#oh to be a little chicken foraging for mushrooms

[makenna-made-this]

BAWKtober Day 9 - Mushrooms

Chicken of the woods

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

examining your relationship with your art can be fun

but watch out

[ebonysplendor]

Mushroom Oasis (Demo) Review 🍄

TL;DR: Mychael deadass wants to be MYchael, and it gets to a point where you're so wrapped up in the wholesome, you actively ignore the red flags. Also, there's butterflies and chickens. No, we don't forage those for food.

Game Link: https://deerspherestudios.itch.io/mushroom-oasis

Notable Features: Gender Neutral MC, Reader insert, Yandere LI Spiciness: O/5 -- very wholesome, no explicit content LI Red Flags: 2/5 -- Manipulative, gaslighter

Want to know more? Well let's get into it!

Where do I start with this?

I am so overwhelmed with how good this game is. Let's get into the general aesthetics of the game. When I tell you that it's so satisfyingly pretty, I don't think you really get it. The art style is so captivating like...I can't explain it, but you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it. It's something straight out of a children's storybook. It's so whimsical and so cozy and so...like look at this.

LOOK AT THIS.

These are the woods that we get lost in. I understand that we were supposed to be nervous for our life in this frame, but look at the scenery! And if you think that looks pretty, just look at this man Mychael's HOUSE.

He really said that this could be us all day, everyday. He done made his house into a home. And don't get me started on his garden area.

Ugh, I could literally go on and on about how much I loved the art style in this game. I am literally obsessed. Enough about that though, let's get into the real deal: the game.

I'm really excited about the development of this game, so bear with me. I'm going to give as much detail without giving away the story because I NEED you to play this for yourself, and I don't want to take its charm away by telling you exactly what happened. Trust me, it's so worth it! Remember though: it's just a demo.

So, boom, this whole thing kicks off because we lost our cat.

Obviously, we have to go looking for our family, so we take off one day and pretty much raw-dog it in these woods, but we had a little bit of sense -- we brought a compass. It proves to be useless though because, tell me why, as soon as we get lost, it gets lost, too. Like lmao what?

It's no big deal though because this kind stranger comes along and takes care of us. This stranger's name is Mychael. Say "hey" to the bae, everybody.

Hey, boo~!

All right, so we're chilling in his house, and he makes us some bomb food with some tea but...things get a little awkward at dinner. We basically find out that the spelling of Mychael's name isn't the only thing about him that's different -- it's actually him that's different, too. This is bae though, so, we just accept him for who he is because the man is so sweet ... then again, I'm not entirely sure if these are our own thoughts right now, but he does feel safe, and he isn't exactly treating us bad. Like, the man gave us his bed to sleep in while he just made camp on the floor. Talk about a gentleman.

So, the next day comes along, and he's pretty excited because, not only are we here to enjoy the next day with him, he has a surprise for us. Okay bet! We get ready in a, surprisingly, nice bathroom with some more than decent plumbing, enjoy some bomb food once again (courtesy of Mychael, thanks bae), and head on out. We see his garden and, oh my gosh, he has chickens!! Look at this cutie with his chicken.

LOOK AT HIM

But as cute as he is ... we still haven't found our cat. Unfortunately, we kind've had to remind him we had to go home because at the end of the day, he hasn't put a ring on it, we have a whole job, and yeah, gots to go. Of course, he's sad about this, and he's like "Well, let me just show you this one other thing, and I promise, I'll take you straight home!" Mychael is literally as wholesome as they come at this point -- how could one refuse? Then again, are we even able to refuse him...?

So, yeah, we go with him, and it is so worth it because where he took us was so magical! There are no words to describe the beauty of where he took us. I'm so tempted to show you guys, but I don't want to ruin more than I already have. I won't leave you hanging though! Just picture this clearing with all these butterflies and flowers and just the absolutely perfect amount of sunlight to set the whole "this place is amazing!" mood and just the right amount of shade to enjoy it all in. If you're picturing it correctly, that scenery should be on point, and you should feel an instant sense of calm and awe mixed into one.

Aside from that though, as nice as this was, we still had to get home. So, we remind him -- for, like, the third time -- "Hey, I really need to head out", because granted, the man knows this forest, but we still didn't want to run the risk of it getting dark and us walking around in it for however long it takes us to get back. Here's where it starts to get weird...

If it wasn't obvious, Mychael is laying down the rizz somewhat thick. He may not understand the concept of cosplay or family or even how it's "mama mia" and not "maummer mee-ya", but he knows how to woo a person! or at least manipulate them Like, he is putting in work to be MYchael, you feel me? So much so, he just brushes off that whole speech about us needing to go home, and instead, just tells us to relax. I don't know what it is about that man, but ooh, his voice. You just can't say "no" sometimes! So, we do. We relax, and frankly, feel kind've sleepy because we are so relaxed. Mychael seizes opportunity and starts showing off his musical skillz. Man's literally serenading -- well, more specifically lulling -- us, playing the most calmest of tunes on his little instrument. Everything just feels so nice, relaxing, and safe... oh shit!

We snap awake. We done fell asleep on this man, which is cute and all, but we have to get home neow! Mychael stops playing games finally, and for real, for real starts to take us home. Before we get too far though, we stop at a creek so we can freshen up. We catch a glimpse of Mychael in our reflection, and he catches a glimpse of us which makes him look at himself, and...the reaction was so heartbreaking yet so relateable.

You know how sometimes when you look in the mirror, all you see is your flaws, and it gives you (hopefully, only) a brief sense of ick? Well, his was past that. It was completely self-loathing in that look, and nu-uh, we do not support Mychael slander in this household! So, now it's our time to turn on the charm, and...we may have laid it too thick and too well because now he's blushing, we're blushing, and then he whispers something to himself, and now Mr. Righteous comes out.

Now, he's determined to try to find our cat (...lmao), but he's like "That means you've gotta stay for another day, though!" with this really intense look on his face. Once again -- and for like the fifth time now! The man is sweet, but he has a poor concept of "no means no" -- we're like "That's sweet, but I gots to go". Boom. We start feeling sick, real sick. Like, we had this weird feeling before while we had been hanging out with him, but now it's intense, and it literally takes us down. Mychael had to catch us or else we were gonna hit the ground. So, now, we don't have a choice. We had to go back with Mychael. We's in the thick of it now bois ... AND THEN THE DEMO ENDED!! AUGH!!

DEVESTATED. I. was. DEVESTATED. Lol it was getting so good! Like, you know how you know the demo is coming to the end, but you're hoping there's just a touch more afterwards? That's how I was feeling. It was getting so good, and I wanted to see more! Hell, it IS good, and I WANT to see more!

So far, so great! I'm really excited to see what Day 3 brings us! I understand that Mychael is toxic or whatever, but he's just lonely and a little weird looking. I can fix him!

Honestly speaking though, with how sweet he is, you genuinely don't even feel like he's "ugly" or "scary" looking anymore. His gentle personality and literal down-to-earth nature completely overtakes his looks. He honestly isn't even bad looking! He really is cute in that other-worldly, fantasy being kind of way. But if I saw him in real life, there's a good chance I probably would've freaked out and get the bad ending lol

But, no, seriously, this game is fantastic! This is such a fun experience so far, and the story is really captivating! Just a little tip from me, be sure that when you play through, you pay attention to those text color changes! It helps bring some understanding/context to the story as to what's going on/happening around you.

Fair warning, the "yandere" element isn't showing too much yet, but you can tell that it's just a pacing thing, of which I think is being executed just right! I guess you could consider this to be a slow burn type of story, but because it's so fitting, it doesn't feel like slow pacing at all. If you were planning to jump right into the psycho, crazy Mychael as soon as you were at home with him and made it aware you wanted to leave, it's going to seem slow, but if you don't mind the build up to the plot, even prefer it, this will be great to you. For me, the build up is doing the story justice as there's not really a dull moment. The pace that the dev is going is purposeful, and it's not just slow for the sake of being slow.

That being said, I think I'll end my raving here! Really anticipating what the developer is coming out with next, and I can't wait to see just how far Mychael is willing to go for the sake of companionship. If you're contemplating trying this game out, stop contemplating and just play it! It is so worth it, and you will find yourself just as excited as I am for the full release! Be sure to leave your comments on the dev's page if you feel like they're doing a good job, and you want to give them that extra reassurance. Of course, donations are always helpful to them as well! Like mentioned at the top, here is the link to the game if you'd like to try it out yourself! I highly recommend that you do. It really is a great game.

That's all from me! Drink water, don't be dumb, and hope to see you around! Until next time~!

Mushroom Oasis Game Link and Page

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Research Story

[ID: The banner of the game research story, drawn in anime style. It shows a person next to the game's title, looking at a yellow flower through a magnifying glass, papers in hand and a black cat with a sprout on its head on their shoulder. End ID]

You move into the cozy little village Shimmerbrook as a researcher. Unlike in other farming sims, that means you don't purchase seeds/animals, you have to pick up a plant/animal/fish part, start researching, observe, learn how to forage seeds and how to tame the creatures, then grow the plants and bond with the creatures by fulfilling their needs.

Once it likes you, every creature has a different perk, from giving you bonus seeds when foraging plants, over finding mushrooms, over automatically fertilizing soil when planting seeds, over finding treasure, over…

[ID: A screenshot of the game. The artstyle is pixel graphics, the colors are muted because it's after nightfall. The player character, with pink hair and yellow and pink clothes, walks across a meadow towards a house looking like a giant tree stump. A chicken, a rabbit, and a fox are following them. End ID ]

Different plants/creatures appear depending on weather, location, season & time of day. Some plants only grow next to water, some fish only appear in caves at night. All creatures have multiple possible traits, for example needing a buddy to be happy, and some being sheltered by a nearby tree. The more things you research, the more your rank increases, unlocking more things - like weekly fetch quests for villagers.

There's:

Research (d'uh)

Farming

Fishing

Mining

Crafting

Decorating

Festivals

Dating

Looking at it objectively, no feature is extremely deep (though I believe some will be expanded before 1.0). There's only a limited selection of decor items, no farm buildings, different requirements make large-scale farming tedious, and the fishing minigame is very simple. Dating is still getting expanded (no marriage yet), and crafting is rather limited, mostly things you need for research like different kinds of feed, bait, soil, and crafting stations. There's no cooking yet other than throwing a few basic items into a campfire to get a roasted version, and only a few equippable items as rewards.

[ID: The same player character stands in a small, square house against a black background. The house is furnished with a bed, a bedside table, a desk with a pot of pink flowers on top, a painting, a pale yellow rug, and several wooden chests. End ID]

But, at least for me, it all fits together incredibly well if you accept the research part as the main goal. There's just enough of a carrot on a stick I want to keep playing.

Shortly after release, I already put about 25 hours in and didn't even reach the first year's fall. That was before a lot of the content updates, so there's definitely enough to do for the price tag. I want to earn more money because I want to buy some furniture, and I need those recipes because and I want more sprinklers, and oh my, I forgot upgrading the scythe gives a chance of getting insects, I need insects, so I need more ore, two more days and my research is done, oh yay I reached the next mine level and can finally get sand, and why is it 2am?

Now to be fair, the gameplay loop is - as so often in those kinds of games - rather repetitive. Feed animals, water plants, forage whatever grows today, fish and mine, talk to some people, day's over. Especially feeding the creatures is tedious at the start, since some food items are rare, you have to hand-craft the food, and each pen only holds 2 servings.

But later, there's sprinklers, and feed crafting stations, and autofeeders, and also - creatures don't die. If you don't need the creature's perk, you can just ignore it (Sorry, Rock Salamander!)

[ID: A screenshot of the town in the game, showing 4 different houses to both sides of a river. Two are built out of wood, one being a tavern, the other a potion ship with a small garden in front, and two are built out of stone, one with a forge, the other with masonry tools in front. The player character stands next to the river, fishing. End ID]

As for the game world, it's incredibly cute and the artstyle is minimalist but adorable. The town itself is by far the highlight - other areas have a bit much open/empty space. Speaking of maps, the mini map is great: not only does it show you the opening hours of each store, once you befriend people to a certain level, you can also see their position on the map.

In general, this game has so many convenient features. Excellent auto-stacking and quick transfer into chests. A bell tool to send creatures back into their pens. You can adjust the length of day and amount of energy in the settings (at the moment with no achievement penalty, though there might be one in the future requiring to play with default settings). Energy itself is on the lower side, but you're supposed to use food, not hoard it like a little raccoon as I do. Oh, and - you can save anytime, anywhere. Yay!

[ID: A screenshot showing the dialogue window of the character Teagan in their potion shop decorated with purple furniture, shelves with potions, and various potted plants as well as a big cauldron. The portrait is drawn in anime style. They have pale skin, long, pale pink hair with blonde tips and are wearing purple clothes and a headband with feathers and a bird skull. They ask: What can I do for you? End ID]

The controller support (and, therefore, the steam deck support) is great. Everything works, and what little hiccups there are I expect to be gone by the time it leaves early access. Cloud save between the deck and a pc work as well. The only thing missing is the 1200x800 resolution, which is really no good reason for an "unsupported" label.

I really love this game. Sometimes I don't want to build a farming empire. Sometimes I just wanna crawl in the dirt while watching a little bunny poop so I can pick up the droppings and figure out what it eats.

[awisetoad]

Bombur & Kili are the real wizards of the company.

Bear with me.

There are 3 questions that have plagued me for a while, that have always seemed unrelated:

Why did it take the company so much longer on ponies to travel than it took Frodo & the Gang?

Is Kili really an archer?

What did the company eat?

Now I realize that they are very related, and the first two can pretty much be answered by the last one.

What do dwarves eat?

Meat, obviously, and according to Tolkien Gateway they prefer to trade with Men (and Elves, at times) instead of bothering with agriculture themselves. Also, they don't really mount ponies or have relationships with animals (as in, no pets). But, that doesn't mean they have 0 animal husbandry whatsoever.

It also makes sense that they'd eat mushrooms, and probably cave fish too.

That is, of course, prior to the sacking of Erebor.

Being a wandering people probably fundamentally changed their relationship with food. They now have little to no wealth with which to barter and must rely on skills to trade for food. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that they probably picked up new skills in order to support themselves here.

Fishing they probably had down pretty well, but I'd bet money they had to learn to hunt and trap and forage from Men during their wandering days. This is probably where Thorin learned to shoot, given he's a guy who seems to do literally anything his people need. Makes sense that he'd teach his nephews this valuable skill. Thus, I don't think it's unreasonable that Kili's bow would be used almost exclusively for hunting instead of for war.

By the time they're settled in Ered Luin, I'd wager they are more stable than when they were wandering but still not quite back to the Erebor days. We know the Blue Mountains are poor in precious metals and gems, and there doesn't really appear to be as many settlements of Men nearby to trade with (and we know Thorin hates Elves, so they're probably out).

Thus, the caravans Kili spoke of during his conversations with Tauriel probably come into play. I imagine caravans of working dwarves crossed Eriador regularly with wagons full of what they have to sell, trading their skills, maybe doing "thrift flips" with unwanted junk, all in hopes of being able to stock up Thorin's Halls before the winter. Hunting to feed the caravans as well as trading whatever pelts and animal products or foraged goods from these learned skills is probably helping them a lot, and wouldn't be a skill to scoff at. I bet lots of dwarves who couldn't practice their old trade would pick up one of these new skills as a side-gig.

It also is a handy skill when feeding 13 dwarves on a months-long secret journey across the planet. Because, oh boy, Kili has his work cut out for him.

How much does a dwarf eat?

I'm using the Dwarrow Scholar numbers for height & weight. The average Longboard is 5' 1" and weighs ~170lbs. I am also ignoring Bilbo and Gandalf for the purposes of these calculations.

I'm looking for nutritional requirements for a strongman or powerlifter, thinking that would equate to the kind of lifestyle the average dwarf lives. Bodybuilder.com suggested lifters should aim for 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight, 1.4 grams per pound of carbs on training days (half that on rest days), and 0.24 grams per pound of fats (which I don't really care about for our purposes).

Using those numbers, we're looking at 204g of protein and anywhere between 119–238g of carbs (I'm picking 175g as a nice middle ground), and 40g fats (which again I don't really care about) for a single dwarf, per day.

This means that the entire company needs to come up with 2652g of protein and 2275g of carbs daily.

…which is a totally meaningless number until you put it in perspective.

A Quick Baseline*:

*these numbers are from a half-assed google

Beef & Chicken have roughly 8g of protein per oz, which we'll use as a rough guideline to follow for various types of game

Your average potato has 25g of carbs, while a carrot only has 6g

There are 45g of carbs in 1 cup of brown rice

This recipe for whole wheat sourdough has 36 servings, and at 18g of carbs per serving, totals 648g of carbs for the loaf

A Guide to Game:

I got these numbers by googling around on some hunting sites to see how many pounds of edible meat are produced by various types of game, which I then converted to ounces.

the average squirrel has roughly 8oz of edible meat

a rabbit might have anywhere from 16-32oz of edible meat

ducks produce 48-80oz of edible meat

it's not unreasonable for a buck to yield 58lbs of meat and a doe to yield 44, which translates to 928 & 704oz respectively

a wild hog that weighs 100lbs might yield 35lbs (or 560oz of meat)

the weight of an adult bass is 12lbs, and the internet says a 1lb trout produces ~7oz of meat so maybe we can bullshit that an adult fish is 96oz of edible meat?

