Ta-Nehisi Coates said that these set of protests feel different and give him hope. And if Ta-Nehisi Coates (who is not one to pull his punches when it comes to talking about racism and anti-blackness in America) can feel hope, I’ll let myself feel a little hope. It feels almost dangerous to hope, but even if this all becomes two steps forward, one step back, that one step could be huge.
A friend invited me to bring my puppy for our social distancing visit and while I chatted with my friend, Poopy ran the around the yard with my friend’s dog. I found a small round metal table on garbage day and converted it into a plant stand. My boss made space in daily management meeting to discuss the anti-racist protests and several colleagues spoke eloquently of their own experiences.
This made me laugh loud and long because, ya know, Anne Stuart. Hi Krissie.
Doing yoga with Yoga Vidya on YouTube made me happy. The 20 minute Yoga for Your Back is ah-mazing. IF YOU HAVE BACK PAIN, STRAIN, OR ACHE DO THIS!!
Ahem. Yelling over.
Doing Chi Gong with Katie Brindle on Instagram made me happy. Fyi, she saves the videos so go try it. The laughter section alone is worth it.
Btw, if anyone wants to engage with me in more detail about my posts on “What do you want Argh to do” I’m @SarahV2K on twitter.
I sent that to Krissie. She’ll love it.
I checked out the back yoga video. Some of it will be a challenge with a bad knee, but I will still try it out!
Adapt as needed. I’m sure it’ll still help.
Spending a few days in the countryside after a very stressful couple of months at work and with schooling at home made me happy: cycling, walking along Lake Chiemsee, visiting the towns of Wasserburg and Traunstein. Especially drinking home to Munich on small roads enjoying the area was wonderful, plus visiting Seeon on our trip back to Munich – what a treat: we saw three wedding couples (no big parties due to the virus), spent some time in this lovely, peaceful place and had perfect weather to boost.
For anyone interested in the pictures, see https://www.kloster-seeon.de (text sadly in German).
Now back home it’s raining outside, temps have dropped and it would be miserable if it weren’t for the last piece of work I have to finish (no sun is tempting me to go outside – a plus!).
It’s a beautiful Sunday. Getting off work on time twice last week! Feeling like progress is being made on one of my big crochet blankets. The couch has been vacuumed and it’s blanket covering cleaned. Boyfriend sick last week but in only a small little way he quickly (thankfully) got over. Small things that make me happy.
Also, my library having the exact book I wanted to borrow with no wait time!!
I love when that happens!!
Making some muffins to have an easy breakfast available in the coming week.
BIL says the pool is warm enough for swimming, and our improved stay at home level allows us to, so something other than my legs will get some exercise this afternoon.
Cat helping me use the computer says hi.
I’m happy my power is back on, we had a big storm come thru my county with many trees and power lines down.
I am not happy that I have to replace everything that was in my fridge/freezer.
Prolonged power outages are such a pain! We are in the process of deciding whether to put batteries on the solar or a get a better generator to keep us going when it happens.
Happy for a mild sunny Sunday with my weekly hours of weeding done, birds fed, backyard looking the best it has all year, and complete justification for spending the day writing and/or reading.
Hope the pain meds are getting the job done and that all dental interventions perform exactly as intended.
I’ve mentioned my tendency to impulsively collect stuff, like flashlights, storage containers, thumb drives, et cetera. I don’t think I mentioned re-usable shopping bags. It made me happy last night to separate out and retire some of them, thereby reclaiming some trunk space for the full bags.
I have bags from Food Lion, Publix, Ukrops, Walmart, Target, Dollar General and odds and sods. One of the odds is from Tractor Supply, and it’s the biggest bag by far. Some of the bags are insulated, and I found that we never use those, so they are now hanging over my head on a bicycle hook. A lot of the bags are the type that fold up to a neat square with a snap when not in use – they never get used either, so they got consigned to the Tractor Supply bag and another bicycle hook.
What’s left is a shopping box containing other shopping boxes and all the more colorful bags. What’s also left is most of my trunk, with plenty of room for bags of shopping. That made me happy. Saving the environment. (It’s a step, anyway.)
