with them. Spending quality time with your pets can help strengthen your bond and show them how much you love them. Play with your pet, give them lots of cuddles, and take them on an adventure to their favorite park or hiking trail.

Buy them a new toy: Pets love new toys, and they can help keep them entertained and mentally stimulated. Look for toys that are interactive and encourage them to use their natural instincts. A new toy can be a great way to show your pet that you are thinking about them and care about their happiness.

Give them a cozy bed: Give your pets a cozy bed to sleep in. They will appreciate a comfortable place to rest and will associate it with the love you show them. A comfortable bed can also help improve the quality of their sleep and keep them feeling well-rested and energized.

Take them on a special outing: Take your pets on a special outing, such as visiting a pet-friendly café or beach. This can be a fun and unique way to spend quality time with your pet and show them how much you care.

In conclusion, there are many ways to show your love to your fur babies this Valentine's Day. To show your love for your furry friend on Valentine's Day, consider investing in a best pet hair remover from Delomo. From the pet hair roller to the pet grooming gloves, Delomo offers a variety of options to help keep your pet looking and feeling their best.

[dogscaresdotin]

Top 4 Best Dog bathing gloves On Amazon India 2021 Price and Specifications

Best Dog bathing gloves On Amazon India 2021 Price and Specifications #doggloves #dogbathinggloves #dogglovesonline

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[jamesnodess]

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[poison--ivory]

Haikyuu! Domestic Life (Captains/ Reader) Quirks

WARNING: NSFW

*This is my first headcanon and I just wanted to mix haikyuu and bnha. I hope you enjoy* (Don’t own the picture found it on pinterest)

Daichi, Kuroo, Oikawa, Futakuchi, Bokuto, Ushijima and Kita

Daichi- Telekinesis

-In a world full of quirks rules, Daichi follows each one of those rules even when he's by himself. -But, he does make some exceptions. Like when he's by himself and too tired from practice, he'll use his quirk to levitate whatever he needs from the other room. -Daichi bends the rule a bit when the first years get out of hand, throwing a volleyball at full speed hitting Kageyama and Tsukishima at the same time. Quickly deactivating it when Mr. Takeda glances over. -When the both of you started dating he used his quirk more frequently. When he first asked you out he used his quirk to grab your school bag and lead you to  an empty gym. The only person in there was a nervous Daichi and a floating banner that read: Will you go out with me? -Later in your relationship you'll notice Daichi doing small things for you with the assistance of his power. -For instance, when it's really windy he'll turn on his quirk to hold the ends of your skirt down. On one occasion you wore a cute skirt on one of your dates and a guy passing by decided to stop right behind you and tried to lift it up only to have his hand thrown to the side by an unknown source.  When you did look behind you all you saw was a lady hitting a man with her purse and a small crowd forming around them. -Since he's any average teen he has normal hormones. This causes his quirk to go off anytime he's aroused. You gave him a handy once and next thing you knew the bed was floating. As he finally climaxed the bed fell down and made a loud thump against the floor.   -His younger siblings came knocking on the door and Daichi had to calmly explain to them that he wasn't killing you.

Kuroo- Plasma

-Kuroo on the other hand wouldn't care all that much about quirk rules, but holds out because his quirk is a bit more dangerous than most.

-If he tried to explain his quirk to someone he'll go all into the science of his abilities. But, if he's talking to people like Hinata or Lev he'll dial it down a smidge.

-His quirk in simple terms is like kai blast in DBZ. When he told Bokuto and Hinata this they non stop did kamehameha for a half hour.

-When he asked you out it was in the middle of lunch time. He gradually brought up the topic of relationships and once you were in depth with his questions he popped his initial question.

-Since his quirk is more in the danger zone , so he'll go through extra steps to keep you safe. Like buying quirk protection gloves online with money his dad gave him. 

-Hand holding was a lot nicer and more comfortable once the gloves were in the equation.

-Much like Daichi, he had problems controlling his quirk in intimate situations. 

-Burned his sheets after getting a blowjob, so glad he settled or the bed spread instead of your head.

Oikawa- Shapeshift

-Oikawa broke the rules literally all the time and the only reason he wasn't caught most of the time is, because he planned out when and where he used his power.

-If someone left a certain class at a certain time, he would change his appearance to that specific person.

-The only people who have ever caught him are Iwaizumi and his sister on multiple occasions.

-When he first met you he decided to get to know you through Iwaizumi, literally.  He learned all he needed to know about you and even added some good quips about himself. 

-It started out quite well, but soon back fired when Hajime ran into you and him. Which caused a big rift between you and him for a really long time.

-Iwaizumi himself mended the issues between the two teens. Later, in life he would be the mediator for all your falling outs.

-Oikawa, not like the other two, can control his shapeshifting ability when aroused. Even changes into other people midway in a makeout session to scare you.

-On the downside he can't seem to handle climaxing well. A very confused Oikawa wonders why you're staring at him with a weird face. Not until he looks into the mirror that he sees, Matsukawa’s face staring back at him.

Futakuchi- Stitches

-Futakuchi is someone who would break a rule and go all the way around the subject to throw off as much blame as possible.

-His quirk isn’t all that special to him, but others would find it pretty useful or cool. Sometimes when he’s really irritated with his teammates he stitches their feet to the ground. He gets detention and has to spend it cleaning the gym floors by himself.

-He accidentally stitched your feet to the ground when you first met. It was mostly Koganegawa fault for moving out of the way and you so happened to be standing right behind him. Tripping you fell out of your shoes and flat on your face.

-Aone nudged him forward in order to apologize and ever since then you both kept talking with each other. Even skipping out on the guys to eat with you on the rooftop.

- Little dates here and there before he had the courage to officially ask you out. Giving you small gifts in between class periods that he hand crafts in each class.

-He’s all talk, especially in bed. This man’s quirk went off when your hand brushed up against his bulge. Took a while to release yourself from his thread, it takes a week before he could even look you in the eye again.

-He settled with giving you oral instead, he loves the expressions on your face when you moan for more.

Bokuto- Soaring Parliament

-To be quite honest he followed the quirk rules pretty well, until he starts thinking too hard on a topic and completely forgets. 

-He takes pride in his volleyball skills and quirk usage. Whenever he said his quirk name out loud he never could associate it with his owl wings. Until Akaashi explained to him that a parliament is a group of owls and his wings look like they had three owl faces on each wing.

-Bokuto knew you since you were on the girl’s volleyball team, a libero. One day they let the both of the teams practice together and he had zero to no filter on asking you out. Even if you were in the back row and were receiving balls.

-Any where you went he held your hand, walking to class, lunch or going home together. There was no time or place anyone at Fukurodani didn’t see you two hanging off each other.

