#helped mow and rake the yards was a LOT

[mer-se]

today was nice 🌞

[cazort]

In my neighborhood, people operate loud landscaping equipment for insane durations of time and it's hard to even talk to people about it. Like this is stuff I literally never experienced before around 2003-ish. I grew up on the edge of suburbs but no one used heavy, loud equipment like they do now, back then. It's a new thing, and it seems to be getting worse.

The worst are the gas-powered leafblowers with 2-stroke motors. They're loud (typically around 95dB but some seem even louder than this), typically there are teams with 2 people with them going at once, and they are dirty, releasing a lot of gasoline fumes. For comparison, 95 dB is similar to the noise of a motorcycle, dangerously close to the human pain threshold (110dB), and enough to cause permanent hearing loss with sustained exposure.

Today landscapers were going for 2 hours 45 minutes on a big lot right across from my house. Earlier this week, one day, another set of neighboring properties, there were 2 hours of such noise. The houses behind me, on a different day, 45 minutes of such noise. Add in the smaller stuff, other landscapers I had to listen to when going on a walk around the neighborhood which I do every day, sometimes a couple times a day, and I easily listened to 10 hours of this crap.

It's always during the main part of my workday too. I work from home. When the noise is going, I cannot record a video or audio because it interferes. Depending on how close it is, sometimes it's loud enough that I can't even hear my own music unless I crank it up uncomfortably loud, and I don't like loud music. I keep my music quiet so I can concentrate. And of course it makes it even more unpleasant to be outdoors, where the noise is even louder. During the warm part of the year, it makes it unpleasant to open the windows, which makes it harder to thermoregulate my home.

It's really frustrating and it has caused me to take a major hit to my productivity. And the thing is, it's every week, it's just some weeks that there is more of it than others. Like we're well into December and people are still blowing leaves. In spring they still blow. Then they blow whenever they mow. I hate it. It's basically year-round, perhaps a couple months break in January and February although I still occasionally hear it then.

I wrote to my city council person about it and after a back-and-forth (he has at least taken the time to read and respond to my messages), his reply was basically like: "I don't think I can help you because you're the only one who has complained about this issue."

And I'm like...Jesus fucking Christ I just don't know what to even say about this? Like just because only one person is affected by an issue doesn't mean it's not worth addressing. I don't understand why even any one of these people think it's acceptable to operate equipment as loud and dirty as this in a residential neighborhood.

And you know what makes the the angriest about all of this?

Each and every one of the neighbors doing this is more affluent than me. Like I don't know their internal finances, but they all have bigger, fancier houses than ours, all have fancier cars. They clearly could pay for people to take a little longer to do this stuff with rakes if they wanted to, and they'd be fine.

And the real kicker? I do my yard with rakes. I literally only use a rake and reel mower. No gas equipment. Not even any electric equipment, I do it ALL by hand. And it takes a reasonable amount of time. I literally do not impose on anyone in these ways. I make no noise like this. Ever. And I maintain our property just fine.

I literally don't understand this stuff.

And I try to talk about it with people and they look at me like I have five heads.

Seriously they need to be grateful to me that I have the self-restraint and commitment to nonviolence that I haven't murdered anyone yet. This noise is insane. And the gaslighting attitude I get when I try to talk to people about it, even more insane. This is literally the type of stuff that drives people to murder. I seriously do not understand, in our gun-happy society, why there aren't more cases of people just losing their cool walking out the door and putting a bunch of bullets into the people operating these blowers. Not saying that would be a good idea, I abhor violence. I'm just saying, I'm really surprised it hasn't happened, especially given the way this noise feels like a form a violence to me, an assault on my ears and on my mind, especially the way it is so loud and invasive, it comes INTO my home even when I'm at home with the windows closed. It is so loud inside my home that I sometimes cannot concentrate on my work.

Like a few weeks ago they were doing water main work and there was a jackhammer operating right in front of my window, breaking up concrete. And then landscapers started up, one lot over too, farther away than the jackhammer...and the landscaping equipment was literally louder than the jackhammer.

It is absolutely 100% batshit. I do not understand how anyone tolerates this.

[100dayproductivity]

72/100.

This morning's cup of coffee. I'm not sure why the daffodils are IN the cup of coffee but ok AI, lol.

Ok, the daffodils were really bugging me so I tried again. It had no problem with "English garden" (left) but really struggled with "tulip & daffodil garden". I don't think it understands the ampersand so I got rid of that. Finally got the image on the right but it really had to "think" about it. Much better than the first try though!

Anyho.

Yesterday's to-do list:

Mow the lawn

Process payments from clients that already paid!

More laundry

Pick up tomato sauce for tonight's supper. (I already had some in the pantry! Woot!)

