2024 Happy Blog Challenge Continues

Here are some happy things from today: This morning Keziah I headed to the southern part of the state to pick up some bookshelves.  She found them for free on Facebook Marketplace and wanted them for the store.  They are nice shelves, but we had to cut a piece off to fit them into the van.  And then, we could only fit one.  We made it work by taking the first load of things to a friend's house and then going back for the other shelf.  It was a fun adventure.  The house where we got the bookshelves had a lovely peony plant.  It was large.  Someday, maybe our peonies get that large too. Along the highway the daisies and lupine are blooming.  I absolutely love that our state plants flowers along the highways.  In Texas, they plant bluebells. One of the best parts of going with Keziah this morning was getting to spend time with my daughter.   In the evening there was Craft Night.  Last week I offered to help someone make their...

Some happy things from today: This was the third day this week that I had some kind of food at work.  Tuesday was hamburgers, Wednesday pizza, and today I got a cookie.  It was a sweet end to the week. Sometimes random timing turns out to be a good thing.  On my ride home I saw a large number of people jogging along the side of the road with police escorts.  It turned out to be this:    Link . Anyhow, had I left work a minute later it would have been a slight challenge to get into the driveway.  As it was, once I was backed in, the first of the runners went by. A lovely thing happened as I backed in.  I noticed something purple in the rear view mirror.  One of the smaller varieties of iris is blooming.  I don't remember them being in this part of the yard last year. I know they were about ten feet to the right, on the other side of the roses.  I'm sure I just don't remember them being here too. Iris TF called from Texas this evening...

Here are some happy things from today: Sometimes I wish I had been better at softball.  If I had, maybe I could have dunked one of the supervisors at work into the dunking tank.  That is how we ended our day, eating pizza and throwing balls at the target in order to dump someone into the tank.  It was fun watching, but not fun enough to keep me after my work day was finished.   If I was skilled in throwing a ball, maybe.  😉 The rhododendron is blooming and there are more roses blooming too.   ☮ Finished listening to: Dune , by Frank Herbert. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe. 

Tuesdays are one of the hardest days for me to find happy things to write about.  I think the reason for this is exhaustion.  I transition from day life to night life between Mondays and Tuesdays.  Today I got home and fell asleep.  That was a good thing.  Other happy things for today include: It was hot at work.  Another employee handed me a bottle of water.  I'm bad about taking the time to drink when I'm falling behind on my task.  I needed that water more than I realized and I am very grateful to my coworker.  I was also much better about drinking water the rest of the night. At work they gave us hamburgers (catered in from Red Robin ) and bought us drinks from the vending machine.  The burger was pretty good, even though it had lost most of the heat of a fresh cooked meal.  Happy National Hamburger Day! At home I noticed that the peony opened.  From what I have read, it appears to be a fairly easy plant to care for.  ...

 Happy things from Monday: There need to be goals, small milestones, in the emptying of my boxes and purging of my things.  My old room isn't empty and I am already feeling overwhelmed by what I need to do.  Because of that my first goal will be to work on boxes a little every non-working/non-event day.  Today that meant rearranging some of the boxes and their contents to make more sense.  I also packed a few more things from my old room.  Yay for steps forward! Keziah and Zed did a lot of packing in my old room today.  I'm so grateful for the wonderful family I have. Zed & Keziah There is a short wall at the top of the stairs to my bedroom.  Today it got washed off (again) and things got put there that I want there; Books, tissues, a place for my wallet and pocket contents, and the polka-dot plant Amy gave me yesterday.   Polka-dot plant  The irises are blooming.  I'm glad they are tall enough to reach over the grass growi...

Today's happenings: This morning I went to a cafe in Concord to meet up with friends.  There is a group of us that meet most Sundays, I don't tend to make it there often.  There is research I have been wanting to do and this is the time I set aside to do that.  The research didn't happen.  Instead we talked about secret shenanigans.  It was a good morning. In the afternoon, my friend Amy came to help me move things.  She brought me plants for the apartment!   New plants! A polka plant and a crispy wave. Keziah was taking a nap, and Zed and Gideon were at the store.  Amy and I got boxes from my old room and took them downstairs to the living room in the house. Then when a bunch of boxes were in the living room, we brought them to the apartment being careful to not let the cats out.  I didn't see the cats, but we made sure to keep the door closed. When Keziah woke up I asked if she wanted to help and that if we could lock the cats in her r...

