LOCKDOWN LIFE: The 7 day itch – start a podcast?

I hope everyone is doing as OK as can be out there?

I am personally getting a bit jaded being indoors already and we’ve only been working from home/in actual lockdown for about a week. I’m busy trying to juggle work, childcare, all the side hustling and just trying to chill out. The family are all still in good health albeit between toddler tantrums over not standing on tables, queueing for the grocery store et c so I am grateful for that!

It’s safe to say I need some diversions to keep myself sane. I have been doing some thinking for a while that I want to start a podcast. After some Googling I decided I needed the basics explained to me, because even though I used to do actual radio back in the day at community college, I seriously lack understanding of audio on the computer/internet….

So I downloaded the Anchor app on my phone, cuz iz free so ain’t got nuthin’ to lose, and already I was intimidated by that little microphone button… It’s easy to use they said. OK… As I hit YouTube to seek reassurance and assistance, I was overwhelmed by recommendations for kit which I didn’t understand; what IS a condenser microphone, boom arms, specialist mixer decks, complicated software (looking at you, Audacity). Ugh.

A Chromebook with a smart phone and microphone
Let’s do this!

So my head kept thinking and my finger was scrolling even past bedtime. By the middle of the night, I came to my senses – fuck it, what’s the worst that can happen, I’ll just do this. I have a phone, a lapel mic and an app that seems fairly straightforward. So I’m away to record my first podcast today. So stay tuned, it’s probably awful to start off with but I’m sure I’ll crack it eventually!!

https://anchor.fm/lina-elvira

What new distractions are you seeking whilst in lockdown?..

House Plant of the Month:

March 2020 – African Violet

I remember my paternal Grandmother having loads of these, and Streptocarpus, on her windowsills! Even today it has a undeserved rep as “granny’s plant”. They were magnificent, and I always dreamed of having my own, but I thought there were some mythical way if keeping them alive/ flowering. But actually, they’re quite easy t look after but you do need to speak to them every day!

The African Violet comes in a variety of fancy varieties, they are all the same in terms of care. The leaves are (usually) dark green, fleshy and covered in tiny hairs.
They are compact and flower freely throughout the year.

My mum harps on about only watering these from below, as does every book/blog/website you can find. However to be honest, this is only so that you do not put water on the leaves! If you do, they can turn brown. Not sure what Mother Earth was thinking when she evolved that, as surely they would be brown if rained on in the wild, but hey. But this family of plants have a very finely fibrous, shallow root system, and if they are potted deeply as most are, watering from below may not allow the water to reach all the way up to the roots! I have a bare patch of soil when I carefully water from the top (I like to live dangerously…) and my African Violet is thriving!

How? The African Violet does like to dry out a little before being watered again. Feed once a month during spring/summer, I just use a regular houseplant fertiliser. Pick off dead blooms and it will continue to flower. These will do well in a terracotta pot as they like to dry out a little between waterings, and not sit in water. The do love a bit of humidity; my tip is to put them on a gravel-filled plastic saucer, and keep water in this to the level of the gravel. Or nestle in among other plants – as the plants respire they release moisture so grouping plants tighter will mean they benefit from eachother’s evaporation! If you’re in the UK, you probably do not have to worry about humidity however. “Speak” to your African Violet every day; you need to ensure they are not sitting in water, too dry or getting pests/disease…

Where? I have mine in a large north facing window – it doesn’t get direct light at any point but it has a bright light most of the day, even in winter. Make sure the temperature doesn’t dip below 16C however; they do not love being cold!! Keep away from direct heat from radiators.

Friends? These will do well in the same window as Calathea, Stromanthe, Cthenanthe, Maranta, Hoya, Anthurium and most ferns.

What do you want to see for House Plant of the Month next??

FOOD: Making a sourdough starter?..

I’ve got a penchant for bread, but I am not loving most of the offerings in the UK supermarket. Since arriving in the UK over 20yrs ago, I’ve never been one who have a loaf of bread in the house. It’s usually a frozen half loaf of white toast bread which lingers in the freezer with freezer burn until I’ve finally toasted it all… #oops

But it’s 2020, y’all. So decided I am going to get into making my own bread, also so that my daughter can have nice bread growing up, but also, better sandwiches for lunch, right? And by always baking and showing her, hopefully by the time my daughter is 10, she will be baking my loaves for me?..

