Happy Saturday to all! Natalie is taking a well-deserved blogging break this week, so it’s just you and me.

My new 150-600 mm camera lens actually arrived early – last Saturday – in a large box overfilled with packing peanuts with the lens wrapped tightly in bubble wrap. I bought the lens used because I simply cannot afford the new lens, which is double the cost of the used. Camera equipment will probably be the only thing I will ever dare to buy used. Beside this lens, my go-to lens – 17-70 mm – was also bought used.

I will need to take a new photo of all the camera lenses lined up. I took this photo about 4 years ago and from the looks of it, this line up is missing 2 lens.

It’s been a crazy week. At work, there was an overload of email messages. At home, there’s my mom and my aunt. Last weekend, my aunt announced she was placing an order for a new Tesla. Immediately, I objected to that decision, telling her I will not be paying for the insurance on the Tesla nor am I paying for the extra electricity needing to charge the vehicle. My electric bill has gone way up in the last year that I’m even using the garage heater sparingly to keep my pepper plants warm.

Meanwhile, my mom was in talks with the owners of a local restaurant to buy the restaurant. She wants her brother and sisters to run the restaurant as opposed to working a decent hourly wage job at the cookie factory. I feel like it’s a ploy to stop my aunt from buying the Tesla. My mom and her strange logic. I’ve asked her once about the legal matter at hand like setting up the business, insurance, payroll, etc. but she just waved me off. In the end, I requested I’d be left out of this. I do not want anything to do with this.

My first batch of seedlings are not doing so well. I feel it’s a variety of factors that are in play here. First, the unstable temperature. It’s what I get for starting seeds in an unheated garage. These seedlings at only heated by a temperature-controlled heat mat underneath. Then the seed starting medium might had played a factor. I listened to a podcast the other day and apparently, if the coconut coir wasn’t washed properly by the manufacturer, the salt in the coir can affect the seedlings. Adding on the fact that the tap water in the house also has salt…

I’ve started some seeds last week to make up for the losses so far. Those seeds are just now germinating, so it’ll be a week or so before I can pot them up. I will have to re-sow some of the herbs and flowers as well. I will be mixing in some peat to start seed and will be using the water from the rain barrel as opposed of from the tap, hopefully that will get the seedlings to move in the right direction.

Before I go, I want to share the crochet flower I made this week. It was the only crochet I’ve done this week. I want to hang this in my car but my mom said it’s too big. Didn’t some people used to hang those large fuzzy dice like a decade ago? I don’t believe my flower is bigger than the dice.

Thank you for reading and have a great week ahead.