IN CONCLUSION

So let's put all of this into theoretical perspective, shall we?

> Kili would need to hunt at least 41 squirrels, 10 rabbits, 4-7 ducks, 1 deer, 1 boar, or 4 good-sized fish every single day. > Bombur has to cook all of that, and either bake 6 loaves of bread, cook 26 cups of rice, or 65 potatoes.

Holy shit, no wonder it took them so long to get anywhere.

Keep in mind that these quantities assume we have enough to maintain their weight, and I only calculated edible meat. Game has a bunch of other valuable parts like pelts, carcasses to make stock, and organs that are either useful or edible.

Also, remember that at many points in the story the dwarves come close to starving (I can see why, god damn). They better be really good at foraging for some kind of carb, starch, veggie, what-have-you because they need a lot of it.

I intend to follow up with an exploration of what they might've foraged to supplement, as well as a few likely meals or menus that take these things into account. So, stay tuned.

[thegeminisage]

back at it in zelda. i complain about the western half of the map but one region i do really like is tabantha, esp around the canyon. everything is very tall and pretty. im grabbing a few korok seeds here while i do shrines as a treat before i move on to satori mountain

flame gleeok where the "stop following me" memory was!! at least i'm equipped to fight them now

i figured out why flame armor doesn't work. you need hot weather armor ie gerudo clothes. wtf

TUNIC OF AWAKENING!!! gr8 reward

SHOOTING STAR!!!!! i didnt see it fall but i can see the light tower from here. it landed directly on the peak of satori mountain and i have no way to fast travel there. it's almost 3am, even with the bike there's no way i can make it. ugh!!! :(

geez i forgot how good the foraging was here. so many mushrooms......

wah. the ruins at the little horse shoe shaped area with the statue. there was a memory here too iirc!

wait...there's water flowing here! wasn't it dry in the last game?? wtf zelda has been at work restoring things AAAAAA

satori mountain cave is cool as hell. all these little guys running around and every time i think i've got to the end there's more of it. i keep going the wrong way on purpose so i can see everything lol

okay! i did some math and if i wanted to get every shrine and still have time to beat the game before pikmin 4, i'd need bare minimum to get 3 shrines per day. but i want FOUR shrines per day so i also have a bit of time to fuck around. today i've gotten the two on satori mountain and it is OFFICIALLY cleaned out. i didn't plan to get all the korok seeds, but they were RIGHT THERE, so.

not sure what shrines im getting next...maybe the horrible hand one by the tower just to get it out of the way lol. i can't believe i walked past those hands 3000 times w/o knowing they were close by. augh

break for now for Stuff tho.

break over. going to the scary shrine before i can chicken out :(

lindors brow cave, for the curious

im so scared im so scared Im So Scared

ok. the good news is. i think if i fly over this Big Pit That Looks Like An Arena i'll miss them. the bad news is. i don't get my frog if i do that. so i gotta spawn them and THEN run. i don't get out of this without spawning them.

AAAAAAAAAGH I DONT WANNA. ok. here we go.

spawned them by ACCIDENT while flying over. good fucking god. im waiting for them to despawn now but its taking forever. idw fight them bc then they'll just spawn phantom ganon

well. they are not leaving.

i'm not going down there. fuck that. i'm shooting them from up here til phantom ganon shows up to kick my ass

SOLO'D THAT MOTHERFUCKER WITH A LYNEL BOW AND BOMB ARROWS!!!!! BUDDY YOU AIN'T SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my hands are shaking. that was horrible. oh my god

ok. wheres that damn frog.

at least its a raurus blessing shrine. imagine having to do all that and THEN they hit u with puzzles

you know though i feel really lucky in some respects though bc. there are places on this map that indicate hand presence. and i remember being in those places and not running into hands there. a brush with fucking death and i didn't even know it

like i swear i walked RIGHT over their spawnpoint in maritta exchange ruins and...nope. nothing.

the biggest chunk of ground shrines i havent gotten yet are in hebra or gerudo desert, both areas i HATE bc of the walking speed debuff. might as well swipe a few more hebra ones and make it easier for future me

oops, i did this shrine quest out of order, i killed a talus which had a crystal on it and now i have to take it to a shrine which means dragging it behind me while i explore this whole cave. smh. at least i can cheat with my map to tell me where the shrine was tho lol

wtf how am i supposed to get it up this big tunnel...dont say hot air balloon.......

(im using a hot air balloon)

THE AIR CURRENT FUCKS WITH MY BALLOON

this is so harrowing. this is the worst cave, oh my god

ANOTHER vertical air column? for the love of god

i guess i have to make another balloon. i only have 1 floating platform and im saving it for worse emergencies than this :/

wait. i think i just went in a big circle?? IS THE SHRINE NOT IN THE CAVE?

oh my god it LITERALLY wasnt in the cave i dragged it around that whole time and made those annoying wonky hot air balloons for NOTHING!!! the beam didnt show up until i tried to pick it up with my hands (which didnt happen until near the end of the cave exploration), so i just assumed...

jesus goddamn christ. fucking bullshit lmao i'm an idiot

OKAY. shrine get.

another shrine which was some eventide bullshit. i wish you could keep the items from those i want arrows :(

ANOTHER BREAK.

ok. im back. gonna see whats in that big fuckoff hole (my map says a shrine)

i always feel so bad for addison when i find him in rough climates. he's shivering!! go home, buddy!!!

this froggy armor fucking sucks. i've got the whole set and i still slip on the ice >:(

ok, i got...5?? 6?? shrines today so well ahead of schedule lol. tomorrow i'm doing ANYTHING but hebra

[lovevalley45]

#fictober22 day seventeen

"Are you serious?"

original fiction (continuation of yesterday's prompt)

word count: 970

Josie purposely avoided looking out the window as Rhiannon drove. She read out the directions for her, every turn making her more and more anxious. 

Somehow, it wasn’t about the transformation. She’d learned that she could control it outside the full moon, but she didn’t want to take chances. Instead she was worried for her friend. If she couldn’t control it like she could when trying to learn more about this curse in her apartment, would she have the ability to hold herself back? Or would she come to with Rhiannon’s blood in her mouth?

The thought of that made her sick to her stomach. 

As they pulled up to those oh-so-familiar woods, Josie pushed the door open right before Rhiannon could fully stop. “Okay. Thanks for the ride, meet me back here at… dawn? Yeah, dawn sounds right.”

Rhiannon, of course, did not take the bait as she parked. She hopped out of the drivers’ seat, coffee cup in one hand and notepad in the other. “You’re not losing me that easily.”

“Are you serious?” Josie asked, exasperated. 

“Yes.”

Sometimes, she wished she could peer into that weird little brain of hers and figure out what was going on in there. For a scientist, it seemed she had been born with a lack of rational thought. 

“I know there’s a werewolf in these woods. One that isn’t me, and may not have some deep-down buried instinct to not rip your throat out,” she explained. “How do you think I got turned, Rhiannon?”

“I already survived a werewolf attack,” she said cheerfully. 

Josie balked. “I didn’t attack you-”

“Okay, but I acted quick before you could. Therefore, I survived.”

“You didn’t bring your weapon of choice, though.”

“I brought something.” Rhiannon reached into the inside of her coat and withdrew a sheathed hunter’s knife. 

“Holy - when did you get that?” Josie asked. 

She shrugged. “There’s a sporting goods store three blocks away from our department. They’ll just sell you a knife, Josie.”

“That doesn’t answer my question!”

Rhiannon looked up at the sky. “Oh, it’s getting dark out. We probably should get in there.”

With a sigh, Josie said, “Okay, fine. Just keep your distance.”

Although she knew that it’d probably just get lost the moment she transformed, Josie took out the flashlight she’d bought. It wasn’t very dark here yet, but the light was reassuring.

Behind her, Rhiannon was quiet. It was always a little unnerving when she was too quiet. The only sound was the occasional sip of coffee that she had still brought with her. 

Eventually, they reached a very familiar area of trees. Josie shined her light over the chicken-of-the-woods that Cynthia had been foraging when the werewolf attacked. “I don’t know if this is its territory, but it’s deep enough that no sensible person should be in here. No matter how tempting the mushrooms here are.”

“I know you’re trying to deflect with humor,” Rhiannon said, clicking her pen. 

“Oh God, are you going to take notes on my transformation?” she asked. “I mean, I’ve forced it out in the apartment, it can’t be that different here.”

She gestured with her notepad, holding it out. “I’m just curious if it’s different.”

“Fine, turn around so I can take my clothes off.”

“I’m already going to see you running around naked in wolf form anyways,” Rhiannon pointed out. But she turned around anyways.

Josie wasn’t going to strip down - it was still daytime. But she took off her jeans and t-shirt, shrugging her flannel back on for some kind of modesty before the full moon rose. If this pair of underwear and sports bra got ruined in the transformation, so be it. But at least her t-shirt would stay intact. 

“I’ve got a theory,” Rhiannon said, “that maybe you simply couldn’t control it because it was your first time transforming.”

“And so what? You’ll risk your life for that.”

“I can always just run and lock myself in the car.”

Josie chuckled. “Oh, so that was your grand plan all along.”

“If need be,” she said. 

She kinda hoped she was right. Josie didn’t need to look in the sky to know it was growing closer to nighttime. Thankfully, Rhiannon wasn’t bugging her to describe how it felt, because it was hard to put into words. It was more physical than mental. Suddenly, her flannel was too warm and she wanted to rip it off despite the autumn breeze. It was almost like she was sick, but she didn’t feel tired, or exhausted. She felt like she could run a marathon. 

Transforming always hurt, though. When she did it herself, it felt like overcoming some mental block, like how the human brain knew not to let someone bite through their own finger. Now, she felt it coming, and ripped off her flannel. It felt like her skin tearing, reforming, tearing, reforming. The heat got worse - probably because of the thick brown fur covering her body. She got taller, bigger, muscle coming from out of nowhere. 

But once Josie recovered from the pain, laying on the dirt of the clearing, she realized she had all her senses. She laid there for a moment, eyes open, trying to catch her breath.

“Josie?” Rhiannon asked tentatively. She heard her come over, and lay a hand on her fur. “You okay?”

It felt harder to speak in her werewolf form, her tongue not as well suited for words, but she managed out a, “Yeah. I think I’m good.”

“Aren’t you happy I came?” she said.

Josie choked out a laugh. “Oh, yeah, totally, so glad to have an audience for this.”

Rhiannon ran her hands through her fur. It felt surprisingly good. “Well, at least you have some company.”

And for once, she was thankful for her stubborn ass friend.

[tetrilys]

Why must food and shelter be measured in monetary terms? All I want to do is grow my own little vegetable garden and bake my own bread and toss grain to my chickens and weave my own little baskets and forage for mushrooms and eat a tomato sandwich with tomatoes I grew that are still warm from the sun and have company over for tea and decide to travel or visit distant relatives on a whim and write and paint and read beneath an ancient oak tree.

Instead I’m expected to spend more than the better half of my life in a stuffy office, breathing artificial filtered air and staring at a man-made screen and getting yelled at by complete strangers and undermined by superiors and half-heartedly joking with coworkers about how much longer until closing time (but that’s actually the only thing motivating all of us). Instead of hearing birdsong and the whisper of wind in the trees, I hear keyboards and phones and chimes and artificial everything. Instead of eating food that I poured my time and love into growing or creating, I unwrap a sad little plastic tray of frozen calories and artificial flavorings and heat it in yet another thing that chimes and beeps in that artificial way.

Instead, I only get to see the sky at dawn and dusk and maybe catch snatches of a beautiful day through an office window. But, oh, you can enjoy the outdoors during the day if you like, but you mustn’t spend more time than what we allow - because during so and so hours we own you. Abide by the guidelines and we might tack on an extra bit of change you can earn each hour. Each hour that you sell your soul to us just so you can have a roof over your head and food in your belly and education for your children. Sell your soul to us so you can earn basic human rights that everyone should have access to regardless of money in their pockets. Sell us the precious hours of your life that you can never get back but, oh, we can give you money for them. Money that I can’t eat. Money that won’t keep the morning dew off when I sleep. Money that won’t cure the cough that’s settled in my lungs. Money that ultimately cannot and will not ever stir joy within me the way my dog does when I finally arrive home after spending fourteen out of my sixteen waking hours away from home each day because I “need” money.

How many precious memories have I missed out on because of the pressures of financial stability? How many sacred moments have I let slip by? My grandfather that I was too busy working to visit that passed away, yet I hadn’t seen him since July? Because I couldn’t afford to take the time off? Because I couldn’t afford the airfare?

Why did we let ourselves start measuring our life’s moments in dollars? Why should I have to decide which is more important? I shouldn’t have to make those kinds of decisions. Nobody should.

[tastesoftamriel]

I was asked about what dishes you should never offer to Daedric Princes by a follower who's probably a little too curious for their own good. Here's an interesting question I certainly have not thought of, because I generally try not to invoke the wrath of Daedric Princes! However, if you really want to potentially bring the punishment of Oblivion down upon yourself, please feel free to try the following...

Mehrunes Dagon

Instead of fiery destruction, I propose something...cute. A classic chilled custard tart topped with warm berry compote and some Hammerfell-style rose-and-vanilla pashmak is bound to melt hearts, just not in the way one of his Dremora would.

Peryite

I love making healthy foods just as much as indulgent dishes, and as the popular adage goes, an apple a day keeps Peryite away! A classic rucola and feta salad with a balsamic and Cyrodiilic olive oil can be made even better with an extra handful of spinach, a sprinkle of fresh pomegranate, halved walnuts, avocado and cucumber slices, and a few diced apple pieces! Simply delectable, and sure to keep scurvy and pestilence at bay.

Molag Bal

What should you not offer the Daedric Prince of domination and creator of vampires? Probably a soft, delicate vegetarian dish. A Breton vegetable quiche with an all-butter crust, goose eggs, sun-dried tomatoes, delicate baby spinach, fresh chanterelle mushrooms, squash, lots of garlic, and a spot of chevre. Mouth-wateringly good, this little beauty makes for an excellent meal at any time of day, and is bound to make Molag Bal sneer.

Namira

I'm going to be a little cheeky here and turn something gross and creepy into something delicious that even the fussiest nobles I've served love: garlic butter snails. Namira's followers are known to chow down on live, raw snails, shells and all, but I prefer mine with a garlicky gratin and a sprinkle of cave-aged West Weald parmesan. Oh, and don't forget to eat them with a fancy silver snail fork like a proper diva!

Boethiah

Plots? Destruction? Snakes? Not with this dish! What you see is what you get with a traditional Nord bread-and-butter pudding! It's a great way to use up your leftover bread scraps and stale butter, and is one of Tamriel's most satisfying desserts in my humble opinion. Served with hot custard and dried snowberries, this pudding is the perfect, least deceptive dish I can imagine.

Hircine

You were spot on with a salad, but let me raise the bar a little. Not just any salad will do, but you'll want all your ingredients to be gently cultivated by hand and farmed, as opposed to wild foraged. Iceberg lettuce and pink pear salad with some crumbled goat cheese and honey hits the spot, but how about topped with some marbled fatty beef? The historic Gweden Farm near Anvil has won countless awards for its pampered cows who are given a daily massage and the best fresh grass and Cyrodiilic grain. Domesticated, happy, and wonderful...unless you're a hunter, that is.

Hermaeus Mora

You'd have to be downright stupid to try a traditional Argonian worm bowl unless you're Saxhleel, and even then, most of them don't want to touch this nasty, wriggling dish. Fresh, live mealworms and kotu gava eggs are drowned in a fermented blood worm sauce, with shredded catapult cabbage and flame-grilled, toxic haj mota flesh. I once commented that it looked a little like Hermaeus Mora himself, before taking a tentative nibble and spending the rest of the day throwing up in the swamp. Please don't try this. It's the dumbest dish in Tamriel, and a pox on whichever Argonian invented it.

Sheogorath

No cheese or strawberry torte here! In fact, the least madness-inducing food I can think of is a nice, mild pistachio ice cream profiterole, dipped in sweet milk chocolate and topped with fresh nuts is the perfect Breton summer treat, yet far too boring for the Prince of Madness to bother with. Which leads us to...

Sanguine

I really dislike coming up with bland, mundane dishes for the occasional fussy eater I come across during my travels. Sanguine, Prince of hedonistic pleasures, probably lurks over my shoulder at the average feast I throw, so I admit I was a bit stumped here...until I remembered my Granny Matilda's chicken noodle soup. As basic as soups come, this simple broth is made by boiling leftover chicken carcasses for a night and a day, and served with plain egg noodles. The perfect food for when you're feeling under the weather, or have the palate of a small Nord child.

Malacath

Altmer cuisine seems like a good way to get Malacath really mad, because it's basically the antithesis of what he stands for. Delicate Quicksilver Lingwe cerviche with a yuzu drizzle and Crystal Hannia caviar, with a light avocado mousse flavoured with apple blossom? A sensory delight, and bound to make any Malacath-respecting Orc gag.

