Sunday Happy

Hey friends, how are we doing? Good good I hope, if not a little wobbly and wonky, but that’s ok. At least it is spring. SPRING!!! I have been loving the weather so hard this past week. Not to cold, not to hot, not to sunny. Just right. So that is good.

Besides stellar weather this week, it has been another week. Started out with a nice long hike with Megan and the gang for her birthday. Muddy as heck yes, but really fun and good to spend some time with her and the kiddos. Then after that, the days just blurred from one thing to the next but things were done and happened and all that.

The frost froze in our fridge and it was this whole thing that took a entire day to fix with the steamer. That was fun (not really, but my fridge is so so CELAN). We also spent time with the littles, tried to figure out school work but then ended up making smoothies. I made a handful of face masks and cleaned out all my garden beds. We went for a walk with Shannon. Did a few little hikes, a few bike rides, and lots of walks. I wore my sandals on my feet for a day, and Barb and I went for a bike ride together just yesterday. So basically I spend most of my time either cleaning, hanging with the littles, or running, walking, biking, or hiking. Life is weird right now but I am embracing it and am more then happy to spend all my time outside.

Oh and the mr. He went and got himself a freaking scooter. I don’t even know so we will circle back round to this some other time.

And today, Easter Sunday. We usually do something as a family on easter, like hide eggs for the littles and eat food together, but not this year. We are going to go eat lunch with the littles and maybe do a little egg hunt thing with them. Then we are going to go for a walk with my mom. After that, well I don’t know. Probably come home and make a giant list of food that I need to get tomorrow. My chest freezer is basically emptied of frozen veggies, farm share isn’t until Thursday, and I am running dangerously low on me food. (there is more then enough food in the house to feed the mr for months, I just don’t eat any of it.) I might have enough frozen broccoli and one beet that I have been hoarding for dinner tonight and I know I have at least 2 onions and the spinach that I saved especially for tonight so just as long as the grocery store had some veggies tomorrow, i'‘ll be alright.

Internet from the week.

-Are your days melting together? IT is not just you. Time Is Meaningless Now

-Have you made bread yet? And are you wondering how the heck it does it thing wit the yeast? No for Real, What Is Yeast Exactly

-Hundreds of Rainbow Glass Panels Emit a Rotating Kaleidoscope in a Playful Kindergarten. What a place to go to school!

-This has NEVER been a problem for me, but it might be for you. I Bought Too Many Vegetables

-How do we know what dinosaurs looked like? Yeah, really, how do we know?

-I have been running every morning but man, are my ankles super sore. I think I screwed up my Achilles tendons. What is the best surface to run on to avoid getting injured?

-The toilet paper shortage is more complicated than you think. I haven’t had to buy toilet paper yet, but now and going to be keeping my eyes open for some next time I go shopping.

-As soon as it is warm enough outside I plan on it, for just me and the mr, and then for the littles.. Throw Your Kids a Quarantine Campout

-How Stories Connect And Persuade Us: Unleashing The Brain Power Of Narrative. This is why I read.

-Some good things are happening. Lockdown Effect: Impossible View of the Himalayas Captured by Photographers in India After 30 Years

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Pictures from the week

Sunday Happy

The past week was a blur.

A friend sent me a meme the other day that really hit home for me. It said “I wish this would all be over so everyone would just leave me the fuck alone” Yup.

And a few days ago I accidentally dropped my new toothbrush into toilet. But I am ok. And in case you are wondering, I had a new toothbrush on standby so my teeth are ok too.

How are you holding up? Going crazy? Are you getting shit done? Are you loving it or hating it? Or are you just getting use to it but then freaking out about how use to it you are getting? That last is me. Usually what happens is I will be feeling calm and fine but then I will read or hear something totally fucked on the news (I listen to NPR for most of the day so it’s my own damn fault but I have been switching my listening habits to mostly music or podcasts. I have made some pretty sick quarentine playlists for sure.) and the emotions go haywire again. But I think mostly, for me, I am just feeling kind of, well I don’t know, wonky? Itchy? Irritable? All of the above, plus a little scared, sad, and crazy. But also happy, grateful, and calm. So many feelings and I am not good with a lot of feels at once. Thats it! I am a EMOTIONALLY OVERLOADED!

Anyway, the weather, so nice! Good thing to because besides taking the littles almost everyday out for their daily hikes, or being able to walk around the block with my mom (10 feet apart), either the mr or I might end this thing living up in the tree house. Hahaha. No, we are so good, we just have our moments that may or may not end in obscene hand gestures and lots a vomit. 😁 But seriously, the tree house. It’s our contingency plan. The mr has spent a fair amount of time up there carving spoons or just sitting, just to give me space. (he is so nice!) And I have discovered the amazingness of headphones. I don’t usually have a need to wear them but this week I busted out an old pair and realized how amazing it is to not hear anything other then music. Really loud music. It’s like being alone. Ah, the small things.

