Landlocked Mermaid

  Is this an idea pinched from Carole? Yes, yes it is. Do I care? Yes, please be ok with this Carole! Anyway, just going to share some of the songs I am loving right now. There will be YouTube videos, waffles, and a playlist at the bottom. Over time, hopefully it will grow and be a real banger! I love discovering new music, so if you have any bops for me to listen to, drop them comments! Hypnodancer - Little Big I call this, starting strong. Hypnodancer is by Russian band Little Big who are, well very unique. Their music is equal parts amazing, baffling, and downright crazy. I cannot recommend them enough. Fair warning, some of their stuff is very weird and NSFW, but there are also some true gems amongst the madness. Hypnodancer being one of them. This song will make it onto every party/exercise/happy song playlist I make from now on. It is a bop, and I won't hear otherwise. Warriors - Edda Hayes (League of Legends) My boss introduced me to this song when we had a particularly di...

This past week, Human and I have been on holiday. We stayed in a cabin at Ribblesdale Park , near Gisburn in Yorkshire. It was absolutely glorious and some much needed time away. While lockdown hasn't been that hard on us, we definitely needed some time with new scenery and a hot tub. That was my single prerequisit: where we stayed needed a hot tub. I wanted to chill in the tub with a book and glass of wine, damnit!   Monday Monday was mostly spent travelling up the M6 and settling into the cabin. Ribblesdale is set in the rolling hills of Gisburn Park, with a whole bunch of wooden cabins, a restaurant, and wild roaming peacocks. Another key criteria for us, was the accommodation being dog friendly so we could bring the foster pup. Thankfully, Ribbles is and was dog friendly! The pup did not know what to make of the peacocks. The plan with food was to take the week's HelloFresh with us. Slightly awkward, in that our order comes on a Tuesday and we left the following Monday. Thi...

If it hasn't been abundantly clear already, I have been struggling with blog inspo recently. Getting back into the habit of writing is very difficult when you open blogspot, stare at your new post page, and just hear griding gears. Realistically, I would like to venture more just being about my life and lifestyle, rather than strictly an environmental blog. I will still talk about the environmental stuff - currently testing out some new eco-deodorants! - and I like the new direction MCotM is taking with Chum and Bruce. But I would also like to talk more about gaming and the other interests in my life. Thanks to Kickstarter, I have loads of farming and water themed board games on the way which I am incredibly excited to share. So, this is a bit of a "What would you like to see from this Mermaid?!" post. This is a "please inspire me because I cannot inspire myself!!" post. Hit me with your ideas and suggestions!

    There is no denying, I am in a much better head space than I was pre-pandemic. You know, the before times, when we did stuff. Generally, my mental health is pretty good, and I rarely have to deal with episodes of sheer hopelessness. I am a happy mermaid. But, that is not to say that I don't get blue and spells of melancholy. Sometimes it's the weather bringing me down, others I am overwhelmed by all the life that is happening, and sometimes it is just mid-week burn out. Having a job does that to you. It is nonsense that I have to re-adjust to and, well, that is why I am here today. I need some good mid-week blues coping mechanisms. Because I turn to food and that is, as you would expect, making me chonky. I try so hard to be body positive, but sometimes I catch a glimpse of myself and just see a tree trunk. Part of my brain says I am always going to look a little stocky, it's a side effect of the massive knockers and being short. But I am losing the curves I liked and g...

  With it having been so unbearably warm this last week or so, I have been inspired to pick my Mermaid Top Five Tropical Places in Games. What do you mean that's too niche? You know I'm going to list them anyway.   King of Seas This game is new to my library. It was one of those "see it on Twitter and buy about an hour later" sort of games. You play as an exiled princess or prince, presumed dead after being accused of killing the king, who has taken to a life of piracy. The pirates are all pretty nice and not your typical, unwashed, scurvy ridden fellows. Instead, a lot of this game seems to be playing as a merchant who doesn't mind sinking  few ships now and then. You deliver parcels, map the area, pillage sunken ships, and save ship wrecked sailors - basically all the bits of Assassin's Creed Black Flag that I enjoyed! The world is bright and vivid, the seas are sapphire blue, and the islands are a delightful mix of sandy beaches and jungles. The game keeps ...

