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@learningtolinka

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39 | disabled | queer | neurodivergent | cat mama | kpop brain rot | tarot | housebound | crochet & creativity | nature lover

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#Tarotholics September Spread 1 by @twisttheleaf

A beautiful reading that also reiterated the messages of recent cards and my card of the month (High Priestess). I’m coming out of such a difficult time, and it’s so helpful to be reminded that what I need to do right now is rest and recover, protect and heal the wounded parts of me, and slowly uncover who I am again. There’s a temptation after such a ling period of turbulence to jump right in to doing doing doing. But again and again, the cards are telling me that’s not what’s right so I’m going to be sure to listen. It’s also love to see the fox and the wolf appear, as they are both energies I have felt called to work with recently

Deck - The Wild Wood Tarot

ID: a spread of 6 tarot cards in 2 groups of three.
Top row: Four of Arrows | Rest, The Green Man (the emperor), Four of Stones | Protection
Bottom row: The Guardian (The Devil), Knight of Bones | Fox, King of Stones (Wolf)
#DiscordTarotholicsSep2024 #tarotreading #tarotcards #septembertarotchallenge #SeptemberTarot #WildWoodTarot #AnimalTarot #VirgoSeason #Animist
#Hedgewitch #FolkWitch #DisabledWitch #DisabledLife by @learningtolinka

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2 years ago

A Yule to Imbolc reading using the Seasons of the Witch cards by @iamjulietdiaz and @spiritelement. Top cards are the energy coming from the Yule season, bottom are the energy being welcomed in to the Imbolc season and the cinnamon roll card was an extra “overall” Imbolc energy card.

Spread inspired by @notsomysticaltarot 🔥

#imbolc #imbolcBlessings #imbolcReading #SeasonsOfTheWitch by @learningtolinka

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3 years ago

Another day, another moment of tea in bed. Today it’s @what_cha_tea’s Thailand 'Jin Xuan' Sticky Rice Oolong Tea, which is made by heating the stick rice plant’s leaves alongside the tea during processing.

I got this as part of @what_cha_tea’s Intro to Tea box, which arrived this morning with a hand written note from Alastair and a little sample of an extra tea. This Sticky Rice Oolong is soothing and refreshing at the same time. The room was filled with the smell of toasted rice and the mouthfeel was smooth and creamy without being overly heavy or rich.

It was a nice moment in an otherwise bleh day - I’m still recovering from the virus I picked up at my hospital appointment, and the general exhaustion of recruiting new carers is hitting me like a tonne of bricks. A gentle moment of tea to engage and soothe my senses was a welcome moment of grounding and peace.

#OolongTea #TeaReviews #WhatCha #TeaAppreciation #DisabledLife #DisabledJoy #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #ThaiTea by @learningtolinka

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3 years ago

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3 years ago

I’d been wondering why the daffodils in my back garden didn’t bloom, and it turns out they were bluebells all along. My @rkive Indigo vase finally arrived and I was feeling well enough to step out into the garden this morning to pick a few bluebells to put in it. It’s such a beautiful vase and I wish more artists would make merch that is beautiful but also useable in your every day life as I know each day I look at this I will smile.

Image ID: a ceramic vase of bluebells sits on a wooden bookshelf with poetry books behind. The vase has the words “when flowers bloom or fall” written in small vertical text at the bottom of it. by @learningtolinka

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3 years ago

My £2.50 from the supermarket Hyacinth is blooming so beautifully this morning. Such a difference from yesterday (swipe to see). As a housebound person, and often a bedbound person, seeing my plants grow and even bloom is deeply healing. It reminds me that even thought I feel like I’m stuck in place and time, the world moves and changes and blooms and grows. Often when your housebound, it can feel like that happens to others but not to you. But my plants given me a chance to be part of that movement, of the cycle of life, they let me connect to the seasons and experience change at nature’s pace.

Right now, I am teetering on the brink of being back in a mental health crisis. It’s something we’ve been trying to hold off for months. And I’m not by any means saying seeing my hyacinth in bloom this morning healed me, because I have 2 very complex mental health problems and years of wisdom to know that emotions aren’t the same as mental illness, but it did give me something to feel a glimmer of happiness this morning. And that in itself is something to be grateful for.

[ID: two photographs of a hyacinth on a windowsill with the garden in the background. The first shows a pastel pink hyacinth in bloom with open trumpets of flowers. The second photo shows the hyacinth starting to turn pink but still mostly green with blooms barely open] by @learningtolinka

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4 years ago

As an unemployed disabled gardener, one of the biggest barriers to getting started is the cost of everything. From pots to compost to seeds, it’s a lot to get started, even if you know in the long run it’s worth it for the joy it brings, for the possibility of growing your own food at a time when food prices are skyrocketing, for the connection to nature and the feel of dirt under your nails reminding you that you’re connected to something bigger than yourself. @realseeds is an incredible project seeking to share rare and heritage vegetable seeds and to teach others how to save their own seed and grow their own food. This year they are releasing 1000 subsidised seed parcels specifically for unwaged/low wages gardeners who want to grow their own food. They release a small amount each month at a cost of £9 (£10 Inc p&p) and are working on an honesty policy (which is great as so often as unwaged people we are being asked for personal and often traumatic information to prove we deserve the bare minimum). These seeds are also available to those of you who aren’t low waged/unwaged for just £28 Inc p&p which is still excellent value considering the high quality of the seeds themselves and which helps to subsidise the parcels for those of us who need them at this lower cost.