Today. Sunday, in case you were wondering. It is not a great day for me. It’s 4 years ago that Sean died so I am emotional and cranky and blah. So what I am going to do is go for a run, call my mom, text all my siblings that I love them and then tell everyone to leave me the fuck alone. The mr and I are going to take a drive, find some woods where I can be with no one else around hide away for a while. Then we need to go grocery shopping. I am down to my last serving of carrots and ran out of my St Patricks day stash of cabbage. I am really hoping people have calmed the fuck down and haven’t emptied the produce section by the time I get there. I will lose my shit if I can’t get some carrots. Not today. Just have the fucking carrots.

My internet looking from me to you.

-Read a few and you will laugh and feel better about wanting to punch a wall or bite your partner. The Social Distance Project

-Fuck It, Let Them Eat Cake. If it makes things ok, even just for a little while, then why the fuck not.

-I could totally be quarantined here. Detailed Minimalism’: A Designer’s Bucolic Cottage in the Welsh Countryside

-There's No Better Time to… Use the Oldest Thing In Your Pantry. Seriously. I went through my pantry and have been using all the oldest stuff first. I haven’t even restocked half of my beans because I am trying to use up all of what I have. (I have like 12 different varieties so I have a tone of beans) IT feels good.

-This is very important. How to Not Completely Hate the People You’re Quarantined With.

-STARTING SEEDS INDOORS: HOW AND WHEN TO START SEEDS. I started a bunch of stuff this week!!!!

-You wanted to know, you just didn't;t know you wanted to. The Wild but True Story of How One Writer Figured Out the Origin of the “Triscuit” Name

-As a potter and a perpetual hand washer anyway, my hands are always dry as fuck. This is one of my favorite hand creams (I use it on my face at night in the winter too) Weleda Skin Food Original Ultra-Rich Cream Also this. Hemp Hand Protector

-How Nature Has Become America’s Saving Grace As We Shelter In Place. Just remember to take care and maybe consider what will happen if we don’t take more steps and keeping this planet healthy….

-Still have a couple rainbows and mugs for sale on the web store. Going to throw some rainbow mugs up there later this week too. stem+node Ceramics

Pictures from the week.

Sunday Happy

December my friends. No way around it. But I am excited because I love Christmas time with all the fun christmasy things that we can do in next few weeks (there is an A Frame gingerbread village planned !). Also it’s birthday season so I have already made one cake and stuck it in the freezer and only have like 10 more to make. And then there is snow, and lights, and trees… How can you not like December? Plus cookies. Need to start making cookies because what is December with cookies?

The week was good. After spending all of Sunday cleaning and putting up the Christmas lights, things went as usual with the ways of world. Tuesday Barb and I had lunch and went for a hike, just us girls, to take in nature and talk life things. She hugged trees while I deposited my knowledge that comes with my old age. HA. Later that day, Emma (the mr’s sister), came over to catch up on life and teach the mr how to embroider. She was a great teacher and , I must say, the mr did a really good job being a learner. Although I was not surprised because he picks up everything so fast.

Then Thanksgiving eve. The mr gone for the day, me hanging hanging at home taking phone calls and going through the stack of papers that has been mocking me for the past few weeks. On his way home he picked up Miley so she could sleep over. We made a spaghetti dinner, she watched Nailed It Holidays and I walked her through making cinnamon star bread. The little lady kneaded, rolled, and shaped the whole thing pretty much all by herself. It was for sure a proud aunt moment for me. And then we watched Juno (I hadn’t seen that movies in forever. I forgot how good it was) and I passed out. Bed for me and the mr. Miley, well I am not sure what time she actually went to bed. We let her stay up and watch whatever.

Thanksgiving day I woke up, cooked the star (Miley finished it by making and drizzling the glaze) and we just hung out until Erin and the other two littles showed up. We fed them, played them, and off they went to the Grandparents. The rest of the day was just me and the mr. We went for a nice, if not blustery cold, hike, then just putzed around the house. I read, he hung a new light fixture, then we made dinner. Being thanksgiving and all he felt the need to grill some turkey breasts and if you really want know how that went you can ask him. Me, I ate a humongous bowl of veggies and lentils and hand fulls of spinach. After an after dinner walk we crawled into bed and tried to watch a movie, but I passed (again) out and that was that.

Then the rest of the weekend has been pretty slow. Basically just hanging around the house doing little chores and some little projects. Mellow. And it has been pretty nice.