Also, I’ve opened another Coronita. I’m collecting the empties.
Be well, everyone!
Acting online and seeing plays online is making me happy this week. I need it. Also making a new friend online through said plays.
I have actual surprise lillies! They’d been cut down when we bought the house and popped up, now a bright vibrant orange. Also happy all the garden seeds are sprouting up and in general the garden is progressing magnificently. Hummingbirds are becoming frequent visitors.
Happy to realize that the reason I’m having trouble working on my WIP isn’t because I’m lazy, it’s because I’m not excited to write that story. And I should be excited about the things I’m writing for me. So I’m brainstorming with a friend later today to go back to the drawing board and figure out what brings me joy.
Made small pot of stew, best yet. Strawberries are ripening, yum-yum.
In keeping with doing what anyone else on Argh is doing, I had a wisdom tooth extracted on Thursday. Since I have pain issue since I had shingles in my mouth and on my face many years ago, they prescribed serious pain medication so I have been a little spacey. Fortunately I loathe the side effects so I am not at serious risk of developing an addiction (BTW if you have problem taking pain meds because of the side effects, start out with a 1/4 tablet instead of the full dose. That works for me. One of my doctors suggested that to me when I explained I could not take pain medication).
So I have been reheating meals from the freezer and reading a lot while it rains outside. A perfect way to recover.
My niece moved to town a week or so ago for her first post-college job. It has been wonderful to see her periodically. It’s been a crazy first couple of weeks, but politics and activism are her thing, so she’s in the right place.
The massive (and small-town) protests this weekend give me a little hope that change is coming/happening. As someone else said, if Ta-Nehisi Coates thinks it may be different this time, that’s a good reason to hope.
Yes! The small town protests are shocking to me (in a good way). I was scrolling through Anne Helen Petersen’s twitter feed (she profiles a lot of small town protests, not just for this but all sorts of political action) and I saw a notorious “sundown town” about 15 minutes where I grew up had over 150 protestors and I burst into amazed, happy tears. This is deep, deep Trump country and if you asked me how many people in freaking Anna, Illinois would come to a Black Lives Matter protest, I would have said “negative 10.”
I know it doesn’t erase the harm done and there’s probably a never ending road ahead (at least in my lifetime). We’re all tangled up in the web of racism (even in “nice” liberal enclaves) but if even 1/2 of those people walk away and commit to do something to dismantle racism, it means something. In a town where the high school is only about 500 kids (not the graduating class, the entire high school). It means something.
The library announced they’re open for curbside pickup starting Tuesday.
My garden is coming along nicely and for some reason lots of snap dragons wintered over even though it looks like my zinnias and celosia didn’t and they usually do.
My mom has decided she really wants a particular breed of puppy and is looking for it online. While I’m not happy she keeps finding scam artists trying to sell them (apparently genuine breeders are now taking reservations for 2021), I’m very happy that my sisters and their dog expert friend are screening them and I don’t have to manage this.
I’m happy about the protests being nationwide and in small towns.
But I am appalled at the measures this administration is taking to quash them.
I’m glad you said you had someone looking into the breeders. A good breeder, one who breeds for health and temperament, will probably not have more than 1-2 litters of pups a year so reserving puppies for next year is not unreasonable.
This; when I decided I wanted a sealpoint Ragdoll I knew I’d have to wait. I got on a list and waited. Worth it!
We are now trying to get her to get a small part poodle rescue dog if we can find one. We figure an adult dog is a better choice for an 83 year old and will be available now we hope.
But we are also encouraging her to sign up for a 2021 dog if she really wants this breed. (Or kind of hybrid I guess.) im just glad I’m not the one doing the extensive on line searches to debunk the fraudsters.
As an older person I just adopted a ten year old rescue dog and it is working perfectly. Love him already- it’s been 6 days.
Oh also I’m happy my son is still taking me through conditioning exercises (which are hysterical since I’m almost 3 times his age and he’s maybe 20 times more fit than me) and that now he does it with me twice a week I am actually getting stronger and more flexible and my knees are not hurting.