Jyggalag

Fried, hand-pulled buckwheat noodles with a spicy Pellitine-style curry sauce is a good way to make this Prince quite cross with you. Not only is it messy to eat, but your furniture will likely suffer bright orange and yellow stains from the turmeric and tomatoes, and your bowels will also be as tangled as the noodles after consuming a fiery Khajiiti curry.

Vaermina

So mundane and boring, you're definitely not bound to have any dreams or nightmares about a bowl of saltrice porridge with comberry preserves and scrib jerky. The staple food of the common Dunmer, it's tasty enough to eat on a daily basis, but hardly the stuff dreams are made of.

Mephala

This spidery Prince enjoys interfering with us mortals, so it's time to fight back with a dish that'll probably make most other Daedric Princes frown too. Imperial food is famous for its balanced flavours, textures, and fresh ingredients, and a Gold Coat seafood stew is a vibrant dish bursting with the best fresh fish, mussels, lobster, and crabmeat the region has to offer. Mild but but with a tangy punch from the sun-dried tomato based soup and a dash of crisp white wine, this is a dish that both young and old enjoy across Cyrodiil.

Meridia

Charred jerk wild boar stuffed with timber mammoth cheese and a delicious bloody jus-and-honey sauce is sure to make any Bosmer's mouth water! It's definitely dead, it's definitely cooked, and it's definitely bound to disappoint Meridia. Just a warning- try this for a laugh and you'll never be able to get rid of her beacon.

Azura

By Azura, please don't offer this to the Lady of Dawn and Dusk unless you want to irreparably have your race changed! Love and devotion is what this Prince craves, so why not damage yourself with a fiery Dunmeri Vvardenfell fondue, made from scuttle, crab meat, and extremely spicy fire petal blossoms? Enjoyed by the most pain-seeking of Dunmer, my version comes with fried hackle-lo leaf and saltrice-and-wickwheat bread for dipping. It'll have your guts in a twist for days, which is the price to pay for this deliciously hot "cheese" dish. Oh, and did I mention that it's best washed down with a nice cup of Vivec's Gingergreen Chai?

Nocturnal

There's absolutely nothing dark about a Redguard sun-jelly, made with fresh fruits from coastal Hammerfell. Coconut, palm fruit, watermelon, and bananas are the stars of the show in this dessert, set in a chilled agar jelly that keeps the heat at bay. The fanciest Redguards love mixing edible gold flakes into the jelly itself, giving it a delightful luster that is sure to put a smile on your face and chase the shadows away.

Clavicus Vile

You're not going to want to strike any bargain to give up a delicious baked chub loon gratin with echatere cheese, over hasselback potatoes and crispy radish chips. This Orcish delicacy is surprisingly so good it's even tickled the fancy of the fussiest eaters in Tamriel! The chub loon meat is juicy and melts in the mouth, and the echatere cheese melted into the cracks of a hasselback potato are wonderful with radish chips for dipping. Admit it, you're drooling aren't you?

[deathandmushrooms]

Hi! Hi! I love your blog a lot <3

I was wondering: do all the mushrooms you eat taste the same? Or are some more "spongy" than others? Are some spicey? How do you know that the mushrooms you eat are 100% THAT mushroom and not a closely-the-same-but-toxic-or-worse mushroom? Im sorry if that was an overwhelming question, haha! You dont have to answer if you dont want to, but you HAVE to know that I LOVE your blog! 💙

My very first ask! 😱😍 Thank you so much for brightening my little night! It's not a problem at all, and not-at-all overwhelming!

This answer might be though....

1. The mushrooms do not all taste the same! Some taste meatier--more savory (like chicken of the woods, or maitake--or what I call tree-chicken and tree-bacon respectively); some taste almost more like crab (Hericium)--this one can be a bit spongy; some taste a little peppery (black trumpet); some taste very earthy and a little smoky (old man of the woods)--but I might have just burnt that last one 😂. Sorry, Old Man: it will probably happen again.

2. Some mushrooms are great to forage because there aren't any mushrooms that look like that mushroom and are toxic. Like shaggy mane, giant puffball, or black trumpets (below).

I mean, you might confuse this with a blue chanterelle or pig's ear, I guess, in which case you have erred deliciously (Oh man I really want an apron with a picture of a black goat that says err deliciously on it now 😂--sorry, distractable)

Clyde Christensen talks about the "fool proof four," meaning fairly common mushrooms that are pretty safe for beginning foragers because it's really difficult to confuse them with something toxic (his are giant puffball, morels, chicken of the woods (below), and shaggy mane I think?).

Then, you have mushroms that might be confused with something toxic, just because something exists in your region which looks something like it and is toxic. Like, enoki mushrooms (something I'm on the look out for now) look like deadly galerina--a mushroom with the same amatoxin as the destroying angel which (if the name didn't give it away) can kill you.

But, even though they look very similar, there are reliable differences--like their spore print. If you remove the cap of an enoki, and leave it on a piece of paper, foil, or glass for a few hours, it will drop a white spore print. Deadly galerina drop a sort of rusty brown.

Some mushrooms are very rude and can't be distinguished from their toxic look-alikes with a spore print. Lots of white gilled mushrooms drop a white spore print, including some that you can eat and some that you can eat but only once.

But there's always something that distinguishes them, whether it's the shape of the base, the way the gills are attached to the stem (or not), the color, their environment, the texture, the color it turns when you cut into into it--and the more of these distinguishing features you know, the more confident you'll be that you have the right mushroom.

But, first time I forage something I cook up a small piece and eat it, wait 12 hours or so, meditate on the transience of life and my own mortality (kidding...mostly), and get really paranoid about any of my bodily sensations for a while 😂....Also bc you never know when you're going to have a sensitivity to something, even when it is the correct mushroom. I mean, kiwi is edible but I don't have a good time when I eat it. Though with those shaggy manes I found today I did not do that bc if I'd waited that long they'd be goo. I have yet to experience any ill effect from a mushroom, but if I do I will be in for a slightly less bad time than if I'd eaten a whole bunch of it at once.

But you get to know mushrooms, and trust yourself and your own ID and the waiting thing doesn't feel necessary any more. There are so many mushrooms and it can be pretty overwhelming. When I first started learning to formally identify mushrooms, I was so sure I would never eat something I'd foraged myself. I just didn't have confidence in myself...but I unintentionally cultivated that confidence when I was just having fun looking at and reading about mushrooms.

It's not at all an exaggeration to say that this hobby has been wonderful for my mental health, especially my anxiety....and I mean like, often-can't-leave-the-house and won't-answer-the-phone anxiety.

Learning mushrooms is a bit like moving to a new city or even country, if you're very new. There's all these streets and stores and people you don't know. But you start exploring bit by bit, maybe doing some research beforehand. Or you see something interesting, go "What that??" and research it after. And each time you learn one little area, you develop an eye (and nose) for what's most relevant and the vocabulary you need, and learning becomes easier and easier.

This metaphor got away from me. You don't do it all at once is my point. 😂

I take mushrooms one at a time, learn everything I can about that species, and then they start to feel familiar and almost sort of friendly. And I pass them on a hike and wave and say, "Hey Strobilomyces strobilaceus, how you doing, how's the spores?"

And then they don't say anything because they're a fungus. And then sometimes I take them home and eat them because they're also an edible fungus 💙

[anoriathdunadan]

Where the Stars are F***ing Strange

Pairing: Aragorn-Estel-Strider / OC Rating: Explicit Genre: Modern OC in Middle-earth, reader insert, gender neutral reader, 25th Gray Companion, copious references to The Princess Bride (because why not?) Warnings: so much swearing, canon levels of xenophobia and violence, character death, feral chickens Summary: Plucked like a fish out of water, you try to make the best out of a bad situation in Bree. Then, one day, this Hozier-looking dude showed up at The Pony

Chapter 12: Teach a Fish to Man

In which our fish and a friend go for a walk.

“There once was a Ranger named Strider, whose title proclaimed him a fighter. ‘Take me at my word though I haven’t a sword I’ll protect you,’ he said ‘from that spider.’”

“C’mon!” you say when your limerick fails to get a reaction from Estel. He just keeps on sweeping at the leaf litter on the forest floor with the toe of his boot.

You would have thought the incongruity of a ‘big scary Ranger’ promising to exert himself against a teeny tiny little spider would have gotten at least an amused huff, if not a full out laugh.

Yeah, you’ve let Estel lead you out north of the Great East Road into Chetwood. You’re not exactly sure how far you are from Bree proper. It’s definitely further than you usually go, what with the rascals and rogues and highwaymen you might meet on the way, or, you know, accidentally bring with you.  It might have something to do with how little work you’ve had at Barliman’s, what with all the rain lately.  You’ve been out a few hours and it’s coming on noon. You can tell by how loudly your stomach is wondering if it can eat some of the food you’ve been foraging.

“’Tis a lazy effort,” Estel says, dropping into a crouch and plucking at something on the ground, “to match ‘d’ and ‘t’ in your rhyme.”

You snort. Well, fuck you, too, William Longshanks Shakespeare.

Operation C.U.E. may be struggling a bit to meet its daily quota today.  In fact, today’s objective is more Poke Estel Out of His Shell P.E.O.O.H.S, which is not nearly as much fun as Unshell Estel, U.E., despite it being a lot easier to say and inadvertently rhyming, to boot.  Taciturn and grim is saying it nicely.  Sullen and uncommunicative is more like it.  You can’t exactly ask him what’s wrong and expect anything other than “none of your business,” so attempt to tease and distract Estel it is.

You roll your eyes and return to cutting mushrooms off a truly massive fallen oak whose trunk comes up to your chest. Luckily you are behind him with the tree between you, and so he goes on.

“In truth.” Estel stands and looks about his feet. “You would need to declare what manner of spider was involved, or, at the least, its size, else the humor of your final line is lost.  I have fought spiders the size of your house, though, should the tales be true, they are much diminished in size and cunning from what they once were.”

Good god.  You freeze in the act of dropping the mushrooms into your soft basket. That’s just.  Too much.  Too much all at once.  You don’t even know what to think of that.  Spiders.  Houses.  He’s fought against them.  And those are the small ones?  Oh my god.

They’ve got to be someplace far far off, or you’d have heard of them before this.  Right? Right?

God you hope so.

“I did not lose my sword until much later.  It took more than the use of my own wits and the weapons I had at hand to free myself from them. I had help, and was glad of it.”

Oh. Yeah. How did he get his sword back, anyway?

You are on the cusp of asking, when he says, “’Tis an improvement o’er your last attempt, aye, but should you wish to offend me, you must do so with greater wit than you have shown thus far.”

And with that you drop everything you had been puzzling over.

Oh, so that’s how it is, is it?

“Fine!” you declare, settling the long handles of your basket back over your head and shoulder and picking up your walking stick where you had leaned it against the tree trunk.  “Let’s see you do better, big boy. What you got?”

“I have shoots of ground elder.”  He holds up something small and leafy.  He’s still peering about his feet and very deliberately not paying any attention to you.  He takes a step or two and brushes at the ground with his foot.  “You may find them in areas such as this even in the depths of winter.  Come!” he says, gesturing you closer. “I shall show you.”

Yeah, yeah.  You take a running leap up to the top of the log and, catching your balance, tuck your hickory staff beneath your arm and trip down its length closer to him before you plop to sitting where you can see him better.  You thrust your knife into the trunk of the tree and, laying your staff across your thighs, kick your feet over the empty space between your seat and the ground.

“If you think you can do better, c’mon, let’s hear it,” you say and he huffs, dropping back to a crouch and brushing away wet leaves to expose more of the ground elder and a dark ivy.

He plucks several shoots from the soil and points at larger growth nearby.  Those are his broad shoulders and yes that is his nicely muscled back and yep they are both turned very firmly away from you. “’Tis the same plant, there, but when grown to such a size as those you may eat them, but they do not taste so good as when young.”

“C’mon, Estel,” you call to his back, leaning over in an attempt to catch a look at his face. “I know you love poetry.”

He stands, peering closely at the floor of the clearing as he holds a small green plant with serrated leaves out in your general direction.  “When the leaves are yet curled one tother as this is, is when they taste at their best.”

“No need to be shy. Spit a verse.”

“Hala,” he says and drops his chin to his chest, his voice all kinds of resolutely calm.

“Seriously, it’s just you and me here,” you say.  “I’ll get you started.  ‘There once was a person named Fish -’“

“Hala!” he cries and gestures at you where you sit with the ground elder leaves, “I am attempting to teach you that which may keep you alive should you have naught else to eat.”

You nod your head. “Yes, that you have and I am very grateful, but-”

“I cannot see how that is so,” he mutters and now he’s back down on one knee, turning over leaves with the tip of his finger and plucking at the green shoots he uncovers.

“I have been listening.”

“You have not,” he scoffs.  “You have been prattling.”

“I’m not prattling.  I’m having fun to pass the time in between your very impressive survivalist lessons. There’s a difference,” you say, though you really hope he won’t press you on that because you’re really not sure what it is.  Maybe you can bullshit your way through it.

“And for it shall not recall a single thing I have shown you or said,” he says, his voice sharpening.  “Were you always thus?  Or has the months of solitude curdled your wits?”

“Hey!” you protest.  Fucking cheap shot.

He launches to his feet, his hand full of greens.  Oops. He’s not just irritated, he’s full out angry.  He might be crushing the shoots he just plucked from the ground in his fist a little too hard and you might have pushed him a little too far.

“Do you wish to know what I learned of you, Hala, when I asked the folk of Bree what they knew of you?” he asks, pinning you with a very sharp glare.

Great.  Just what you wanted to hear.  “Sure, Professor Estel,” you say, “you’re on an educational roll, enlighten me.  What exactly did they tell you that I haven’t heard every single day since I first got here?”

“That in the depth of winter, you were so reduced as to be found combing through the middens of your neighbors and the slop buckets at The Pony,” he fairly yells at you. “You were well on your path to weighing no more than a child come the spring had not you a friend in Bob to make work for you and Barliman’s cook to force food upon you.”

Oh.  They told him that.

Well.  Fuck.

“Look, Estel -“

“Say what you will of me.”  He stabs his finger at your knee.  “Recite your poetry mocking what little I am able to do in the face of perils of which you have no great understanding, but, Hala, I beg of you, give me the respect of accepting what help I can offer in gift for what you have done for me.”

Oh.

Oh shit.

He’s not angry, he’s afraid and hurt. And you are the cause of both of those things.

“I’m sorry, Estel,” you say, but he’s already turned away, striding back to his open pack at the foot of a tree at the edge of this little glade.  “I make light of things that I shouldn’t.  I know that.  It doesn’t mean I don’t take them seriously.  It’s just, sometimes, you know, they’re just too big and too heavy to have to live with them all the fucking time.  I really do appreciate your help.  I mean, honestly I’m in a much better position now than I was last year.  I don’t think I could joke about it if I wasn’t.  And you’ve been a big reason for that.”

He thrusts the handful of greens in his pack, his movements sharp.

“Okay, I’ll make a deal with you.  If I can recite everything you’ve taught me in the past twenty-four hours to your satisfaction you have to come up with a limerick of your own,” you say and his nicely muscled back heaves in a sigh.

With that, he slaps the flap on his pack closed and comes to face you.  His hands on his hips, he’s got that spark of challenge in his eye that you were working for in the first place.

He clears his throat.  “Very well then, I accept. Let us hear it.”

“All right, all right,” you say, and draw in air through your nose, settling your shoulders and feeling the words before they come out of your mouth. Using your staff like a drum major’s baton to point in the appropriate directions, you begin.

“Grey oyster mushrooms are available in the depth of winter, as are wood bluets which are found in leaf litter that is undisturbed, so look under brambles when close in to Bree but they can be found anywhere off trail outside of that. The ground ivy that we found half a click north by northwest of the northern Bree gate can be eaten or made into a tea. Burdock root found at the foot of a grove of elms a little under one click southeast of our current position tastes like a combination of carrot and potato.  The newer growth is more tender, so dig deep.  Don’t just yank on the plant cuz you’ll be left with the woodier older growth.  You’ve got plans to dig out a root cellar beneath my shed where the opening will be sheltered from the weather.  Common sorrel is found in the grasslands east of Bree’s hedgerow and is about the only thing around here that doesn’t taste like carrot.  Pay attention to the points on the leaves so as to not mistake it for dock, which is not a big deal given that dock is edible, just not tasty.  Be more careful not to mistake it for a lily imported to the North from the ‘western hills of Harad in the days of old’ which is not edible, though that comes up in the spring not winter.  Look for two leaves growing together and about the stem and you will know it for the pines that most often grow about the crown of Bree-hill, not yew, as pine when crushed makes a healthy tea, but yew most decidedly does not.  We are currently just over two clicks northwest of the northern gate.  Ground elder shoots as seen below your feet are found beneath leaf litter and come in clusters of three with serrated edges.

