Hobbies and varied interests of sorts.

I have a friend that doesn't have any hobbies. She has many interests, but lacks the want to explore them. Then she has issues when she is bored, she isn't motivated to do something new.

From a psychology perspective, that's fascinating to me.

I have TOO MANY INTERESTS. Everything is interesting. I can be surprised by the things that suddenly intrigue me. Currently I’m debating attempting to turn my poinsettia into a bonsai after the holidays. I learned that poinsettia originate from Mexico, and that climate enables them to grow into trees. Poinsettia trees are BEAUTIFUL. But I live in a cold climate. And I don't have a greenhouse. I thought about stunting the plant into a bush. Some say it's hard to do, some say it's easy. I’m debating if I need another project right now.

So when people like my friend say they have no interests, no hobbies…what is that like? What is it like to not have your day derailed into researching something and if it tickles my fancy, well now I have a new interest which could become an obsession if I'm not careful. Thankfully the money situation curbs a lot of my potential plans.

Remember Violet? She's actually turning purpleish, slowly morphing from white. The white on her tail and fins is all new growth that's getting color. That floating log is her home, she guards it from the guppies.

I've mentioned a few times that fish and aquariums are a thing for me. From joining the fish club as a teen, to breeding koi and building custom ponds and now it's all just this one tall tank I have. I put all my knowledge into it and have fun with discoveries along the way.

This is the top of the Betta log, it has a hole for the lung breathing Bettas to get oxygen from. It also has two small pieces of duckweed.

We moved in August. When I shut everything down, all the duckweed died/was removed. It's quite a pain in the ass when left unchecked. It can grow so thick, it clogs up the filters and prevents the light from reaching the other plants/fish.

From September till Dec 4th, there was no duckweed. It was all gone.

Dec 5th I find one tiny piece of duckweed, seemingly alive, behind the heater in the fishtank. I'm amused because I haven't bought anything new in months. This clearly grew from a spore or something from the original duckweed I had, and it survived. So I moved the little piece into the hole in the Betta log so I could keep an eye on it. I wasn't entirely sure it would spread, this has been dead for months here.

Well it's now Dec 12th and you can see with me, there's two pieces of duckweed now. I'm going to keep track cause this is amusing, and at the end of the day, all live plants are always good for the tank. The duckweed just grows exponentially fast, I'll be more on top of it this time around.

When I was cleaning out the filter recently, I found this little guy in it. It looks like a shrimp right? It's similar, it's called a Scud. It cleans up the garbage on the tank bottom, but doesn't grow any bigger than your pinkie nail. They do breed really quickly and can outcompete for food. So I have to keep an eye on his population. He must have came in as an egg with the last plant I bought, months ago, when I initially set up the new tank. I only found him cause he was in the filter media. It's sign of a healthy tank if you have scuds though, so that's a score!

My son’s school held a fundraiser selling poinsettias. A couple of people bought them and I was babysitting their plants until they could pick them up. Me being a plant lover, enjoyed my time with these beauties! Doing a photoshoot with them while they're under my care.

Don't worry, I removed the plants immediately. They're poisonous to cats. My cat was attempting to chew on the plastic barrier when I took this. Liono knows when I am setting up for a photoshoot and he will crash it. I keep the poisonous plants up and away from him otherwise.

In my dream house, I'll have a sun room/Florida room full of plants. That's the best trick to coping with any winter blues. For now I have multiple lights and plants in a corner for reading. It's the best spot in the flat.

I get oh so excited over new leaves and watching them slowly uncurl. My Monstera is doing well, look at all those fenestrations 💜

Trying to live in the here and now, appreciating the beauty before me while it's here. It's hard when I know it'll wilt at some point. The one on the left bloomed as soon as Ronon passed. Like opened when I found him dead. Poignant. I always feel crushed when orchids lose their blooms, it’ll hit double when Ronon's orchid drops.

Which brings me to Yoga and an excersize routine to balance out ALL THE OVERTHINKING I DO. Slowly building a routine. Nothing to share or show, I will just comment on it from time to time.

These are the other things occupying my time when I’m not parenting or making art.

We will see if I get around to making a poinsettia bonsai. ❄️💜🦇