Empty dishwasher

Clean cat litter

Scrub litter box I left out in the rain to soak

Put away laundry I washed yesterday

Order my kid's school photos

I did it! I actually scratched everything off my list yesterday!! It was mentally exhausting to stay focused and on track, though. This is why I'm beginning to wonder: do I have some form of ADHD? I'm convinced that my brother does (undiagnosed) and honestly would not be surprised if my sister does too (diagnosed bipolar). And my parents... well, my whole family just seem like people with a lot of ideas and interests but difficulty seeing anything through to completion. But also the ability to be hyper-focused on things that really interest them. I think some people thought my parents were "lazy" because our house was always a mess and neither worked a "regular" job but I think my parents were interesting and intelligent and always doing and learning.

Ok, enough about my childhood, here's today's to-do:

Pick up condolence card for friend that has lost a close relative

More laundry (bedsheets)

Pick up sandwich fixings for lunches

Take cat to vet

Clean up leaves in backyard

Vacuum upstairs hallway and stairs

About the leaves in the yard. Yes, I know it's already May, and I haven't cleaned up the yard yet?? HOWEVER. When I raked the lawn the other day, a big fat bumblebee came flying out from under there! Did you know bees hibernate (or get born, or whatever they do, I don't know, I'm not a bee expert) under the old winter pile of leaves? So it's best to hold off on raking in the spring if you want to help bees survive and flourish. And we want bees to survive and flourish. So I'm pretty pleased with myself for not having raked the leaves until two days ago, lol. Just doing my part to save the planet! 👍

I'm pretty sure I'm procrastinating now. I really want to drink more coffee, and then I'll get to it, I promise.

Good luck with today!

[jodilinbio]

In 1978, we moved from the newer side of Longmeadow to the older section. Although the house was much older, it was bigger and I liked it a lot better. It didn’t have much of a back or front yard, but that was okay since I was well past the days of playing outside on swings and in makeshift forts and tents. Besides, there weren’t any woods nearby anyway. All there was in the back was a hedge separating a small patch of grass from a small brick terrace. The front yard was similarly sparse. My dad could ditch his sit-down mower for a push-mower and leave the mowing to me. I didn’t mind; it was pretty much all I ever had for chores besides laundry, and keeping my own space neat and clean. I didn’t do any cooking—my only kitchen tasks were to set the table, clear it off afterward, load the dishwasher, and then empty it.

I received a weekly allowance of $10, which I’d spend on cigarettes. A carton of cigarettes cost around $5 when I started smoking and ended up being over $20 when I finally quit eighteen years later.

Unlike our first house, which was on a dead-end road, this house was on the corner of a busier street. It was also a two-story house with four bedrooms. My stereo and guinea pigs were set up in one part of the cellar where I’d hang out a lot.

When Nana Bella first came to live with us at the first house, she’d snitch on me for every little thing. But once she saw how my mom could be at times, she started feeling sorry for me, and we became closer. She even kept her mouth shut when I’d smoke. “Just don’t burn the house down,” she’d tell me.

She passed away when I was away from home as a ward of the state at seventeen. Both of my maternal grandparents died two years later.

As of 2002, if I had to pick a time in my life that was the worst, I’d say my teenage years were definitely it. This was when my mother began running out of patience with me, and her sending me off to other places escalated. Sometimes those places were even worse than being with her. I truly believe my mother never wanted kids in the first place; she only had them because it was expected in those days.

As a hyper child with wild dreams of becoming a rich and famous singer, I was more than getting on my parents’ nerves. They started ignoring me more, becoming increasingly engrossed in TV and outings with friends. I felt neglected, and my mother’s control and ridicule increased. It seemed I could do nothing right, and as my optimism and confidence faded, my early teens were when I first had thoughts of suicide.

I took an overdose of sleeping pills, but it only made me drowsy. I began cutting myself regularly. I wasn’t doing it to die; I was channeling and venting my frustrations, depression, and growing anger. No one influenced me to do this. I never saw it on TV or heard anyone talk about it. In fact, I didn’t know anyone else in the world had ever cut themselves at this time.

Although I was raised Jewish, we rarely went to the temple. Religion wasn’t a regular part of our lives, which was fine with me since I found religion too structured and often bigoted.

Between the ages of twelve and fourteen, I was walking down the street next to ours on a crisp fall day when a middle-aged woman raking leaves in her front yard said, “Oh, what a cute sweatshirt.”

I looked down at my Mickey Mouse sweatshirt and said, “Thanks.”

Noticing my ear, she asked about it. After I told her about it, she mentioned that she had a deaf son and invited me to meet him. So I did.

Jeff was a dark, lanky boy a year older than me with the same birthday. He knew sign language well. At the time, I only knew how to fingerspell the alphabet. Jeff taught me many words. I’d write down the words I wanted to know and he’d show me the signs for them.

I also began teaching myself Spanish using books and records as I knew no Hispanic people to help me. There were no Hispanics I knew of in Longmeadow at the time. The only Hispanic people I had met were a family from Venezuela at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital when I had one of my ear surgeries.

I had never even seen a Black person until I was around ten or a little older. I called the Black section of the city “Dark Land” whenever we drove through it.

I also dabbled in French and shorthand.

