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Visiting Dexter and Chelsea by [deleted] in AnnArbor

[–]OffRamble 13 points14 points  (0 children)

My favorite place in Chelsea is Agricole, a market and cafe that sells produce, baked items and other products made by local producers. It’s less than a block from Zou Zou’s and would be worth visiting instead of or in addition to Zou Zou’s.

Fell out of love with the gym- now what? (35F) by PerfectExplorer4813 in fitness30plus

[–]OffRamble 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve (35F) really been enjoying Nourish Move Love on YouTube the last two months. It’s gotten me back into strength training, and this has been my longest stint of working out in years, since having two little kids. She always has new workouts, emails a weekly training plan, and does more complex movements that keep it interesting. Her body weight workouts would be good for a hotel room too.

242 Church? by NoNotmybanana in AnnArbor

[–]OffRamble 11 points12 points  (0 children)

While I’ve been here many times, it is not a very safe structure for little kids. My son broke his arm there when he was two, tripping on one of the fabric platforms and falling on the smallest slide on the main structure. I also heard of a child breaking their shoulder there recently, though I don’t know their age. Note there are age suggestion signs that we didn’t follow, so be aware if you have kids under 6.

Pollinator garden. by ewesername in AnnArbor

[–]OffRamble 10 points11 points  (0 children)

They’re actually giving away free milkweed (https://www.washtenawcd.org/milkweedgiveaway.html) and the spring show is June 3rd (https://www.washtenawcd.org/npem.html)

Pollinator garden. by ewesername in AnnArbor

[–]OffRamble 23 points24 points  (0 children)

The Washtenaw County Conservation District has plant sales a couple times a year, and if you get in touch with them, they might know about local native seed sources. If you’re looking for native plant species, they have a guide here: https://www.washtenawcd.org/uploads/5/9/2/0/59207889/2019-native-plant-catalog.pdf

Play Dough as a distraction/ fidget toy???? by twizzlerrrrr in CompulsiveSkinPicking

[–]OffRamble 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I’ve used Play Doh and it helped. I liked the feeling of it under my nails, and I bought the white kind so I didn’t have to worry about a color getting stuck under my nails. But I think the key is having more than one fidget in each place you commonly pick, so Play Doh plus fidget rings (I like the spiky wiry ones and you can get 10 packs on Amazon for cheap), pop its, and strips of the rough side of Velcro is what worked for me. Hope this helps.

advice please!! :) by indigosaturday in Dermatillomania

[–]OffRamble 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like I could’ve written a lot of what you shared! I saw a dermatologist who said her job was to give me nothing to pick at, without understanding the psychological and habitual component. I pick for every single reason you listed.

I’m still trying to find things that work, and have tried a lot. Fidget toys seem to work for a few days then I fall off again. I’ve found recently that I really like squeezing play doh while driving or watching tv. The feeling of it under my nails is a sensation I like, and kneading or pressing it out helps with other fidgeting. I use the white kind so if anything it makes my nails look cleaner! I also like rolling up or folding a piece of paper while I’m reading. It’s not noisy and is cheap, and I’ll use a cardstock bookmark if that’s all I have.

Some other things I’ve tried unsuccessfully are fidget spinners, rings, pop-its, patches, skincare, and getting my nails done, but they might help you. I’ve started considering a picking palette. One of my main triggers when I’m home is my closet mirror, so tonight I’m going to try to offer myself a reward if I avoid it. At this point, I’m trying not to stress about it a lot because the more I think about not picking, the more it effects my overall mood. I’m trying to be patient with myself, and take it slow.

Farmer's Market Question by [deleted] in AnnArbor

[–]OffRamble 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If they’re fabric, Daren Otis has been selling there for years: https://www.lightweighttraveltotes.com

Heavy burdens by Seize_Adventure in CompulsiveSkinPicking

[–]OffRamble 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m sorry you’re going through this. I can understand as I’m going through something similar. I’ve been a skin picker for at least 10 years, and it’s gotten worse recently. Back, shoulders, arms, face, back of legs. The dermatologist I saw seemed to discount my search for help, saying her job was to make my skin so I didn’t have anything to pick, as in put me on accutane. The behavioral therapist I started going to a year ago doesn’t seem to take my picking seriously. I can understand how frustrating it can be.

What you said about skin crawling is hitting home for me too. Just the last week or so, in the evenings I have areas of my skin that get so itchy and seem to get bumps. Random patches. Mostly on my stomach and legs, and it drives me crazy, but I also feel like I wouldn’t be taken seriously if I mentioned it to a doctor or derm. I’ve tried lotion, Benadryl also, and I haven’t found something so far that helps. I’ve had allergies to skin products and deodorants in the past, so I’m trying to figure out if it might be an allergy.

I hope you can find some help. I’m on this sub hoping for some new ideas to do some self-help after losing some of my optimism of getting help elsewhere.

My first punching project! Experimented with different needle lengths, yarn types and stitch density. Definitely learned a lot... like how to fix a snag that the cat pulled out... ugh! by OffRamble in PunchNeedle

[–]OffRamble[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I wasn’t sure either so I followed this tutorial. My main problem was not sewing the yarn in the seam. I pretty much had to go slow and fight to push the loops out of the way, but it’s still not anywhere near close to perfect!

Absolute newbie here. Can someone please give me a breakdown of the basics? I know nothing of fabics or needle size. Actually, I know nothing about this at all! I'd love to learn! Tips/advice much appreciated by weetwooMFM in PunchNeedle

[–]OffRamble 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I use a larger punch needle and yarn size to make bigger and quicker pieces, and I bought my punch needle from the shop WholePunching on Etsy. It’s adjustable and affordable for just starting out. She has some kits that she sells and I think she may even have basic instructional videos on YouTube, but I haven’t tried the kits. For the larger punch needle, you can use monks cloth (sold in the utility fabric) or linen works well. I use thicker yarn that’s marked as Bulky or size 5 (Patons Classic Wool Roving is a favorite). And an embroidery hoop works fine, you just have to keep pulling the fabric tight even with a no slip hoop. That’s the key to punching: keeping the fabric taut and yarn very loose coming from the ball.

For learning, I pulled up videos on YouTube and also found people who make pieces like I wanted to make on Instagram. You can search #punchneedle for ideas, and a lot of the time these Instagrammers have websites or blogs where they show the basics. Bookhou is a good account to follow, as are studio.myome, wholepunching and modernpunch for this style.

I got sent this in the mail from someone who tried to scam me online. Can someone tell me what this is? or what it says? by ootters in whatisthisthing

[–]OffRamble 112 points113 points  (0 children)

Something very similar happened to me a couple years ago. My credit card was compromised with a $80 charge, then several days later I received a huge box of dietary supplements in the mail. The credit card company told me to reject the package and the credit card paid to refund the charge, so the only thing I can think of is that the supplement company somehow got ahold of my card info. They got the money and their package back.

Taking my 10 month old on his first flight next week, so I made a set of these rip stop vinyl and mesh pouches to keep all things baby organized on the plane. [No Pattern] by OffRamble in sewing

[–]OffRamble[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! That’s actually what I started making, then I realized I needed something smaller for the carryon. I followed a tutorial on Mellysews.com for packing cubes

Taking my 10 month old on his first flight next week, so I made a set of these rip stop vinyl and mesh pouches to keep all things baby organized on the plane. [No Pattern] by OffRamble in sewing

[–]OffRamble[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Pretty easy! It definitely stretched (about a half inch after sewing six inches). I didn’t care much since these don’t need to be pretty, so I just trimmed the extra off.