I am really excited for today. We are going to the Green Mountain Nation Forest to find us our Christmas tree!!!! My most favorite part of Christmas . And so we will head out late morning with our lunches packed, our snow pants tossed into the truck, the saw nice and sharpe, and head out into the mountains.And better yet, tt is suppose to snow later today and I am so very much hopping that we get a nice, (safe) amount of snow on our hike and tree cutting adventure. That would just be the best. YAY!

Internet links from the week, if you want to know what I know now.

-I didn't know this about thanksgiving. And now I do. Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving On The 4th Thursday Of November

-Uh Duh, I could have told you this. Want to live longer? Surround yourself with plants

-A Brief History of Word Art, the Decor Everyone Loves to Hate. And I really REALLY hate it.

-I have been known to sit in front of the oven and watch the bread bake. Super satisfying. Here's 36 Blissful Seconds of Bread Rising in the Oven

-Photos of How Families Eat In The Arctic. And that is why I don’t live there, it’s a lot of meat.

-This makes me happy to look at. A Multicolored Library of the World’s Ochre Pigments 

-Here's To Grown-Up Siblings And The Ties That Bind. Siblings. Even when I want to punch them in the face, I still love them.

-I guess I just don’t understand. Meet the $50 Strawberries That NYC’s High-End Chefs Are Fawning Over

-Homemade Christmas baking is a joy – even if it is not to your taste. Agreed. Something about baking this tie of year, it is just so, well, joyful.

-On my reading list. Good Husbandry: A Memoir by Kristin Kimball. I read her first Memoir, The Dirty life, and it was A+

And pictures from the week...

-C

Sunday Happy

Are you aware that it is the last week of November? I know right. Every year this happens but seriously, it’s just flying by so fast.

The mr and I did the norms for the week. Went for a amazing hike in nice snow. We worked on work, the mr made paper, I cut up the paper. I spent some time with clay, works the studio, organized some stuff and watched it snow and loved every bit of it. Then it rained and got kind of sad that all the snow melted.☹️ We picked up farm share, had dinner with my mom and Paul, hung out with the littles for a bit, and fed Barb some soup. Nothing terribly exciting, besides feeding Barb. She makes every exciting.

And then we get to Saturday. Family thanksgiving plus is was Erin’s birthday. (Happy Birthday Beotch!) Always crazy, what with every one of my family members together in my house, eating food, and hopped up on booze and sugar. The day started early with me running away to the gym to get in some sane time, then one last stop at the grocery store before heading home to finish baking and getting all the food ready. Barb came over early to help cut up veggies but really, for her and the mr to make fun of me and gossip like little old ladies. So food got prepare, then I cooked it all. (Minus the main which mom made. She made a crazy chicken thing, cooked in her oven, and brought it over. No meat gets cooked in my house.) And then the family descended on the house, hungry and crazy. Food got served/ thrown all over and for a few short minutes, everyone was sitting down all at once together. But that lasted 2 seconds, and the kids went off and I ran back to the kitchen while everyone was eating to straighten up a bit and because I don’t need to see people dropping chicken bits all over. I just let them eat in peace while I hid for a few minutes in the pantry and snacked on roast Brussel sprouts, carrots and mustard.

After everyone ate, we all ran around the house, picked secret Santa names, had a massive dance party in the kitchen and did dessert and birthday cake. Erins birthday yes, but Coco got to blow out the candles. So cute, that little loving the candles and all but I am going to be watching out for him. I think he might turn into a little pyromaniac. HAHAHA. But for real. Dinner ended with everyone leaving except Barb, Megan,and So. We picked up a little but basically just sat in the pantry eating raw Brussel sprouts from the stock, with mustard of course, and talking about boys. Then they left too and the mr and I were left alone to assess the damages.

The house. Oh my, oh my. It is a FUCKING DISATSER! I know I tell you all that I spend a good chunk of time every weekend cleaning…Well this time, today, all Sunday, I’m a be cleaning. Cleaning the cake and ice cream and cookies crumbles all over. Cleaning up the dinner rolls behind the couch, all the ripped paper, smashed potates, food and drinks particles. Chicken bits, which everyone was super awesome about and tried not to get anywhere, are everywhere. All. Over. The house. Then the kitchen. Every single piece of silverware and then some plus at least 40 plates and bowls are waiting for cleaning. Not to mention the the pots and pans. The compost is overflowing. The recycling is a mess, and I have at least 2 laundry loads of rags and napkins and dirty towels to do. The fridge looks like a freaking bomb blew up in it with tons of half lidded containers precariously stacked on top of each other, waiting for just the right movement of the neighboring jar or the movement of the hot sauce to have it all come crashing down. Aye ya ya. But all worth it because I love my family and we had a blast. I just need to remember next time I am at one of their houses to like pee on their toilet seat or mash some frosting into their couch cushions, you know, to be fair and all.