-Down feathers are found scattered around his room and if you're lucky enough his mom might show you his baby photos. His baby photos consist of him smiling in each picture in cute little outfits.

-Making out was usually slow and sensual, but sometimes it can get pretty sloppy when he’s heated. Like when he came back from summer training and hastily kissed and pinned your small frame to the bed.

-His wing size is pretty big for a horned owl and they pop out whenever you guys indulge in sexual favors. Riding him requires him to sit up since his bed is next to the wall and his wings get really uncomfortable.

Ushijima- Nature Speaker

-Ushijima follows the rules without even knowing he was doing it. Kind of forgetful when it comes to quirk rules.

-His quirk described by his mother is the Greek twins, Flora and Fauna. He calls it like it is a nature speaker, someone who can get on a speaking level of the non human language.

-Scared his dad one day when he saw his son talking to the neighbors cat.

-That’s kind of how you two met when your dog came running up to him. You were so scared that might hurt him, but soon calmed down when your dog sat himself down in front of the tall man. They had a long staring contest before your dog slowly trotted back over to you with the man.

-On closer inspection you recognized the man from school and he was much taller when presented in front of you.

-Ushijima unraveled to you that your dog wasn’t feeling good. He gave you directions to a vet that was actually pretty good at handling their animals.

-You two met again through Tendou(he was playing matchmaker) he left you both in the library. You would be surprised how much you and Ushijima got along. 

-He uses his quirk whenever you guys wanna have fun, like at the park and two birds are hoping around each other. He tells you that the bread crumbs on the ground taste like absolute shit. 

-Eyes widened when he actually cursed.

- Fingering was always rough on your end, until you vocalized why he should prepare you first before just sticking them in.

-His quirk doesn’t really act up when he engages in sex, but he did come pretty early when you gave him head one time.

Kita- Aura

-Kita has never broken a quirk law, he believes it brings more bad habits later on in life. 

-His quirk manifested at an early age of 4, he just thought everyone had the same vision as himself. Until he asked his grandma why the clerk at the store always had dark red surrounding them. Turns out the guy had issues with his manager, he never got the full story.

-It explains why he can read people so easily, but like Ushijima he has no filter when he talks to someone and just gives the full truth.

-He’s in the same class as you and takes a really close notice when your aura changes from whatever color you just had to light pastel pink. It only happened when you were around him.

-He wasn’t stupid, so he decided to ask you out between classes. After that you two were always seen together before and after classes. Aran had to ask one of his classmates to walk home with him, so he wouldn’t feel like a third wheel

-His quirk never acted up whenever he had sex with you, even when he was balls deep inside your pussy.

-Kita is a caring lover in and out of bed, even goes the extra steps of carrying you to the bathroom to take a bath.

[darkdoelette]

Coquette/faunlet quarentine things to do

Hey guys. We all know that being in self isolation can be boring/scary/etc. I was looking forward to another Summer in NYC and hoping I could get a new apartment and now it might not even matter. I’m bummed about it (and scared for personal reasons). But while we’re in this together, here’s a list of doelet/coquette stuff to do at home. I’ll be listing some movies/games/books, songs/leave some YouTube playlists/etc down below.

•Watch movies

•Listen to music, especially if it’s in a record player.

•Give yourself a manicure/pedicure.

•Heck, make it a whole at home spa day.

•Play video games.

•Light some candles.

•Redecorate your room.

•Do some online shopping.

•Put up some fairy lights.

•Eat some candy.

•Build a pillow and blanket fort.

•Workout.

•Do some baking.

•Watch themed YouTube playlists

•Drink some beverages.

•Blow bubble gums

•Heck, blow bubbles. Just clean up when you’re done.

•Decorate hand sanitizer bottles

•Try out new hairstyles.

•Try our new makeup looks.

•Build stuff with legos.

•Learn some new dances

•Put on fuzzy socks.

•Make your own ice cream.

•Watch YouTube playlists

•Paint

•Make your own candles.

•Try those cool diy projects you watch YouTube videos on (but be careful, some are dangerous).

•Dance.

•Stretch

•Color

•Learn a new language.

•Polish your shoes.

•Sing.

•Practice your pronunciation.

•Thank health care workers and other essential workers.

•Order food. Make sure you clean the packaging before you touch it without gloves (don’t use the gloves to touch the packaging and then the food) and TIP TIP TIIIIIP.

•Take a bubble bath.

•Write songs

•Learn how to play an instrument.

•Call someone.

•Try out new outfits

•Order Chinese takeout because Chinese American businesses especially are suffering right now.

Outside stuff-REMEMBER TO STAY A MINIMUM OF SIX FEET APART! Stay home as much as possible.

•If you have a pool in your backyard, go swimming.

•If you have a garden-plant some stuff. Especially food.

•Decorate your face mask for those trips to the grocery store

•Play hop scotch

•Jumprope

•Go for a hike

•Walk a dog

•Donate food to essential workers-especially people in the medical field.

•Take a SECLUDED walk 6 FEET APART on the beach. Try to stay away from the boardwalk.

•Go grocery shopping at an Asian food market. Again food markets tend to be stocked up more due to the racism they are facing at this time especially. If I may recommend stuff, Japan always has such awesome snacks and Indian food is great for vegetarians like myself.

Overall, just please be safe. Remember that people are loosing their loved ones to this virus partially due to the selfishness and denial of people who want to go out without masks and throw parties.

[theherooftime00]

Hello guys, gals and non-binary pals. My name is Link. I am not here to take away your space to express yourself. I am not here to attack anyone. I simply want to shine a small amount of light on a dark situation. Here are 146 things you can do instead of something potentially harmful.

1.  Exercise.

2.  Put on fake tattoos.

3.  Draw on yourself with washable red marker-then take a shower and wash away your pain.

4. Scribble on sheets of paper.

5.  Write poetry.

6.  Cuddle with a stuffed toy.

7.  Be with other people.

8.  Watch a favorite TV show.

9.  Post on web boards or try answering other people's posts.

10, Think about how "I DON'T WANT SCARS FOR SUMMER!!"