Although Jeff and I spent a lot of time together, neither of us was interested in each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. For him, it could have been for any reason. For me, it was because I was mostly attracted to women, though I didn’t understand that yet. I was simply attracted to women more than men; I didn’t question it, whether it was my attraction to someone I’d seen or to singer Linda Ronstadt, one of my favorites, or actress Kate Jackson.

The summer of 1980, when I was fourteen, was not very enjoyable. Instead of being at the beach, my parents were traveling daily to sell eyeglass frames to optometrists. Having just been kicked out of camp, my mother, not ready for me to come home and disrupt her peace, dropped me off in Connecticut at the campground where Uncle Marty and Aunt Ruth spent their summers.

Although I could take my guitar and new guinea pig with me, I was not a “happy camper.” My only good memories from that time were going water-skiing on the lake and diving from a cliff that was fifteen to twenty feet high. It was scary at first, but a lot of fun once I took the plunge.

Marty and Ruth stayed in a trailer while I stayed in a small outdoor tent. I didn’t mind the tent, but I did mind my uncle and my spineless aunt, who went along with his domineering ways. Even so, she was the one who hit me that summer, not him. She slapped me across the face. I’m not sure if it was for bumming smokes off others or for the boy who came into my tent, whom they thought I invited.

This boy entered the tent one early evening when I least expected it. He sat on my cot next to me as I held my guinea pig on my lap.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked him.

Saying nothing, he pulled my mouth toward his. Before his lips could touch mine, I heard, “Jodi, who’s in the tent?”

It was Aunt Ruth. Both of us emerged from the tent, but before I could explain, she had already made up her mind about what had happened.

“Get in the trailer!” she demanded, where I spent the night.

Shortly after this incident, my father came to get me. Before we left, he, Marty, and Ruth openly discussed my “problems” as if I weren’t even there.

[theberkshirehealthclinic]

Exercise to Maintain a Healthy Weight

Why is physical activity important?

Frequent exercise has both short-term and long-term health benefits. Engaging in physical activity can enhance mental well-being, lower the chance of illness, fortify bones and muscles, and facilitate daily tasks.

Exercise is also beneficial:

Boost the quality of your sleep.

Lower elevated blood pressure.

lower chance of heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and several cancer types.

lessen the disability and pain associated with arthritis.

Cut down on the danger of falls and osteoporosis.

lessen the signs of anxiety and despair.

Furthermore, exercise is crucial whether you want to keep your weight in check or try to decrease it.

Increasing your physical activity level helps your body burn more calories when you're trying to lose weight. You can lose weight by creating a calorie deficit by burning calories through physical exercise and consuming less calories overall.

The majority of weight loss results from consuming less calories. However, research indicates that consistent physical activity is the only way to keep weight off.

Most notably, physical activity lowers diabetes and cardiovascular disease risks more than weight loss alone.

How much physical activity do I need?

To maintain your weight: Work your way up to 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity to maintain your weight. This may be walking vigorously for thirty minutes five days a week. An alternative would be to engage in 75 minutes of weekly vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, such swimming laps.

Individual differences exist in the precise amount of physical activity required to maintain a healthy weight. To maintain your weight, you might require more than 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity exercise.

To lose weight and keep it off: If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you'll need to engage in a lot of physical activity in addition to cutting back on calories from food and drink. A healthy diet and regular exercise are necessary to reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Moderate versus Vigorous

Moderate

 If you can still carry on a conversation while engaging in the physical activity, but your breathing and pulse rate are considerably faster, it's probably moderately intense. As examples, consider:

brisk walking (a mile in fifteen minutes)

Light yard labor, such as mowing the grass or raking and bagging leaves

light shoveling of the snow

playing actively with kids

cycling at a relaxed speed

Vigorous

 It's undoubtedly vigorously intense if your heart rate is significantly elevated and your breathing is too rapid and forceful for you to carry on a conversation. As examples, consider:

running or jogging

Doing laps in the pool

brisk inline skating and rollerblading

skiing across nation

the majority of sports that are competitive (football, basketball, or soccer)

Rope jumping

[lady-silver-ice]

A few simple things you can do to help:

- Plant native flowers and other plants. A lot of insects are dependent on specific species for all or part of their life cycle. Even a small patch or container garden can make a huge difference! The Xerces Society has a great list of plants by region (US) that are beneficial to invertebrates

- Minimize (or if possible, eliminate) pesticide and herbicide use.

- Minimize mowing and weed whacking or constrain it to only part of your yard.

- Plant native oak trees. These support a huge amount of biodiversity compared to other trees.

- Don’t rake up all your leaves. A lot of organisms depend on detritus for food or shelter. It also keeps moisture in and contributes nutrients back to the soil.

- Ditch the bug zapper. These kill everything, including beneficial pollinators (moths). There are more nature-friendly ways to control mosquitoes.

- Don’t kill invertebrates for no reason. If there’s one in your space, catch it with a cup and paper and move it outside. Even if you think bugs are gross, they play a crucial role in the ecosystem (feeding cute songbirds, for example).