“I’ll gladly gather some of that chervil over there for our lunch as you asked, but only if you eat it first. I’m sure it will taste like carrots like everything else around here does, only to then result in your very painful and sudden death because it is, in fact, hemlock and not chervil, and I really gotta wonder how far you were going to let that particular little test of my skills go.  Luthien is the daughter of Thingol and Melian of Doriath, by which the blood of the Ainur entered into the peoples of Middle earth.  Thingol is a dick who sent his daughter’s lover off to die chasing after some mythical jewel and then stuffed said daughter in a tower made of a tree. He paid for it and seemed to have learned his lesson, which didn’t really help anybody in the end. Luthien Rapunzled her way out of captivity and together she and Beren changed the course of history by producing about every leader of half of the cultures of Middle-earth, who then go on to ignore and refuse to name women in their histories and politics with the exception of a few stand-outs, and even though the idea of it is very appealing to you, you’ve never really kissed anyone.”

It is really really hard not to smirk down at him from your perch, but you are certainly doing your best. Okay, yeah, who are you fooling? You are literally grinning broadly down at him.  He kinda looks like he’s either fighting against a smile or is sucking on something sour.  God, you wish you could take a picture about now.

“How am I doing?”

He nods.

“Thingol is not a dick,” he says before he turns away and goes to his pack.

Sad to say, but Estel has learned from prior conversations what that means.  His vocabulary of foul language is making great progress under your tutelage.

You roll your eyes and let your weight drag you off the tree trunk and land on your feet in a soft pile of rotting leaves and ground cover in a hail of bark.

“Well if he’s not,” you say, “he certainly does a good impression of one.”

“Elu Thingol,” he says with a certain emphasis on the dignity of the name, “was the king of a great people put under siege by one of the most oppressive powers in all the ages of the world. For many thousands of years he kept them safe until he himself perished.”

“You mean Melian, Queen of Doriath kept them safe.  Her husband was a control freak. Locked their people inside the beltway and their daughter in a tree.  Awesome dude.  You owe me a poem.”

He mutters something you can’t catch as he fastens the flap to his pack and picks it up.

“What was that?” you ask, cupping your hand behind your ear.

“Aye! Very well!” he exclaims.  He drops his pack back to the ground and turns to give you a slight bow, his arms spread wide.

“There once was a Fish who did hinder the scavenge of food and of tinder. Then came the cold bite of frost and of night. Then perished poor Fish in the winter.”

Okay, yeah.

That’s way better than any of yours.

“Did you just make that up on the spot?” you ask, leaning on your staff and smiling, because, yes, that is awesome, and a delighted grin flashes across his face, which he quickly turns away to hide.

“I’m impressed,” you say as he picks up his pack and peers into the sun shimmering overhead through the canopy of leaves.  “You’ve been quite modest after all.  Big, bad, mysterious Strider has some skills.”

“And you, Hala, seem to have retained more than I hoped, despite your embellishments,” he says.  He slings his pack over his shoulder and onto his back and pauses, flashing you a look.  “Let us see what you make of setting traps ere we break for our noon meal.”

Fucker.  He doesn’t fool you.  Nope, not with that crinkling about his eyes and that twitch of the corner of his lip.  He’s got a tell.  Yes he does.  It’s the left cheek.  That’s the side that gives him away.  Honestly, he’s probably not trying all that hard to hide it.

And with that, he strides off, moving swiftly through a gap in the underbrush.  You settle your basket more firmly between your shoulder blades, watching where he places his feet.  He moves really quietly when he chooses to, but doesn’t seem to put much thought into it.  It’s not like he is constantly watching where he’s putting his feet.  You really don’t know how he’s doing it.

‘Lazy effort’ my ass.  ‘Hinder, tinder, winter.’  Fucker just rhymed ‘d’ and ’t’ himself.

“Do not forget your knife!” comes his call as you follow behind him.

Huh?

Oh, shit!  You left it stuck in the trunk of the fallen tree you were sitting on.

You take a few running steps and sling yourself to the top of the tree trunk to retrieve it.  It comes loose after a couple tugs and you drop back down to the soft loam of shredded leaves and bark.

“Come, Hala!” Estel calls.  “Keep up!”

[howdoyousleep3]

Hi Miss K! I am here to put in a request: I hope you like it. Been having a hard time recently, health-wise, and your writing always makes me happy. I can't stop thinking about Stucky living in a cabin in a forest somewhere, all cozy, where magically there is enough sun for Bucky to grow a veggie garden. They can food and Steve likes to quilt when he isn't painting. Farmer daddy/baby vibes! Maybe this IS farmer daddy au, idk. Just thought maybe you'd like to write cabincore!Stucky. Love u ma'am!

Oh bug are you in for a treat. 

I read this and immediately felt certain people come to mind! So of course I naturally asked them to help me out in answering this with some random thoughts so! @hanitrash​, @trekchik​, and @cantabile-l​ have helped me answer this BEAUTIFUL Ask! 

They're 20 minutes from the nearest town, which is still small, maybe 3k people, tops. 

Steve bitches about not being able to find the right threads for his quilting, or the right yellow for his painting. 

Bucky has an ongoing feud with a rabbit that keeps eating his vegetables. 

They both thoroughly enjoy foraging for wild mushrooms and learning how to cook with wild plants.

Omg. The zucchini. Bucky has no clue and plants too many (which is really, really easy to do) and there is. SO. MUCH. ZUCCHINI. 

They eat it every meal for about two weeks straight and Bucky vows to never grow it again. Fried zucchini chips. Zucchini bread. Roasted zucchini. It's everywhere.

Don't forget the spiralizer/veggie sheet cutter for zoodles and zucchini-wrapped lasagna rolls.

They discover they like hot peppers and they make pickled eggs with hot peppers grown in the garden. Pickled cherry peppers. Pepper relish. 

There's wild berry bushes and they make blackberry and raspberry jelly and omg Bucky making jellies is tugging at my heartstrings

He gets those strawberry pots and one year finally manages to grow enough strawberries to make jelly and he’s just so goddamn tickled Steve can’t help but kiss at Bucky’s cheeks every time Bucky grins as he slathers a piece of toast or a biscuit in the preserves he’s proud of

Bucky starts doing woodworking, wants to find some sort of creative or artistic hobby to get him through the winter like Steve has. He scavenges logs and branches and shit and makes like, birdhouses and whittles little figurines and shit.

Oh my god can you imagine Bucky complaining about the rabbit and Steve's like, “I mean I've got some rope I could set some traps... Always wanted to try some rabbit stew...”

And Bucky is HORRIFIED

Goes away with a huff and won't speak to Steve for several hours because that is unspeakable animal CRUELTY.  Steve's just like ??? “But... You were just ready to kill the rabbit... You legit said those exact words...”

“But not actually!! Bucky yells from outside.

We love this, Nonnie! I love it because I grew up on a farm and living in a cottage in the forest, living off the land with my chickens, is the dream for me. Living my best Lumberjack AU over here lmao. Thank you for sending this in! It was a delight! 😘😘😘

[meirimerens]

If you're accepting fandom questions could we have some elaboration about those mgs jupiter family alaskan daydreams please? Also your amazing TEW art got me into the series so thanks, I'm liking it a lot!!

first of all, i’m so deeply honored that my art could get you into a game, and also : god i’m fucking sorry lol

second of all

oh god oh fuck alaskan daydreams time

okay so long /, the read mores don’t work, you’re gonna have to bear with it

so tldr i have… EXTENSIVE imaginated stories about dave, hal and sunny living in a little remote cabin in alaska. 

BACKSTORY 

i’d imagine it’d come somewhere post-mgs2 even though sunny is already a bit grown so maybe like just disregard canon OR imagine a different timeline i don’t know, and it’s from a place where hal and dave don’t have anything to do after the mgs2 incidents (so no mgs4 and love of god NO accelerated aging i can’t deal with this), and there is this atmosphere of… “we’ve been sticking together for so long, i can’t see ourselves just parting ways (plus we have a kid to raise and i can’t imagine raising her alone) so how about we make the rest of our lives together” and dave is just like… “hey, we’ve been running all across the country, jumping from shitty motel to shitty motel to shittier apartments, and i have this cabin i once lived in, how about we just all move into it and re-inhabit it” and that’s just how it starts. 

THE CABIN

it’s a cabin i have extensively thought about (because i’m obsessed with cabins and being a hermit, so that helps). it’d be near the shore of the Twin Lakes, Alaska (taken from the canon fact that this is where snake lived pre-MGS1), so they’d live off-the-grid and in almost-self-sufficiency (they become more and more self-sufficient as time goes on and they make more adjustments to the cabin). 

i imagine it would look similar to Proenneke’s cabin (which incidentally is also near Twin Lakes), maybe on the other shore, all wood with a vegetation/moss roof + a slight porch/elevation to protect the entrance from a bit of the snow. it’d be surrounded by wooden little dog kennels/crates for the huskies (more on that later) similar to the ones in [this video] around the 0:59 min mark (warning for animal death/general stuff that goes on in a trapper’s lifestyle for the vid).

it here’s a floor plan of the cabin, not to proportions because i’m just shit at it :

(good luck reading that)

not pictured : when sunny was smaller (before the addition), her bed was like a little shelf just above the big bed (that hal and dave share) with little like “walls” so she doesn’t fall and a thick mattress, which was discarded when she got her new room.

later would be added an outdoor kitchen and a chicken coop (more on that…….. later)

EATING THERE

as i said, they’d first be living in semi-dependency : every ¾ weeks they’d have to go to Port Alsworth/Anchorage or somewhere else to stock tf up. Snake would fish (you can fish for subsistence if you’ve been living in Alaska for over a year according to law) and hunt (seems to be the same type of law when hunting for food, YES i’ve researched this, leave me alone) for food. As he has done odd jobs to afford his cabin, I imagine he’d have done crabbing, and would show up to help on crabbing boats from time to time to get some of them crabs.

later, I imagine they would get 4 rescue hens to get some of them fresh eggs. snake would build a chicken scoop from forest wood. 1 of the hens wouldn’t be able to make eggs because she was traumatized from the industry but they still took her in because she was close friends with the other hens and they didn’t want to separate them. 

I imagine Snake had been growing his own herbs in the kitchen but maybe they’d get a greenhouse ready.

they’d go foraging for berries, fruits and mushrooms according to the seasons and make a SHITTON of jams and preserves.

LIVING THERE

i imagine there would be a lot of solidarity with the surrounding populations. for exemple, Hal would help set up and manage online dictionaries for Iñupiat, Yup'ik or Alutiiq languages with the local communities, maybe help wire up some schools, things like that, and as thanks some people would go check on them and give em veggies or something.

THE DOGS :

Snake is getting them.

since we don’t know what happened to his huskies around mgs1, i suppose/guess they were at some time confiscated from him, so first, he’s get a lovely husky female from a shelter (i also have long thought about how he’d never go to a breeder and only adopt, because the whole “creature created with a man’s ideal in mind” hits a bit too close for him you feel) that would later be revealed as pregnant with like 5 puppies (it will come back later as relevant as promise). Then he’d do his best to regain contact with his huskies, maybe setting up a call on social media (THIS WILL BE PART OF A BRAIN ROTTING DEGENERACY I WILL EXPAND ON IN A MINUTE) to find them again. i imagined he would get to see one of his old huskies, who has well aged, who was adopted by some nice nice people. then said nice people, after his visit, insisting on him getting his husky back because “since you left she hasn’t been herself, she refused to eat. we think she misses you too much. we love her tons and it breaks our heart to let her go, but we think she would be so much happier by your side” type of deal, i’m fucking crying just thinking about it.

of course, once his team is back in shape, he’s run the Iditarod again. Hed keep contact with hal over walkietalkie during the race. hal would jump in his arms when he crosses the finish line, the pic would circulate in the news. it’d be cute i’m saying.

THE HENS :

as I said, adopted, in a little scoop snake built himself. they give eggs. sometimes they let them roam free and they bully hal when he peels vegetables (i’ve drawn smth about this). sunny feeds them in the mornings. things are good.

MORNING ROUTINE :

Snake wakes up around 5AM because he don’t need no sleep and goes to his huskies. feeds them. then make them run. when he gets back around 8 to 8:30, hal is still asleep. snake makes breakfast. the scents wake hal up. things are good.

SUNNY?

Sunny is taught by snake how to chop wood. he makes a tiny axe for her tiny hands. he and hal teach her how to swim in the Twin Lakes. the waters cold but she grows immune to it, strong and stronger. she learns how to differenciate which mushrooms and berries are edible.

they try to send her to school but she’s WAY too advanced and is bored to death. she stays at home. she’s outside all day or she learns astrophysics with Hal, who’s taking online classes in his free time. she learns some Athabaskan languages at a community class once in a while, she makes some friends.

HOW’S THE WEATHER

They go on hikes a lot. Often, and long ones. At first, sunny is in a little baby back carrier (i have drawn about this), then she walks just right. Alaska has gorgeous national parks, they explore them, year after year. They arrive in a town, exhausted and beat, they find a hotel room. It has a bathtub and warm water. Hal is OVERJOYED.

in the earliest hints of spring, snake takes them to Fairbanks through the beautiful alaskan railroad. they see the most beautiful and powerful of northern lights during the full season. hal and sunny can’t tear their eyes from the skies.

THIS IS WHERE I GO CRAZY GO STUPID.

ok…. so bear with me.

i mentioned an internet/social media presence.

it’s because in a deviation of this daydream, snake has a little youtube channel (and an instagram to go with it).

it’s not much. it’s really not, but hal has a few cameras and more that he finds and fixes.

it’s mostly lowkey, chill vlogs. stuff like 

“slow alaskan winter day (no talking)” 

“sprintime berry picking ( + jams recipes!)”

“alaskan summer outdoor fire cookout ( + wild moose and caribou near the lake)”

“denali national park hike (day 1)”

stuff that like you know. as well as some more…

“i ran the iditarod (and won)”

“we got hens (building a chicken scoop, meeting the rescue hens and more)”

“musher’s morning routine (i’d recommend you didn’t try this at home if you are not the genetically engineered clone of a super-soldier, for your sake)”

and as you guessed…

“so our rescue husky was pregnant… (i’m an idiot who didn’t notice, trip to the vet, building a whelping pen, whelping, bottlefeeding tiny pup + all the puppies’ pictures!)”

where dave would teach hal how to bottlefeed a puppy and you’d be able to hear hal’s “oh god oh god oh god oh god”s from out of frame as the camera focuses on dave’s hands holding his to have him perfectly cup the puppy in his palm and carry the bottle. this type of deal.

then follow-up videos of the puppies climbing the bed where hal is, playing on his gameboy. he chuckles nervously and then heartily when a puppy licks his face.

some winter days, the videos have snake bringing all the huskies in the small cabin. some of them sit calmly on the wide bed where hal studies his astrophysics.

and an instagram with wilderness pictures… all except a few taken by hal. some of snake posing in front of the snowed in cabin. some of warm drinks made on winter days. you know the deal.

and they’d have such a nice… positive… lowkey and easy-going comment section. dave would reply to a lot of them. 

he’d get quite a share of “hey man, i love your vids so much, thank you for posting this content. i was wondering, sorry if it’s a bit too personal, are you and your roommate dating? you two seem very close, but i don’t want to assume anything 😅 absolutely love your content either way, you’re the only youtuber i have notifs on” to which he’d reply “thank you so much, really appreciate it. and we’re not, we’ve just known each other for a long, long time. we’re aware two straight guys raising a child and living together isolated makes for a bit of confusion, but it’s totally platonic between us. thanks for sticking around.” but one day he uploads a vid that’s like 

“crabbing in juneau ! + life update (please read description)”

and the desc + the first 20 seconds of the vid is a text superimposed over embarassing pictures of hal and it reads “hey all / quick personal update, i’ll make it quick / otacon and i realized we loved each other / (as more than friends that is) / so if we seem just a bit closer in the videos from now on this is why / no idea how this is going to turn out for up / but yeah. if he seems a bit more affectionate it’s because we’re dating now, or something like that / and to everyone whom i told ‘it’s just strictly platonic between us’:  / well. ha ha. whoops. / anyway thank you for reading / enjoy the video” and all the comments would be like “that’s so dope i’m so happy for you” and other “tbf we saw that coming” and snake would smash that like button on these comments.

and he’d have a video of the whole iditarod race as taken from a camera on his jacket/on his sled… and he’d have videos of him filming hal film the landscape through the window of the train during their trip to fairbanks… and of hal and sunny in said train sharing a tangerine… and of him building a little axe for sunny…. and he’d always ask her if she is okay with being on camera, and when she’d say no he’d make sure she doesn’t appear on here or add a cute husky sticker on her face so she’s not seen.

just lowkey. chill. upbeat. simple life moments. he’d disappear off the internet for a month because he’s just enjoying the life and when he’d come back everyone would be very understanding and glad to see some cool pictures or vids. you know? just chilling. just chilling. just living.

one day before a “hiking through lake clark national park” he has the same little life update thing and it goes “hey / so otacon and i got married / sunny and aksinya [rescued pregant husky] were our flower girls / otacon cried / i cried / anyway, enjoy the video” over pictures of the tiny alaskan wedding. and it’s well.

[thefamouswhitewolf]

Geralt’s very direct and to-the-point when it comes to shopping at local markets, whether they be wet or dry, summer or fall, inland or along the coast: get in, get out, and don’t dally. People--mostly humans--get either curious or suspicious when he lingers, and there’s little fight in the Witcher when he’s laden with goods and walking a very eager horse, whose eyes wander the stalls looking for crunchy treats as easily as Geralt’s own.