11.  Paint your nails a new color.

12.  Go out to see a movie.

13.  Eating something you can't resist.

14. Do your school work.

15.  Write a letter to someone but never send it.

16. Go into chat rooms to talk.

17.  Call a friend and ask them to come hang out.

18.  Play a musical instrument.

19.  Sing.

20.  Look up at the sky, and  find the moon.  Study it.

21.  Make your own list of things to do instead of S.I.

22.  Buy a punching  bag (with gloves) Name it.  Then, have a visit with Bob when you need to.

23.  Snap a rubber band  (hair band) on your wrist.

24.  Cover yourself with band-aids where you want to cut.

25.  Go to the zoo and rename the animals.

26.  Let yourself cry, even if it is hard.

27.  Sleep,  only if you are tired.

28.  Do the exact opposite of what you really want to do.

29.  Play with a pet.

30.  Smile to at least 5 people.

31.  Re-organize and label your linen closet.

32.  Go out and perform one act of kindness.

33. Have a pillow fight with a wall.

34.  Knit a scarf.

35.  Read a good book.

36. Dress up very glamorous, with makeup to match.

37.  Color your hair.

38.  Listen to music (non-triggering)

39.  Watch a candle burn, but no playing with flames or hot wax.   Blow it out when you leave the room.

40.  Find someone else you can help.  Do volunteer work.

41.  Meditate.  Track your breathing.

42.  Call up an old friend and catch up.

43.  Work on a website or start a new one.

44.  Have a vivid fantasy love affair with a celebrity.

45.  Go somewhere very public.

46.  Bake cookies or another favorite food you like.

​47.  Alphabetize your CD's.

48.  Chew gum.

49.  Buy a henna tattoo kit.

50.  Paint or draw.

51. Rip paper into really small pieces.

52.  Give someone a Hug.

53.  Write a  letters or emails.

54.  Talk to yourself, and put it on tape.

55. Hug a pillow.

56.  Hyper-focus on something like a rock.

57.  Finger-paint.

58.  Scream as loud as you want.

59.  Dance.

60.  Make hot chocolate.

61.  Pop bubble wrap.

62.  Play with play dough.

63.  Count to 100.

64.  Build a pillow fort.

65.  Blow up a balloon and pop it.

66.  Hug yourself.

67.  Write yourself an "I love myself because" letter and keep it.  Read it when you feel down.

68.  Read things in a different language.

69.  Go for a nice long drive, walk, or jog.

70.  Complete something you have been putting off.

71.  Drink a cup of herbal tea.

72.  Fold paper and invent a new origami shape.

73.  Write your memoirs.

74.  Build something.

75.  Take up archery.  

76.  Go rock climbing.

77.  Take up a new hobby you always dreamed of.

78.  Organize bills, receipts, etc.

79.  Cook a meal.

80.  Go out for ice cream.

81.  Buy a stuffed animal.

82.  Look at pretty things-like flowers or art work.

83.  Create something.

84.  Pray or read the Bible.

85.  Throw socks against the wall.

86.  Make a list of blessings in your life.

87.  Go to a friend's house and open up.

88.  Take up fencing.

89.  Watch an old comedy movie.

90.  Call your therapist or make an appointment with one.

91.  Talk to someone close to you that you trust.

92.  Throw a temper tantrum.

93.  Ride a bicycle.

94.  Polish silver or jewelry.

95,  Start a garden or water your house plants.

96.  Re-arrange a room.

97.  Feed the ducks, birds, or squirrels.

98.  Draw on the walls-or paint with watercolors if you don't want permanence.

99. Play with face paint.

100.  Play jacks or pick up sticks.

101. Color with crayons.

​102.  Memorize a song and sing it.  Then, reflect on it's message.

103.  Put on boots and stomp.

104.  Stretch.

105.  Find a butterfly  and catch it.

106.  Watch fish.

107.  Come up with baby names even if you aren't expecting.

108.  Go to a public place and people watch.

109.  Make a CD of your favorite songs.

110.  Name all of your stuffed animals.

111.  Go shopping.

112.  Get into your PJ's and just veg.

113.  Buy cheap teddy bears and take your anger out on them

114.  Throw everything on the ground except glass.

115.  Go to a loud concert (Make sure it doesn't trigger you)

116.  Think about your ideal life.  What do you have to do to get there?

117.  Plan your someday wedding day or upcoming prom.

118.  Hunt for stuff on Ebay or Amazon

119.  Alphabetize your books and magazines.

120.  Hunt for your perfect home in the paper or online.

121.  Take up Tai Chi.

122.  Try to make as many words as possible out of your full name.

123.  Count ceiling tiles or lights.

124.  Go to the grocery store and buy yourself some flowers.

125.  Search for ridiculous things on the web.

126.  Google yourself.

127.  Color co-ordinate your wardrobe.

128.  Do a home tan on yourself.

129.  Take a hot bath and "be" in the moment.

130.  Sort all you photographs.

131.  Give yourself a pedicure.

132.  Color or scribble over pretty women in magazines.

133.  Plan a dinner party with menus and guest list, then carry it out.

134.  Go through all your old stuff, and donate to Good Will.

135.  Take a walk in the woods and breathe the fresh air.

136.  Start a mood journal and write in it every day.  Do patterns surface?  Track your triggers.

137.  Buy yourself some toys and play like you are 5 years old again!

138.  Start to collect some thing.

139.  Take up kick-boxing.

140.  Read a magazine or newspaper.

141.  Sew something.

142.  Buy a stuffed animal.

143.  Take your own dog, or a friend's dog for a walk.

144.  Call 1-800-DONT CUT

145.  Call 1-800-THERAPIST

146.  Read through this list again.

[abubaasblog]

All about dogs: dog care

If you're going to groom your dog, go to online pet and pet supply stores and ask for some basic grooming tools.

If your dog is short haired, a curry brush / comb or curry brush is fine. Long-haired dogs need a softer brush, a pin brush and, if they shed, a hair rake. You also get parting tools and blades that make it easy to remove loose hair.

You may also need a flea comb to detect fleas, especially if you've been around other dogs. Your pet store has all kinds of flea remedies.

Start brushing your dog from the earliest age possible so that he really gets used to it. If you have an older dog who is not used to brushing, be very gentle and sensitive with him. Let him know your dog grooming tools before you even touch him with them. Cherish and reward him constantly.

Even if your dog goes to a doghouse to get groomed, you need to get him used to the process before he is handled by strangers.

True short-haired dogs may not need to be brushed more than once a month, unless they end up in mud or a very dirty environment. Long-haired dogs generally need to be brushed every week. If your long-haired dog spends a lot of time in your home, he may even want to brush him daily to prevent hair loss on his carpets.

Brush a little every day and before you know it, you will love the experience. Many dogs get excited and jump expectantly when you pull out their grooming tools.

You will also need clothing, paper towels, and cotton to clean your eyes, ears, and anal areas. You can go to YouTube or your local pet store to find out how to remove the anal glands. This must be done otherwise it can cause constipation and discomfort and even infection.

If your dog hasn't developed plaque in years, you can clean it up yourself with a toothbrush and toothpaste, wipes, or a dog brush glove specially developed for dogs. Most dogs prefer toothbrush wipes or glove to put a brush in their mouth.

If not, take him to a vet to have him cleaned the first time. After that, you should be able to clean them yourself. It is estimated that up to 80% of dogs have tooth decay and gum disease.