And my local weekly grocery delivery service has scapes so scape pistachio pesto is on the menu.
I know I should google it, but what the heck are scapes?
The hard stems of hard garlic in the spring . Kinda look like spring onions/scallions but with little pointy tops. Perfect for making into pesto. I think other people make other things with them but I just make pesto with pistachios and feel lucky.
If you’ve ever had garlic cloves get old and sprout in the spring, that green sprout would become
a stalk that’s topped with a cluster of bulbils that sort of look like a chive flower. Before the bulbils form, the sprout is relatively tender, a bit like asparagus, and is often used in stir fry or pesto. Some growers will cut the scapes on the theory that more energy goes into the garlic head if no bulbils are formed. I’m not convinced it makes a difference AND I’m lazy so I just leave them.
Did some gardening. Picked the first cherry tomatoes of the season. Sweet but tangy.
You are way ahead of me! But I am scoffing strawberries every morning after breakfast to beat the blackbird. Counting down to the first local cherries being available – it’s my favourite few weeks of the year.
This year has been clobbering me in relatively small ways (against the backdrop of big bad things happening in this country), just one after another. One of which, in keeping with the rest of the Argh community’s current woes, is the need for yet another root canal. The latest bit of clobbering was getting the news Saturday that my car (admittedly 20 years old) is unfixable so I suddenly have no transportation.
But since this is happiness Sunday, this is just backstory leading up to the happiness bit. First, my neighbor, who’s unemployed due to pandemic, immediately offered to chauffeur me to necessary stuff. And then it turned out that another friend had her mother’s car sitting in her driveway unused (mother has been in assisted living for two years, unable to drive for five years before that but still insists the car can’t be sold), and offered it to me for as long as I want it.
So, I’m happy for the reminder that I do have people around me who care and will help when I’m feeling overwhelmed.
Happies have been the garden and the big bunch of plants I bought to put in it. This was kind of a blah week for me, lots and lots and lots of rain, but nothing terrible happened to me or the people I love so I’m calling that a win.
Next weekend we are going to have lunch with friends. That’s an exciting thought. Also strange.
I got a kitten. It’s been twenty years sinceI had one this tiny. He’s adorable.
What color? Congratulations!
We need a pic to share the happiness! Probably even qualifies for #workingwednesdaypix at IG, since kittens are a lot of work (in addition to cuteness).
Happiness is getting the hedge trimmed and one Spring flowering bush pruned (one down and one to go). The hedge won’t have to be done again for about 6 weeks.
Finally put the downstairs window air conditioner in. My motivation for just about anything is pretty low.
Did not oversleep and miss my pre-procedure testing. The COVID test wasn’t fun. Just had to keep reminding myself that I’m a big girl and can stand a little discomfort.
Happy the question “What will it take to get Americans into the streets?” has been answered.
Today’s my birthday, which always makes me happy.
Today we saw 8 goldfinches perched on a tomato cage the herb garden. What a site!
Deciding to have the 10 people outside bonfire socially distanced party, watching the rain clouds GO AWAY. Usually it’s about 60 people (they bring the food, and you don’t have to vacuum). For this year 1o is perfect.
Walked yesterday in a Black Lives Matter demonstration from our town across the river to the big town. Hundreds of young people, middle people, masks, local policing helping out. Pretty cool.
Happy Birthday!
Good stuff. My happy thing today is the people of Bristol pulling down the statue of a slave trader (Edward Colston) and throwing it in the harbour where those trading boats sailed from. Amongst all the glorious footage (such as people kneeling on the statue’s neck for a symbolic 8 minutes) there’s an interview with the head of police where he says they deliberately chose not to intervene and just let people get on with it because he knew what the statue meant to local people who have to look at it every day. Half of Bristol appears to be named after Colston. Well, at least this is one part of town where no one has to see a murderer up on a pedestal anymore 🙂
Twitter has explained how the statue ended up in the harbor starting with “statue tripped, fell in the water”.
I hope your birthday is everything you want it to be. Many happy returns.
