2022 Happy To Be Here

7:45 AM For some reason, I was surprised to see so many people at the beach this morning. I don't know why this surprised me, it is a vacation week. There weren’t a lot of people, just more than I expected. It is also beautiful and peaceful. The sounds of the waves crashing and mumbling their way in and out from the shore keeps away any noise of cars traveling by. I came to the beach to try to catch the sunrise but with cloud cover I either missed it or couldn't see it. It has been a long time since I came to the beach. I'm writing this while sitting on a cold, damp rock in North Hampton, NH. It is utterly enjoyable to just 'be' for a little while. Water moved rocks during a recent storm. People move rocks too. 8:31 AM I walked about 2.4 miles back and forth along the sidewalk and on the rocks and sand. There was one person who took a quick swim and another who was on some kind of surfboard. Dog walkers, joggers and others were also out in the bright Decembe...

There are three games I try to play every day: Wordle , Chrono , and Sedecordle . I usually play them during breaks at work or when I am pacing at home.  In Sedecordle the player is given 21 turns to figure out 16 five letter words. I have three words that I use every game to start off which means I have only two more things that I can get wrong before losing. Today was one of the rare days that one of my starter words was a right answer. Other happy things from today: Tomorrow is my birthday so today we went out for breakfast to celebrate. It was a lot of fun and I'm grateful to the family for joining me in the celebration. This afternoon I joined Keziah and a friend at the studio and tried to help Keziah pattern a dress. It is something I am new at but was happy to help. There were friends over for dinner. One brought her menorah and lit the first candle for the first day of Hanukkah.  I finished watching The Santa Clause .  I plan to watch the rest of that serie...

Instead of falling into a restful sleep yesterday I had an anxiety attack. Eventually, sleep did come but the end result is that I felt sick at work and came home early. I decided that feeling shaky and dizzy near machinery was a bad idea. Here are some happy things from today: It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep when I returned home from work. I even slept later than I wanted to. Somehow, I still felt tired all day, but the shaky and dizzy was gone. I worked on the module for my prerequisite class while the rest of the house still slept. Keziah wanted to go to the studio so I walked part of the way there and she picked me up for the rest. I got some pictures of the Merrimack River from the south side of the bridge.  Yesterday the pictures were from the north side of the same bridge. At the studio I worked more on the module and did some weaving. It is my attempt at finding some balance between the class work and the SCA crafts.  It is also more comfortable to wor...

Most of today was spent at the studio which is pretty much always a good thing. Here are some happy things from today: I woke up early, that is, on time for a Monday. Before anyone else was up, I had a walk and went to the grocery store. The day was off to a good start. Keziah and I had our first ceramics class. Neither of us did well. That is why there is a class I guess. On weeks when we don't have an event to prepare for, we'll be able to practice on our own during non-class times.  It was fun, and that is what counts. At our studio I wove a bunch. I exceeded my goal a little for the day.  The second green and white band is about half done. Yay!  I've broken it down to how much I need to do every day to finish by Thursday.  There is something about the couch or the way I sit that makes it more comfortable to weave at the studio. I also practiced calligraphy more.  The letter g is weird.  I think it is getting a little better… ☮ Currently reading: ...

Keziah and I were able to go to the studio today. I had wanted to spend most of last weekend there but didn't because of covid in the house. Since we are symptomless and so much time has passed, we should be okay. I'm not holding my breath… but we spent some time at the studio today. Here are some other happy things: Keziah has completed the steps she needed in order to start her own business. I think she has done them all anyway. I'm happy for her and proud of her. I was able to take a few hours in the middle of the day and play Minecraft with TF. We each died gloriously, fought monsters, and mined. Kezah helped me to cut fabric for a new chemise to go with the Viking dress I've been making. I started putting some of the pieces together.  Progress was made! The milkweed that I have been letting grow to attract monarch butterflies, finally attracted one today! In order to get my step count, I chose to walk most of the way home from the studio. Along the way I saw a plan...