[lawncareservicesblogs]

Essential Lawn Care Advice for a Year-Round Picture-Perfect Yard

Introduction: Any homeowner takes pride in their well-kept yard. It creates a lovely area for outdoor recreation, improves curb appeal, and promotes environmental health. But cultivating and keeping a lush, bright lawn calls for constant care and attention. We'll go over some crucial lawn care advice in this blog post to help you maintain a beautiful yard all year long.

Understanding the Basics of Lawn Care: It's crucial to comprehend the basics of lawn care if you want to have a healthy lawn. This entails understanding the kind of grass you have, its development patterns, and the particular requirements of your lawn. The best lawn care services will depend on your particular grass kind and climate, so do your research and speak with professionals.

Lawn Care Services: Expert Help for the Best Results Although many homeowners like maintaining their lawns, some may choose to hire specialists. Services for lawn care include everything from standard maintenance chores to specialty treatments. If you don't have the time or skills to take care of your lawn maintenance yourself, you may make sure it gets the care it needs by hiring professionals. To guarantee the greatest outcomes, look for reliable lawn care companies in your area.

Seasonal Lawn Maintenance Advice: a) Spring Lawn Care: Spring is the best time to get your lawn ready for the growth season as the weather starts to warm up. To encourage strong root growth, it's critical to sweep away trash, dethatch the soil if necessary, and aerate it. In order to stop weed growth, spring is also a wonderful time to fertilize and use pre-emergent herbicides.

b) Summer Lawn Care: Watering your lawn correctly is essential throughout the hot summer months. To promote the development of deep root systems, water your lawn sparingly yet deeply. Do not cut your grass too short; longer grass blades shade the soil and aid in moisture retention. It's also crucial to mow frequently and keep weeds and pests under control.

b) Fall lawn care: Fall is a crucial time to get your lawn ready for the upcoming winter. To keep the grass from suffocating, rake up fallen leaves. Any damage from the summer can be repaired, and overseeding and aeration can encourage new growth. Additionally, now is a great time to fertilize your grass in order to encourage healthy root growth over the winter.

d) Winter Lawn Maintenance: Although grass growth slows down in the winter, lawn maintenance is still necessary. Maintain a debris-free lawn and limit foot traffic to prevent compaction. If you are in an area where there is a lot of snowfall, take care when clearing it to avoid damaging the grass below.

Additional Lawn Maintenance Advice: a) Use proper irrigation techniques by watering your lawn sparingly, deeply, and preferably first thing in the morning. This lowers the danger of illness and enables the grass to absorb moisture before the heat of the day. b) Regular Mowing: Always cut only one-third of the grass blade at the recommended height for the type of grass you have. Regular mowing strengthens the general health of the lawn and encourages even growth while preventing weed invasion.

c) Fertilization and Weed Control: Use a balanced fertilizer at the right times to give your grass the vital nutrients it needs. Implement a weed-control approach as well to prevent undesirable plants from undermining your grass.

Conclusion: Consistent care and attention throughout the year are necessary to achieve a lush and bright grass. You can make sure that your lawn is healthy and beautiful by comprehending the fundamentals of lawn care near me, taking into account professional aid when necessary, and putting suitable management techniques for each season into action.

[mclcontracting]

The Importance Of Lawn Care For Your Home And The Environment

Whether you have a small patio, a big backyard, or an entire acreage to take care of, having a well-maintained lawn and garden is vital for the environment. But not all homeowners are aware of how much work goes into good lawn care service christchurch. Here are some reasons why it's important for everyone to pay attention to their lawn and gardens:

  Lawn Care is Environmentally Friendly

Lawn care is environmentally friendly. Lawns are beautiful, green spaces that can be enjoyed by everyone in your family. They're also great for the environment!

Lawns help filter pollutants from the air, reduce runoff and erosion, can be used to grow food (or simply look pretty), and reduce your carbon footprint by requiring less water than other types of landscaping.

Lawn Care Can Save You Money

Lawn care has many benefits, but one of the most important is that it can save you money. Lawn care services are often more expensive than buying a mower and maintaining your lawn yourself, but there are other ways that lawn care can save you money.

One of the best ways to save money on water bills is to use less of it! Lawns require regular watering in order to stay healthy and lush; however, some types of grasses need less water than others do. If you want an eco-friendly lawn without sacrificing beauty or quality--and who doesn't?--consider planting drought-resistant plants such as buffalo grass or zoysia grass instead of traditional varieties such as Kentucky bluegrass (which needs frequent watering).

If possible, consider installing drip irrigation systems instead of using sprinklers; these systems deliver water directly where it's needed rather than spraying large amounts over every inch of soil surface area like sprayers do--and they're much less likely than sprinklers are at cause erosion problems around trees' roots which could lead them being uprooted when heavy rains hit unexpectedly.

Lawn Care Improves Your Home's Value

The first and most obvious benefit of lawn care is that it can improve the curb appeal of your home. If you want to sell your house, having a well-kept lawn can make it more attractive to buyers. Likewise, if you're looking for a new place to live and are considering properties in the area, having well-manicured grass will help convince you that this is the right community for you.