I’m happy my workroom is almost sorted – it feels a lot better. My new tap for the front garden is great, and the sweet peas are just starting to flower, joining the dahlias – I love the splashes of colour every time I look out the window.
Met some interesting new people at the allotment today. And my fiction writing course is making me really happy.
Also it made me very happy to watch our county’s HS graduation speaker online. Jose Andres, the best chef in DC, Who staffs his kitchens with DC Central
Kitchen graduates who have high barriers to employment, who had the guts to stand up to Trump and back out of a contract with him when Trump started bashing Mexicans because those are his workers, even when Trump sued him, who founded World Central Kitchen to feed people after hurricanes and volcanoes and government shutdowns and pandemics, and who just had artists paint his restaurant windows instead of board them pending protests…
(He lives in our county.) He doesn’t deserve a Nobel Peace Prize but I was kind of hoping he would get it (he was nominated) because Trump wants it so badly he is trying to fake and bribe nominations. And it would drive Trump nuts to have this guy get it.
Yes, I have some serious hero worship for this guy.
Winter sunshine. And a cat beside me while I work.
I totally second your admiration for Jose Andres. And it’s like his team gets to the disaster areas before the marines arrive!
My happy this week (apart from getting new potholder loops! Yay!) was the creation of this artwork just up the street from a quite famous public housing building:
I got a warm and fuzzy glow from reading Jim Mattis’ denouncement.
I’m with you — every golden letter! The mayor of DC, Muriel Elizabeth Bowser, makes me EXTREMELY happy this week.
A picnic today (socially distant, with our own meals) with a friend who listened patiently to some back story of my life she didn’t know.
Library curbside service.
A break in the hot weather.
Being able via the magic of technology to help a friend.
Happiness is also Amena telling Murderbot, “Yes, third mom” when told to go to bed, under the sheets.
I have a grandchild getting born this week. Makes me happy.
So I read a new to me author, Nathan Lowell, the Wizard’s Butler. Apparently he specializes in books about the common man, not the Wizard, his butler. It was an easy, pleasing read. I then switched to an older one of his, Quarter Share, oh wow, I love this book, it so suits me right now, the dangers are not so horrible it makes my anxiety soar, but the story is quite interesting and so keeps me entertained and reading. I love that it’s not about the captain, it’s about the new kid in the gallery and he doesn’t miraculously save the ship, instead he makes life better for the other people on board, he makes the coffee better because the ship’s crew loves coffee, he helps out even when it’s not his job, he sees a problem and just helps even when the problem is small enough that others are ignoring it. I can’t tell you how much this book spoke to me.
Happiness is having an appointment for a haircut! I’ve been seeing the same stylist for 10 years, and at the start of the lockdown the salon she worked at filed for bankruptcy. I finally heard from her this past week that she is going into business for herself, renting a suite a few days a week. With all the precautions she is taking it feels pretty low risk, so I booked an appointment for this coming Saturday.
It was also a gorgeous weekend with a nice break from the brutal heat we had last week, and I got to enjoy some time on the patio with my knitting while listening to an audiobook. Later this week a friend will come by to pick up some plants (we are exchanging) and we might social distance on my deck with margaritas for a bit. Looking forward to that.
We instituted Family Book Club to get individuals within the family reading the same books, so we could talk about them. It was my turn to choose one, and I chose Faking It and we had such fun talking about how families work.
Fun idea!
Oh, good.
Thank you.
How are you feeling, Jenny?
Frazzled, but not because of anything anybody said here.
I cooked strawberry rhubarb pie with my nephew and daughters, then my son wanted to try peach pie later this week. It was quite the success, all around.
Happiness is having the painters finished with their job and admiring my new-looking house. I figure we’re good for a couple of years now.
I also found out that my great niece loved the big girl quilt I sent her for her new bed.
I went for a a real run and this morning and it was beautiful. Warm but not hot or muggy and the moon was still up, which I always like to see.