A great way to avoid this is to give your dog a special dog bone. My dogs just bury them! But if you dip them well in a tasty sauce and then freeze them, they will chew well! Some people give their dogs frozen large bones, but be careful, even large bones can crumble and cause blockages. Really huge ostrich bones are available in some countries.

You have to trim his nails and you need a dog nail clipper. If you take your dog for long walks regularly, you may not need to trim his nails. Paved or asphalt roads, in particular, keep the nails nice and short. If you cut them, try taking too little instead of too much until you have more experience.

Note that if the dog's nails are allowed to grow long, the quick or live part will appear to lengthen as well. So cut a little each week until they are normal length.

If you have very matted hair, it may be necessary to cut the thick mats with dull scissors.

When bathing your dog, use a special dog shampoo and, if possible, a dog dryer. Common hair dryers can cause burns, so be careful when using them. Dogs have to get used to this gradually as most dogs hate them at first. When it's hot, a towel is enough.

Be careful though, dogs tend to look for the dirtiest spot to eat a sandwich after a bath. I like to take my dog ​​for a long walk so he can dry off well and forget to roll.

[generouslyrainy-blog]

Short Stories you could read

During the lockdown, we can best spend time reading if we are not engaged in something else. In this short piece, I provide a glimpse of five great short stories freely available online. A well-told short story gives a magical experience. Some writers, like Julio Cortázar and Jorge Luis Borges, put a novel-worthy content in less than 15 to 20 pages, all with the sheer power of their language. Others, like Hemingway and Raymond Carver, show us how carefully chosen style, controlled sentimentality, and crisp, straightforward narrative transform the brutalities of existence and life into literary masterpieces. The authors I refer to here are but a small sample from a vast sea of exquisitely talented short story writers. These are some of my favorite ones.

Why read short stories?

Churchill said a speech should be like a woman's skirt — long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to arouse curiosity. That is what short stories are like: neither too long nor too short.

 Are you someone inclined to reading nonfiction and have little time for novels but still want to know what a good work of fiction is like? You have short stories. The aesthetics, craft, variety, and subjects found in the novel are present in short stories. Check out the following stories. They are amazing.

1. Symbols and Signs by Vladimir Nabokov

This story is about an elderly Jewish couple who visits their mentally ill son who, after an attempted suicide, is in a hospital. On their way back home, the father plans to remove the son from the hospital. The story quickly slides into an anxious mood when their phone rings ceaselessly, making the old couple anxious about their son. The unfolding of the story creates layers of interpretations through which we see a Russian Jewish family.

God's prose, if we assume that God writes in English, would not be as beautiful as Nabokov's.

For the fourth time in as many years, they were confronted with the problem of what birthday present to take to a young man who was incurably deranged in his mind. Desires he had none. Man-made objects were to him either hives of evil, vibrant with a malignant activity that he alone could perceive, or gross comforts for which no use could be found in his abstract world. Continue here.

2. The Lady with the Little Dog by Anton Chekov

A married man away from home has a brief but passionate affair with a young woman. The affair has to end, as all such flings do. But the brief encounter has started something deeper, more permanent than they both would have expected. How can a brief fling sometimes greatly affect people? This story explores that theme. Vladimir Nabokov said this story is the greatest one to have been ever written and that he would take Checkov's work 'on a trip to another planet'.

IT was said that a new person had appeared on the sea-front: a lady with a little dog. Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov, who had by then been a fortnight at Yalta, and so was fairly at home there, had begun to take an interest in new arrivals. Sitting in Verney's pavilion, he saw, walking on the sea-front, a fair-haired young lady of medium height, wearing a béret; a white Pomeranian dog was running behind her. Continue here.

3. Chef’s House by Raymond Carver

I absolutely love this short piece by the master. Wes, a middle-aged man, living by the sea in a house he rented from a recovered alcoholic, Chef — is dealing with his own alcoholism. He and his wife Edna haven’t been together for two years and he calls her to be with him. She joins him and they have a happy summer together. Going fishing and all that. That happiness is short-lived, though. Chef tells them they have to leave by the end of the month because his daughter, who lost her husband in the sea, would move in. Wes takes it all very badly. The couple is at a metaphorical edge. What would happen to Wes — to Edna? What lay ahead is open to interpretation, but prospects aren’t all that good for Wes — he might trip over.

I remember reading somewhere that another writer, probably a Carver admirer (I find it hard for anybody to not be a Carver fan), started his novel where Carver’s short story ends.

This is a charming story. You should read it. I could not locate a free online version of the story, but you can listen to David Means reading Chef’s House at New Yorker Fiction Podcast.

4. Yesterday by Haruki Murakami

The Japanese author Haruki Murakami is a great master of the short story. Pick up any Murakami piece and you are in for a thrill of sorts. In all the exotic thrill of strange human relations or compulsions — as in Barn Burning where a man has a compulsion to burn down barns, Samsa in Love which an echo of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, and Kino, a curious story of an elderly heartbroken guy — Murakami shows us a mirror image of ourselves, our times, and the reality of which we are a part. A genius working on cosmopolitan themes, peppering his work with a liberal amount of Miles Davis and Beatles, he is a writer worth reading.

Yesterday is published in his collection Men without Women. Tanimura, a middle-aged man, remembers his friend from youth, an erratic guy who used to put Japanese lyrics in Kansai dialect to Beatles' Yesterday. Kitaru and Tanimura work in a coffee shop. Kitaru ­ — a weirdo of sorts — is dating Erika Kuritani, a vivacious and beautiful girl. In a curious turn of events, Kitaru asks Tanimura to go with his girlfriend. Tanimura does. Kitaru disappears. Murakami melds music, youth, love, time and its power over people, memory, and strangeness in one supremely crafted story.

As far as I know, the only person ever to put Japanese lyrics to the Beatles' song “Yesterday” (and to do so in the distinctive Kansai dialect, no less) was a guy named Kitaru. He used to belt out his own version when he was taking a bath. Continue here.

5. What is Remembered by Alice Munro

Alice Munro requires no introduction. Well, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her masterful stories deal with many themes of human interest, including memory, relationships, and growing up. In her stories, she studies memory as a potential force that dictates our actions.

In What is Remembered, a brief affair with a man lingers in a woman’s mind. Thirty years afterward, she remembers one more detail. By now, both the husband and lover have died. How does memory follow people? What effects does it have on us? What effect, speaking a little parochially, does an affair from youth have on our older, wizened selves?

The breathtaking charm of Munro’s prose style is another reason for you to read her work.

In a hotel room in Vancouver, Meriel as a young woman is putting on her short white summer gloves. She wears a beige linen dress and a flimsy white scarf over her hair. Dark hair, at that time. Continue here.

[travllingbunny]

Quarantine tag game

Thanks for tagging me, @sometimesrosy!