The day started well, I worked on mowing the lawn and pulling some weeds. It was a good new beginning for the yard care. Then I found out that one of the people we went to see the fabric store with last weekend has Covid. So the rest of us (who were still basically symptomless) tested. Keziah and I are negative, but the other person also tested positive. I've canceled my plans that involve being with people outside of the household for the weekend. But, here are some other happy things from today: Keziah and I went to the studio. We were the only ones in the building and she had some things to finish up and bring home. One of those things was to sew some things on the machine so she would have hand sewing to finish them up. She asked me to help by sewing them while she worked on something else. Unfortunately, the sewing machine didn't want to work properly. I decided to check and see if some thread or something was stuck inside. It turns out, what was stuck insid...

Very little sleep last night so here are some happy things from today: Coming home from work this spring has been nice since I planted so many things in the triangle part of the driveway last fall. Today there are irises.  This sparked me to look where I thinned the irises from last year and they are also looking quite lovely. There are still so many that I should thin more in the fall. I am hopeful for more flowers next year. The rhododendron is pretty much in full bloom now. Keziah and I went to the studio and she pinned the hem on my Viking dress. I should be able to get it done in the next few days. Well, unless I decide to embellish it. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: Seven Surrenders , by Ada Palmer Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. Other times the best thing is to go to the studio. I hadn't planned on going to the studio this afternoon. I really didn't have anything planned except getting to bed early. When Keziah asked if I wanted to go to the studio, I said yes.  I won't get to bed as early as I'd like. I did take a rough inventory of the favors that need to be worked on and was able to finish sewing two up.  Ideally I will get all the favors that are started, finished, before the event we are having in June. Other things I am happy for today: Keziah found some fabric and she is thinking about making me some garb; a twelfth century bliaut to be precise. I'm not sure how I feel about the color of the fabric. It seems to look okay next to my skin though. Our studio is an attic space and so it has angled ceilings. Occasionally we hit our heads. It also serves as an easy place to provide support when a person loses balance while putting their ...

Sometimes reaching my step goal for the day is tedious as I pace through the house. I'm always happy when I reach that 10,000 step mark though. The pacing is worth it. Other happy things for today include: The tulips I planted last year were a variety blend. As well as random colors there is variation in the bloom time. There will be more opening in the next few days. Keziah and I cleaned the studio today. Things had been brought there without finding places and, well, it needed work. The studio is looking so much better now and I look forward to creating things there this weekend. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. And The Middle Ages: A Graphic History , by Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

According to DuoLingo I reached a 1200 day streak today. Although I get into the app and practice I don't always learn new words. I wish learning a second language came easier for me. Slow and steady I'm learning more. Other happy things for today: I was going to write about how I am behind on getting rid of things for Lent.  The goal was seven things a week.  Instead, I shuffled through a couple boxes and found five things to go with two books I found this morning and made the goal.  Phew! We brought more things to the studio and spent some time there.  It is still a bit of a mess, but it is coming together.  Keziah found a sign that we hung up on the wall to make the place seem more like ours.  Gideon did some crafting today too! For Christmas I bought new locks for the doors.  I installed one a few months ago.   The other two I installed today and I made sure all the keys are labeled.  Today marks two years since they signed pa...

 Days away from work can be the best.  Today I slept in, went to the studio, checked out a potential walking place and spent time with my daughter, Kiaya.  There were rainbows, too.  No April Fools pranks here, just some of my happy things from the day: At the studio I again worked on making a flat cap.  It isn't finished but I like the results so far.  This is also day 89 of the A&S challenge.  I'm so close to being done! This is the first day of another challenge I am starting.  For the month of April I am trying to walk a total of 67 miles.  I expect it to be easier this year than last year because I get so many steps at work.  I'm going to try to keep track of my total miles for the day versus my actual walk mileage and see how different they are.  Today's walk was 2.19 miles.  Along the way there was a lovely sunset. I've been trying to plan hikes and today Keziah went with me to check out the trailhead for a hike tomo...