It's also important not only because it makes an immediate impression on potential buyers but also because it makes them feel good about buying something from someone who cares about their property so much!

Lawn Care Is Good for You

Lawn care is a great way to spend time outdoors, get exercise, and connect with nature. It's also a relaxing way to unwind from your day-to-day routine.

Spending time in the yard: You can relax on your patio or lawn chair, get some sun and enjoy the view around you as well as socialize with neighbors over fences or hedges.

Getting exercise: Mowing the lawn burns calories and helps build muscle tone in the arms, shoulders, and back muscles--especially if you use an electric mower instead of pushing one manually! Also, consider doing some other outdoor chores like trimming shrubs or raking leaves into piles for composting later on (this will save money too).

Conclusion

If you're looking to improve your home's value, save money and be environmentally friendly, lawn care is a great way to do all three! Lawn care Christchurch services can help keep your grass green and healthy without needing a lot of work on your part.

Source:https://landscaperservice.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-importance-of-lawn-care-for-your.html

[sepropertylandservices]

How a Land Clearing Company Can Beautify Your Property

Whether you have a construction site that needs to be prepped for heavy equipment or you simply want to beautify your land by removing brush, shrubs, small trees and rocks, a Calhoun land clearing company can help. This is a single-handed way to increase your property value, improve the look of your home and yard, reduce pests, and reduce fire hazards.

Traditional land clearing methods like mowing, raking and brush cutting can be very invasive and leave behind large debris piles that may require a lot of time to recover from. Additionally, these processes can be very costly in terms of both labor and materials.

Forestry mulching is a more sustainable alternative to traditional land clearing. This method uses a specialized machine that mulches the brush and trees in place without uprooting them or disturbing the soil. The resulting mulch bed helps slow erosion, cool and stabilize the soil, and promote healthy new growth.

Fill out a quick form to get free quotes from local land clearing professionals in your area. Answer a few questions about your project and we’ll match you with top-rated local pros. You can check this website for more details https://www.sepropertylandservices.com/

[thepomegranatewitch]

Image description: Four photos of a rectangular strip of land with street and sidewalk to top and right, and bushes to left. The images show the before shot, a forked shot, a winding swale, and a swale mulched with mats of clover and woodchips.

Today at The Fifth Acre I got up early, caffeinated, ate, and dug a big long hole. This big long hole will act as a swale, collecting rainwater and soaking it up in a strip of land I inherited as adobe. Two weeks ago I hand mowed the volunteer clover cover crop with a sickle. That and the mulch were raked aside to fork and dig a winding trench. The patch is particularly compacted due to previous neglect and pedestrian traffic. Once I had my big long hole dug, I planted in the trench, on the hump, and to the property side of the hump (among the bushes) as listed below. Then I watered it, stepped on the seeds a little, mulched it with itself, watered it again (68F in February!), messed with some of the mulch to cover up some of the more delectable seeds, and then went inside to eat a massive cheeseburger.

birdseed, either sorghum or millet I foraged from a grocery store parking lot

canna, technically an edible. tall with small red flowers and bb like seeds. liberated a pocketful of seeds from someone's front yard years ago.

calendula, gifted from my dear friend. beautiful, regular flower, medicinal and edible

cosmos, some varieties edible. I got this from a seed exchange so will proceed as though inedible. birth flower for one of my kids and beautiful

wild / african iris, foraged off a dollar store parking lot, to use as ground cover and for simple basketry

lupine, this particular variety native to The East when I am in The West, but drought tolerant and pretty

marigold, edible and beautiful. We have a patch that have self seeded twice so I know our microclimate is well suited and I'll have at least one success

nasturtium, edible, beautiful, groundcover

poppy, unclear if from my edible seed or toxic variety so proceeding as though toxic. I love the look so they're visible from the windows.

scabiosa, black, foraged off a traffic center strip because they look cool and are drought tolerant

sunflower, from a seed exchange so a wildcard but hopefully will help with privacy

two wildflower blends for my area, one a party favour and the other from the dollar store, as hopeful drought hardy species that will self seed for years

zinnia, edible, beautiful, and pollinator attractant

Many people seem to feel gardening needs to be difficult, expensive, and all-consuming. Same for more ecological practices. While they can be, just as any subject can be, I want to encourage everyone considering either to try something small. This took four hours of able-bodied digging, seed scattering, raking, and lots of breaks. Now I'll trap water and have to irrigate less while cooling down my home - heatwaves are expensive when you don't have the proper green infrastructure to cool your built infrastructure. I'll attract birds and bugs with beautiful flowers that I hopefully won't have to do anything but occasionally water a couple times a year. I paid for only 3 of these seed packets, was gifted 3, and foraged or seed saved the rest. I'm too poor to put in expensive, thirsty landscaping with someone else's labour. But I can do this myself over the course of a warming morning.

[dehydration-stati0n]

Strawhats living together HCs (Modern AU)

The strawhats living in a house together.. ha

Rules Word Count: 1.1k Spoilers: None

Luffy

The crew has to constantly send someone to the store cause this man won't stop eating everything in the fridge

The cops get called to the house by the neighbors for all the noise Luffy makes

His room is arguably the dirtiest in the entire house. Like there's actual clumps of dirt in the carpet.