The seeds included are:

- Vespa Field Bean
- Quick Heading Broccoli
- Magenta Chard
- Touchon Quick-growing Carrot
- Deliket Dwarf Sugarsnap Pea
- Maxidor Yellow Bush Bean
- Sutherland Kale
- Striato di Napoli Courgette
- Giant Flat-Leaved Parsley
plus a packet of Deep Red Sunflower for some floral joy 🌻

I can’t wait to start growing my own food. All of my neighbours are also disabled and unemployed and I’m planning to share the surplus that I grow with them and the other people on my street via a “help yourself” box out in my front garden. I’m even growing tomatoes just to share with the community on my street (I can’t eat them at all myself).

Happy growing friends 🌱

[ID: a selection of white paper seed packets with a black vintage style print on a wooden table. The seeds shown are listed above] by @learningtolinka

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4 years ago

It makes me so happy to see spring starting to bloom in the garden. Little pops of colour coming up everywhere, a reminder that life keeps moving even when it feels like we have been stuck in winter for so long 🌸 by @learningtolinka

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4 years ago

Sometimes disabled gardening is sitting on your shower chair, with your sink stool between you and the toilet so you can report your very silly decision of sowing onions and tomatoes in the same tray.

I’m exhausted today. Fatigue hitting me like a freight train. I’ve spent the last few days battling intense dissociation, a minor FND flare, pain flares and insomnia. I woke up at 10.30am and then napped 11.30am till 1.30pm. I’m still in pyjamas. I’m not well at all, but I wanted a little bit of joy after a difficult night and I know my week is a busy one (3 medical appointments) so I wouldn’t be able to do this until next weekend if I didn’t get it done today.

There’s a strong chance all these seedlings will die as it’s not the best time to be transplanting them about but one of the gardening is failing. Doing stuff, mucking it up, learning from it again next time. And on a day where everything feels bleak and frustrating and I feel trapped by my body and my mind, sticking my hands in the dirt was a welcome distraction

Now to recover. 20 minutes sitting is a lot on a day like this. Everything hurts, my second nap of the day is calling, but at least I had something enjoyable in between it all. by @learningtolinka

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4 years ago

Some happy mail this morning from the lovely @complexlycolette - a fellow disabled gardener who kindly sent me some of her excess seeds to help get me started in the garden. Something I’ve noticed about the gardening community on Instagram is how friendly and kind everyone is and it makes me even more excited to get growing and make more friends 🥰 Thank you so much for including all the little growing notes as well! by @learningtolinka

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4 years ago

Super excited as today I did my first “proper” bit of gardening since moving into the bungalow last summer. Took advantage of a dry (if windy) day and my birthday gift potting table and got my sweet peas from @therosepressgarden potted up as well as my chives and parsley, some onions and tomatoes (which I can’t eat but everyone will be getting a little tomato plant this summer as a gift) and then a little planter of lavender, rosemary and mint. Still got the rest of my @therosepressgarden seeds to plant up later in the week as I need to be super careful with my energy - even with my lovely carer @nelleficent helping me, I’m absolutely exhausted now. Cant wait to see everyone start to sprout and grow over the coming weeks. It’s so exciting to have a garden after all those years trapped in a basement flat unable to leave. It reminds me that I’m a real person, and that even if I’m housebound I’m still connected to the seasons changing and the world turning, which is so much more important than I ever thought it would be. by @learningtolinka

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4 years ago

I hate being negative about small businesses but I feel like I’ve been ripped off with @pot.gang. I decided to treat myself for my birthday, thankfully using an offer code so I only paid £14.48 (otherwise it would have been £25 with the 3 plant pot saucers or £21 without) and I’m so disappointed. A couple of basic black pots and sauces, some coconut compost, two (2!) seed potatoes, 25~ chive seeds, 25~ parsley seeds and whatsapp chat support if you need it. No mention of what type of parsley or chive so my guess is the most basic, bod standard 30p a pack variety. The potato is a Red Duke of York. I could get a pack of 10 for £1.99 online.

Obviously I understand that businesses need to turn a profit and being a small business is hard, but it feels like being taken advantage of as a novice gardener. Maybe I’m naive or being unfair but it feels like this is over priced for what it is? Do other gardeners with more experience have any thoughts about the pricing and contents? It really is my first time gardening so I’m very much an newbie.

I won’t be renewing my subscription - as an unemployed, disabled gardener I was hoping this would be a box that let me enjoy growing my own food without the stress of having to work everything out myself but instead I feel like I’ve just thrown my money away. Let’s hope the 2 potatoes sprout and that the little sprinkle of seeds all take and then it’s back to the drawing board for ways to make gardening more accessible to me.

I do have a flower subscription box that I got on offer as a birthday treat too which I’ll share more about tomorrow (spoiler - it’s a much more positive experience with a free community and support/education videos even for people who aren’t subscribers and a beautiful range of f1 and rare cottage garden flower seeds) but my vegetable plans are going to need reworking. by @learningtolinka

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4 years ago