This made me happy.
https://www.vox.com/2020/6/5/21279530/ta-nehisi-coates-ezra-klein-show-george-floyd-police-brutality-trump-biden
Ta-Nehisi Coates said that these set of protests feel different and give him hope. And if Ta-Nehisi Coates (who is not one to pull his punches when it comes to talking about racism and anti-blackness in America) can feel hope, I’ll let myself feel a little hope. It feels almost dangerous to hope, but even if this all becomes two steps forward, one step back, that one step could be huge.
A friend invited me to bring my puppy for our social distancing visit and while I chatted with my friend, Poopy ran the around the yard with my friend’s dog. I found a small round metal table on garbage day and converted it into a plant stand. My boss made space in daily management meeting to discuss the anti-racist protests and several colleagues spoke eloquently of their own experiences.
This made me laugh loud and long because, ya know, Anne Stuart. Hi Krissie.
https://twitter.com/tomgauld/status/1269569280208785408?s=20
Doing yoga with Yoga Vidya on YouTube made me happy. The 20 minute Yoga for Your Back is ah-mazing. IF YOU HAVE BACK PAIN, STRAIN, OR ACHE DO THIS!!
Ahem. Yelling over.
Doing Chi Gong with Katie Brindle on Instagram made me happy. Fyi, she saves the videos so go try it. The laughter section alone is worth it.
Btw, if anyone wants to engage with me in more detail about my posts on “What do you want Argh to do” I’m @SarahV2K on twitter.
I sent that to Krissie. She’ll love it.
I checked out the back yoga video. Some of it will be a challenge with a bad knee, but I will still try it out!
Adapt as needed. I’m sure it’ll still help.
Spending a few days in the countryside after a very stressful couple of months at work and with schooling at home made me happy: cycling, walking along Lake Chiemsee, visiting the towns of Wasserburg and Traunstein. Especially drinking home to Munich on small roads enjoying the area was wonderful, plus visiting Seeon on our trip back to Munich – what a treat: we saw three wedding couples (no big parties due to the virus), spent some time in this lovely, peaceful place and had perfect weather to boost.
For anyone interested in the pictures, see https://www.kloster-seeon.de (text sadly in German).
Now back home it’s raining outside, temps have dropped and it would be miserable if it weren’t for the last piece of work I have to finish (no sun is tempting me to go outside – a plus!).
It’s a beautiful Sunday. Getting off work on time twice last week! Feeling like progress is being made on one of my big crochet blankets. The couch has been vacuumed and it’s blanket covering cleaned. Boyfriend sick last week but in only a small little way he quickly (thankfully) got over. Small things that make me happy.
Also, my library having the exact book I wanted to borrow with no wait time!!
I love when that happens!!
Making some muffins to have an easy breakfast available in the coming week.
BIL says the pool is warm enough for swimming, and our improved stay at home level allows us to, so something other than my legs will get some exercise this afternoon.
Cat helping me use the computer says hi.
I’m happy my power is back on, we had a big storm come thru my county with many trees and power lines down.
I am not happy that I have to replace everything that was in my fridge/freezer.
Prolonged power outages are such a pain! We are in the process of deciding whether to put batteries on the solar or a get a better generator to keep us going when it happens.
Happy for a mild sunny Sunday with my weekly hours of weeding done, birds fed, backyard looking the best it has all year, and complete justification for spending the day writing and/or reading.
Hope the pain meds are getting the job done and that all dental interventions perform exactly as intended.
I’ve mentioned my tendency to impulsively collect stuff, like flashlights, storage containers, thumb drives, et cetera. I don’t think I mentioned re-usable shopping bags. It made me happy last night to separate out and retire some of them, thereby reclaiming some trunk space for the full bags.
I have bags from Food Lion, Publix, Ukrops, Walmart, Target, Dollar General and odds and sods. One of the odds is from Tractor Supply, and it’s the biggest bag by far. Some of the bags are insulated, and I found that we never use those, so they are now hanging over my head on a bicycle hook. A lot of the bags are the type that fold up to a neat square with a snap when not in use – they never get used either, so they got consigned to the Tractor Supply bag and another bicycle hook.
What’s left is a shopping box containing other shopping boxes and all the more colorful bags. What’s also left is most of my trunk, with plenty of room for bags of shopping. That made me happy. Saving the environment. (It’s a step, anyway.)