The neighbors hate him, but the bugs hanging around his room sure don't

He, Usopp, Franky, and occasionally Chopper he cries when he loses will sit in the living room and play Super Smash Bros or smth

Sometimes the crew will lock him outside in the backyard

Fell off the roof once

He has clothes all over the floor in every room. Clothes in the living room, clothes in the kitchen, and he probably has socks in the yard.

There was almost a petition signed to kick him out of the neighborhood

Zoro

They had to throw him and Luffy into a room to avoid making the other rooms smell bad, but he doesn't even really sleep in there, he just kinda passes out in the hallway.

He uses his shared room to work out in so it constantly smells like sweat

He's one of those people who like to sit on their front porch and drink beer. Franky probably sits out there with him too with his coke

Usopp and Nami make him do all the yard work like mowing the yard or raking leaves

Only thing he contributes to the house is tiddies forced labor. Won't be much help in anything else.

Leaves the toilet seat up

Offered to help clean once and now there's a closet that's so full that it'll be like an avalanche the next time someone opens it

Probably orders takeout to piss off Sanji but then reluctantly apologizes when he runs out of money and wants to eat

Nami

so close to setting this place on fire

she pays the bills every month since she doesn't trust some of the others to get it done other than Robin and Jinbei

Constantly has to apologize to the neighbors

"You'll owe me 100$ if Smoker shows up again."

I could see her fostering kids? Like she comes back to the house with Momonosuke or Tama or any of those random kids they always have with them and they'll just live in the house for a little.

She manages their garden with Usopp

Forces Luffy and Zoro to clean their bathroom/room

She'll bribe some of the crew members with money to do chores but she has never paid them and never will

Usopp

The one constantly getting sent to the store

Has a lot of plants in his room

He bought 2 dartboards, one for Franky's garage and the other for his and Chopper's room

Most of them come to get him if there's a spider

He and Chopper have a shared hat collection

Only one who vacuums the place

Whenever something breaks or goes out in the house, Franky will teach Usopp how to fix it

Bro bought a ridiculous amount of blankets (mostly for Zoro and Brook who sleep anywhere except their rooms)

Sanji

He'll host a neighborhood barbeque every once in a while to show off to the ladies

All of his products take up half of the sink in one of the bathrooms

There's a drawer in the kitchen that's full of his cigarettes

Makes them take 'Family photo' type pictures so the walls aren't completely bare.

Only calm on Tuesdays

He wants to get a dog for the house

Says he hates the kids Nami fosters but he's always seen playing games with them and teaching them how to cook

They have a homeless man living in their front yard because Sanji fed him once (it's barto)

Chopper

Had Dr. Kurhea sign a permission slip for him before he moved in

it's a good thing he's there cause otherwise, Zoro would've died of liver failure

Has bunk beds with Usopp

He puts the crew's Christmas tree up right after Halloween

Checks the mail every morning and gets so excited when something's addressed to him

He'll write a script and then get Brook and Usopp to put on a play for the rest of the crew

Was so excited when his family photo made it on one of the walls in Franky's garage

Robin

In the mornings, she'll sit in the kitchen with Sanji and Jinbei and read

Has a mug collection and it's overflowing some of the cabinets

decorated the house to make it look nice but it went downhill fast when everyone moved in so now she just cleans up here and there

puts letters in the mail addressed to Chopper just to see him happy

She also sits at the table and helps Chopper with his homework when he comes home from school

Franky renovated the house and made her a library

The neighbors are a little scared of her after talking to her for a little at one of Sanji's barbeques

Franky

He was the one who suggested the idea of living together cause he liked the idea of living in a frat house with everyone

The garage was turned into his SUPER cool man cave

man's fr got bazookas and those really funny propaganda posters hanging on the wall

It's where he sleeps

He bought a mini fridge for it and its filled with coke and milk

Has like 5 cars that everyone can use, they run well too since he built them himself

They have the best security and wifi systems because of him

Way too loud in the mornings

The dinner table is always covered with his stuff.

Brook

Has concerts in Franky's garage. He put a disco ball in there specifically for that

He also just kinda sleeps wherever, usually on the couch tho

Has a huge fish tank with only one fish. It's named Laboon and it's his pride and joy

Gets too excited about Halloween and spends all their money on candy

Leaves the chip bags open and they always go stale

Blast's music without realizing it sometimes

Bought a coat rack for the front door but he's the only one who uses it

Jinbei

the only thing keeping this house together

His room is always clean

he will sometimes make breakfast if Sanji is feeling tired

reads stories to the kids Nami fosters Robin does too but then they can't sleep

Has one of those designated dad rocking chairs

He probably wakes up the earliest to make coffee for everyone except Luffy, who's banned from having caffeine

Lines everyone's shoes neatly at the door

He probably sews festive sweaters for everyone during any holiday

//Overall//

it's a fucking madhouse

good news is, they don't have to worry about anyone breaking in

bad news is, CPS is always getting called on them

it's a warzone whenever they eat because of Luffy

Holidays are always a blast

A few arguments but it's an all-around good time

[leebrontide]

One thing about our new garden is that the soil is shit.

