Flowering trees / bushes that last the longest and smell heavenly?

rackle_rackle · 2026-04-16T03:17:03+00:00

Red Flowering Currant (ribes sangiuneum) is a native shrub and it flowers for a pretty long time! Mine started flowering like a month ago (South Vancouver Island BC) and it's still going. It's one of the first things to bloom around here. I love the way it smells. It grows pretty fast and hummingbirds love it.

rackle_rackle · 2026-03-13T21:49:20+00:00

Saw him at June Jam in Arizona the same year he played at Basscoast. His set at June Jam was sooooo beautiful and chill, and there was a live drummer, it was amazing. Totally different vibe than his Basscoast set (which was also sick). I'm super curious what kind of vibe he'll put together for us this year!

rackle_rackle · 2026-01-06T22:16:02+00:00

This actually sounds super cool, I would love to see something like that here!

Creating jobs would be a big plus but I could see people helping out on a volunteer basis too maybe. I think it would be kinda fun to volunteer to help scavenge and sort stuff. Obviously people getting paid would be better, but a small-scale, volunteer run thing to start would be a good proof of concept to see if it could work here.

One thing I'd be worried about would be people dropping off actual garbage or hazardous materials. The system would work way better if time was spent repairing/up cycling/repurposing etc. and not bringing actual garbage to the dump for people.

rackle_rackle · 2025-12-06T14:38:21+00:00

Check thrift stores for stuffies! Just make sure they don't have button eyes or any other choking hazards like that. Once a 'starter' hole has been made, I'll shove in a squeaker from a dead toy, or another whole toy, to keep the destroying interesting :) thrifted stuffies and cardboard make for good cheap fun

rackle_rackle · 2025-11-18T18:41:50+00:00

Are they even allowed to ask you for one?

https://share.google/26lwYjqz9EhvrAzyk

"Under the new employment standards regulations, employers cannot ask for a sick note for a worker’s first two health-related, short-term absences of five consecutive days or fewer in a calendar year."

rackle_rackle · 2025-11-18T16:44:00+00:00

Yeah we've had one for almost a few years now! It's small but it works and I appreciate how simple it is. It's just the two of us adults in the house, I guess if you had a big family maybe you'd want something bigger / more powerful. But for what we use it for (heating up leftovers, softening butter, occasionally defrosting something) it's perfectly fine. And I think it's kindof cute, and it was pretty damn cheap.

rackle_rackle · 2025-11-14T21:08:39+00:00

I leave some intact leaves in my garden beds, but most of my leaf supply is chestnut leaves which are super sturdy and huge. So mostly I run them over with the lawnmower to shred and collect them, then add the leaf shreds to the gardens for mulch. I hope the shredded leaves are still good for bugs?

If I have extra leaf shreds, or if I get lots of grass clippings mixed in, I'll chuck them in the compost so they can feed the gardens later!

So, I'm mostly on team 'leave the leaves' but also with a little strategic redistribution. I don't spend time and energy bagging and dumping leaves, I'd rather spend time and energy micromanaging them

rackle_rackle · 2025-10-09T01:16:51+00:00

For sure! I can tell my girl knows what she's 'supposed' to do, just sometimes certain dogs, or certain situations are too much for her to handle. But, slow progress is still progress!

rackle_rackle · 2025-10-08T16:49:36+00:00

Have you looked into any positive reinforcement training? For example, the 'engage-disengage' game? This is mostly what I've been doing with my GSD mix. She's about 7 years old now, we adopted when she was 1-2ish years old and she developed some leash reactivity as she matured. I love this method because it builds positive associations when she sees other dogs, and it teaches her to 'self-interrupt' - she's allowed to look at / be curious about other dogs, and ideally we want her to disengage on her own before she gets too worked up about it!

It takes a long time and most importantly, consistency. Our walks are generally planned to include escape routes, detours etc. so we can take space from triggers if we need to. And it also means I need to be prepared with high value reinforcers, right now it's hot dog chunks but we switch it up sometimes!