Here are some happy things from today: It was a day of cleaning.  There are two drawers in the kitchen that I may decide to replace.  For now, the rest of that part of the kitchen is clean.   In the cellar, we have a bunch of window screens.  From my quick measuring and eyeballing, none of them will fit the two windows in my room that are missing screens.  Thankfully, I did find a screen for the kitchen window.  That got washed up and put back on.  The window is in an awkward place, behind the stairs.  It still lets air go through.  I didn't open the windows often in my other room.  Until I get an air conditioner, windows are important.  ☮ Currently listening to: Dune, by Frank Herbert. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Some happy things from today: The most important goal I had today was to finish the closet.  I think I have achieved that.  The pole is sagging, though.  Whether I wake up to all my clothes on the floor or not though, who knows? Another thing I was hoping for was to bring over from the main house to the apartment more of my things.  With Gideon's help, I got a few more things out of his bedroom.  There is still a bunch left.  One thing of note that I found are the pair Off Medieval shoes I made a while back. I've missed them.  I should be going through things and getting rid of what I can, I'll get there. As I worked in the apartment I listened to my library book.  I'm enjoying it and I hope I am able to finish it before it is due. At Craft Night there was a new comer for me to talk with.  We will be meeting next week to work on garb. ☮ Currently listening to: Dune , by Frank Herbert. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Happy things from today: Thursday is here and my work week is finished.    Gideon needed Keziah’s help with his homework so I brought him to the store so they could work on it together.  There has been a lot of work on the children's section of the store.  It is a place where the kiddos can color or play.  That area is looking very good. DIY Craft & Thrift There was a butterfly in the yard today.  According to Lens it is a Silvery Checkerspot.  I've seen them before, but never seem to remember their name. Silvery Checkerspot  ☮ Currently listening to: Dune , by Frank Herbert. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Here are a few happy things from my very tired today: When I got to work this morning the coworker I wrote about yesterday was entering the building at the same time as me.  I asked him if he was still happy about the boxes.  He told me how he had spent time yesterday organizing everything for ease of use.  I'm happy that he is happy. The lilacs have a short lifespan.  They still look and smell nice.  This might be my last picture of them though.   There are other flowers that will bloom soon.  I do love the lilacs. Lilacs TF sent me a package.  It is a llama mug that changes color with warm liquid.   The mug is covered with little pieces of Styrofoam.  Apparently the trip was bumpy.  Still, it arrived safely.      ☮ Currently listening to: Dune , by Frank Herbert. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

It was a long day with many things that happened.  Here are some happy things: It is sometime after midnight when I first step outside and experience fresh air.  There is the slightest breeze, the moon is close to full and everything feels open and clean.  It was a lovely start to my day. This one needs more information... Background info part 1: I work in a distribution center where packages come in and we sort them to be delivered to customers.  We don't put things into boxes, but sometimes things are damaged and we repackage them in the Problem Solve area into new packaging.  For the last few months the packing supplies haven't been getting replenished.  We have been making due with small envelopes, really small boxes and really big boxes.  We have gone through a lot of tape when we should be replacing a box or envelope. Background info part 2: There is a person I work with sometimes in Problem Solve that works there more than I and knows a lot....

Happy Monday things! Tomorrow we will be doing our annual trip to plant flowers on family members' graves.  I'm planning on getting out of work early, without pay.  There was a half shift available at work today, so I took it.  It isn't very often that I pick up shifts.  The best part about doing so today?  Seeing the surprised looks on the faces of people that aren't used to seeing me on a Monday.  I'm going to try to pick up more short shifts because money seems to be getting tighter and I have fun things I want to do. There was a small pile of clothes that I had decided needed to be donated.  Thanks to Keziah, they have finally made it out of the house!  Two sleeping bags are also gone.  Yay, downsizing!   One of the things left behind by the former person in this little apartment is a mattress.  It was supposed to go to the dump and has been in my little kitchen.  It made it into Keziah’s van today and will meet the du...

 A few happy things from today: There is an active member of our Barony that has been asking for whipcord braiding.  I decided to do a quick research of this online and learned that I have actually done this before, once.  This morning Keziah and I went to the studio for supplies to bring to the NH Renaissance Faire.  I got wool, and she got calligraphy supplies.  The sycamore tree by the studio is partially barked currently. At the Faire, I tried to do the whipcord braiding, first with Gideon, then by myself.  We had mixed results.  I learned a few things and hope for better at home, and not at a distracting Faire.  One of the things I learned is that it is more fun with a second person.   Here is a link to a short YouTube video  demonstrating whipcord braiding.  There were many people who came through the SCA tent today.  Many of those people showed interest in participating in this crazy medieval thing I do.  I hop...

Some happy things from today: There is a picture I have from a few years ago of my adult children with lilacs in their hair.  This included Bel's generous beard.  Keziah picked some this morning so we could have some in our hair at an SCA event in Massachusetts, Otter's Welcome.  This is an event that is aimed with newcomers in mind.  There is a little bit of most categories to do or observe.  Keziah ran children's point.  I visited with a few people.   Keziah In the middle of the day I started falling asleep.  I ended up napping in the car for a little while.  There was a class I wanted to take, but it was when I was resting. This is also when the weather decided to rain.  That break was needed and I think I enjoyed the rest of the day more because of it. Some of the lilacs that Keziah picked, made it into my hair.  There were many compliments.  Me, photo credit to Keziah. The part of Massachusetts the event is in is the ...