I am begging people not to rake up all their leaves in the fall and all their grass clippings in the summer. Every time you dispose of this organic "waste" you're taking the nutrients those plants pulled up out of the soil and throwing it away. Plus, you're destroying habitat for loads of important insects and fucking with the whole ecosystem.

The people who owned the house before us clearly raked and removed loads of leaves and clippings for the 30 years they lived in the house. The soil is practically sand. Just no nutrients left in it and very little ability to retain water.

People used to ask us why our soil in our old place was lovely rich nearly-black soil. The answer was that we didn't take our leaves up till mid April, after most insects didn't need them for hatching and hiding anymore, and they've broken down a fair amount of their nutrients into the soil. Then we'd mow up as much as possible and leave the chopped up leaves all over the lawn, to further break down and return the nutrients to the ground.

I've been looking for a rotatable compost bin for the new place, even though we're all small enough that rotating them can be sort of a pain in the ass.

But I'll confess that an ad-algorithm got me. I go on YouTube for 3 minutes, because my usual music streaming service was down and I do enjoy the "17th century villain" playlists on there, and I got an ad for an electric countertop composter.

This is not some kind of supported product placement on my part. The Lomi, which is the thing I saw an ad for, is a good $500 bought new, and I just flat out wasn't gonna do that.

But, I was curious enough to read some reviews, and then check craisglist. Lo and Behold, I found one for cheap, for sale from someone who bought and liked one, but also has an honest to god farm, and decided to go back to larger scale outdoor composting.

So, now we have a Lomi countertop composter.

You take the food waste from the day (our kiddo, Starling, eats a staggering amount of fruit, and a lot of eggs, so there's always shells, cores and peels and stuff laying around) and you put it in the bucket, and lock the lid, and push one button.

In two hours you have totally dry, totally broken down compost that smells almost like dry hay, ready to drop on the yard to put back in nutrients.

I'm a bit in love with it.

And, on top of that, it can break down dairy and meat. You shouldn't ever put cooked meat in your outdoor compost, because birds will try to forage it, and get cooked fat grease on their feathers, which they can't clean off and can lead to illness. They're not evolved to handle cooked meat. But this way the meat is all broken down and safe to put outside. Which means throwing less away, which is great.

I will say, we didn't put in the charcoal the first time, and it had the used up charcoal from the previous owner in there and THAT was a mistake. Made the whole house smell like sweet vinegar. Which could be worse, considering this is food rotting down, but it was terrible when it's too cold to even open a window.

You can get Lomi brand charcoal filters, but it's just little charcoal pellets, so I'll probably just buy some from the aquarium store when we run out. But this batch should last us several months.

The thing also came with Lomi "tablets". So far, we've used them. But I'm going to experiment with not using them at some point, since the webpage for the Lomi says you don't NEED them. They do genuinely add helpful bacteria and fungi to the soil, which is great, but I can buy soil improvers that can do that, much more economically, from my local urban farm supply in the spring. No branded little pellets required. Plus, with the lawn being under snow, and the processed compost having to go on top of the snow, I'm not sure how much of that bacteria would be surviving right now, anyways.

[onenicebugperday]

hey i just wanted to say that your blog is awesome also do you have any ideas on how to help bees locally?

Thank you! I can only answer that based on what you can do in the United States, because that's what I'm familiar with. But these things apply pretty much to anywhere.

Plant a pollinator garden! This should include local native plants with flowers that bloom throughout the growing seasons at different times. You'll have to do research about what plants those might be where you live. It's especially important to have flowers that bloom in very early spring as these provide the first food for bees after a long winter.

Do not use pesticides. AT ALL.

Don't over-manicure your yard. If you must have a grass lawn, try to plant gardens throughout it and let them grow as wild as you can get away with in your neighborhood. I know a lot of landlords and housing associations won't allow it if it looks untidy, but get creative with gardens to provide flowers and hiding places. This includes not raking leaves in the fall if you can manage it, and if you must clean them up off your lawn, rake them into garden beds rather than discarding them. A lot of bees also love dead wood to nest in, so a wood pile or something similar is a great thing to add.

If you don't have a yard, you can certainly create a balcony, patio, or window sill garden in containers that's useful to bees and other bugs as well. I have plants on my balcony that have constant bug visitors.

Whenever possible, support politicians who prioritize environmental preservation, locally and federally. If you're not old enough to vote yet, you can still educate yourself and thus help educate others. When I was a teenager I changed my parents' views on a whole bunch of issues just by never shutting up about it.

If you'd rather avoid getting political because of how hostile it can get, you can still advocate for everything else I've listed above, especially with friends, family, and neighbors who have yards and gardens where they could apply some or all of these things.