Thankfully, in the mid-Continent city of Vedette, Geralt notices that the stalls with the staple items line the outside of the fall market, so he won’t have to walk through the tighter, inner circle. He’ll have the forest to his back in case he needs to beat a hasty retreat, but he honestly doubts it’ll come to that. The sellers know him from his constant travels through their area and while wary, they didn’t bear him the ill tidings as some others did.

Some of the market sellers had certain items for the Witcher which they didn’t offer to their everyday customers. Potion ingredients mostly, like the cuttings from the hooves of their horses after the farrier had been to see them, or the hair brushed from their dogs. It all seemed like witchcraft to the general public, but the sellers offered anything they could get their hands on if Geralt requested it and gave them enough time to procure the items. 

“Gotcha river washin’s here, Witcher,” the second stall owner announced as Geralt came near. He wasn’t particularly loud about it because it was something only he’d been contracted to sell to Geralt, and the man didn’t want his stall neighbours to get in on the racket. He didn’t have to yell; Geralt could hear him perfectly. 

“From the Solveiga?” Geralt asked. “The alpine, not the valley?”

The seller lifted the sack of smooth stones from under his table and opened the bag to show them to Geralt, the stones black as coal but with white snowflake patterns on all the visible surfaces. Snowflake obsidian to the Witcher, and a heavy, unused waste rock to the people that lived around the Solveiga river valley.

“Almost lost a donkey on the way back down the mountain pass so yeah, the alpine stuff. Heavier’n frozen water, it is. Best be dividin’ it up ‘fore your horse breaks her back carryin’ it across the world with ya.”

Geralt hummed a noncommittal sound and handed the man the agreed-upon coin from earlier that year, and Geralt quickly stowed the sack in Roach’s saddlebags to continue his trip through the market. The stones did weigh heavily on Roach’s one side but by the time Geralt finished shopping for his trip north to Kaer Morhen, Roach would be evened out on both sides. She could easily carry the full carcasses of dead beasts Geralt had slain, plus the Witcher himself at times, and she was still going strong.

Geralt visited the seller that foraged for eastern woodland mushrooms for his potions; blue caps, red caps, spotted black and orange caps. They were poisonous enough that the seller couldn’t handle them with bare hands, and Geralt paid the man handsomely for them, since digging them up required hogs and tools the Witcher didn’t have access to.

The easier items came last; dried meats for road rations when hunting would become nearly impossible in the snow, barley and ground wheat flour for Geralt to make stews and firebread. He didn’t buy any fresh fruit for himself or Roach, though; they passed orchard after orchard on their way north, most abandoned or forgotten, so he could treat her to pears and himself to baked apples along the way.

“Eggs for sale! Wanna buy eggs?” Geralt heard from behind himself, as he stowed the last of the jerky in the bag closet to the saddle. He wanted to be able to reach it without dismounting, when he got munchy.

Geralt turned to find a child with a woven, handle-less basket in her arms, a dozen duck eggs nestled safely in what appeared to be fresh straw. He looked back up to see the child’s mother smiling politely at him, her apron filthy but her face friendly. She was one of the good ones; no fear of the Witchers, despite the fear usually bred into the general public.

“She’s learning, Sir. I think she’s doing a good job of it, don’t you?”

A snort and a smile was given in reply and Geralt hunkered down to his haunches to be at the child’s level, his forearms draped over his thighs. “Very pretty eggs you’ve got there. How much?”

The child blinked at him and then turned to her mother, who mouthed the price to her daughter.

“Oh! One half gilder each, or five gilders for them all!” 

It was a deal, really; Geralt would save an entire gilder if he bought them all, but how could he safely transport eggs? He liked eating them and getting fresh ones out of most of the world’s population was like pulling teeth. They hoarded them for their food value, and nearly all farmers kept chickens and other fowl for that exact reason. They’d be guaranteed eggs every morning.

“How about I give you six gilders,” Geralt countered, a mild smile on his face. “And you let me have the basket, too?”

The girl looked to her mother again and the woman immediately agreed, nodding and gesturing to her daughter to hand them over. Geralt dug in his purse for the coins and traded off for his eggs. Basket weaving was a common practice among the women in the world, and Geralt figured the woman knew a deal when she saw it, as well. An extra gilder to feed her family, and the chance to weave a new basket out of materials freely gathered in the surrounding woods.

“Thank you, Sir. Come, Deliah. Let’s make a new basket, hm?”

The girl disappeared behind the stall and Geralt didn’t spare another glance back, as he tucked the basket up into the highest of the saddlebags, the eggs covered now with leather and supported from the bottom by the basket. They’d be safer than any other eggs he’d ever taken on his travels.

[livingcorner]

DIY Garden Fence

Building a DIY garden fence is ideal to keep pests like rabbits and deer out of the garden so you can ensure you will have a successful harvest for all the hard work you have put in. So when we opened up a new field we decided and designed a simple and cost-effective fence with varying options so you can be inspired to do something similar with minimal effort and simple materials while still looking beautiful.

You're reading: DIY Garden Fence

What is the Cheapest Garden Fence to Build?

Building a great garden fence inexpensively and efficiently is easy with galvanized fencing, t-posts, and just using Cedar 4×4 for the corners to hold the fence. Add a simple gate with 2 more additional Cedar posts. The metal fencing is easy to install at a reasonable price compared to lumber. Choose the fencing you want for your fence aesthetically. You can find great prices on metal fencing at stores like Lowe’s or local Farm Equipment stores in your area. A few quick things to know about building your garden fence on a budget:

Use steel or aluminum rolled fencing: this fencing will both be efficient in covering a large area, but also will

Use T-Posts and not U-posts for the fencing support: Using t-posts is an effective and inexpensive way to build your garden fence with less lumber.

Borrow Tools and Supplies from Friends: If you aren’t going to continue building things save money by finding a way to borrow tools from friends and neighbors. This makes it more cost-effective.

Why Do You Need a Garden Fence?

We have a garden fence to keep pests out more than anything. Keeping deer out in particular in Northern Michigan is very important and essential to a great garden.

Keep our chickens in. We plan to let our chickens clean up our garden at the end of the season and they will get the chance to daily forage out there for a few hours each day. The hope is this will improve the soil as well especially since we have determined that this will be where we have our tomatoes and peppers and beans which take a lot of nutrients to grow.

It can keep a beautiful aesthetic to your space and create a cozy experience.

What to Consider for Your DIY Garden Fence:

Think about how to adapt it as need be. We designed the fence with tall corner posts but used a lower fence because this saves materials but also because if deer choose to jump it we will simply add metal cord from post to post which will just as effectively keep them out as more fencing that is super high and adds double the cost. In most cases, even in high-density deer population areas, this is MORE than effective.

Cedar is the most non-toxic option, but more expensive. So when we place wood into the ground it is very important to use wood that is graded for ground contact. This typically means either Cedar or a Pressure Treated Pine. Pressure-treated wood has a lot of chemicals and if you are using this around a garden where you will be growing food this isn’t a good thing as the plants will ingest that in the water and soil and ultimately it gets to you…YUCK! So make sure you use Cedar. It is more expensive but buying less galvanized fencing and using T-posts will help with that cost.

Use T-Posts instead of more Wood posts to save money. T-posts are metal posts that you drive into the ground and they are just effective especially between posts. They are much less expensive than a 4×4 cedar post is so you can save money and they look just as good especially once you have things climbing your fence as they are green.

Place a post every 4-8 feet depending on the length of your fencing. It is REALLY important to have a fence that stays vertical and upright and even that you have post-specific distances away from each other. Otherwise, it will get floppy and won’t be as strong.

Begin with Corner Posts and use a Level. It is VERY important to make sure your corner posts are straight and level up and down. They need to be cemented into the ground as well.

Have a gate and have fun with it. We wanted a little fence that allowed us the chance to grow things up a small little arbor. We haven’t chosen what will grow but we love the option it gives us. The gate uses simple black outdoor hardware for the gate and just kept it simple making a square and putting the fencing in the middle.

Building your own DIY garden fence takes some work for sure, but if you do it right it can be an attractive and beautiful addition to your home and gardening life so you can worry less about pests like deer and rabbits.

For Your DIY Garden Fence You Need:

6 – 8′ or 10′ Cedar 4″x4″ Posts – $184.62

2-8 – 2-in x 6-in x 8-ft Cedar (gate wood) – $34.96

100′ total – 4′ tall Galvanized Steel Fencing – $76.63

50′ total – 4′ tall Galvanized Steel Fencing –  $66.00

20 – 3″ x 6′ T-posts – $83.60

1 – Black Gate Hinges  – $12.28

1 – Gate Latch – $5.48

18 – Quickrete 50-lb Fast Setting Concrete Mix – 104.40

1 box – 1-1/4-in Leg x 1/4-in – $13.98

3 boxes – 25- Pack Fence Fasteners – $1.89

Tools to Build Your Garden Fence:

Pick Axe

Post Driver

Power Drill

Hammer

Circular Saw

Shovel

Level

Fence Post Digger

Pliers

The total (pre-tax) cost of our DIY garden Fence for a 30×35 foot garden bed was: $583.84

To build your Own DIY Garden Fence here is the how-to:

Measure the depth of how deep the posts will go. We chose 10′ cedar 4×4 posts and put them 2′-3′ into the ground depending upon the grade of the location. We wanted the fence to look level from a distance so the uphill posts are 3′ deep and the downhill posts are 2′ deep.

2. Before you add any concrete, level the posts with support braces and check the vertical level on all sides.

Read more: Why are there so many mushrooms coming up in my yard and garden, and what can I do about them?

3. The BEST tip for the entire garden fence is to choose Fast-Setting Quickrete. You literally dump the dry bag into the hole and spray enough water to wet the concrete and leave it. In about 45 min it’s complete.

4. Typically the primary reason for constructing a garden fence is to keep deer out of your garden. However, there are also animals and pests that like to dig under your fence. Therefore if you drop the fence one to two feet into the ground it will keep critters from digging under your fence.

5. After you have set the corner and gate-posts for your garden fence, it’s time to drive all of your t-posts into the ground. Make sure they are the same height on the top with a guideline and do not fill in the trench yet.

6. Now that you have all of your cedar posts, and your t-posts set for your garden fence, it is time to roll out the welded wire fence and begin attaching it to the corner posts and t-posts.

7. To add a clean, but also safe, look to the garden fence we added some corner cap boards to cover up the areas where two peices of welded wire joined together.

Read more: How to get to Garden Island in Potts Point by Bus, Train or Light rail | Moovit

8. Finally, the last step in your garden fence is to build or add your gate. We used the extra cedar boards from our deck to layout a gate with some of the extra welded wire.

If this was helpful you may want to use our Soil Guide for helping you know how to develop proper soil for your garden or this post to learn about using Steel for Your Raised Beds. You can also find out how to clear a field for your garden to grow in this post.

6 Responses

I love DIY, saves cost and I enjoy every bit of it. Thanks for sharing!

Roughly what’s the size of your garden?

about 35’x30′

We’re really thinking of using this method to fence in our garden! It’s in our front yard, since that is the only sunny spot on our property, and man oh man, the deer and bunnies love getting in there.

Quick Q! Which is kind of dumb, but did you just use like, outdoor deck screws to assemble the door?

Thank you for sharing the post! I know a lot of time went into thinking about the design and researching it, so I appreciate you doing all that leg work for me

Yes just deck screws! I think you will enjoy it. It works great!

This post has given me an idea of help my mom make her fence, even though likes hers to have a cover on top (like a roof) to prevent from high temperature sunlight. Good work

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/diy-garden-fence/

[notjustagirltattoopodcast]

Not Just A Girl: Dark Art of Sunshine

You can listen to the seventh episode with Tahlia Undarlegt here. Or you can find this interview on YouTube with English subtitles/closed captions here.

NOT JUST A GIRL: Tattoo Podcast

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Season 1, Episode 7: Dark Art of Sunshine