ARE YOU STAYING HOME FROM WORK/SCHOOL? I am staying home but not from work, because I work at home. Not just now, I always work at home, so there hasn’t been any change in that respect. The volume of work was the same as always during the last few weeks, too. I haven’t had any new work since Friday, so I’m enjoying a few days of rest, but I don’t know if this has anything to do with Corona. A few days of rest and no work has happened before. It will give me more time to clean my apartment.

IF YOU’RE STAYING HOME, WHO IS THERE WITH YOU? My two dogs and two cats. They are probably happy that they get even more time with me than usual. I think that some people don’t consider pets real company - probably people who don’t have pets - which I find funny. They are amazing company and I never feel lonely or bored. It’s never boring with them. Taking the dogs out two times a day, having to feed the cats 6-7 times a day or however often they start mewing and asking for food (especially the kitten - the young one is just 9 months old), having to stand guard to make sure dogs don’t steal cat food :D and all the petting and displays of affection.

ARE YOU A HOMEBODY? Not really? But I’m also not not a homebody? LOL Normally, I enjoy going out and meeting people; I have salsa classes two times a week, which are really fun; I go clubbing on weekends; and my favorites are the Language Cafe type events, which used to be up to 3 times a week before the Coronavirus situation started (these are events for people to meet and practice languages, where you can just come, choose the table with the language you want to practice, introduce yourself and join the conversation). I go to concerts, film festivals, public lectures/debates etc. 

But at the same time, I don’t mind staying at home, and I’ve had experience in having to stay for a week or two when I had a ton of work and tight deadlines. I talk to people a lot via phone, Viber, Whatsupp and social media, exchange memes and satirical articles about the current situation, etc. I’m online a lot, and I’m trying to finally catch up/check out some of the many TV shows, movies and books I have on my watchlist/readlist and do other stuff I never had enough time for.

AN EVENT THAT YOU WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT GOT CANCELLED? I don’t think it’s been officially cancelled yet (?), but I doubt that the Tindersticks concert in early May is gonna be happening. I had already bought the ticket so I hope it gets postponed. I’ve also bought a ticket for a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds concert in early June (it’s probably too optimistic to hope that will happen?) and a Pixies concert in early September (I don’t have to worry about that one, do I?)

WHAT MOVIES HAVE YOU WATCHED RECENTLY? Since the curfew started, I’ve watched just a few movies that happened to be on TV  - which were all very different, but I wasn’t impressed by any of them (Divergent, Ironclad, and Francis Ha). 

The last time I was in cinema was for the FEST film festival, which ended on 8 March, and I watched Jojo Rabbit on the closing night. I really loved it. Before that, at the same festival, I watched Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut, Blood Quantum (pretty good Canadian horror that’s a different take on the zombie epidemic genre, as it takes place in a First Nation reserve, most characters/actors are First Nation and it deals with social issues), Spanish period drama by Alejandro Amenabar  Mientras dure la guerra (During the War) about the Spanish Civil War and Miguel de Inamuno’s role in the events, The Lighthouse (really good, really dark psychological horror drama that can have a bunch of interpretations) and Dead Don’t Die (Jim Jarmush’s zombie comedy with some very on-the-nose social commentary).

WHAT SHOWS ARE YOU WATCHING? The list is pretty long! Some shows I’ve been watching on TV include: Peaky Blinders (really good!), Babylon Berlin (still in season 1), Penny Dreadful (I’m almost finished - I didn’t like season 1 that much but it got much better in seasons 2 and 3), Wynonna Earp (not great but it’s just a fun show with some cool actors/characters). I'm about to finish S1 of The Witcher and I want to rewatch it immediately to figure out the timelines. I’m finishing my rewatch of The 100 and I’m going to resume my rewatch of Agents of SHIELD (hopefully I can finish it by its premiere date, 27 May). Also watching Outlander season 5, Harley Quinn, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, need to catch up on Roswell: New Mexico, Prodigal Son and Stumptown and finish The Outsider, and have recently started The Plot Against America and Mindhunter (the latter because my best friend has recommended it). I’ve even checked out the pilot of Lucifer, which I may or may not continue soon, and I’m continuing with 12 Monkeys season 1. And I intend to check out Kingdom. Quite a mix of genres there.

WHAT MUSIC ARE YOU LISTENING TO? I haven’t listened to that much music lately as I used to, but my routine for putting myself to sleep is to turn on MTV Rocks (or the Rock Alternative radio channel) on my TV, in low volume, program the sleep function for 2 hours, and go to bed. It works like a charm. I always have trouble falling asleep in silence. 

Other than that, I’ve been listening to a lot of Haelos since I first discovered them when I heard their song “Alone” in season 6 of The 100, and I’ve listened to othe songs from The 100 and Tree Adams’ soundtrack for season 3.

WHAT ARE YOU READING? Before all this, I borrowed 3 books from the American Corner library: Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Beloved and Tea Obrecht’s The Tiger’s Wife.  I’m reading The Bluest Eye at the moment, but I’m also going to finally start reading GRRM’s Fire and Blood, which I had never found time for.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR SELF-CARE? The usual stuff I do - a bit of exercise, nurturing bath once a week, regular skin care. But last week, I also had to make an effort to relax and try to lower my level of stress and blood pressure, thanks to something that happened last Sunday. 

Rant incoming....If you don’t want to read about my bad experience with the police and idiotic government measures, stop now.

Namely, the idiotic government of my country has imposed “measures” which are supposed to be against the spread of Coronavirus but mostly don’t make any sense - they are constantly extending curfew and changing the time of it, and have changed the times when dog owners are allowed to walk their dogs. At one point, it seemed like there was no allowed time for that in the evening or afternoon. You had to listen to the news all the time (and listening to news and the President’s speeches is one of the things that annoys me the most) to figure these things out. And the weekend before last was their first experiment in an extra-long 3 day curfew, which I wasn’t even aware of, when they actually had the police patrol and arrest people for just walking on their own (or, in one case, a young farmer in his tractor - two days after the minister of agriculture said on TV that farmers would be exempt from the curfew - they changed it). So I got manhandled, put in handcuffs and taken to the station for walking my dogs all on my own, with no one else around (which is endangering people and helping the spread of Corona - how exactly??!) where i had to sit for 2 hours while a cop was writing stuff down from the records, and about 60 other cops walked right by me, 10 of whom didn’t have masks, while 3 had but pulled them up/down, then in a police car with 3 other people they picked up - who can’t sit any further than half a meter from you as there’s not enough room, then about 1.5 hours more at the court, with a bunch of other people (and everyone was sitting right next to each other - I was the only one who was like “Nope” and stood a couple of meters away from the others), where they passed the judgment that I have to pay a fine of almost 450 EUR - the amount that’s prescribed for everyone. (And in Serbia, that’s about 1.5 of the minimum wage. I can pay my bills for 3 months from that amount.) Turns out, they arrested some 700-800 people that weekend, so I guess they’re gonna extort a lot of money from the people - if all of them are able to pay it within 15 days (which I doubt. I can withdraw the money from the bank, but I don’t think everyone can). My temperature, pulse and probably blood pressure went up immediately and took an entire week to come down - due to stress, a lot of anger and fear - I had my mask and gloves, but that was still the most close contact and exposure to a lot of other people, much more than I’ve had in weeks. I yelled and ranted and told them that they’re the ones putting others and themselves in danger of contracting Corona, and they probably knew I was right, but it makes no difference -  President Vučić is either an idiot who actually thinks the virus is lurking outside in the air to jump at people, but only during the hours he decides, or, more likely, he doesn’t care, but is a wannabe dictator who likes to act self-important and playact at imposing “strict but necessary measures”.

