LITTLE Bo Peep has moved in.
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Like the nursery rhyme, she is sans sheep.
Little Bo Peep is bright and shiny, all the same. Hologram is the correct term, I'm told.
She was a gift from a school friend.
Next on the scene was hologram Princess Leia. Soon afterwards came Black Panther; only not shiny but matte silver!
Supermarket collectables always find their way into your home, regardless of where you live or even shop.
It took just shy of a fortnight for Woolworths' second instalment of the popular Ooshies series to permeate our house stronghold.
The under-10s are loving them, sick.
Together with Disney+, 36 Ooshies feature figurines from the Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and Disney franchises.
The characters include the likes of Ana and Elsa (Frozen), Elastigirl (The Incredibles), Russel (Up), Hulk, and Black Widow (The Avengers) and Ray (Star Wars). The collection comes in silver, gold, hologram, colour changing and glow-in-the-dark editions.
I'm not normally a big fan of small plastic toys.
When my eldest found out I'd kept McDonald's a secret from her for the first seven years of her life (she couldn't understand why everyone was always going to "Maccas" after school and we were never invited! #badmum), she wanted to make up for lost time in Happy Meal outlays.
The amount of plastic in Happy Meals did not thrill me.
I was not big on the "boy toy" or "girl toy" branding either, particularly when the boy toys were always more fun.
I was glad when my kids realised that Happy Meals didn't fill them up, meaning it was smarter for them to order off the main menu and forgo the plastic girls' toy pony or hair-tie altogether!
With Ooshies back after the first Lion King series (albeit controversially delayed in Victoria), grandparents have now been warned: Yes, you do collect them!
On the bright side this time around, the Ooshies can be recycled in Woolworths stores until January 31 through TerraCycle, where they will be turned into plastic pellets to make furniture.
Finally, there's a happy ending!
MORE MATERIAL GIRL:
- Shopping for staples the new game of strategy
- We're all in it together, jigsaw puzzles and Monopoly aside
- In times like these, you learn to live again
- Our privacy concerns are already pie in the sky
- Sit tight folks, we'll catch you on the other side
- We're free to care now but don't burst the bubble
- It's standing room only as Victorian lockdown hits home
On the bright side this time around, the Ooshies (series one and two) can be recycled in Woolworths stores until January 31 through TerraCycle, where they will be turned into plastic pellets. Finally, there's a happy ending!
While little kids are turning to Ooshies to pass the time in a one-in-100-year pandemic, big kids are doubling down on their vinyl collections, sourdough bread making (sadly not me but I haven't given up yet on trying!), Netflix and gin appreciation.
I have a houseplant obsession that is fast getting out of hand.
Going by the numbers at the plant nursery every weekend, I'm not on my own either.
With my home flush with ferns and chockers with chain of hearts (Ceropegia woodii), I'm now migrating outdoors with the overflow. Elbow-deep in a dirt heap has a feel-good quality about it, backed up by science.
A research study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that gardening for as little as 10 minutes a week had a positive impact on mental health and reduced the risk of heart disease.
The connection between people, nature, and mental wellbeing is rooted in history and goes back to ancient Egypt, where royals who felt mentally restless were encouraged to go for walks in their gardens. Later, gardening was tested as a clinical therapy during the 18th and 19th centuries.
One of the founders of modern psychology, Benjamin Rush, believed that getting hands-on (and hands dirty) in the garden had a healing effect on his patients, and a few decades later, greenhouses and gardens were added to rehabilitation units of hospitals who treated world war veterans.
Taking a leaf out of Gardening Australia's book, here's five things to do this weekend:
- Lettuce Garden: You don't even need much space for a salad garden. A big pot planted with lettuce seedlings now will keep you in garden salads all summer.
- Give peas a chance. Try snap peas for a change.
- Plant a fruit-bearing tree.
- Transplant aloe vera pups. Hand them out free to good homes, of course.
- Remember to save Ooshies for the under-10s in your tribe!
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