Eddy: Hello, friends and welcome to Not Just A Girl your favorite feminist tattoo podcast. I'm Eddy and I'm back to share with you the thoughts and experiences of some of my favorite people in tattooing. On the seventh episode, we'll be chatting about the social perception of tattoos, being a traveling tattooer and then settling down into a new and slower way of life.Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are the traditional custodians of this land that was stolen and never ceded. I am honored and grateful to be on the ancestral land of the Awabakal people. And I pay my respects to the Elders past and present and extend that recognition to their descendant.Today I am so happy to be joined by one of my dear friends Tahlia Undarlegt. Tahlia works at Great White Tattoo in Sydney. Um, and she is known for her unique psychedelic black work. Um, I actually met Tahlia in Melbourne at a convention before she started her apprenticeship and it's been such a joy to watch her grow and to watch her journey through tattooing. Um, she really is an absolute ray of sunshine and I'm so lucky to know her. Thank you so much for joining me today and for being part of the podcast, I'm so excited to chat to you. Tahlia: Thank you for having me this is awesome. Eddy: Um, I've seen heaps on your Instagram stories about all the little things you've been up to at the farm. Um, you know, you seem to really be using this time to connect with nature again. What has that been like for you? Tahlia: Um, it's been really lovely. I mean, like we, like my partner and I, we live part time in the city when we work and then part time here at the farm. So we've just kind of like gotten months worth of stuff done because we usually do two, three days a week down here. Uh, we've got, uh, like a fully sustainable veggie garden and like a big, like, we had some fermenting going with some different foods, but we wanted to get some other stuff done. So we've built ourselves, a chicken coop, but we have chickens and we've been doing like, um, other stuff like the gardens going nuts and lots of animals. Just typical farmer Joe stuff.Eddy: So many animals like the cats. The cats are such angels. Tahlia: Yes. I love those guys. Eddy: And you've been doing heaps of like foraging and hiking and stuff as well. Has that helped you get through the lockdown? Tahlia: Um, yeah, like we're very lucky. I mean, like we have a giant gorge behind our house and you can like hike down and, you know, there's all kinds of stuff down there. Like you can just, I've been. Looking into a lot more like, um, IDing, different like native plants and stuff, just to be able to kind of work out what's what, a bit more and like, you know, realizing how much like edible and like sustainable kind of things that we can get from around here. I mean, like I'm a big nerd for mushrooms. Like I really love just like, I just think like fungus in general is really interesting. Um, like, I mean, if you look at my work, you'd see in itself, like I'm very inspired by it, but it's kind of fun to finally have enough time to look into it enough to ID stuff to be able to take home and eat and not die from it. So that's good. Eddy: I mean, that's always a bonus for sure. And um like, obviously your love of nature and mushrooms in particular is really prevalent in your work and the way you use organic shapes. Like, do you think that'll continue to be a big part of your work moving forward after COVID? Tahlia: Um, definitely like, I think, um, you know, having more time to kind of have my hands in the dirt and not so much on the machines has been like a real nice kind of relief. Like, um, I don't know, like, there's just, it's always been prevalent in my work, but I suppose, like I've learned a lot more, therefore I've gained a lot more inspiration because, you know, I know a lot more plants and different like stuff now that it's like photographic memory that, you know, when I bring it in, um, I don't know, just anytime you do something it influences your work, I don't think it, it can't not influence it.Eddy: Yeah, I guess your work is just like an extension of yourself really and that's why it's so unique. Tahlia: Yeah. Just like an amalgamation of everything you find really cool and interesting. Eddy: I do love that about your work as well, because it is like, it's so unique and it's so instantly recognizable and it, it really does carry a lot of that joy and like fun that I see in you.Tahlia: Well, thank you. Um, like I, I try my hardest to do that, um, I really like, just like off that, like question that you said, like personally, like when I, like I've often been told I'm way too connected to like the tattoos that I do. And I don't know, like, I think that's a good thing and sometimes a bad thing as well, but, um, I do really love to meet my clients and like, kind of have a rough idea of what I'm going to do for them, or even like, when I email with them, I really love to kind of get an idea of like what they're into, what their kind of vibe is. And, you know, I like, if I can, when I create something kind of, you know, sometimes you don't realize like for me, with like, I suppose I can bring an idea that someone can speak out. I can draw her out, whereas like, you know, the other way round, like, I, I can't always like articulate myself as well, but I can definitely like show it in a different way. So I like in myself, I always want to try and bring that for other people so that, you know, when they get it, it's really something that's like, special to them.Eddy: Yeah. That's so nice. And it's so important to be able to use like the language of tattooing to express who the client is. Cause then they're going to live with that tattoo much more harmoniously throughout their life.Tahlia: Yeah, definitely. I mean like, um, like for anyone I think like, like everybody does it for a different reason, I suppose, but like personally for myself. I feel like there's so much kind of going on inside of you, that you just want to be like project that onto the world. And it's really nice to be able to kind of put that on you and be like, Hey world, you know, this is me. Like here's what I'm about, you know? And like, it's a good opener for like other people as well, you know, because you meet other people and you kind of see a little bit more about what they're about. And I mean, I'm not even just talking about tattoos, just like in any kind of like modification, whether it's the way you color or cut your hair or the clothes you decide to wear, you know, like you're obviously putting out something that you want to portray to the world, which is like really cool to be able to you know, solidify. I can internalise that for somebody, you know, like you just kind of be like, Oh, okay, this is your vibe. And being able to create something that maybe they couldn't like envision is really cool. You know and you see somebody look in the mirror and you're just like, I mean, I've done it myself, millions of times, like, you know, you get a new tattoo and all of a sudden you're walking past a mirror and you're like yeah who's that like feeling really cool, like that. It's like, you just love. You're just like, wow, this tattoo is way too cool for me and then... come to you. And you're like, yeah this is me. Eddy: You feel so much more in love with yourself and your body. And like you walk past a shop window and you check your self out and make sure you get a glimpse of the tattoo Tahlia: And all of a sudden you're buying clothes so that it sits like to suit a certain tattoo that you've got. You're like, I remember the first time I started my sleeve, I don't think I wore a single sleeve for like two years after that like. Eddy: I used to um like, Oh, I'm wearing a higher neck shirt now, but I never, ever used to expose my chest or cleavage at all. And then when I got my chest tattooed, I was like, I'm going to undo my buttons. I'm going to stop wearing like my buttons done all the way up. I'm going to start buying plunging neck lines. I just want this like to be on display because it's so beautiful. Tahlia: Yeah. I mean, like one of the ladies that I learnt tattoo off, uh, her name was Ela Pour, Berlin. Um, and also another girl I worked with Laura um, she had this like beautiful tattoo kind of coming around like her, like inner thigh kind of area. And she just like whenever she was, when we'd go to the beach or something, I always look and I'd be like, wow, she's so beautiful. And like, I remember her and Ela telling me like, they're like, Oh, you know, you can dress like that. And I was like, Oh, I can't, you know, like my inner thighs are too fat. You know, like when you're a bit younger, you feel like, like really like self conscious about stuff like that.And I remember them saying, well, just find something you love and tattoo it there and you'll never feel like that conscious about it. I remember we were traveling through Mexico with a friend of ours ...and, um, she was like, let's just tattoo some, like something that you love. So I had to, I got her to tattoo some lavender coming out of there. Like now, whenever I like slight if I've ever felt slightly self conscious about it, I'm kind of like, well I got a sick tattoo there so it doesn't really matter. I've, haven't worn shorts to the beach in a long time, which is like, I think, you know, personally for me, that's something I find really amazing about, you know, what we get to do and that we get to like, collect that ourselves. Eddy: Yeah. It's such a powerful way to express self-love and like self ownership. It's so beautiful. Tahlia: Yeah. I mean, it's like pretty much like reclaiming what was already in there, you know? Like, and, and I think sometimes like this can be a little bit misconstrued. Like sometimes people said to me, Oh, did you not love yourself? Like, how come you did that? You know, why didn't you just go to therapy or something? And it's like, well, I think like any kind of mental health I would say, you know, therapy is definitely great and I've been through therapy myself, you know, like, and I think that like, it's just like, like you were saying, it's like reclaiming that, you know, like it's not that you had something missing and this filled the void. It's that, like, you had something that you couldn't express and now all of a sudden like it's like this inner goodness in yourself, you're able to kind of project out and you know, it just adds a, like a, an extra shield of like confidence and like light for yourself.Eddy: Yeah. And that's another form of language too, because you know what we do to our bodies and how we shape them, it helps attract a certain kind of people to us. I feel like, you know, in the tattoo community, part of why we band together is because we look at each other and see something common in each other. Tahlia: Definitely. And like, I think that's something that's so like hyper special about the tattoo industry is it's kind of like um, and I say this in like a good term, like, it's like a bunch of wierdos, we're all completely different. We're all kind of slightly outcast. We don't really have a place, but we have this one thing that bonds us together. And, you know, even like our friendship, you know, there's like so many things that make us different to each other, but then, you know, there's like this connection of that. And like, you know, just like. Just, you know, our personalities, you know, you just love each other, you know, you're just like, wow, these people are awesome. These are my people. We might not be the same, but we're just a bunch of weirdos kind of hanging out. Eddy: It's so good because you know, you start a conversation through tattooing and then you form relationships and you get to know people and just that diversity and, and like learning to accept and love people so different to you. It makes you such a better person. And I feel like it makes your work better too. Tahlia: Yeah, definitely. I mean, like you learn different like views and like different things in life that you can kind of like take from each other and like learn from each other. Like that's, that's amazing. Eddy: It's so good. Well, you, um, you mentioned before about traveling, you've traveled so much in your career and even like from the get go from when you first started tattooing, like where has that taken you in the world?Tahlia: Um, I mean, like I've been so, so lucky to be able to travel as much as I can. Um, even like, you know, how I've kind of gotten into tattooing from that like it kind of started as a bit of the creative journey. Like I remember years ago when I used to hang out in tattoo studios, hang out with like, Um, some like friends of mine that, you know, we had a lot of creative endeavors that we'd kind of do together. And I remember this old tattooer, uh, like said to me, like, you need to leave, you need to travel as much as you can. And like, he was kind of saying like, you know, this is the future of tattooing, you know, going out and like, as time went on, I'm like, you know, and I traveled a lot and I got influenced by different things. Like I also saw, I mean, cause especially in Australia with such like a tight knit tattoo community and like, we also like because of our like government suppressing kind of our indigenous culture. We don't have a lot of culture here. You know, we're like an amalgamation of our immigrants and like people that have kind of bought little bits here and there, but it's all been kind of watered down over time, you know?And then you go to somewhere, like when I lived in Mexico, there's just such a, a vibrant culture. And like that influences the artwork of... people, which then influences like the tattoo culture, you know, and you see like you go there and you go to a place and you bring something back that you like took and then, you know, like all that you learnt from people and then, you know, you show other people and then they take it. And the coolest thing about that is like, every time you see you know, a friend of yours or another tattoo artist, they go overseas they learn something and they take something back, they bring it back here and then other people are like, wow, that's so cool. You know, like, and then they take their own spin on it. And then that kind of like grows into something even bigger and better. And then, you know, like even like in, in Sydney, like in New South Wales, we recently had a, um, Japanese art exhibition at the, um, the museum. Eddy: That was amazingTahlia: Yeah. It's like a lot of artists, like a lot of tattoo artists went there and like all of a sudden you seeing all this really wacky cool, inspired like artwork because obviously everybody's gone they're like whoa, how did I miss this? How did I not see this? Or think of this, you know? And everybody's creating their own versions of it. Eddy: YeahTahlia: And I mean, you know, especially like, you know, it's just, I don't know. It's just really cool to see, like that's how art kind of progresses and grows you know. And I like becomes its own like things of everything.Eddy: That's such an important part of tattoo history as well. Like that's how we came to know tattooing through traveling. And obviously colonialism is not in any way, shape or form a good thing at all and it's been toxic, but you know, the, the one good thing, I guess for us is that it did bring tattooing to the Western world and the fact that we continue to travel and sample from different cultures and share ideas and perspectives with each other is what makes tattooing so diverse now.Tahlia: Yeah, definitely. And the amount of times you've kind of like you've had this small snippet of something and somebody is doing something so amazing. And then you go to a place and you realize that they were just this tiny, like subculture of a giant, like main culture of an area, you know, and you just kind of like, wow, this is so cool. Like, I mean, sometimes especially like if I'm feeling a little bit like, um, you know, like stuck for, you know, what kind of creative direction. Cause I mean, personally myself, I always feel like I need to be doing and creating something off there and you know, like growing in some kind of way. And I always find, you know, going back into something all are looking at maybe like a, a culture that you didn't like that you didn't know that much about, you know, and you go back through and you're like, Whoa, like this is insane, you know? Like, and then in yourself I feel like, how the hell is this not like, what's big right now. Like how come, like, everybody doesn't know about this. Like I've watched like, um, I mean, not that I would ever like use anything from there, but like a, a real sacred culture is like the Inuit culture. I mean, in like, um, the Northern parts of America and Alaska and that, and obviously there that we're using like the I think it's like the seal fat. I watched like a documentary on it and they do the threading with the tattoos and it was just amazing. Like it's such a lost culture and it was just like watching that. And I was like, how come? Like nobody. Okay. And I was talking to people about it at the studio the next day. And everybody was like, nah, I didn't know what you talking about. And I was like, Oh, you got to go watch this. Like, it's, it's amazing. You know, now all I think about, I just want to go there and I want to meet this young girl that I watched on this documentary. And I just want to be like, Oh my gosh, like, how do you do this? Not, not even like for myself, but I just, I want to know the history of it. It's, it's amazing. You know, like, and also that was like quite a, like, um, It was like a matriarchal kind of thing. So it was only like really the women that will like, so it's like a coming of age thing as well, which is also really amazing. So just that so Eddy: I feel like that's really rare in like tattoo history, because I guess, you know, our knowledge of tattoo history has been in predominantly patriarchal societies. So finding out about the Inuit tattooing is so amazing. Tahlia: Yeah. And I mean, like also don't take like any of my information as like proper information. I'm so bad at relaying. Like for anyone that is... look it up yourself, you'll learn so much.Eddy: Yeah, I'm, I'm really bad at remembering historical stuff. I'm very fascinated by history. I read a lot and watch a lot, but my brains a pudding and I have no recall whatsoever. Tahlia: I think I just get so excited about what I'm reading that I'm just like, Oh, this is so good. And then I'm trying to tell people and my brains like stuttering it out so.Eddy: But just the excitement that you get over, like reading about another culture or seeing a trick someone uses it doesn't mean that you're necessarily going to use it yourself, but it can inspire just a new way of thinking. And then you adapt that into your work and then it becomes even more unique and more authentic to yourself. Tahlia: I mean, like for sure also there was like, um, when I first started kind of hanging out in tattoo studios and getting to know tattooers and stuff. I remember like these kind of old school guys that I was working for were like, well, there's this process of tattooing and it's this way. And it's that way. And I mean, like, as I've gone on and I've traveled around the world, like all of a sudden you're like meeting these people and they're like, well, no, like, you know, we get told like, you know, you can't tattoo without like, you know, a solid black line around it, but then you're looking at these like old cultures that are just using like, just like a light blue ink or something, you know, it just like, this is just a tiny example of it, but you know, like you you're told that like a certain way is wrong.Like same with like, um, when people say to you like, Oh, you know, Like you'll hear some like old school Trad guys sometimes be like, Oh, you know, it has to be Trad because if it's anything else, it doesn't last, you know, it's like, that's how it tattooing is. That's how it's always been. It's like, well no. Like, you know, if you look back on like certain cultures, actually they were doing a lot of fine line stuff then, or like these cultures would just using like, just colors and not like, you know, they weren't really using like a solid kind of base. I mean, definitely there's the technical application that needs to be like, mastered with stuff like that. Like, I'm not saying that everybody should tattoo without lines, but like, you know, like there's, you know, it's there's stuff that's doable and you know, if you're, if you teach yourself right, like, you know, you can, you can experience and like, kind of break a bit of the, the norms and the barriers of what tattooing kind of should be as well.Eddy: Exactly. It's like, it's important to respect traditions, but also disrupt them like, and to, to push, to push the boundaries and not be gatekeepers. Cause I, you know, I've, I have a, a history of being a little bit gatekeepery with my opinions about what tattooing is and isn't, but then like the older I get and the longer I'm in tattooing, the more I realize that we don't benefit from being that way at all, that the more people push boundaries, the more they try the more they offer different perspectives the better tattooing will be in the long run. Tahlia: I mean like, um, when I first moved to Europe, when I like really properly started tattooing, um, when I was living, I was living in Berlin at the time. Like, um, I mean, Berlin, as anybody who knows anything about Berlin is such a like forefront on like arts and like, you know, different subcultures. I mean, like there was all kinds of, I mean, Surrealistic like abstract kind of stuff going on. And I remember going there and I was just like, what the hell is this? Like I remember before I left Australia years ago and like lived abroad, I remember seeing someone with a blacked out limb and being like, Whoa, that's so extreme. Like, I don't know if I could ever do that. And I mean, Like years later, I was tattooing and I was just like, Holy shit like, I can totally understand why everybody's pushing these weird barriers, you know? And like you meeting people that are just like, well, you know, and you're like, well, no, it's this way. You know? And it has to be like a pretty picture. And like, I remember being told a lot, like. You know, you can't get this because it's not feminine and you can't do that. Like that's too aggressive. I mean, like, does it make me any less of a woman having a black arm? Eddy: No.Tahlia: I don't think so, but you know what I mean? Like, it's just like.Eddy: You still identify a woman, regardless of what tattoos you have. Tahlia: Yeah. Like it doesn't matter what you look like. Or, what’s there? Like if, if you're a woman, you're a woman. Like if that's, what if that's what I am, than I am, you know? Eddy: No one has a right to prescribe anything like that. And yeah, it's like when people say to me, Oh, I really want a tattoo, but it has to be feminine because like, you know, I don't want my parents to judge me and it's just like, well, it doesn't have to be anything. It's just going to be what you like, what imagery do you enjoy? What makes you happy? And you get that because then that's a part of you.Tahlia: Exactly just to come from, like compliment yourself. Eddy: Yeah. That's where it can be difficult as well, knowing where to draw the line technically with tattoos, you know, sometimes people will come to me and say, I want this. And I'll be like, Oh, from a technical point of view, I don't feel comfortable making that to tattoo because I know it's not going to last, however, this person's also got the right to say no, but I want that tattoo because that'll make me feel happy. And then if they've been informed of the possible longterm effects, then yeah. That opens up a whole other that's a whole other kettle of fish though. Tahlia: No, no, no. I mean, I think this is an interesting thing to talk about. Like, I definitely, like I have this a lot, like, um, a lot of my work nowadays has quite like bold lines and solid color. And I have to like often tell people, look, I don't really feel that comfortable making it that small, you know, like, especially with