/end rant. Sorry about that. But that’s why I bought a temperature meter and blood pressure meter, because I was having high temperature, heart palpitations and pressure in my chest, which hasn’t happened to me in a long time (I was also starting to feel PMS, which added to it and didn’t help, but is normally nowhere near as bad when I’m not stressed out) so I needed a lot of self-care last week - which included tranquilizers, but mostly trying my best to relax and feel better. And I’m finally well now and close to how I was before the whole arrest idiocy.

Tagging @jeanie205 @kizo2703 @weareagentsofnothing @turtle-paced @wolfheartgirl @theatre-steph @selflessbellamy @mytly4 @katersann @linzzmorgan100 @immortalpramheda @iishallbelieve @misskittyspuffy @marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer @justbecauseyoubelievesomething @angearia @ladyofthefrostfangs - I know some of you have already been tagged, I’m sorry if you’ve already done it but I haven’t seen it, in which case I’look for it on your blog. Sorry to everyone I didn’t tag, too. 

[twistednuns]

October 2020

To buttress - increase the strength of or justification for; reinforce / to mollycoddle - to give someone too much care or protection. 

A letter from Nina. One of those weird internet connections. Not my first one, certainly not my last one.

Frank’s DnD backstory reads quite insightful/poetic to me as he has taken so much from his life. He might have done it without intent but it’s quite obvious to me. I’ve agreed to make a character sketch for him. I’m looking forward to the challenge but I’m also afraid of starting the project because obviously I want it to be perfect. Anyway so the other night I sat at his kitchen table and started drawing a facial composite for his goliath. Lots of sketches actually with him giving me some prompts and ideas. I think he loved watching me do my magic. What a peaceful moment.

Applause from some students. Simply for entering the room. They must really hate their English teacher, eh?

I’ve started forming the habit of drawing tarot cards on a full moon and new moon night. It helps me set an intention for the following two weeks. So on the first of October I drew the Queen of Wands to represent me and I’m loving it. It’s the perfect choice.

The fabric dyeing process for the Plot exhibition at Haus der Kunst

Inviting warmth into my life. Wearing appropriately warm clothing. Even hats. Drinking tea all the time. Turning the heating on even though it’s only September. Warm breakfast. Ayurveda inspiration. Hot baths. Thinking about buying an electric heating blanket for my bed.So far I’ve been taking a hot water bottle to bed with me pretty much every night.

Finding one of those Barts woolly animal hats online. This one came with tigers. And the seller sent me a cherry marzipan teabag. I enjoyed it on a cold and rainy Saturday morning.

FAQ: The Status of the Shits Women Have Left to Give

Reading the final scenes of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy. I actually took the wrong bus one evening and ended up in front of one of the Pinakotheken instead of Villa Stuck. I must have been quite immersed. I’m very happy with the ending. I mean, the main character is walking around the house barefoot with the smell of fresh paint following her, her hair loose. What a wonderful image.

The wind blowing through the maple trees outside my living room window. I’m just going to quote a Wikipedia article to explain what happened next: The distinctive fruits are called samaras, “maple keys”, “helicopters”, “whirlybirds” or “polynoses”. These seeds occur in distinctive pairs each containing one seed enclosed in a “nutlet” attached to a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue. They are shaped to spin as they fall and to carry the seeds a considerable distance on the wind. People often call them “helicopters” due to the way that they spin as they fall. During World War II, the US Army developed a special airdrop supply carrier that could carry up to 65 pounds (29 kg) of supplies and was based on the maple seed.

Monsieur Wiener - I’ve paid him a visit when I had problems with my analogue Pentax camera!

I don’t know why but one dark Friday evening I slipped into the empty church at Odeonsplatz. I loved the peaceful atmosphere, the specific smell and the red church candles flickering.

I loved meeting Flo. We had such a great time, constantly joking, talking about this and that. Sailor Mercury, Hades, our family. His wink. He said that I had been exactly right but in the end apparently I wasn’t. It stung because he had been one of the rare guys in the last months (years, actually) I actually liked. Oh well. I guess it wasn’t meant to be after all. This is what the Universe had to say about it the other day: There are no accidents. If it’s appeared on your life’s radar, this is why: to teach you that dreams come true; to reveal that you have the power to fix what’s broken and heal what hurts; to catapult you beyond seeing with just your physical senses; and to lift the veils that have kept you from seeing that you’re already the person you dreamed you’d become.

Videos of Marno and Erin together. Also: she is so freakin’ beautiful as a marauder.

A surprise call from Ann-Katrin.

Sweet chai tea with milk.

The bright moonlight making the neighbours’ roof look like fish scales.

Forensic linguistics. I listened to a podcast episode about the Unabomber who was only discovered after his brother had noticed some stylistic irregularities in his manifesto. You can’t eat your cake and have it too.

Autumn leaves. Especially when it’s just the outer leaves turning red or yellow while the rest of the foliage is still green.

Sitting next to my ten-year-old student Ella on the bus on our way home on a Friday afternoon. She’s a very chatty Gemini and even though her self-importance and constant talking can be quite annoying I’ve kinda taken a liking to her.

A bunch of Alstroemeria in my dark green glass vase on the desk. A pretty image.

I still appreciate how beautiful my LuLuLemon thermos bottle is after all this time.

I should probably mention my new hair (extensions). Well, it looks absolutely gorgeous from the front. But I already know that I won’t get them again because you can see the glue in a few places, it’s quite hard, often painful and feels unnatural. And of course it’s much too expensive.

Baby carrots with King hummus.

My lunch dates with Becky.

Making my favourite sour thai curry. With rice noodles. And peanuts and cilantro. Yum.

Starting to work on a big soapstone sculpture. It’s going to be a hand! I love it when I have a group of calm students. It allows me to work on a project with them.

Making delicious pumpkin lasagna.

