kokemaru, kokemaru

[ghostdrive]

There's been a new addition to my household recently, and it is marimo. 5 of them!



Look, they're smiling! Anyway, marimo are just moss balls so my love for them is probably over the top, but I honestly think they are really cute. lysanderpuck/Massiel helped me decide on naming them after the Japanese group Arashi. Which was perfect since I love Arashi, and their 5 members equals the amount of marimo I have. Clockwise from the one at 12 o'clock in the above pic they are: Aiba, Sho, Ohno, Jun, and Nino. Biggest marimo for tallest Arashi member; smallest marimo for shortest member.



This is Ohno marimo. He's lopsided at the moment, so I'll be working on getting him more spherical when its time for their cleanings. (Speaking of, I need to do that soon. And to rotate them a bit so their undersides don't get brown.)

Then I was adding more water in their bowl and managed to ruffle Jun marimo's "hair". Massiel found the perfect Jun comparison pic.



My cats are IN LOVE with the water in their bowl. I frequently have to shoo them away. I keep on joking around that one day I'll turn around and the cats will have transformed into marimo kitties on the floor.


What I Wore: March 21st



Manicure using OPI’s My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours!, A England’s Excalibur, and striping tape

Links.

× DIY: fold-over clutch

× DIY: conditioning hair mask

× George Blagden's livetweets during episode 3 of Vikings.

× From Buzzfeed: 33 hilarious dog pictures | 27 cute animal pictures.

× Cats can be such creepy photobombers.

× DIY: tie-dye nail art tutorial and vintage flowers nail art tutorial.

× Look at this two-headed shark!

× Fashion Zoo Animals are digitally manipulated images of animals in various outfits. The raccoon one is my favorite, I think.

× From makeup artist Lisa Eldrige's recent series of videos, all on foundation:

How to apply foundation
How to find the right shade of foundation | Choosing the right shade of foundation
Foundation recs for combination and oily skin | Foundation recs for dry and very dry skin
Quick tips for perfect foundation

× A general guide from sewpetitegal on how to decide whether to DIY or buy when it comes to clothing.

× DIY: striping tape manicure tutorial

× DIY: how to line a top

× DIY: elastic-waist A-line skirt with pockets

× DIY: princess-roll hairstyle

× New Whiskas ad campaign has cats acting like big cats.

× How to convert a fit-and-flare dress into a peplum-esque top.

Comments

[mllesatine]

Those moss ball are super cute. I had to check if they are animals since you mentioned that they smiled and I know nothing about aquatic plants.

Love your skirt (fantastic colour).

[ghostdrive]

The marimo themselves are sorta arranged in a smile in the first pic. xD When I first got them my bro, too, had to check what they were exactly. The marimo confused him so much, hahaha

And thanks!

[zeitreise]

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your marimo? Are they a lot of work? Can you pet them? (I've been thinking of looking into getting some myself, haha, they're so so cute!)

[ghostdrive]

I ordered mine from ebay; here is the specific listing (of 5 of them) that I can verify as being actual marimo. (I say this since a friend of mine mentioned getting marimo from like Petco or something has resulted in some people getting Styrofoam wrapped in moss. I know this isn't the same everywhere, but I was paranoid so I ended up browsing ebay for sellers and reviews lol.) That seller is in the UK, and it took more than a week for the marimo to arrive, but they were still nice and green despite being out of water for that long. They are quite inexpensive, and the seller has listings for anywhere from 1-5 marimo sets being sold. I know that there are bigger ones (and teenier!) on ebay as well!

They really aren't that much work to have. They don't require direct sunlight, about once a week you "clean" them by gently squeezing them in another container of clean water, to keep the undersides from potentially going brown (from when they sit on the bottom of their bowl) you rotate them a few times a week. You can change their water every two weeks or so, but I know people who use them in fish aquariums so I don't think this is exactly required. They float or sink depending on the amount of sunlight they've gotten I think; mine mostly stay settled on the bottom of the bowl, but I do notice them in slightly different positions each day.

And yes you can pet them! :D Their texture is like very soft bristles.

They're a great, low upkeep "pet"! I'm pleased to know others think they're cute, too. xD I'm planning on getting a new fish bowl so I can decorate it cutely (related to who I named my marimo after lol) to put half of mine in.

[ghostdrive]

Correcting myself! DO change their water every couple of weeks. I went to "clean" my marimo today and they had absorbed quite a bit of dirt from the rocks in the fish bowl (and I thought I'd rinsed those out pretty well!). I guess marimo that are in aquariums with fish are okay with no water changes since those have some sort of pump/filter.