2022 Happy To Be Here

One more night this week to work. I haven't decided if I'm going to try to get out early or not. It will depend on how I'm feeling. I’m experiencing a lot of aches from work and I am hopeful that sleep will make that better. My other happy thing for today is geraniums. I got them in over the weekend and put them in the open greenhouse on the porch. This protected them from last night’s frost. If I remember, I will get them ready to overwinter this weekend. For now I’m happy there are still some blooms. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The Raven Boys , by Maggie Stiefvater. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Leaving for work I was struck by the beauty of the almost full moon.  Seeing the night sky is one of the benefits of working nights.  There isn't time to study it, but there is to appreciate it.  Other happy things from today: When I got home from work Bel was asleep in the living room. I decided to follow their example and napped for a short while in my room.  Naps are good. There was a gentle breeze today that was just enough to push the heat away, especially when in the shade. It made my short afternoon walk pleasant when it blew. The first geranium that bloomed had seeds so I picked them. I probably should have done some research first but it is done.  I'm hoping it will bloom again. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The Will to Battle , by Ada Palmer Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Most people have cookouts and watch fireworks, we watch the movie musical 1776 . Okay, we had hotdogs cooked outside, but that isn't a given for us. The movie is loosely based on the months leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Parts of it they got right, other parts are dramatized.  Other happy things from today include: It is quite possible, for about five minutes, I caught up with the dishes where anything not being used was clean. The dishwasher is broken. I'm usually the person who washes them, they are mostly my responsibility with others pitching on days that I work. All too often there are more dishes to wash when the drying rack is full. We let them air dry, and Gideon puts them away. With five people, it is a never ending cycle. Five minutes is good. So far, Zed's covid symptoms are cold-like. He has only had a mild fever. Keziah and Gideon both tested negative today. These are all things to be happy about. I'll be testing...

They play music at work and sometimes they take requests. Out of the blue someone requested they play sea shanties, and they did! It only took about four songs before there was mutiny and the music switched back to rock and other more popular music. Other happy things from today: A small step was made to go through one of my many boxes. Last year I got better at getting rid of things, there is still so much more that I need to say goodbye to. When I realized that today wasn't the day to do so, I stopped. A small amount has been added to the burn pile though, so some minor progress was made. More geraniums have bloomed and there are a bunch of new buds. There are also seed pods growing so I may get to try again next year. Orange daylilies are also starting to bloom. I feel like I have much better luck with flowers than I have with fruits and vegetables. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of t...

The day started with me being lazy. Eventually I was able to put myself together and get out of the house to run errands and go for a walk with my friend, Amy. Here are some happy things from today: Talking with TF this morning I learned that Texas was supposed to have a high temperature of about 101 degrees. I sure am happy that I live in New England where today's high temperature was supposed to be around 79 degrees. Sorry TF, I hope your AC is working well. Along the trail Amy and I walked we saw some blue herons. Another thing that caught my eye was a lovely pink flower. Lens identifies them as sweet William, but I don’t remember the sweet WIlliams in the yard last year looking like these. My memory isn’t the greatest though. It also is a similar type of flower as the ones I saw in a neighbor's yard down the street, the dianthus. More research…if I can make the time… is required.  There were more than just pink colors too. In our yard some roses have bloomed and th...

Every year before Memorial Day some members of the family get together to plant geraniums on ancestors' and friends' graves. Today was that day. We make a day of it. I left work a few hours early so we could join the rest of the family at the first cemetery. We normally go to five cemeteries, but a bridge is closed so we only went to four. Here are some happy things from today: Those of you that read my blog regularly may know that I have been trying to grow geraniums for some time. A few weeks ago I moved the plants outside to get more sun. I looked at them before we left today to find that one of the plants FINALLY has buds! It didn't go to a cemetery this year, but I have hopes for more next year. It was wonderful to spend time with family that I haven't seen in a long time. I was able to eat gluten-free at Skip's Snack Bar and I found that  Hodgies  has gluten-free ice cream cones. There was a hawk and a vulture on my aunt's property. And then there...

Planting all the flowering things in the triangle part of the driveway was a brilliant move last year.  There are more tulips blooming as others fade and I can see what I think are the irises and paper whites coming up for when the tulips are no more.  I have plans for taking another section of the yard by the road and filling it with bulbs/tubers/pips/rhizomes/seeds to bring joy next year. Other happy things from today include: -The lights have finally been removed from the Christmas tree we had out front.  We thought the lights were broken, but they are working now that they are coiled up and ready to be stored.  The tree is in a burn pile and all that left me the room I needed for the raised step bed I put together yesterday.    -The geraniums that I have been trying to grow for over a year now look good, but they aren't producing any buds.  I placed them outside next to the raised step bed in hopes that more sunshine will help them flou...