Visiting Manu’s mum. Making plum dumplings together. A fun afternoon in their kitchen.

A very cosy Sunday. Waking up at 5:30am. Watching Practical Magic in bed. Having a slice of pumpkin lasagna for breakfast. A sudden urge to get out, dressing up to keep out the cold, going out, early, streetlights still on. A walk through the woods. I loved how calm everything was. Being out before all the others had a chance to disturb the stillness with their kids and dogs and bicycles. Making lebkuchen. Lots of pecans. Having a nap. Writing a letter. Drawing weird mushrooms and bugs.

Autumnal smells. The moist smell of the forest ground, mushrooms, the smell of chimneys on a cold Sunday morning. Incense, gingerbread spices. Facial oil with lavender and iris. Roasted pecans.

A crafty day. I made a haunted house, some ghosts, spiders, bats, skulls and pumpkins out of paper.

Schlurp.

Meeting Frank in front of Residenztheater. The whole square was empty, he was the only person there. Waiting for me. Looking up to the opera roof. What an impressive building.

Talking about living life in story mode and action mode. I feel so stuck in action mode at the moment and desperately want to switch to story mode. Fantasy, magic, coincidences and meaning.

Spicy pumpkin recipes in the current issue of Schrot und Korn.

Rice and hazelnut milk as a bedtime treat.

Collecting autumn leaves. Chestnuts, acorns, feathers, beechnuts. Making a little autumnal alter with some crystals.

Thursday mornings. So much time for myself. Lots of tea, warm breakfast.

Treating myself to massages and nice facial creams and serums. Ya Yah is such a gifted person. I love her massages the most. The other day I also got a facial for the first time in many many years. It was nice to be wrapped in an extremely fluffy blanket. When the bright lights were on I could see different colours after closing my eyes and imagined being at a tropical beach. Unintentional ASMR sounds from the rubber gloves. Cosy.

Spicy winter tea in my new thermos bottle. The steam swirling up from my favourite mug (the moon phase mug I bough in Canada).

Buying cheap sparkly stickers, washi tape and stamps. Just because.

Pecan nuts are the BEST. Crazy delicious.

Porridge with coconut milk and mango for breakfast. Persimmons. Candles in the morning.

Gloomy twilight. The dark hour right before sunset/sunrise. Spooky black silhouettes against the ink blue or greyish white sky. Fairy lights. Memories of spending Halloween at Greyfriar’s Kirkyard in Edinburgh.

Finding yet another woolly hat for my collection. This time with pheasants.

Deltavenus’ Instagram feed.

Cutting open a fresh lime.

Happily singing along to my two favourite mantras (Jai Mata Kali / Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha) while making apple galette. Trying to harmonise in different ways.

A very surprising call from Claudia. She ended up in my kitchen, drinking half a bottle of wine.

A lovely Sunday with Sash. A walk through the English garden.   Watching the waterfall, falling leaves, backlit by the afternoon sunlight. Haus der Kunst. Getting in for free (art teacher bonus). I really liked the Michael Armitage exhibition and the enormous dyed curtains in the hall. Franz Erhard Walther’s Dust of Stars autobiography was impressive as well. I just ordered the book online; I’m looking forward to reading it. We also had a drink at Goldene Bar and enjoyed a late lunch at Baoz Bar.

Becky leaving me a lovely note and an English magazine on my desk.

Fink’s Knödelstube with Lena and Sash. We had 13 different kinds of dumplings. Heavenly delicious.

I came to realise that mornings are my favourite time of the day. I love gloomy, dark sunrises and my usual productivity highs.

Writing limericks with the kids.

Getting lost in the woods after dark which might not look like a good think at first glance but I uncovered a little secret - some bee hives I had never seen before!

A mild obsession with The Corrs’ song Old Town. I didn’t even know where it came from. It’s not a song I’ve ever actively listened to.

Learning about sesame plants. Another one of those plants I expected to look completely different.

I can smell mushrooms. On Saturday morning I went to the forest again early in the morning and whenever I would get a whiff of mushrooms and look down there they were.

Dog owners wishing me a good morning on my walk. Interestingly only men, the women tend to ignore me.

Wicked! - Modern Art’s Interest in the Occult. Learning about Leonora Carrington.

James’ chameleons in art class. He drew one representing each of his family members. He was the one licking a bat. Bold.

Buying far too many books. But I found out that Naomi Novik just published a new novel about a school of magic. And within two days I came across the writer Ursula K. Le Guin three times so I took it as a sign and got one of her books as well.

Prepare for the Roaring Twenties - The human desire to socialize will survive the pandemic.

A deep talk session with Jonathan about getting old, having children, self-worth, dating, obeying rules.

Finding my favourite pair of jeans on Kleiderkreisel for a fraction of the original price. And a baseball jacket with a Strange Ladies Society print on the back.

A walk in the forest before work. Something I’ve never done before I think. So good for my nerves, really.

The art of decision-making.

Joy praising me for my authoritative voice (effectively making the fifth-graders do what I want).

Decorating the classroom with the fifth-graders. I love my haunted house on the window pane, their lovely spiders, ghosts and bats. I should probably mention that our class mascot is a cute spider named Crawley so we’re all quite into spooky stuff. On the last day before the holidays we all showed up in costumes, played a Halloween quiz, listened to creepy music and I brought some candy, too. Fun!

Meeting the gang on Halloween. Japanese-inspired dinner and a board game.

[jamesnodess]

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[twopedalpushers]

Travel update #5

Ecuador

A lot of events have transpired since I last posted a blog update! I signed off my last post at the border between Colombia and Ecuador. There is a lot to get through and so without further ado, welcome to the fourth country of our travels so far - Ecuador. 

Normally at a border crossing the scenery subtly merged from one country to the next but upon arriving into El Ángel National Park at the Ecuadorian border, we were transported into another world. I don’t know how to describe El Ángel National Park as even the photos that I took are pale in comparison to the experience of being there. We were travelling through the park on a dirt track and there were frailjones (a specific type of Latin American sunflower) as far as the eye could see in every direction. We were the only souls along the entirety of this track and the only sounds were those of our tyres on the dirt. It was surreal. It felt like we were the only people on this strange, desolate new planet. 

We passed through a few different towns before we reached the famous Ottavalo Market. The market is known throughout South America for being the best place to buy alpaca wool goods handcrafted by the indigenous people of Ottavalo. The market was vast, bursting with piles of rugs, jumpers, gloves, hats, toys (to name a few) being sold by charming Ottovaleños. We both bought a jumper each and I’ve pretty much been living in it ever since. 