Anyway, so today I clean and maybe try to hang up some Christmas decorations? The mr is off to do very nice things for people that might not appreciate it, but do it he is going to do (he is too good a person). Hopefully by the time he comes home later tonight, I will be done cleaning, he will be done helping for a good long while, and we can eat soup and maybe watch a movie together. Or more realistically, he watches a movie while I read and probably fall asleep on the couch. Real life.

Reads I read from the internet this week.

-A long but good read. RuPaul: The Philosopher Queen. who doesn’t love RuPsul?

-I just pulled out a nice tablecloth, covered in stains mind you, but maybe i’ll be able to get some of them out now. A Cheat Sheet to Get Rid of Every Type of Holiday Stain. Or not. I don’t think I care enough. HA

-This is so appealing to me especially since the mr loves his heavy comforter and I just want a light blanket with the window thrown open in 20 degree weather. The Scandinavian Sleep Secret: Mine and Yours Duvets. HE is always covering me up at night.

-The best health foods? Soup, garlic and cake. Food is healing, and if cake makes you feel better, well then cake it be.

-These cakes remind me of my 5ht grade volcano science project. I made it out of cake and whipped cream. It was awesome. Antarctic Research Takes The Cake In These Science-Inspired Confections

-Vegan man sues Burger King claiming meatless burger is cooked on same grill as meat. This is one reason I do not eat out. Oe of the last times I did eat out, there were egg shells in my scamp bled vegan tofu dish….. So yeah.

-Who doesn’t love a good TV tray? A Brief History of the TV Tray

-HAve you ever raised a adolescent dog… It is crazy to say the least. Animal adolescence is filled with teen drama and peer pressure

-So there is this ti look forward to. Cockroaches Are Evolving And in the Future They can Become Impossible To Kill

-A Brief and Buttery History of Libby’s Pumpkin Pie Recipe. The pie of my childhood.

And pictures from the week.

Sunday Happy

The heat is officially on in the house because well, it got kind of freezing out and also because we got some snow! So awesome and unexpected. Sure, it was only an inch and came at the exact wrong time making for a very sketchy driving situation, and also it froze all the chard in the garden I had left (I harvested it and just tossed it in the freezer for soups), but whatever. I was, and am just so happy to see it. I really do love this time of year, even if everyone else hates it.

The week started off slow. The extra hour was welcomed but also really kind of screwed with my body clock. I have been getting better throughout the week, but the first few days we changed the clock, I was waking up at like 3 am. Yes, I was going to bed at like 630, but when your tired, your tired. Anyway, besides being a little groggy, it was the usual as usual. Work stuff, getting ready for winter weather, dealing with the dealings. We had lunch with Megan, a spaghetti dinner with Judah, and I picked up the first winter farm share of the season. Lots of roots, greens, Brussels sprout, and peppers. All the best food a lady could ask for. I am also feeling like a queen with my new, permanent, gold crown in my mouth. And now I am officially sick of going to the dentist. Going to try really hard to not have to go back ever again, or at least 6 months when I am due for a clean.

Oh, and lets not forget how I busted out the new toilet brushes. Who doesn’t love a fresh toilet brush? Highlight of the week. HA.

Today the mr and don’t have much in the way of plans besides getting the winter tires thrown on the car and getting out of town for the afternoon for a hike. So I am going to the gym and dropping off the library books this morning, we will then deal with the car, and then off we will go, heading out to conquer a mountain. Or a small trail. I am fine with either. Just as long as we are outside.

Links from the internet for your reading and browsing enjoyment.

-Why You Should Find Time to Be Alone With Yourself. Alone time is the best. I cannot stress how important alone time for me is… I NEED IT!

-I didi’t know how awesome and strong ginkgo trees were. Consider the ginkgo. These ancient trees survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.

-First, how is Emma Watson turning 30? Second, Yes lady. Did Emma Watson Just Coin the Next “Conscious Uncoupling”?

-Why haven’t I don’t this yet? The Tangy-Sweet Pickled Fruit I Put on Absolutely Everything

-Very Generous People Are Way Happier (and Have More Friend)

-Looking for new shoes is the worst. But I found some that are not exactly winter friendly, but maybe I can make them work? Teva Voya Infinity Sandals. OR these appropriate footwear. I love them but jeez, I am not paying that much for a shoe.

-Give me roots, all the roots. Root, root, root for rutabaga, turnips and those other unappreciated vegetables

-This is me! ‘It’s cool to be cold’: Confessions of frigid-weather fanatics

-The Cookie Sculptor. I think I need to spend more time sculpting cookies.

-Scrubbing Your House Of Bacteria Could Clear The Way For Fungus. I am a clean freak, but I don’t use any chemicals whatsoever. Vinegar, water, vacuum. How that keeps the bad fungus away.

And pictures from the week.