It’s in a jar for growing sprouted seeds… Let’s hope it doesn’t explode!

All recipes for starters which I found relied on crazy long times of feeding and growing the starter culture. I had memories of my mum having a jar of it on the side table in the lounge as a kid. Being a busy mom/business woman, I was hoping for a quick fix – and found it on Tastes of Lizzy T! I followed the instructions, and now we wait…

Follow me on Instagram to see the progress of this culinary experiment; according to Lizzy’s recipe we can expect loaf-age within 48hrs!

HOUSE PLANTS: Lithops

Say hello to my li’l friends…

So I had an opportunity to get some of these fun looking house plants from a person at work! They had been given seeds, which were sown and promptly forgotten in their sun room while the room was full of stuff from renovation. She cleared it out to find loads of little stone plants! I got 5 of them, after Googling and assuring myself I probably wouldn’t kill them.

These have small delicate tap roots, but looking online, this is what they are supposed to look like. I read all about it, and then watched some YouTube, fretted over the potting medium but then just went for it.

Potting it up…

Orchid pot, orchid compost in the bottom, then cactus soil

I decided to use an orchid pot as these guys like it hot and dry. I used a bit of orchid potting medium in the bottom of the pot then filled up with cactus soil. I thought that this might increase drainage and aeration.

I’m aware a lot of people use ceramic pots as they keep dry but I didn’t have any of those to hand.

I used a pencil to make a hole for the root then I put the Lithops in carefully and used the pencil to push the soil around it gently to fill in the hole around the root.

I left the base of the actual plant right on top of the soil, to ensure that it wouldn’t get water logged.

I then top-dressed it with aquarium gravel – this is something I’ve seen done online so I just assume that it would help stabilise the plantlet and keep it from getting wet when watering? We shall see, haha!

How hard can it be?..

Supposedly these are super-tricky to be successful with, but I am hoping it’s a case of plant and forget and they will do well… I found Sucs for you on YouTube’s video very helpful in understanding how they grow through the year, which is essential it seems to get them to survive! Let’s see if these are still alive in a few months time – I will do regular updates!

Have you tried growing Lithops?! If so, do you have any tips and tricks to share?

REVIEW: The KFC Vegan Burger

So it’s another vegan fast food alternative out this month – this time The Colonel wants in on the action. Even though I’m not vegan, or even vegetarian, I’m all for expanding my greener eating options for the sake of the Planet!

The Vegan Burger is according to the KFC website a bespoke Quorn piece – all “11 herbs and spices, zero chicken”. I’m partial to the Zinger Tower Burger if I’m ever eating at KFC, and I must admit, this little number would do very well inside that! However, served with just (vegan) mayo and lettuce, it’s just a bit, well, plain. Texture is good but if you peer inside, the colour is a little reminiscent of tinned tuna…

Looks like chicken on the outside…
But inside, “is that you, tuna?..” 🤔

However – I would have it again! KFC should consider making ALL their burgers have the option of being served with this instead of the usual chicken option! I know they won’t be vegan as such but for those simply seeking a more sustainable meat alternative such a move would likely be popular.

Have you tried it?! Or any of the other vegan fast food choices? If so what are your thoughts?

FLIP-THRU: AmandaRachLee 2020 Doodle Planner

I love Amanda’s YouTube channel and caught the bullet journalling bug off that! I decided to get this when it came out in November and it only just arrived. I wanted to make a video, but my “skillz” with IGTV let me down; I’ve lost the voiceover and can’t figure it out. Perhaps I need to ensure I actually read the instructions (for once). Oh well… 🤔 Head on over to Instagram to watch it now!

2020: Year of Self-Care

This is one of my most important pages in my bullet journal for 2020. This blog will feature a fair bit of self-care content; it’s so important to everyone, something I only discovered after becoming a mum!

So I will leave this here for you to consider. A lot of online communities are doing self-care challenges for January, I will give you two places I have found useful for inspo;

CALM Moment
Under the Rowan Trees