We all know I enjoy having a go in the kitchen. Especially with sweet dishes. However, for the last few months we have been really lazy with our cooking and eating habits. The slightest thing to come up and it's , "Oh let's just do lazy pasta," which is pasta, pesto, spinach, cheese, hot sauce, and Quorn mince. It is something I lived on when I was on my own in the flat. Quick, easy, very little sustenance so if you had more than a single portion it was ok. When I moved in with Human*, we did really well to not have that every night and for a while I was even meal planning. But with the move and the new job, it just became all too easy to be lazy. Plus, with how small our kitchen is now, the slightest bit of washing up on the side and there is just no room to cook. Honestly, my excuses go on for days and I seriously feel like a broken record. Don't have the spoons/time/energy/kitchen space...    However, and this is a sparkly "however", Carole recently s...

Bruce and Chum are back! They are taking over Marine Creature of the Month and making it their own. So, enough of my waffle already - I shall hand it over to my plushie friends. Name: Steller Sea Lion Location: Subarctic, from Alaska to Russia Habitat: Coastal waters, temperate climates Diet: Fish and cephalopods Conservation Status: Near Threatened (NT)     Bruce thinks...   These sea lions taste stellar! Get it?! They may be carnivores, themselves, but that won't stop me, other great whites, orcas, and sleeper sharks having a nibble. Chum says...   Stellar Sea Lions are very territorial. It's probably a good thing they like to live on isolated islands, the ladies can weigh anywhere between 240kg and 350kg! The males? They are 450kg to 1,120kg! For some context, I weigh about 10g... Ten Jawsome Facts The pups are born entirely black and weigh about 23kg. Their Latin name, Eumetopias jubatus , roughly translates to "maned one with the broad forehead". With a thick la...

  Another June has come and gone, another 30 Days packed with wild adventures. This year has certainly been tamer than last year, as more of my time is taken up with work and commitments. 2020 was a weird year and really should not be used as a something to measure against. Still, it has been fun seeing on my Facebook memories all of the mad stuff I got up to last year. The Fairy Day, the I Heart Shropshire lens, the Quiz - all great fun and things I would happily do again, given the proper time. This year, a lot more of my time and spoons is spent on work and that's ok. So while my 30 Days Wild activities are mostly luchtime walkies with the dog, I do at least have the opportunity to get outside pretty much every day. But here are some of my highlights from #30DaysWild 2021. Thanks to our rural setting aand the glorious weather, we went down to the river quite often. Our current foster pup loves to splash and play in the water. He is the first one since Tara who proper loves to go...

I have always been a simple girl with simple tastes. When it comes to games, I have clear favourites. Uncomplicated game play, third person camera which is easy to control, and button mashing. This is why some of the golden oldies remain some of my top played games. Final Fantasy IX will always be my favourite, hence why I am super excited to that there's been a TV show announced! But there is a genre which fits the bill perfectly. Farming simulators. Now, I don't mean the kind where you drive a tractor using high-end gear designed specifially for driving traactors. (Oh yes, they exisit.) I mean your Harvest Moons and Story of Seasons, where you spend your day caring for your animals, watering crops, digging in the mines, and finding acceptance from the locals. I've grown up playing Harvest Moon: Back to Nature on PS1 and more recently I bought Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town . My tactic is to grow as many things as possible and marry Ann. Or the closest person I ...

  For a long time I have been, for lack of a better word, afraid of period pants. I just don't get it. Where does all the stuff go?! But for even longer, I have suffered the discomfort of pads - first disposable and now resuable. Don't get me wrong the reusable pads are a massive improvement on their plastic counterpart. They're pretty, softer on the skin, less polluting - but it still feels like I am wearing a nappy every time I have my period. Well, no more. Well, no more-ish. Come on a journey with me. 7/6: Landlocked Mermaid Braves Period Pants I follow a number of accounts on social media which advertise period pants. Thinx , ModiBodi - if I don't physically follow them, I certainly get their adverts. While I have always loved the idea of just wearing pants on my period, general confusion and baulking at price tags kept me from ever venturing further than the adverts. But I cannot hide behind excuses forever. Especially not if it is going to compromise my comfort....