the trend of like micro tattoos and stuff. And this was what I was saying before about like, stuff is not impossible, but technically it has to be done in a certain way. So like, you can't really get a big traditional eagle and make it, this big because I mean, you're going to end up with a blob and I mean, as much as people would say no, no, but that's what I want, that's what I want. I mean, I would love to do that, but I would also hate to think that I would do something that someone would dislike in the future. And I'll be pretty honest with people, you know, because I mean, we've all kind of, especially like. Like as tattoo artists, or if you've been getting tattooed for a very long time, like there's probably stuff you look back on you, like in hindsight, I kind of wish that somebody had kind of guided me a bit better to that, you know?And I mean, I have plenty of tattoos on myself that I got when I was like a little bit of a ratbag when I was younger. And like, when somebody is like, Oh, well, you know, this would be cool and I show them and I'm like, well, this is what it's going to look like now. And they're kind of like, Oh, that's a bit horrible. It's like, yeah, we do have things like laser and that now. But if you're going to be like spending your time, you might as well do the right thing. And I think, like on the subject of that as well, a lot of the time when people do kind of want stuff like micro or they want it in a way that's not really going to work a lot of the time, it's not so much, like, it's more fear of like, they want to be tattooed, but they're also scared of like the outcome. They don't want it to be because they're worried that they're not going to like it. Or like, you know, Eddy: What other people will think?Tahlia: Where someone's like oh my partner won't like it, my parents won't like it, and it's like I dunno. I think if you're going to commit to it, you probably should just like do it the right way straight off the bat, because you know, like if there's one thing I can tell you, like, people like perfect example, like my parents were a little bit like, when I told them I was getting my arm black out they were like, Ooh, I don't know about that. You know? But like, and like, I remember even like my, my stepdad, like he's amazing and he was like, look Tahlia, just, don't get you face, your throat or your hands tattooed. And I mean, as you can see by this, I definitely didn't listen, but I think a lot of older generation, they have this like, perceived thing that will like, you know, bikeys and then like this thing of like the females are like, you know, like we're like somehow controlled by bikeys or like they're going to perceive us in this, like really, you know, that kind of, um, I don't know how to word it properly, but like, you know how to, they think that we're going to be like this biker wife, you know, owned by some kind of gang or we're going to be kind of badass drug dealer if we get it, you know, and then we get it and they're like, Oh, that's beautiful. I love it. You know, I'm like. Eddy: Yeah.Tahlia: You’re not going to disown you because of a tattoo, they're gonna like eventually get over it. And I mean, if they decide to disown you because you have tattoos, I mean, well, nobody should ever treat you like that. And maybe, you know, you have to realize that that's within themselves and that's nothing to do with you. Eddy: Exactly. It's really interesting how people like restrict what they can get tattooed because they're so scared of not fitting into this like socially prescribed version of normal and like, you know, studies have been done about how women with tattoos are perceived as being more sexually promiscuous. And then that brings up all these things of like, well, for starters, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being sexually promiscuous. You do you. And then also, how can a tattoo have any impact on a person's like sexual adventures. It's just like, it's so irrelevant and it's so weird that people would restrict how they express themselves on their own skin because of another person, it's sad.Tahlia: I mean, if I ever have a client come in, regardless of gender or anything, if they say anything to me about, Oh yeah, my partner said, I can't get this. I'm literally like dump them. You don't need that in your life. And people are like, Whoa, that's really harsh. And I'm like, well, no, if anybody has that kind of say over you, then they're probably toxic, you know, like you shouldn't be, I mean, fair enough. If somebody is worried about your like physical safety, you know, or like your mental health, you know, if your partner's like, Oh, you know, I don't think you should get that cause you're not in a good head space. You know, if it's something really gnarly and negative. You know, if they want to get some big curse words or something and you know, their partner's like, Oh, they're not in the best head space. You know, it'd be a little bit like I would also, regardless of if they had a partner or not, I'd probably be like, look, this is a pretty gnarly thing to be getting are you show you're in the right space for this, you know, maybe you should think about it, you know? But like, I mean, if somebody is telling you what to do in that kind of way, that's a very toxic environment to be a part of.Eddy: A hundred percent. Tahlia: You know? And then I also think like, from that, I'm like, if they're saying that about your tattoos, what else are they saying? Like, this is probably not good for you. Eddy: Exactly. I remember many years ago. I tattooed, I outlined a half sleeve on a girl and I found out a couple of weeks later that her partner didn't like it because it reminded him of a tattooer, he didn't like the style that I had done. And he made her get it lasered off. And then he chose the artist who would redo it. And it was just like such a horrifying thought, just so horrifying that somebody like felt they had a right to control because the whole reason that we're attracted to tattooing is because it's our way of reclaiming ourselves. So when somebody else has an input in that, Like I, I certainly would never allow that to happen in my studio again, like wherever possible. I would just be like, no, get out well to the, not to the customer, obviously to the partner, then I'd turn around to the client and say let's do a bigger and on your forearm.Tahlia: Yeah. I mean, like, um, yeah, I still get a little bit weird about doing partners names. Eddy: Oh.Tahlia: Like I've done them, but like, I mean, I'm still so so strange about it. I mean, if you're somebody that wants to get tattooed and you want your partner's name right now, like, listen to me, when I say this, just find an object, something that you both love, you know, get that tattooed, you know, because you never know what's going to happen in the future. You know? Like, and I mean, like, we all think we all want love to last forever. And I mean, sometimes it does, but you know, like sometimes I feel like like from my experience in studios sometimes I feel like it's more of a bad omen than what it is like a good one, you know? So I'm very, very hesitant to do it.I mean, if I have like an old couple and they're like, yeah, we've been married for this many years, you know, I'm a bit like, ah, okay then, but you know, if you kind of like doing it to prove you love a little bit. I guess so many other things you can do, like get their favorite band lyrics tattooed on you, before you get their name, you know, becauseEddy: ExactlyTahlia: I know plenty of people that have gotten like partner's names and they've had to like cross them out or do other stuff or you know and it's like, you just don't want that on you.Eddy: No. Well, I reckon 90% of the partners' names. I've tattooed on people within six months, they've broken up. And I think it's, it's not that the tattoos necessarily jinxed. I think that the reason they've done that was because there was something, there was underlying issues and they were so terrified of losing this relationship because of these ideas that love allegedly has to last forever. So they've gone and done this as this way of like proving it and cementing it and it doesn't work. And, yeah, you can't do that. Tahlia: Definitely, I mean sometimes like if somebody would tell me like, like I've had people come in before and they're like, I want to win my partner back. I want to get the name tattooed. I'm like, well, how about you go home? And you write a list of things that you could do. Like, you know, there's like, if there is there's problems there maybe address the problem. Not like try and bandaid it with a tattoo. Eddy: Yep.Tahlia: That's my advice, you know, and I'm no therapist, I think that, you know, uh, immortalising, something like just, just think about it. Eddy: Yeah. I usually tell people to get flowers or, you know, some sort of really organic image because you can apply whatever meaning you want to at any particular point in your life. It's so flexible and, you know, words are defined by a very precise meaning and especially a name? SoTahlia: Well, I think like in general, like talking about words of tattooing and I know I just get on tangents here, but that's like something I think as well, like a lot of people. I mean, like, I've got, like, I've got script on, on here. Some of my favorite like lyrics when I was younger. And I think like when you start to get tattooed, if you not, like, um, sometimes you can't picture exactly what you want all the time. And a lot of people gather a lot of like inspiration off like a quote that they read or like, you know, a song that they hear and they're like, I need that tattooed on me. But the thing is that thats our jobs as artists, like I have people contact me. Sorry, I got flies in the house, in the country house. Um, like sometimes, you know, um, I forgot where I was going with this. Oh yeah. That's right. Um, so like, you know, that's our thing as artist that, um, we need to. You know, we create like what you give us.Like, I have clients message me like that are like, Oh, this is my favorite band. So I get them to send me the song that they love, you know, and like the kind of lyric that kind of meant something to them. And, you know, if they're comfortable to, you know, like create something off that I will let find out what their kind of images, you know, they're listen to that. What do they kind of see when they hear that? You know, what do they feel? You know? And like, you know, Like created a lot of stuff based off that, and I think that it makes for really cool, unique tattoos. So if you have an idea, contact the artist you like, and kind of explain that to them, you know, because you'd be surprised how many, like artists are actually really looking forward to kind of, you know, just getting a little bit more like creative and it's, it's a challenge.Eddy: Yeah, that's it, it elevates the tattoo as well. I mean, you know, not all of our clients are creatives, you know, they can't always be expected to take it on themselves to have all the good ideas. And so it, it can be this like working back and forth where they express kind of what they want. But then if they're able to let, like, trust us to decide what to do with that visually, and then. You often end up with such a better tattoo.Tahlia: Yeah definitely, especially if you're doing the right thing with your tattoos, and you're looking up an artist that you like, I mean, whatever you tell them that they're going to create something you like, you know, or if like, they do an amalgamation of styles, kind of send them the vibe that you like of theirs, you know, the color palette that they use and be like, well, you know, here's this idea I have. And this was what I really loved that you did. And, you know, straightaway your artist is going to be like, Oh, okay. No, I understand what you mean. You know, rather than like, you know, feeling like you have to get it nailed. And I think that sometimes, especially like, you know, contacting artists can be a daunting thing.I still remember when I first got tattooed. Going into a studio. I mean, it's changing, you know, with studios like yours, with like, you know what we have at Great White, you know, it's a little bit more inviting environments, but you know, like the, the whole culture of tattooing used to be quite a daunting one to walk into a studio, you know? And it's, it's like, You know, a lot of people have kind of heard those experiences. So when they reach out to artists to, you know, get, get some work done and stuff, they, they feel like they have to have like a million notes in order, you know, and bring it in and have everything to the precise point, you know? And it's like, it is cool when we have an idea to run off. But you know, if you like allow a little bit of creative freedom, like everybody, everything works better. Yeah, it just has that organic flow then. Eddy: Absolutely. And I, I still now get people going and paying a designer to do a tattoo for them who aren't tattooers and who don't understand the complexity of complexities of how a tattoo design works. Then they bring that design they've paid for to me. And I'm like, I actually have to change it because it's not tattooable. And they've wasted all this time because you know, they've not been tattooed before or they've had really bad experiences and didn't understand that it's actually my job to do that for you. And to make sure it's the best possible version of that you can get. Tahlia: Well, that is also, I like for clients why, why are you paying a deposit for stuff. You're paying because you know, we're going to create something we're going to spend a lot of time. And this is another thing with tattoos. That like, I think a lot of people don't realize is most of the time we're spending so many hours, like the week or the day before, you know, to kind of create something like this up, you know, you have that security, you've given that idea and we're going to sit down with all these, like, things that you've given us and we're going to be like, okay, what can I do to make this the best that I can make it?You know? And I, I think, unfortunately I've seen, especially a lot more lately, like, um, with like, you know, the rise of being able to pay for sponsored ads and stuff on social media, you have a lot of, um, maybe like creatives that aren't able to kind of make a viable income off like their, their thing. And they're kind of um profiting a little bit and like targeting their marketing towards, you know, making people feel like, you know, that it's part of like the tattoo process, you know, they kind of selling it and like, I don't know, packaging it in a way that like, you know, this is actually a thing you need to have your stuff like predone, you know, and this is what I do. This is what I specialize in. Then, like you said, you know, that's, that's part of our, like what we do, but, you know, we you know, we're tattooers we don't really have like a, it's not like you look up and there's a job title on want a tattooer does. So Eddy: [Yeah. There's all sorts. Like there's some who literally just tattoo images off Google and that makes them happy and they see themselves more as tradespeople. Then there's those of us who are really only interested in doing custom pieces in our particular style and then everything in between. Tahlia: Yeah, definitely. I mean, like, I think, um, like any, anybody that tattoos it's important to know the technical side of things, but I think that whole, I mean, it used to be like the kind of Western like style of tattooing used to be walking to a studio would usually be like a pretty scary place. You know, like you see all the old films and old bikies sitting in the chair. I mean, it hasn't always been like thatEddy: Ciggies, carpet on the ground.Tahlia: It's just a majority of the places. Yeah. Like, you know, and it used to be picked out, they get the old stencil, they stick it on, you know, and like these days is it's way more of an experience. So like live it up, you know, like do it, like use, use your artists, like as you can, you know, work with them and you know, you're also, you're going to enjoy it a lot more, you know, like, um, like. You're gonna enjoy your artist is going to really enjoy it. And it's something that you connect on then, you know, by the time you come in to get tattooed, your artist is so stoked on it. Like the amount of times, like people send me really cool ideas and they're like, just do what you want. You know, I just want something like this and I'm just like, I'm writing them I'm like, yeah, this is so rad, I'm so excited. This is going to be awesome. And then I'm like, Oh, thats right I'm also, I have to be slightly professional. A lot of the time they come in, I feel like we're best mates from way back when, you know, and I'm like, Yeah, so what are we doing now? You know? And like, they leave. And from there, it's like, you know, you, you're friends, like, that's it, you know, like you see them in the street it's just like, how's it going? I'm like, what's going on? You know, it's really cool. Like what other, what other kind of job can you do where like that's, that's your day to day? Eddy: Yeah, you almost, um, become a part of their lives, even if you don't necessarily ever connect again after the tattoo, you've still had this like intimate and unique interaction that has marked their body and they will remember every time they look at it and yeah, the impact of that goes beyond even, even that initial tattoo experience. But yeah, we're so lucky.Tahlia: Definitely.Eddy: I did want to ask you actually, um, How you, how you got into tattooing. Cause I mentioned that before that I met you, um, when, before you even started your apprenticeship, like, and you've been tattooing for, what would it be like six years, five or six is now Tahlia: I think it's about five, I mean, it's so like, it was such a weird coming into it. I mean, like, I, I didn't...tattooing so it looks like lets wind it right back. So it all kind of started, I mean, I was always like into creative stuff, but, um, I, I had a trade I quit that and I was working part time for a freak show. So it was like a performance, um, like agency and these guys are like, nowadays they're all just my best mates. Um, you know, and like, That was like my first kind of, I liked tattoos and I'd had a few tattoos, but this was like, I met all these really like creative, weird people. And they like had all these really weird tattoos and I was just like, this is awesome. And because of the shows that we were doing was so like, um, niche underground, kind of like, it was more like, um, I did a lot of like fire stuff and like grotesque, burlesque kind of stuff.Eddy: That's awesome.Tahlia: And like, therefore, like a lot of people we met were other creators. So at these events that we were doing I'd meet other tattooers. So from there I was like, Hey, can I come and like, hang out at the studio and paint and draw. So I just would like hang out with people. And then I just, I ended up like helping run like front counters sometimes and someone would go away for the week. Um, I just like when friends would, so when we met in Melbourne, um, friends of mine would like work the convention and they'd be like, Hey, do you want to come across? And they'd let me sell my artwork in return for working in the booth for them for the weekend, you know? And I'd just like, get my flights and go out and hang out with everyone just cause.Like I just idolized. I was like, this is the greatest job in the world. And I mean, I, I created a lot, but I also, I had a lot of like self pressure where I was like, okay, tattooers are like up here. Their work is up here and my artwork has to be up there. So, I mean, I have moved away to Europe and then I was kind of still hanging out in studios, but not really doing a lot. And I had done a couple of tattoos. I was living in Brighton at the time. Um just at some friend's studios there just on like a few friends that I knew in the area. And I was just trying to like get out there, but I mean, it was good, but it was bad. Like, unfortunately and fortunately, I worked in like private studios when I did kind of like when I hung out, I was always in private studios. So it wasn't like they could be like, you're an apprentice. You can do some walk-ins or you can do that. So it's like, I kind of got to teach myself and watch other people use machines, but I was like, you know, they were like, if you want to learn, you can tattoo yourself or tattoo a friend. So, I meanEddy: Yeah. Tahlia: I'd done a couple. And then I moved to Berlin and I was trying to see if it was like, you know, at this point I just caught the bug. I was like, I w I want to do this. I want to do it seriously. And I was able to, um, score a job at a studio called Pechschwarz Tattoo in...which is like, um a darkwork studio and the artists there were just so high caliber and amazing, and really friendly and lovely. And I mean, I was pretty honest about stuff. Like I was like, look, I don't really know what I'm doing. Like I just want to apprentice. And they already had an apprentice and they were kinda like, look you just tattoo here. You do your jobs here. And they will like and, you know, you just work as an artist, but you just travel as much as you can. You travel and you like learn off everybody you can you take as much knowledge as you can? And it was until then I went to work within like the first month or two of kind of tattooing I was able to go and work a convention in Kassel, in central Germany, where I met friends from a studio called Green Pearl, which is in Braunschweig in Germany.And, um, I used to go out there and I used to just like, that was my first experience of doing walk-ins, which was like, you know, at this point I was a bit fake it till you make it. So like I'm there and they're just throwing me all these walk ins. And I'm with all these amazing tattooers, and I was just like sweating and like, Oh my God, am I going to do this? Okay. People are coming over. I'm waiting for them to be like, Oh, this is shit. But they're like, Oh cool, man. Like awesome. You know, everybody was just so friendly and nice. And then, I mean, I was just, I dunno, I like, from there, I just met so many people just going to different places. So I was just like, okay, anytime somebody invites me somewhere, I would just go there. And then from there, I just ended up being able to like, I got invited to the Nepal tattoo convention and I tattooed around Nepal. I ended up working at Parliament Tattoo in London. I got invited to work there with a friend. I worked in Brighton a lot. Um, worked in, um, Krakow in Poland. I worked at a couple of conventions there. I worked in Italy and Spain a lot. I did a lot of work in Spain. Um, I think I'm forgetting a few places. Eddy: It's like, initiation by fire.Tahlia: Oh yeah. Like I was way out of my depth. Like, and I was just like so grateful and I mean, I was also like, I can't, I felt like I couldn't turn down the opportunities because, you know, I was like, if I tell them no, like, I'm not really ready then like, would I have that opportunity again? And like, I just got to, like, everybody was just so lovely. I mean like sometimes I think like, people, like I've said before, they, they build up tattoo is like, they're these scary things, you know? And then you meet them and they're just so awesome. And I mean, when I would go there, I would end up getting to talk to the people and I'd be like, Oh, you know, actually I haven't been tattooing long and they're just like, yeah, good on you. You know, this is awesome. And you know, they'd give you constructive criticism. And I mean, like, As long as you were nice to everyone, I mean, I'd just walk around and be like, how did you do that? That's amazing. You know, they would just stoked to share it. They're like, Oh, you think that's really cool? Like, well, I think this is cool. You know, you're just bouncing off one another. And I think that was the difference. Like Eddy: Yeah.Tahlia: It was just like really lucky. Eddy: Yeah. I love that there's different ways to enter tattooing because like, if we all had the exact same like