Also, I’ve opened another Coronita. I’m collecting the empties.
Be well, everyone!
Acting online and seeing plays online is making me happy this week. I need it. Also making a new friend online through said plays.
I have actual surprise lillies! They’d been cut down when we bought the house and popped up, now a bright vibrant orange. Also happy all the garden seeds are sprouting up and in general the garden is progressing magnificently. Hummingbirds are becoming frequent visitors.
Happy to realize that the reason I’m having trouble working on my WIP isn’t because I’m lazy, it’s because I’m not excited to write that story. And I should be excited about the things I’m writing for me. So I’m brainstorming with a friend later today to go back to the drawing board and figure out what brings me joy.
Made small pot of stew, best yet. Strawberries are ripening, yum-yum.
In keeping with doing what anyone else on Argh is doing, I had a wisdom tooth extracted on Thursday. Since I have pain issue since I had shingles in my mouth and on my face many years ago, they prescribed serious pain medication so I have been a little spacey. Fortunately I loathe the side effects so I am not at serious risk of developing an addiction (BTW if you have problem taking pain meds because of the side effects, start out with a 1/4 tablet instead of the full dose. That works for me. One of my doctors suggested that to me when I explained I could not take pain medication).
So I have been reheating meals from the freezer and reading a lot while it rains outside. A perfect way to recover.
My niece moved to town a week or so ago for her first post-college job. It has been wonderful to see her periodically. It’s been a crazy first couple of weeks, but politics and activism are her thing, so she’s in the right place.
The massive (and small-town) protests this weekend give me a little hope that change is coming/happening. As someone else said, if Ta-Nehisi Coates thinks it may be different this time, that’s a good reason to hope.
Yes! The small town protests are shocking to me (in a good way). I was scrolling through Anne Helen Petersen’s twitter feed (she profiles a lot of small town protests, not just for this but all sorts of political action) and I saw a notorious “sundown town” about 15 minutes where I grew up had over 150 protestors and I burst into amazed, happy tears. This is deep, deep Trump country and if you asked me how many people in freaking Anna, Illinois would come to a Black Lives Matter protest, I would have said “negative 10.”
I know it doesn’t erase the harm done and there’s probably a never ending road ahead (at least in my lifetime). We’re all tangled up in the web of racism (even in “nice” liberal enclaves) but if even 1/2 of those people walk away and commit to do something to dismantle racism, it means something. In a town where the high school is only about 500 kids (not the graduating class, the entire high school). It means something.
The library announced they’re open for curbside pickup starting Tuesday.
My garden is coming along nicely and for some reason lots of snap dragons wintered over even though it looks like my zinnias and celosia didn’t and they usually do.
My mom has decided she really wants a particular breed of puppy and is looking for it online. While I’m not happy she keeps finding scam artists trying to sell them (apparently genuine breeders are now taking reservations for 2021), I’m very happy that my sisters and their dog expert friend are screening them and I don’t have to manage this.
I’m happy about the protests being nationwide and in small towns.
But I am appalled at the measures this administration is taking to quash them.
I’m glad you said you had someone looking into the breeders. A good breeder, one who breeds for health and temperament, will probably not have more than 1-2 litters of pups a year so reserving puppies for next year is not unreasonable.
This; when I decided I wanted a sealpoint Ragdoll I knew I’d have to wait. I got on a list and waited. Worth it!
We are now trying to get her to get a small part poodle rescue dog if we can find one. We figure an adult dog is a better choice for an 83 year old and will be available now we hope.
But we are also encouraging her to sign up for a 2021 dog if she really wants this breed. (Or kind of hybrid I guess.) im just glad I’m not the one doing the extensive on line searches to debunk the fraudsters.
As an older person I just adopted a ten year old rescue dog and it is working perfectly. Love him already- it’s been 6 days.
Oh also I’m happy my son is still taking me through conditioning exercises (which are hysterical since I’m almost 3 times his age and he’s maybe 20 times more fit than me) and that now he does it with me twice a week I am actually getting stronger and more flexible and my knees are not hurting.
