Heather

Inspired by this weather to make some progress on our go-bags, documenting here in case it helps anyone.

I've separated the contents into some plastic freezer bags to help keep fresh & dry in case of a flood/storm.

So far each bag contains:

Food in plastic bag:
nature valley granola bars, mixed x6
fruit in jelly cups x3
flavoured tuna tins x3 (pull tab tops)
Whittaker's peanut/almond slabs x2
cheap metal spoons x2

(what food to pack is highly subjective, as long as it keeps well)

Hygene kit in plastic bag:
Colgate travel dental kit (brush, paste, floss, mouth wash)
hand sanitiser
aquatabs (water sterlising tabs)
face masks
set of disposable silverwear

First Aid Kit:
a small pre-made personal first aid kit to which I've added some panadol and savlon

Still heaps to add to these, but it's a good start. Next up: water bottles, rain ponchos, flashlights, jumpers, phone chargers, important documents (or copies of)

#DisasterPrep #EmergencyPrep

Also the code-switching between talking to Americans and talking to New Zealanders. But trying not to talk so Kiwi that I come across as putting on an act. When in fact I just pick up new words and new dialects fast and somewhat unconsciously.

(As an immigrant whose been in Aotearoa for nearly two decades)

Just a few things I think about when I try to communicate with other humans.

#Linguistics #CodeSwitching

My Winter #Gardening is pretty low key this year.

Raised Bed 1 - I have been converting into an herb garden. It will mostly be left to it's own devices. The perennial herbs are doing their thing and some of the annuals have self seeded.

Raised Bed 2 - I left several parsley around the edges, and the perennial garlic chives. Planted out some rainbow sliverbeet (aka chard) in the middle.

Raised Bed 3 - is getting the cover crop treatment. Mix of mustard and blue lupins sewn a month ago, all coming up nicely.

#VegetableGardening #GrowYourOwn

Remembering not to capitalise "internet" so as not to show my age 😅

#Linguistics

OK #ThursdayFiveList I took my time coming up with this list of songs to #CelebrateBooksDay . I wanted them all to reference real books. #4 references several books by the same author & #5 references a lot of books you can find at the library!

1) Molly Tuttle - Walden
https://youtu.be/0OlGhN2keXU

2) Suzane Vega - Lolita
https://youtu.be/A6ss3imrpW8

3) Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
https://youtu.be/-1pMMIe4hb4

4) Amanda Palmer - Judy Blume
https://youtu.be/mASqDKmrhPY

5) Kimya Dawson - The Library
https://youtu.be/BPDCGGZzpCM

This episode really kicked me in the feels and then left me with a lot to think about.

I worked in animal care as a pet sitter and a vet tech and I'm familiar with compassion fatigue. My first job out of school was at an animal shelter and I walked into a situation where all the veterinary staff was totally burnt out and in the process of quitting. I looked at the outgoing lead tech and knew that would be me in a couple of years if I stayed. But I loved that job. But it really did take as much as you were willing to give it, and then some. A move to New Zealand the following year removed that conundrum for me.

I wonder if this is why I never got a pet while I was in the pet care industry.

I wonder how compassion fatigue interacts with autistic burnout.

I wonder if there's parallels to be made with the kind of burn out parents experience when they don't get the support they need.

Link is to a podcast called Proxy, an episode called "Jane doesn't like her dogs"

CW for the episode: animal death and suicidal ideation (brief mention)

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-proxy-with-yowei-shaw-176350003/episode/jane-doesnt-like-her-dogs-332608182/

#Podcast #CompassionFatigue #Veterinary #Healthcare #CaringProfessions

And while I'm at it, remembering to say "Me and Joe" not "Joe and I" so as not to betray my private school background and come off as preppy 😅

#Linguistics

It's been over 24 hours since I learned about the fish doorbell.

I desperately want to push the fish doorbell.

But I'm too ADHD to watch the fishcam for more than 30 second at a time.

But I keep checking it.

I have not yet had a reason to push the fish doorbell.

https://visdeurbel.nl/en/

Hello #JukeboxFridayNight here's one of my favourite songs by The Be Good Tanyas - it just evokes such cozy Winter vibes

The Be Good Tanyas - Dogsong (aka Sleep Dog Lullabye)

#DogsCatsAndOtherPets

https://youtu.be/SjM_5IwWa_I

I got into country music so late in life because it was looked down upon culturally both in my household and among my friend groups. But somehow this Alvin and the Chipmunks country album found its way into our house when I was a kid. It was probably my introduction to a lot of those songs. I remember liking "The Gambler" and "I Love I Rainy Night" and puzzling over "Coward Of The County" because I was a 8 and also I wasn't Christian and I didn't know what 'turn the other cheek' meant.

Really funny to revisit these now and realise how much they were sanitised for kids.

"Then he bummed a twinkie and offered me a bite" 🤣

The Chipmunks - The Gambler:

https://youtu.be/0h2Th1iKSD0

#country #music #TheChipmunks

Another sub-category of women in #country #music that I appreciate: women super groups. Because women working together in an industry that is hostile to women is so powerful.

Notable groups I have stumbled upon:

Trio: Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris

Honky Tonk Angels: Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette

Pistol Annies: Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley

The Highwomen: Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires

Am now actively seeking more of this energy

#CountryMusic #WomenInMusic

OK #TuneTuesday here's a song about a maker of #GuitarsAndStrings

And it's bluegrass - a genre which is traditionally all strings - banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, upright base.

"it started out for fun
he just wanted it to play
and when one was done
everyone would say
what did you put in that wood
to make it roar
and he would say that every day
i just walk through the door"

Foggy Memory Boys - Just To Sweep The Floor

https://youtu.be/KbJyGJaJYsw

Do not know why i woke up to Ani Difranco's "Pulse" playing in my head. Specifically, this bit of poetry:

"unable to save ourselves from the
quaint tragedies we invent or undo
from the stupid circumstances
that we slolum through"

Still reading the GoodReads reviews for Alecto The Ninth about every six months just for the feeling that others share my pain

I laughed way too hard at "Is Tamsyn Muir the lesbian George R R Martin" 😂 🤣 😭

#LockedTomb

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39325106-alecto-the-ninth?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=FlGw1RjjkN&rank=4