Today was all about the studio. We packed more things into the van and brought them there. We sorted through a bunch of the boxes and threw away things that were trash or no longer serve a purpose for us. I found some cool things that I should have taken pictures of like tiny hand sewing machines and old wooden spools of thread.  I only photographed the things I'm getting rid of since I'm keeping track of those things for Lent. We ended up with four empty boxes of things put away. Things I got rid of. I'm counting these as five of the seven things for the week.   If a few hours sorting craft supplies wasn't enough to count towards my 15 minutes of A&S for the challenge, I watched a few videos on how to make jewelry with polymer clay. So day 85 is done and I only have 15 more days to complete the challenge. This challenge has been wonderful for getting my brain working on a more creative level. When I was home I remembered to check on the plants in the greenhouse....

 Last night I dreamed about gardening.  There were piles of  warm dirt and it felt good.  So today I rearranged the geraniums, repotted some of them, and planted some marigold seeds.  It was much nicer than just watering the plants.   I'm so happy that some of the plants are coming back from being food for the cellar critter. Other happy things from today: In the afternoon I met a friend and we walked the mall.  We intended to walk outside at a park but it started to rain.  The mall makes a great alternative when the weather is wet.   It is raining, not snowing.  We are a little closer to spring and mud season seems to have 'sunk' in. It is the 64th day of the A&S challenge.  Today I did a little bit of embroidery.  When I couldn't locate the scissors easily, I found a kumihimo cord I must have started a few years ago.  I only got so far as to untangle and organize the threads.  I'll have to refresh my ...

Happy Twosday!   The weather today stayed at the freezing temperature or above.  This meant that my winter jacket was really not necessary for work today, my fleece jacket was enough.  I wore it in and then left the winter jacket in the car at lunch break.  Eventually it started to rain, but I was home from work in the dry house by then.  Other happy things for today: This one may seem weird, but I remembered to clean the cat litter boxes today.  This is normally a Gideon chore.  With them vacationing it became a chore for me.  I feel bad that I forgot about them until now, but glad they are done.  I think the cats are happy about that too. Nanni. In looking at one of the geraniums today I have decided that that one at least, might make it.  There seems to be new growth.  It may be my imagination but the little leaves seem slightly larger than the other day. For day 51 of the A&S challenge I finished the latch hook part of ...

 Why is it that when a day is nearing the end and we are weary that a common comment to say is, "It's been a long day."   And yet during that long day when things are busy one might say, "There is never enough time in a day."  Both of these days are the same length and yet one is long and the other isn't long enough.  However your day is going, I hope you find something to be happy for.  Some happy things from my day are: Previously I wrote about how a critter has been eating my geraniums.  It may just be wishful thinking, but I think at least one of the geraniums has some new leaves starting. Also in a previous blog I wrote about a warm day and how the water was running off and formed a small waterfall.  Today that waterfall is still. For day 49 of the A&S challenge I sewed more of the clavi for Gideon's tunic.  It was great to be able to spend time at the studio again today. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditati...

It has been another long day.  After work I decided to take care of most of the little things that I like to do daily.   There were so many errors that I made on DuoLingo; I kept falling asleep and submitting answers like, 'Por que alkkkkkkkkk,' and things like that.  😄  Eventually I did get through a lesson.  Happy things for today: Before I left for work I checked the temperature in the greenhouse.  It was around 40 degrees in the greenhouse and single digits outside.  This is with a plant heat pad and some planters with water in them to help with humidity and nothing else.  I'm hopeful. Because I am hopeful and because something is eating my plants in the cellar, I moved some of them into the greenhouse today.  I had two geraniums that were looking very good and the rodent that has moved into the cellar prefers them to the bait in the traps.  So my geraniums are bare.  Maybe they will come back without a predator having th...

 By default today I was the person with the radio at work.  By radio I mean a walkie talkie type radio that the supervisors,trainers, safety folk, and one person from each line gets to have.  I feel like I had it because the other person across from me didn't want it.  It didn't matter, there were no known complaints so I guess I did okay.  Unfortunately, every single time I used it I wondered if they were ever cleaned between users.  I should have asked.  In order to ask I would have had to radio someone though...  I'm happy and grateful for the increased responsibility for the day though.  Other things I am happy for today: There are plants in the cellar and I have been avoiding them.  This was a mistake, mostly because whatever is eating the bait in the mouse traps but not getting caught ate the tops off one or two and dug in some of them too.  That said, it meant that I took the time to care for them.  I repotted, added so...