And finally if you're able, donate to local or national charities or organizations that work on environmental conservation. May I suggest the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation! I'm a monthly donor, and they do fantastic work specifically for bugs, often with a focus on pollinators.

Xerces also has a ton of resources on their websites for a lot of things, even if you can't afford to donate! Here's a list of pollinator-friendly native plants for various locations, and here's a page with region-specific resources to aid in the planning, establishment, restoration, and maintenance of pollinator habitat. And they have a volunteer page with opportunities to get involved both online and in person.

Depending on where you live you could also look into local groups that may help clean up/maintain important habitats in your area. Or some cities have started programs like no-mow months where residents are encouraged to let their lawns grow wild. They often have signs to stick in yards to spread the word about not mowing.

Thanks for your question! Hope some of this is helpful :)

[jbarneswilson]

headcanon time:

bucky loves to do yard work

sarah loves to watch bucky do yard work

at first he just does the mowing and leaf raking and trimming

but then he overhears sarah having a conversation with carlos about his vegetable garden

he seizes his moment when she goes to an appointment (he’s not allowed to come with her after the incident with the phlebotomist. maybe if she’d been better at drawing blood bucky wouldn’t have had to intervene but whatever. it’s fine.)

he loves seeing her in the vegetable garden, loves helping her tend it, helping her harvest veggies for meals for their table as well as customers buying plates on the weekends

for their anniversary he makes her a pollinator garden with lots of native flora (and a few sunflowers for his sunshine)

[bettycanavosio]

I have this idea that Henry and Joe, if they moved in with Vito, would both wind up as the stereotypical sighing husbands (especially Henry). Like imagine if they got a nice house like Vito always dreamed of - he would probably be so picky about how it is kept. It has to be clean, the yard has to be perfect, landscaped, with cut grass and leaves always raked in the fall. I always saw the house as kind of a symbol of success in Vito's mind so of course it must look good. And he just assigns Henry and Joe chores like "could you mow the lawn today" "can you vacuum" "clean out the gutters" and they kind of just do whatever he's asking them too. I think How would be pretty good natured about it and Henry would roll his eyes a lot because he's not used to taking care of a home. And he'd probably have to do more chores than Joe because Joe is the only one of the three who can cook, so he already has a job, so Henry has to do the yardwork and help clean. But I think end of the day he does it just because it makes Vito happy and when Vito does his little smile and says thanks it just makes Henry feel good inside, like he's pulling his weight, helping out, doing something to give back to Vito and maybe trying hard to deserve to live with him and Joe in his mind.

I don't know I just like to retreat to my little domestic life au where they all get to live happily ever after together in their house and grow old 😭😭😭

THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL I WILL SOB. henry and joe looking at each other like “here he goes again” (but we all know they actually love it and seeing vito smile is worth it). and vito finally feeling like he won something <3 i feel like all he’s ever wanted to do is succeed and live with his best (boy)friends. but they also do small things for each other, like making coffee or buying each other’s favourite food etc. the part about henry doing it so he feels he deserves living with them is so bittersweet god. they love and forgive you henry don’t forget it :( also. if the place has a pool. i bet joe asks vito if he can use it over and over as long as he maintains it or something. days in the summer… suddenly there are less chores and more water fights. and in winter they all just lie around together under 1000 blankets and even more warm drinks (or whiskey, since there’s always some on the shelf). i think someone said they have allocated mugs and that’s so true they definitely do. and since you said grow old, i imagine they have a record player and way too many vinyls and argue over what they should play. all of them watching tv at the end of the day…… okay i’ve officially lost it

[etcrnaloptimist]

INTRODUCING; ZYLAN GAYLE

Age: 32

Gender: Cis male

Pronouns: he/him

Occupation: Police Officer - Wakefield PD

Trigger Warnings:

Born the youngest in the Gayle family, Zylan didn’t have much growing up. His mom was a single mom and though she worked hard to make sure her children had the necessities, there was never much room for extras. Zy was never really bothered by what they didn’t have. He had his brother and sister and their mom and that was enough for him.

Pretty young, he fell in love with playing football. It was an extra but even as a child, Zy picked up odd jobs mowing yards and raking leaves and whatever their neighbors needed to help his mom pay for everything that came with football. Playing ball was his ticket out of Wakefield and his chance to attend college. 

In high school, he dated Nora Simms. He was head over heels for her, but they were from vastly different worlds so it wasn’t a surprise to anyone when they broke up before he went off to college.

In college, Zy majored in criminal justice. He decided when he was a child he wanted to be a police officer and that wasn’t a goal he ever wavered on. There was a lot of chatter his junior and senior year about going pro and it would have been amazing for his family, and while there are moments when Zy regrets not playing at the next level, he’s glad he didn’t. 

When he was 25, his brother was arrested and with no questions asked, Zy quit his job and came home to help his mom and sister fight for Erin to be placed with her. They fought for a year before his niece was finally placed with his mom.

In that time, Zy took a job as an officer with the Wakefield PD. It wasn’t his dream necessarily, but it kept him close to his family, let him help his mom with Erin and be close to advocate for his brother’s release.