apprenticeship situation or whatever things wouldn't be as diverse or interesting. Like the fact that you've got to travel the world learning along the way is what makes your work yours.Tahlia: Oh, thank you. I mean, I think also like, like I said, I was very lucky. I had some very good mentors. Um, like some of the places I would hang out, like I got offered, um, a lot of apprenticeships before I left Australia. And I remember a few of the older guys that I worked with and that like mentored me. Um, they kind of said like, you know, you don't like because of this underlying in a few of the studios, especially like at that point in time, on the West coast of Australia, unless you were an amazing artist straight away, like you kind of, your only choice from there was to work in these like kind of misogynistic, kind of sexist like underlying places, you know? And they were like, you know, you don't want to work somewhere you're a little bit owned by the studio. Like in, you know, there was this a lot of kind of dodgy stuff going on and, you know, I wanted to tattoo so bad, but I'm really glad I had good like mentors around that were like get out while you can, you know, like, you know, and I'm kind of like, but this is the wrong way to do it.And they're like, that's when I had people, like, not like you do it, however you do it, you know? Kind of like get in there. I mean, and I'm not an advocate, like when I'm telling my story, I'm not an advocate for like, you know, tattoo at home and do this. Like, I never did any of that. Like, you know, I mean, like I'm not. I still believed in a safe practice. I went and did my occupational health and safety before I started tattooing. And I've only ever like tattooed in studios, you know, or in like a safe environment like that. Like I, I think sometimes there's a little bit of a blurred line with people when they're like, you know, when they say, Oh, you know, you don't need to have a traditional kind of apprenticeship, like I totally agree with that. But I also would say like, you know, you have to make sure that you're having a safe practice. And at the end of the day, like, you know, there is, there is definitely a technical application that you need to learn. Eddy: You do need a mentor.Tahlia: Like everybody learns in their own different way, but yeah, like there is like, there is some technical stuff you have to learn. I mean, like I learned that pretty quick that like, just because I could draw something on paper didn't mean I could tattoo it. Like, and, and even now, like sometimes I feel like when I tattoo for a long time and I don't have a lot of time to draw. Sometimes I feel like my tattooing abilities surpasses my drawing ability. And you know, you've got to kind of notch it back together. Like, because at the end of the day, it is two different crafts it's like it's like doing like, you know, drawing sketching with a pencil and then painting with oils and expecting to be an amazing oil painter cause you good with pencils, you know, it's like it's two different things.Eddy: Absolutely. That's what, um, you know, like I've mentioned in previous interviews, how, you know, we're so privileged, like will those of us who are comfortable, like to be able to actually use this time to practice those skills again and kind of, you know, when we go back to tattooing, we'll have like being able to build other skills up to a point where, you know, everything's a bit more balanced.Tahlia: Yeah, definitely like, um, I think that, you know, it's, it's important to keep, like I think I see it with a lot of people. I did it a lot myself as well. Like I was lucky enough to kind of get, um, like I kind of, I was drawing all the time. I was painting all the time and I was so much like involved in my art. And then I started tattooing and I felt like that was maybe after a year or two of tattooing. I felt like my work was kind of becoming a little bit repetitive, like for my own liking, but I think a lot of it was to do with like, more of, I just wasn't taking the time to draw anymore. Like I was just so excited to tattoo that all I did was tattoo to the point that like I think then I had like a little while where I was like, Oh, well, what do I draw now? You know, because I'd just gotten so into this process of like what I would do to do a tattoo that when I got to sit down in front of a piece of paper, my brain was up. It's just like, nah you've used all that up now.Eddy: Yeah, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves as well to like, do everything perfectly and it's not really realistic. And, uh, you know, we've, we've talked about many times about like all of these like external pressures that we put on ourselves and how, you know, we're all ending up getting really burnt out and tattoo. Like I know so many tattooers who have been like, Oh, I've just been so burnt out lately. Like almost thankful that lockdown happened. And like, do, were you feeling that way as well? Tahlia: Um, definitely like I think, um, I mean, I I've had like moments of, uh, I think now I'm able to kind of better adjust to that. Like, I feel like I had my moment where I burnt out a bit and then I had the kind of go wait and like reel it back a bit. I mean, I think there's the co like there's, there's different pressures. So there's like the personal pressure, like the, you know, we want to be able to do, because we have to create all the time. There's this kind of thing to create on demand, you know? And like, sometimes you can't do that. Sometimes you have a bit of a creative block. It doesn't mean that what you create, isn't going to be amazing for somebody, but it just means like, as far as you creating something new and innovative, You're just maybe like a little bit, you just need to relax and like take some time whether what it is that relaxes you whether you take a ride on your motorbike, or you go out to nature for a bit, you know, something that just kind of resets and takes you out of the studio, you know, and like, um, you know, there's also this like, this social pressure. I mean, with like social media these days, especially like Instagram, I mean personally myself with all this like COVID stuff, like I'm looking online and like, I mean, I've gotten my gardens going. I've been looking after all the farm animals. Yeah. I've done lots of stuff. But then I was finding myself, hopping on Instagram and I'm like, Oh, everybody's painting.Everybody's like selling like originals. And they're doing all of this amazing stuff. And I'm sitting here going well, how come like, you know, I managed to get up and make lunch today and like sort the garden out. And then I'm like, Oh, I need to leave my garden and I need to paint. I should be doing my greatest work right now. You know? And like you find yourself, like even though you don't mean to you're like comparing yourself to other people and I mean like, back when I first started tattooing Instagram was like pretty like, it was like prevalent, but it wasn't like huge. And I mean, you know, nowadays, like, like you used to know the artists because they were the artists in your area, in your city, you'd read tattoo magazines. And that's how you'd find cool people. Whereas these days, literally, if I want to hop on my phone right now, I'm just like, exposed to the greatest tattoo artists in the world, the greatest artists in the world. So you just, you're looking and you're like, Oh my God. You know, and everybody's doing their own individual thing, but you're not seeing that.You're just seeing an amalgamation of like amazing, different everything, you know? And you're like, Oh God, like, why am I no good at this? You know? And like, we also have, like, it's more of like an old school mentality, but there's like this thing of like, Um, like, it's kind of cool to overwork yourself when your tattoo, like, if you talk to artists that like, when like tattoo conventions are the perfect example of what you know, we'll tattoo for 12 to 14 hours straight, we do it for three days. And I mean, that's fun when you work at convention. Sometimes it's fun to burn yourself out a little bit, you know, but like, you know, people are just. They just take the work because it's there, you know, and they're just working and working, working, you know, and like they're burning themselves out. They're not like eating properly. They're not like, you know, a lot of the time, you know, they're kind of like going out and having a few drinks and like dinner with friends afterwards, you know? And they're like, They kind of like get some weird satisfaction from it, because somewhere along the line, some old school guys told us, you know, if you're not working, like, you know, then like, like for some reason, like we're made to feel guilty.Eddy: Yeah.Tahlia: If we decide that we need to take a day off a week, because we want to like, you know, get something else going. Or like, you know, if you're like, well, I'm working way too much, you know, like I, I took a day off a week so that I could you know, do my drawings to the best of my ability, because I feel like if I take that extra time, then like, you know, I create something better than if I'm just like putting it on, on the morning of like the thing, you know, but I don't know. It's just, it's this weird thing. And it's like, Nobody talks about it. Like nobody's really gonna make you feel bad about it, but you kind of have this weird guilt sometimes when you're like, Oh, you know, I need to work a little less than sometimes, you know, you're like, Oh, is everybody going to look down on me or think I'm weak because I need to take a bit of time to create.Eddy: Yeah.Tahlia: But I think also like a lot of people that do over work. They work in studios where they're doing a lot of walk-ins and like, they're not really like thinking about the stuff that they're creating a lot of stuff. So maybe they do like one of their own flash pieces. But for the rest of the week, they're doing like, you know, somebody that comes in and says, I want this picture. I want this. So they're doing that after like one after the other. And I mean that still can burn you out. But I mean, when you're doing what you do, what I do, what a lot of artists do, where you're like putting a bit of yourself into everything you create for somebody you just like mentally and physically cannot spend all your time doing that. Like if I'm working seven days a week doing three or four tattoos a day, Like by like Saturday, Sunday, how am I going to make the best work that I can? Because all I'm thinking is I need a good sleep. Eddy: Yep.Tahlia: I need to get out of the studio. Like I've traveled when I first started tattooing, I took that on board so hard and I just wanted to work so much that like for a while there, when I was traveling, like I did a three month trip with my friend, Laura, that I was working in Berlin with and we went to Italy, we went to Spain. Um, Where else, there was somewhere else we went, but there was like a few places that we traveled to. And then the three months, I didn't see anything. The first time I went to Spain, I spent most of my time in Barcelona. I hadn't even seen the beach. Eddy: Oh my god.Tahlia: Like we literally just stayed in a studio the whole time. I went Milan. All I can tell you about Milan is I went to. Well, I was lucky enough, actually, I got to go to some fashion shows in the nighttime, but we'd just been so busy that like, by the time we went there, I was so burnt out. I couldn't take in the fact that I was in fashion week. Like with you know, at an exclusive like NIKE and ADIDAS party, like, you know, all I was thinking was I just need to sleep. I need to draw these jobs for tomorrow and I need to work. Like know, I can't like you couldn't be. And at some point, and I think that also prompted, you know, when I moved to Mexico for a while, Like, it's a very slow, relaxed kind of lifestyle. And I think that's what, like drew me to it when I was living in Europe, I was like, so fast paced and tattooing all the time.And everybody I worked with was so heavily into that, that I like was so into this place where I was like, wow, everybody just wakes up. They go and do a little bit of work and then they relax. They take a lunch break, you know, like, and nowadays I think like, You know, I try and I think maybe I went from like so fast paced to so relaxed and I feel like coming back here was a little bit more of like, okay, let's like work is like, To the best of our abilities and then, you know, go home and like, relax and enjoy like, you know, our family, our pets, our garden, our plant babies, whatever we want, you know, take the time to really enjoy stuff like that.Eddy: Absolutely. It's so important to get that balance. Like I burnt myself out so hard and I always had these like ideas in my head that I had to be here for the studio to make sure that all the artists who work here were happy and that I was doing everything I could for them. And then I had to be there for my clients to make sure I was doing the best work for them. And I had to do all of these things and I had to do a lot of it to please everyone. And that I forgot about myself. And then I kind of realized like, what's the point of living if you're in, you're not enjoying it. What's the point of creating art if, if you're not able to actually put any thing of value into it, and then like, what's the point of, you know, being there for, you know, my colleagues, if I'm just angry and tired, like it's just, it's crazy. And tattooing is....Yeah, and it's, it's such a strange thing that tattooers have developed that attitude because it's such a capitalist attitude and we're meant to be pirates. It doesn't make sense. Tahlia: Yeah, I mean, not like how many, like as soon as we got put into lockdown how many tattooers was stressed about not working and do you know what that was? I mean, go back. Like a year. I was like, I'm in, I'd say like, I've made some of my biggest changes to that in the last year. I mean, I would be having a full mental breakdown if you go back a year or two, not being able to have work because you know, like it got to the point that, I mean, I love tattooing with all my heart and soul, and I always have like, and just like creating, but I mean, it got to the point where I had no life besides tattooing. Like my life was going to work early and then being the last one to leave because, you know, I just stay and paint. Like, I, I didn't bother with like relationships. I didn't like bother like everything.Like my friends were everybody I tattooed with. I didn't bother having a partner because I didn't want the time for it. Like, I I've always wanted pets. But I didn't have pets because I was like, Oh, well, I don't want to have to look after them because I want to be able to go and tattoo. I'd have a day off and I'd go into the studio and the guys at work all would be like, well, what are you doing? I'd be like, just in the area because I had nothing else to do, you know? Everything that I could. It's like, I feel for people that have done that to their life, because now that we're not tattooing, like, you know, you have to take a that's what happened to me? Like you have to take a hard, look at yourself and be like, wow, like, you know, this is something that I've like invested so much in my life in that, like, I don't have anything besides that, you know?And I think it's important to have that balance, you know, because. It did get to that like, my inspiration was all just tattoo inspiration. And then, you know, when I took a step back and I went back to doing the things I enjoy doing, like going for long hikes, you know, like I started taking Mondays off and I called Mondays adventure Mondays. And every Monday I'd go for a big hike by the time I'd go to work on Tuesday, I'd be physically exhausted, but I would also just be like, Oh, I did this and I saw that and like, it just got me out of that, like that habit, like I saw something different and I was like just fresh perspective. Like all of a sudden my work started going in like different directions and yeah, it's just, it's, it's very important.Eddy: Oh, that's so awesome. Yeah. Well if, to any of our listeners who are tattooers, who've been in that kind of situation, where their, they've invested all of their self worth in tattooing, what, what would you suggest if anything? Tahlia: I mean, everybody's got the different things. I mean, like, obviously we have like hobbies and passions besides tattooing like, even if it's something as simple as if you still want to do something creative, like go and do a life drawing course, or like, you know, an extra art course or something, something away from it find like a different medium, or like, you know, another thing I've like, I've done, which I enjoyed is like just volunteer work at places, go and volunteer somewhere. Obviously, you know, you're tattooing that much. You don't need to go and hustle and make money off something. And I think that that's something that like, you know, being self employed, kind of, you can get into that bubble of feeling like you need a hustle all the time, you know, and like make money off every creative endeavor, but go and do something that you can't make money off.Eddy: Yeah. Tahlia: You know like going like knit or paint, like go and ask someone if they got a free wall and go and paint their wall for them or something, you know, like just do something that breaks you out of the cycle of like, you know, It being so much of work, you know, or like, you know, go on a date. It's not going to kill you. I mean, like, I definitely, it was like, I was afraid of people, like, you know, I was like, Oh, I can't get close to anyone because you know, work is everything, you know, and like, You just go and treat yourself, take yourself out for a nice dinner. Like one of my really good friends, like I rang her up and she was in Scotland and I was like, what are you doing? And she's like, just taking myself for a date, you know? And you know, it's like, she took a day off work, took herself for a day and made herself feel better. And I was like, Oh God, I've never done that. Like, I never would think of that. You know? So like, just think of like, Think of someone you really love and if they were like, if they needed a break, what would you do for them? And then just do that for yourself. Eddy: That's a really good point. Yeah. That's awesome. I love that. I'm going to do that. I'm going to take myself for a date tomorrow. Tahlia: It's so good. I mean like also another thing I love to do when I take myself for a day, Is when I sit down, I like table for one, I'm like, Oh no table for two, please. I'm just waiting on my date and then seeing their face and like, Oh, they just didn't show up...it's a horrible thing to do.Eddy: Hey, you got to take the joy where you can. Tahlia: Yeah.Eddy: Well, before we finish up today, is there anything else you wanted to touch on?Tahlia: Um, I don't know, I could ramble on for a million years. I'm in like, I've already expressed for this my love for you guys as well. Um. Eddy: I love you. Tahlia: I mean, for anyone. Well, I can't wait till I can come visit you guys.Eddy: Aww, I miss you so much.Tahlia: But I mean like, with like tattooing, I mean, I'm just like, I can't wait to go back I like, I'm just super excited to like, you know, see my clients again, meet new people, travel more, you know, like it's been such a wild ride to get to here.I'm super excited to see kind of what the future of tattooing holds. And there's just that many amazing artists out there. And like, you know, I, I have the absolute pleasure to say that a lot of those amazing people are my friends as well. You know, like I I feel really, really, really blessed to be able to be inspired by the people that come and eat dinner at my house with me, and like, you know, meet up for coffee. You know like, it's, it's pretty awesome. And like, you know, it's the people that like are collecting tattoos and let like contact us and that really dig our art, like I just like I just pinch myself every day and I'm like, wow, people actually like what I'm doing. I'm so so I stoked on that and I'm stoked that a lot of people share that same kind of vibe as me, you know, and just like, appreciate everything about it.Eddy: We are the luckiest people on the planet, I think, in the universe, even Tahlia: Yeah and like, if anybody, if anybody ever sees this and they want to like reach out and chat about art, about tattooing like I kind of, I swear I'm not a scary person. Sometimes it might take me a few days to answer, but I do love like, hearing and seeing art projects. Like, I love when like, you know, people that follow me on Instagram, they like message me and like, Hey, I drew this, what do you think of that? Like, and I just love that. Like, I love like supporting people, like if you're creating in any kind of for yourself or if you're pursuing to be a tattooer. Like just support as many people as you can support local artists, support, local business, you know, like Eddy: AbsolutelyTahlia: That kind of thing. You know, like there there's no room for hate there's enough, like hate out there. So just like just bugger it off, you know, just find things you like. And if you find something really nice, like if you like something, don't just scroll past it, you know, make the effort to tell somebody because you know, like for like, as artists we're so self-critical like, you know, someone writing something really nice to us, or like commenting on something, you know, that could be what makes our day. That could be what, you know, you saying that you like, that could inspire us to create more of that. You know, like if you're not engaging with us and we're not really sure what you're into. So like, be like, you know, be more engaging with us and like, we can bring you exactly what you want. Like tell us what you want to see, like go for it. Eddy: That's awesome. Yeah. That's that is such a good thing to do. And it's so true about the whole, like, just being kind and spreading love it like that kind of optimism is really going to be what makes the world a better place moving forward.Tahlia: Yeah, definitely. And I really hope all of this time that we've had at home has kind of like sparked that, you know, it's definitely made me realize like how much you can get into doing it everyday life. And then you kind of like take for granted the fact that you know, like I drive two hours and I can be with you guys and hanging out, you know? And you kind of like, you know, even with family and any kind of friends, you know, you kind of take that for granted. And then something like this happens. You're like, Oh, I miss everyone. I really appreciate having those people in my life. And all of a sudden you're like, as soon as this is over, I'm going to go hug every single person and tell them how much I love them.Eddy: So many hugs after this. Oh my God. Tahlia: Although I feel like our pets will be very upset when we all return to work. Eddy: Yeah. The cats are going to be devastated. Like my, my exotic short hair, my little squish face boy, he like, he spends hours just sitting on Aaron's lap, staring into Aaron's eyes, just full of love. And he's so happy Aaron's home all the time now. Tahlia: So good though, I mean, if there's anyone, that's like not hating COVID. It's definitely our pets. Eddy: Yeah. All the doggos in the world having the best time going for walks every day. Tahlia: Oh, yeah, they're all just like yeah best day ever.Eddy: Aww, little angels. Well, for, for our listeners, um, if you'd like to watch the footage of this chat, you can head over to our YouTube and follow us on Instagram at not just a girl underscore tattoo for regular updates. I'll be sure to link Tahlia's information if you want to contact her, um, and follow her. And um, any other information in the show notes, um, make sure you subscribe and follow and share and spread the love of tattooing. Um, thank you so much for joining me Tahlia. It's been so amazing and thank you so much to all of our listeners. Um, I hope everyone has a wonderful day if they can and get out there and spread the love and be kind and don't take anything for the granted.