u/AutumnEclipsed

Carrie was being annoying and immature here by not listening to Aleksandr. She really should have heard him out when he said "and you are not hearing me!" But when he finally is able to share with Carrie about his friend who died, he says, "I was surprised, and I didn't want you to be surprised." I don't think this is what he was going to say at first before Carrie wouldn't let him speak. I think he was just trying to soften things for Carrie since she's clearly so fragile.

But it was also annoying how often he was starting sentences with "my friend who died", so I see you Carrie.

I just love this little betta guy, Rusty. He’s living his best life with couple of mystery snails and an ever growing cherry shrimp crew. I had the privilege of watching my husband get into the tank hobby and took my time setting up my tank just the way I wanted aquascape-wise while really dialing in the parameters before getting a betta in. I was super impatience tbh, but it was worth all the prep work to get a good, stabilized little habitat going.

Rusty has been blossoming into a confident yet dorky dog-like fish for the last 5 months. I was a little concerned about the Medusa cave I put at the bottom of this 10x16x16 10gal tank. I didn’t want the snails or fish to get stuck. I also was worried about the 3D printed Medusa being too sharp, so I spent time sanding the edges. But it hasn’t been an issue at all. In fact, it’s a little rest spot for Rusty and the snails love getting in the there (it is tough to vacuum though)! I haven’t managed to get a good video of until today. So please enjoy Rusty’s cave adventure!

I love taking a closer look at my betta, snails and cherry shrimp! Haven’t had much success seeing the fish with this dome magnifier on the 45gal tank though. They need to be pretty close up and slower, curious swimmers like my betta.

Are others in this community utilizing magnifying glasses for their tank gazing time? It completes the experience for me.

I posted here about a month ago about wanting to send this mini of a Tailoring Shop I made to my mom for Mother’s Day and asked for packing advice. Here’s an update!

There was so much great advice but particularly the commenter who suggested the “floating box method”. I did a version of this by wrapping the mini first in bubble wrap (instead of a second box) and filling it carefully with packing peanuts. Also put a lot of little glue spot checks for extra security before packaging up. Once packed, nothing moved when shaking the box around. See the pics if you are interested in the step by step!

It arrived today without any damage! She was so excited to receive it that she opened it right away instead of waiting for Mother’s Day. :) It reminded her of her mom who sewed all her children’s clothes and the household bedding. My mom learned how to sew, then taught me (such a handy skill to have!). I’m glad it made my mom feel connect to motherhood. The first pic is the piece in her house!

I’m so relieved it arrived in one piece - I was really overthinking the whole thing (probably because I put ~25 hours into the build and have seen waaaay too many careless shipment loading videos 😆). Thank you everyone who gave me advice and encouragement!