And my local weekly grocery delivery service has scapes so scape pistachio pesto is on the menu.
I know I should google it, but what the heck are scapes?
The hard stems of hard garlic in the spring . Kinda look like spring onions/scallions but with little pointy tops. Perfect for making into pesto. I think other people make other things with them but I just make pesto with pistachios and feel lucky.
If you’ve ever had garlic cloves get old and sprout in the spring, that green sprout would become
a stalk that’s topped with a cluster of bulbils that sort of look like a chive flower. Before the bulbils form, the sprout is relatively tender, a bit like asparagus, and is often used in stir fry or pesto. Some growers will cut the scapes on the theory that more energy goes into the garlic head if no bulbils are formed. I’m not convinced it makes a difference AND I’m lazy so I just leave them.
Did some gardening. Picked the first cherry tomatoes of the season. Sweet but tangy.
You are way ahead of me! But I am scoffing strawberries every morning after breakfast to beat the blackbird. Counting down to the first local cherries being available – it’s my favourite few weeks of the year.
This year has been clobbering me in relatively small ways (against the backdrop of big bad things happening in this country), just one after another. One of which, in keeping with the rest of the Argh community’s current woes, is the need for yet another root canal. The latest bit of clobbering was getting the news Saturday that my car (admittedly 20 years old) is unfixable so I suddenly have no transportation.
But since this is happiness Sunday, this is just backstory leading up to the happiness bit. First, my neighbor, who’s unemployed due to pandemic, immediately offered to chauffeur me to necessary stuff. And then it turned out that another friend had her mother’s car sitting in her driveway unused (mother has been in assisted living for two years, unable to drive for five years before that but still insists the car can’t be sold), and offered it to me for as long as I want it.
So, I’m happy for the reminder that I do have people around me who care and will help when I’m feeling overwhelmed.
Happies have been the garden and the big bunch of plants I bought to put in it. This was kind of a blah week for me, lots and lots and lots of rain, but nothing terrible happened to me or the people I love so I’m calling that a win.
Next weekend we are going to have lunch with friends. That’s an exciting thought. Also strange.
I got a kitten. It’s been twenty years sinceI had one this tiny. He’s adorable.
What color? Congratulations!
We need a pic to share the happiness! Probably even qualifies for #workingwednesdaypix at IG, since kittens are a lot of work (in addition to cuteness).
Happiness is getting the hedge trimmed and one Spring flowering bush pruned (one down and one to go). The hedge won’t have to be done again for about 6 weeks.
Finally put the downstairs window air conditioner in. My motivation for just about anything is pretty low.
Did not oversleep and miss my pre-procedure testing. The COVID test wasn’t fun. Just had to keep reminding myself that I’m a big girl and can stand a little discomfort.
Happy the question “What will it take to get Americans into the streets?” has been answered.
Today’s my birthday, which always makes me happy.
Today we saw 8 goldfinches perched on a tomato cage the herb garden. What a site!
Deciding to have the 10 people outside bonfire socially distanced party, watching the rain clouds GO AWAY. Usually it’s about 60 people (they bring the food, and you don’t have to vacuum). For this year 1o is perfect.
Walked yesterday in a Black Lives Matter demonstration from our town across the river to the big town. Hundreds of young people, middle people, masks, local policing helping out. Pretty cool.
Happy Birthday!
Good stuff. My happy thing today is the people of Bristol pulling down the statue of a slave trader (Edward Colston) and throwing it in the harbour where those trading boats sailed from. Amongst all the glorious footage (such as people kneeling on the statue’s neck for a symbolic 8 minutes) there’s an interview with the head of police where he says they deliberately chose not to intervene and just let people get on with it because he knew what the statue meant to local people who have to look at it every day. Half of Bristol appears to be named after Colston. Well, at least this is one part of town where no one has to see a murderer up on a pedestal anymore 🙂
Twitter has explained how the statue ended up in the harbor starting with “statue tripped, fell in the water”.
https://twitter.com/threadreaderapp/status/1269760396417806336?s=21
Enjoy
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday, Maine Betty (a day late).