Probably the nicest thing about Ecuador is the amount of indigenous people wearing traditional dress. In Ecuador, 25% of people define themselves as indigenous - 22% more than in Colombia. More often than not in Ecuador, entire villages will be wearing their own cultural variation of the traditional dress. It was interesting to see how this changed as we crossed the country. Women in the North tended to wear long blue dresses, handmade blue sandals, a white blouse with an ornately embroidered belt. Men wore a blue poncho or shirt and a fedora. Once we travelled South, the women of the highlands now wore extremely bright coloured felt shawls held together with a brooch. They wore knee length bright skirts -usually in a contrasting colour to their shawl, wellington boots and a fedora. The men of the highlands wore striped ponchos and wellingtons. This was the first time I had ever seen so many people dressed traditionally throughout the entirely of a country and it was inspiring to see a culture so rich. 

The capital of Ecuador is in the North, so we reached Quito fairly early into our journey. Out of all of the Latin American capitals we had visited, Quito felt the most European. It had a really relaxed yet quiet and private vibe. People ran in the parks and took their dogs out for walks in the evening. It was extremely civilised but it seemed to lack the intensity, drama and disinhibition of cities in its neighbouring countries. 

The roads after Quito were beautiful. We were cycling through Ecuador’s Volcanic corridor, which took us around Cotopaxi Volcano and ended with the vast and breathtaking Quilatoa Lake. 

The scenery was spectacular but the cycling was becoming extremely difficult. The small roads that we usually cycled on were now cobbled instead of paved or dirt. We had to bump along up hills of extreme gradients. It was rainy season in Ecuador so we frequently found ourselves cycling in dense fog or rain all day. The dampness made cycling uphill on cobbles extremely slippery and dangerous to do, especially on a bike that weighed the same amount as I did! I found myself having to get off the saddle and push my bike up steep hill after steep hill, most of which only 4x4’s were able to drive up.

Ecuadorians seemed to prefer to build roads straight up the mountain rather than having the road switch back a few times to gradually take you up. Because of this, our progress became infuriatingly slow - down from 80km per day in Colombia to 40-50km in good weather. 

Ecuador took us to new heights. Most days we were at an altitude of 3000-4000m. Although thankfully neither of us got altitude sickness, doing such intense physical activity so far above sea level left me incredibly out of puff to the point that I would struggle to catch my breath. 

The picture painted of cycling through Ecuador online and on social media contrasted immensely with the reality of doing so. Cycle-touring blogs and Instagram accounts that I’ve been following whilst on the trip are endlessly positive highlight reels of what it’s like cycling on the best days. Nobody tells you that you will be woken up in the middle of the night with searing pain in your legs from the build up of lactic acid. Nobody tells you that on the worst day of your period you will be biking 2000m of elevation instead of running yourself a hot bath and stuffing your face with chocolate. 

After a while in Ecuador, I started to expect every day to be another bad day, which kickstarted a dangerous spiral of negativity. I would look at Max cycling ahead of me in the distance, conquering each hill much more easily and happily than I could, and I would wonder why I was not able to do the same. I was asking myself why on earth I was putting my mind and body through this every day. It was the first time on the trip that I truly missed home.

Ecuador uses the dollar and is much more expensive than Colombia. Because of this to save money we did a lot more camping than we usually would. However because of the persistent rain we found ourselves needing to camp under shelter, once taking refuge on a volleyball pitch next to the side of the road, other times in hostel courtyards. Not splashing out on a bed in a hostel very often meant that we were tackling the Andes on very little sleep for as long as ten days in a row without a break. 

This has been a pretty negative account (sorry!). However it was not totally miserable in Ecuador. On dry days, we got to camp in some of the most amazing, wild spots that have been better than anywhere else on the trip thus far. We spent time camping next to waterfalls and at the base of volcanoes. Between villages while cycling on dirt roads we were very often the only the people around. We saw lots of llamas and alpacas for the first time on the trip! 

However no amount of cute, fluffy llamas could make up for the difficulty of the cycling and unfortunately my morale was low. The strain of undertaking such an intense physical challenge and spending every minute of the day together began to take a toll on mine and Max’s relationship. We were exhausted and bickering with each other at every opportunity. I was falling out of love with the cycling and in the end we decided that it would be good to take a break from biking and spend some time apart. 

Max and his family were heading to visit him in the Galapagos for ten days, and although I was invited along too I decided to fly to Brazil instead. We were 5 months into the trip and halfway through our time on the continent so it felt like a good moment to rest our bodies and treat ourselves a little bit. 

Our cycle route down the Western side of South America doesn’t take us through Brazil and it has always been a country that I have wanted to visit. I booked my flights to Rio de Janeiro and found out a couple of days later that I was going to be there while it’s Carnival! I really needed to blow off some steam and now had the perfect opportunity to do so - it felt like the stars were aligning! 

So about a week ago, we both left our bikes behind and flew to completely different places. We are going to return to our bikes refreshed, rested and ready to take on the Peruvian section of the Andes! Other cyclists that we have met on this trip rave about Peru being one of the most beautiful countries to cycle through, so I’m pretty excited. More importantly others have said that Peru is far less steep than Ecuador because they thankfully build long, winding hairpins up the mountain at a gradual gradient when possible. Obviously, there will still be hills to climb but after a good rest I’ll be able to take them on with fresh legs and a positive attitude.

I landed in Rio de Janeiro a few days ago and Carnival is every bit as exciting, intense, raucous and dynamic as you would imagine it to be - just times by one hundred. I’ve been at some of the street parties (that seemingly have no start or end) for a few days now. I will save writing about my time in Brazil for my next update. 

Below I’ve posted the full video of our time cycling through Colombia. I’m in the process of putting together the Ecuador video and will upload it in a few days.

Here is the link to track our progress (although we won’t be cycling for a while so you won’t see a lot of progression!) 

http://share.garmin.com/DMB7R

Similarly to my previous post about reaching the end of Colombia, I thought I would write a list of all the interesting things that I noticed while travelling through Ecuador. Again, it’s lifted from my journal so it informally written.

Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream! For a country so cold it’s crazy to see how into ice cream the locals are. On every street there is an ice cream shop. In the North they cover ice cream in cheese (crazy combination I know...) I was intrigued by this but in the end I was too grossed out to give it a try. 

The possibility of taking a hot shower is back- for the first time on the entire trip! Ecuadorians mostly have warm showers, which is nice. They don’t have central heating in their buildings so they use propane tanks to heat their water. Every morning a truck selling gas canisters trawls around every neighbourhood, blaring a song sung by children with shrill voices. It’s the same song in every town we have visited. 

Ecuador has a strangely large amount of Chinese restaurants called “Chifas.”

They’re mad about topiary gardens. In the North every town square had shrubs with peoples faces and animals cut into them. 

Ecuadorians are very quiet, reserved, friendly and humble people.

A very large amount of people drive old school classic VW Beetles. It’s definitely the most common type of classic car you will see in Ecuador.