Jay Angler

Eino Kenttä wrote:Another thought, from a different angle: My partner did hypnosis, and it helped her (mostly) get rid of her fear of spiders. Maybe that could work?

My Daughter in law (DiL) dated my son for many years, and at the beginning, her fear of spiders was practically paralyzing (although not as bad as the time somehow a squirrel got into her apartment and she *TOTALLY FREAKED OUT*.

So first off - no, it is not a "stupid fear".  Somehow, in your brain, that fear was triggered and allowed to sit there, and depending on exactly how severe it is, it may deserve the label "phobia" which might actually require a professional to help you with. But definitely not fair or nice for you to label yourself, as the person coping with the fear, "stupid".  Only you can decide how deeply set the fear is, vs where the "I am truly disgusted and revolted by worms." bit takes over.

How to help you overcome your feeling through a computer interface is tricky. My son spent a lot of time reassuring my DiL, bought her a long handled insect catcher so she could gradually get to the point of being able to catch the spiders and move them outdoors, and gradual exposure to the real world on our homestead (chickens, ducks, lots of bugs), have brought her a long way, but it was gradual and took time.

I would suggest that reminding yourself daily intellectually about how important a job the worms do may help. I suspect you're not at the point where you would see the suggestion of building your own 'worm farm' to get to know your worms as pets (very ugly pets exist), would be doable. (But can you even imagine people having worms as pets? Can you accept in your brain, that other people talk to their worms while they re-locate them out of danger in their garden? That we genuinely see them as our garden helpers? Or do thoughts like that frighten, disgust, or defeat you at this time?)

Maggie, you are not alone, and you are not crazy. I believe your description of your feelings. My DiL has come along so well, but she's had lots of support and encouragement getting there, so I believe you can get there too, and this thread is a great place to start and getting yourself more comfortable around worms seems like a wonderful winter project that will help you prepare yourself for next year's gardening season.

Help us help you set some goals you feel you can achieve, just as you would for any other skill. I believe you can find a way, with support, and I, and others on permies, are here to support you with cheers and ideas!

It sounds like you've got several issues. I don't know your position, but in mine, I would build a whole new coop and run as far from the existing one as practical, and start new birds there.

I would decide whether to let the old birds die naturally, or continue where they are, based on my observations (I *don't* consider "natural death" to always be nicer than "helping them humanely" because chickens will hide pain to protect themselves. It's a fine line and based very much on the situation.) However, once the old coop/run was empty, I would clean it thoroughly and re-seed the run area and use it for non-chicken uses for as long as I could, aiming for a minimum of 3 years, preferably 5 years. I'm always looking for deer protected planting areas, so I'm sure I'd make it productive somehow.

After that period, having two areas to rotate birds through is something I always like to have. I don't consider it a "waste of space" but rather important back-up infrastructure in case of any sort of disaster, or just to let an area of soil "rest".

I hope your research on choices for new breeds goes well. I'm sure fellow permies will help by describing their experiences. I certainly have met many different breeds over the years, but that has just made me aware that different breeds do better or worse based on many factors including but not limited to, climate, infrastructure, likely predators, etc.

Short answer: I would avoid introducing any new birds to the same area with the old birds or even shortly after the old birds are gone. Chickens peck and dig, and many things live in the soil for long periods.

That bee *really* wanted that pollen and nectar!

It always amazes me that bees will just carry on if I get near them on my land - they've met me before and they seem to know that I mean them no harm. But to allow you to carry her all the way inside is really amazing.

Jackson Bradley wrote: I have $1,000 in 2020. 5 year CD rates are around 3.50%. If i put that $1,000 in a CD in 2020 and took it out now, it would be worth $1,187. Unfortunately, due to inflation and using the CPI index, I would need $1,255 in 2025 to equal the buying power of $1,000 back in 2020.

Excellent math Jackson, but I'll also add that in my country, you have to pay tax on the interest earned on investments, so that makes it worth even less, although that is dependent on ones "tax bracket" so if you don't have a large salary, it may be insignificant.

What that means is that it pays to do serious advanced planning. If you only have $1000, but your project is going to cost $3000, if you plan well enough, you may be able to buy some of the lumber, or the wire fencing, or some other component that is likely to increase in price. If those materials are generic enough (like 2x4's) even if plans end up changing, they're still likely to be a valid asset.

I also strongly back the concept of an emergency fund of "cash" and there are many people who have an emergency stash of food. Both of these can provide a huge sense of security and help keep stress levels down.

If you use the right kind of trees, they can actually fuse to each other and create a strong living structure.
This thread about living bridges might give you information and ideas: https://permies.com/t/2112/woodland/Living-root-wood-bridges

If you want to hold them, I'd really try to cover them. Maybe stick a couple of hot water bottles under the cover to be extra safe.

Thekla McDaniels wrote: I had a very rough day in town yesterday.

Sending empathy and understanding vibes.

My sister had to go to the next city over to hers to visit a specific bank. Parking could *only* be paid with an ap on a cell phone. She doesn't own a cell phone.

I've seen many seniors embrace technology and see all its good sides. But the cost to an individual on a limited budget is huge. My phone is barely 7 years old and is considered "old". Somewhere in a box, we have an old Bell, rotary dial phone, and if we hauled it out, I guarantee it would still work physically - not sure whether we could still make it interact with the phone company! But the physical phone is in the order of 60 years old and looks perfectly fine!

source

I have been, and still am, very supportive of the SkIP program. If you work through even just the first level of a wide variety of BB's, you will learn how to do things that other people have to pay money for. I have way too many people asking me to fix things for them which 100 years ago, virtually all women, and many men, would have been able to mend, alter, or sew from scratch. I have done several projects for SkIP, or just because I wanted to, that were predominantly made from upcycled material. Many of them were done totally by hand, so a variety of needles, thread, pins/clips, and decent scissors are all you need to own.

Example: A friend had a butterfly net and the netting has solar degraded to the point she was going to throw it out. The frame and extendable handle are in excellent shape. I'm now dusting off my crotchet skills and I will try to make it a new net. Will I succeed? Maybe. Do I care? No - it's too dark and cold to work outside in the evenings - why not keep my hands busy while listening to a talking book, or chatting to a friend? The bigger point  - if I can crotchet a small net, I could crotchet a large net to catch fish.

Example: I built a small portable shelter for 1/2 dozen chickens a couple of decades ago. Lessons learned: 1. Regardless of what other people told me, flat roofs *don't* work in my ecosystem. 2. I'm a 110 lb female on a narrow frame. I *need* portable shelters to either have wheels, be very light, or both.

This is the sort of thing people need to be learning now, rather than waiting until they unexpectedly loose their job. But our system wants us craving instant gratification from television or the computer, instead of putting our hands to work.

SkIP is one way to inspire you to try new skills, and document your successes. There are plenty of other ways, but this is free, inclusive, accessible and available. There are no weekly Repair Cafe's in my area. The Maker Space which was a 25 min drive away, was taken over by a Cabal. So SkIP it is, unless I start something myself.

Burra Maluca wrote:OK, current ideas involve something like this...

OK, I was thinking along those lines, but with taller legs to be a foot stool or a "sit-upon" when you need to be fairly low to the ground, but don't bend well enough any more to actually sit on the ground. Sigh, I can still kneel if the surface is soft, but sitting cross-legged was never my strong suit. If I need to sit to sort through my lowest sewing drawer, I sit on a footstool that's approximately 6" tall. I was lucky and found an old set of sofa legs to make my foot stool out of.