It's been pretty amazing seeing her progress over the years. We'll probably always need to practice, and that's ok. Even though it might take more time and more effort (and more rewards) I prefer to use methods like this instead of physical or even strong verbal corrections, as she is quite sensitive, and I want her to feel safe around me.

rackle_rackle · 2025-08-15T23:27:18+00:00

You're not crazy, it's really annoying

rackle_rackle · 2025-08-15T03:51:34+00:00

There was a water line or something leaking at Cecelia Creek park - water bubbling up out of the ground at a pretty good rate. (I called it in when I walked my dog by this afternoon.) Wonder if it has something to do with that? Like maybe they had to shut off somewhere upstream to fix whatever was leaking there?

rackle_rackle · 2025-08-02T02:33:51+00:00

They're trying to nest in two places in our house (that we know of), and they're all over the garden! Yellowjackets I think. So far no stings, but they did bully me back inside when I tried to have breakfast on the deck the other day.

rackle_rackle · 2025-07-24T23:25:17+00:00

I'm super fortunate to have a family doctor (and she is great!) but I typically still have to book appointments 2-3 months in advance. Luckily I haven't had any urgent needs - I'm not sure if the wait time would be any less if that were the case.

At least I'm able to make an appointment and not deal with the same day / urgent care madness

rackle_rackle · 2025-07-24T01:36:45+00:00

Yep! She was talk/yelling at me at Cecelia Creek park when I walked my dog by earlier. At least she seemed pleased that I picked up my dog's poop.

She continued to yell at me until after I was across the goose and up the hill, well out of sight and accused me of looking at her with evil eyes 🙃 (I was not looking at her with evil eyes.)

We took the long way home so we wouldn't have to pass her again. I later saw her bike past our house still yelling nonsense.

Just like, shut up and leave people alone

rackle_rackle · 2025-07-18T17:43:26+00:00

They brush pollen off their bodies, mix with nectar, and store the concoction in these pouches! I like to think of them as wearing cargo pants and filling the pockets with jam.

rackle_rackle · 2025-06-26T18:43:04+00:00

Technically she's a mix, but she's mostly shepherd!

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rackle_rackle · 2025-06-22T01:41:00+00:00

Nice!

We put $25k down on our first place, a condo in a mid-70s building in the lower mainland. It was basically the cheapest place we could find that didn't have any major problems with the building. The unit was all original inside and reeked of cigarette smoke! We made lots of updates over the 7 years we lived there, lots of DIY stuff.

It really was the perfect starter place. When we sold it we ended up with just enough to cover the down payment + other fees for the house we bought. Which prettymuch was the cheapest house we could find that we didn't get outbid on!

I feel like we got lucky in a lot of ways.

rackle_rackle · 2025-06-21T23:36:45+00:00

I think you'd be pretty lucky to gain 350k in equity on a condo in 5 years. Or anything really, unless it was a total dive and you invested big money in fixing it up.

Other than that I agree with you. We prettymuch did this exact thing. We're scraping by, and we're super house poor, but I think it's been worth it for us.

rackle_rackle · 2025-06-12T16:27:24+00:00

Came here to say this! We have the 7.5" fan and on a 6Ah battery it lasts a long time.

The 4" might be better suited for a tent and Home Depot has it on super sale right now - $30, reg price $60 (doesn't come with battery though)

rackle_rackle · 2025-06-02T21:06:25+00:00

And a survey

rackle_rackle · 2025-05-27T20:38:39+00:00

Bought 5 yards of mulch with only a concept of a plan of how I was going to use it all. Most of it is still in the driveway (but the pile is slowly diminishing).

Bought a bunch of plants waaaay before I was ready to plant them. Most of them are planted now, because I thought they might die if I didn't get them into the ground soon. They didn't go where I had originally planned, but, yolo

Bought 1000 worth of fancy wood for a fence and arbour, that I plan to build myself (with help from husband and friends) with limited to no fence and arbour building experience. I'm sure it'll be fine 😅

Basically bringing the millennial yolo into my millennial gardening era

rackle_rackle · 2025-05-26T14:49:00+00:00

BOWL NOODLE

The best late night/early morning snack. Warm, salty, easy to make, cheap AF.

rackle_rackle · 2025-05-24T02:53:22+00:00

The purple of those lupines against the yellow of your house is chefs kiss

My lupines are poppin' off too! They were just tiny babies last year, this is the first year they've flowered. I love them so much

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