Happy Birthday month!!!!!
I hope your birthday is everything you want it to be. Many happy returns.
I’m happy my workroom is almost sorted – it feels a lot better. My new tap for the front garden is great, and the sweet peas are just starting to flower, joining the dahlias – I love the splashes of colour every time I look out the window.
Met some interesting new people at the allotment today. And my fiction writing course is making me really happy.
Also it made me very happy to watch our county’s HS graduation speaker online. Jose Andres, the best chef in DC, Who staffs his kitchens with DC Central
Kitchen graduates who have high barriers to employment, who had the guts to stand up to Trump and back out of a contract with him when Trump started bashing Mexicans because those are his workers, even when Trump sued him, who founded World Central Kitchen to feed people after hurricanes and volcanoes and government shutdowns and pandemics, and who just had artists paint his restaurant windows instead of board them pending protests…
If you want to watch him it’s here. https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/
(He lives in our county.) He doesn’t deserve a Nobel Peace Prize but I was kind of hoping he would get it (he was nominated) because Trump wants it so badly he is trying to fake and bribe nominations. And it would drive Trump nuts to have this guy get it.
Yes, I have some serious hero worship for this guy.
Winter sunshine. And a cat beside me while I work.
I totally second your admiration for Jose Andres. And it’s like his team gets to the disaster areas before the marines arrive!
My happy this week (apart from getting new potholder loops! Yay!) was the creation of this artwork just up the street from a quite famous public housing building:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/us/black-lives-matter-dc-street-white-house-trnd/index.html
Oh, and Mitt Romney marching in the BLM parade!
I got a warm and fuzzy glow from reading Jim Mattis’ denouncement.
I’m with you — every golden letter! The mayor of DC, Muriel Elizabeth Bowser, makes me EXTREMELY happy this week.
A picnic today (socially distant, with our own meals) with a friend who listened patiently to some back story of my life she didn’t know.
Library curbside service.
A break in the hot weather.
Being able via the magic of technology to help a friend.
Happiness is also Amena telling Murderbot, “Yes, third mom” when told to go to bed, under the sheets.
I have a grandchild getting born this week. Makes me happy.
So I read a new to me author, Nathan Lowell, the Wizard’s Butler. Apparently he specializes in books about the common man, not the Wizard, his butler. It was an easy, pleasing read. I then switched to an older one of his, Quarter Share, oh wow, I love this book, it so suits me right now, the dangers are not so horrible it makes my anxiety soar, but the story is quite interesting and so keeps me entertained and reading. I love that it’s not about the captain, it’s about the new kid in the gallery and he doesn’t miraculously save the ship, instead he makes life better for the other people on board, he makes the coffee better because the ship’s crew loves coffee, he helps out even when it’s not his job, he sees a problem and just helps even when the problem is small enough that others are ignoring it. I can’t tell you how much this book spoke to me.
Happiness is having an appointment for a haircut! I’ve been seeing the same stylist for 10 years, and at the start of the lockdown the salon she worked at filed for bankruptcy. I finally heard from her this past week that she is going into business for herself, renting a suite a few days a week. With all the precautions she is taking it feels pretty low risk, so I booked an appointment for this coming Saturday.
It was also a gorgeous weekend with a nice break from the brutal heat we had last week, and I got to enjoy some time on the patio with my knitting while listening to an audiobook. Later this week a friend will come by to pick up some plants (we are exchanging) and we might social distance on my deck with margaritas for a bit. Looking forward to that.
We instituted Family Book Club to get individuals within the family reading the same books, so we could talk about them. It was my turn to choose one, and I chose Faking It and we had such fun talking about how families work.
Fun idea!
Oh, good.
Thank you.
How are you feeling, Jenny?
Frazzled, but not because of anything anybody said here.
I cooked strawberry rhubarb pie with my nephew and daughters, then my son wanted to try peach pie later this week. It was quite the success, all around.
Hope you’re staying ahead of the pain.
New ways to contribute to worthy causes.
Art in progress.
Family.
Books.