Happiness is a Gift from a Friend

~ Jenny

My close personal friend, Patricia Gaffney sent me a gift because it didn’t sell at her yard sale:

I’m a big Spike fan, so that made me happy, especially because it came with multiple weapons and those cheekbones. Also, I found the picture above of it on Amazon because I was too lazy to take my own picture of it, and it’s forty-four bucks on there because it’s a Limited Edition, so it’s also Valuable. That’s pretty good for a show that ended seventeen years ago.

I put him on the shelf with my Anya Bunny action figure and my Jane Austen action figure and thought, “Now there’s a three-way.”

What made you happy this week?

89 thoughts on “Happiness is a Gift from a Friend”

  1. Secretly nerdy spike probably read and enjoyed Jane Austen 🙂

    I finally did a pot plant garden clean up that I had been putting off for years, it was so easy, I don’t know why it was occupying so much mental space.

  2. We’re going on a (socially distant) museum visit this morning. There’s still one more week before school.
    My husband and I watched “Safety Not Guaranteed” last night and it was silly and we both enjoyed it.
    Happy is probably not the right word, but I really enjoyed Il Proceso/The Trial on Netflix. Of course, I was mostly watching it to practice my Italian, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a little bit dark, twisty mysteries (which not everyone is in the mood for right now!) There weren’t serial killers or child molesters, which are by big no-nos, but it still wasn’t cozy by any means.
    It’s only 8 episodes long and each episode is 45 minutes to an hour. It would always start out kind of slow and by the end of the episode there would be a really good twist, each time. And I had my guesses about the ending, but there were still surprises.

    1. Trust you’ve also watched ‘Montalbano’ & ‘The Young Montalbano’. I always feel fluent after an episode, even though I’ve never learned Italian. My latest puzzle, after finishing a re-watch of ‘Montalbano’ is what they’re actually saying that sounds like ‘Che su che su’, meaning ‘What happened?’ Must look it up.

  3. Since I can never seem to manage Good Book Thursday, I will say here that I quite enjoyed “Love Lettering” so thank you to all who said it was good. I am compelled to share my favorite bit:

    If Sibby were here, she would remind me that talking about the weather in this way is functionally the same as having “I’m a Midwesterner” tattooed onto my face. For my next trick, why not bring up a garage sale I heard about? Or perhaps point out that I got the bag I’m carrying at a fifty percent off sale, with an extra five percent deducted for a temperamental zipper? Would Reid be interested in knowing my opinion on mayonnaise versus Miracle Whip?

    My sister and fellow Michigander liked it as much as I did. And Hellman’s mayonnaise all the way (because you know, just can’t let that one pass without comment).

    1. Hellman’s for sure. Cain’s has taken out one ingredient and added another ingredient so that it resembles wallpaper paste. It looks nasty. Never liked Miracle Whip, my husband does and that is why there are four jars of each in the cabinet. Sale purchases

    2. Kraft mayo. If I can’t have that, then Hellman’s/Best Food. I’m from the West Coast (US) and it’s Best Food there. I am a rebel because in my family it was always Best Food. Miracle Whip is sweet — bleh.

      1. Don’t blame your love of Miracle Whip on Wisconsin! I grew up there and not one of the seven people in my house could stand it. That taste is personal, not regional.

      2. I grew up in PA and it was always Miracle Whip in my house. We also used it to make a chocolate mayonnaise cake that is still a favorite of mine.

      2. I stopped at a Cafe that turned out to be the home of Duke’s mayo. It had a fun history and good sandwiches.

    6. Best Foods here, though I’ve heard good things of Blue Plate (Cook’s Illustrated likes it best, but it’s not generally available though may be ordered from Amazon) and Kewpie Mayonnaise, which is supposed to be available at Target, but if there is well-hidden).

  4. I’m chalking this weekend up as a win – even thought it’s only Sunday morning! I made and sent casseroles to family members, just to let them know I was thinking of them. Hopefully, it makes them as happy as it made me – especially after I cleaned up!

    This morning, I turned on a random arrangement of Neil Finn in his various iterations (Crowded House and Finn Brothers predominantly) and I tackled a pile of filing that I’d let amass. Done! and I’m still enjoying the music. After this, nothing but good times ahead!

    1. “it means that I won’t give in . . . because everyone I love is here!”

      “once in a while I return to the fold, to the people I call my own”

      Neil writes a wonderful tune. and this isn’t my favorite!

  5. I spent a day at a friend’s flower farm, weeding her gardens. I enjoy weeding and as a bonus, my friend and her son pointed out names of various plants and weeds. I start horticulture classes in a couple of weeks, so it was a fun way to become more familiar with local plants. Plus, I had a lovely social distance visit with my friend. I got my course schedule this week and DH had a copy of one of the key reference books for one of my courses. He used to work for a publisher and the book is very hard to find, so I’m very happy to have my own copy. We cleaned out the floor to ceiling bookshelves in our basement and I found several other gardening reference books that I’ve collected or been gifted over the years. I finally let go of the books from my undergrad and grad degrees, so lots more space for more books and craft supplies. I bought a new laptop and school supplies – I was a lot more excited about the pens and paper than the laptop.

  6. Coffee in the garden with a friend. Taking a day to harvest my potatoes, and finding I’ve got quite a good crop. Coming up with new ideas for my garden and allotment – it’s so satisfying when a design solution just clicks. Giving the car a run yesterday (I hadn’t used it for a fortnight) and driving down a lane with a wonderful surprise view into Wales. Planning a walk & picnic with a friend next week – she wants me to show her the walk I did back in May, up Muddy Lane to Offa’s Dyke and Candy Woods, with views across the works I grew up on.

    And I’m getting ready for another overnight visit from the friend who stayed the weekend recently – preceded by a boozy supper.

  7. I don’t know if you will remember but a couple of weeks ago I said I had a bad asthma attack and was reading 84 Charring Cross Road. Well it turned out it was a very slow heartbeat!! Not asthma!!
    Luckily I live in 🇨🇦 Canada 🇨🇦 and was taken to ICU had an emergency pacemaker in and then the proper?one a couple of days later. I am now home 🏡 taking it easy. My husband and I will be in quarantine for two weeks so can’t get to the library 📚 back to my old favourites.
    Keep safe out there
    Margaret

  8. This isn’t a happiness post as it is a ‘Day in the Life’ post. My husband and I went shopping the other day so I could get a few birthday cards. Which turned into $25. at the dollar store. Well, he dropped me off I thought he was going to park the car and read and wait for me. About 15 minutes in he finds me in the store and asks for my car keys. I thought he was just getting hot and wanted to put on the AC. I continue on, check out and meet him in the parking lot only to have him tell me when he dropped me off he went over to the other side of the plaza to get a few things. When he went to start the car it wouldn’t start and then realized he didn’t bring his keys and had to walk over to meet me. Keyless start. I had no idea that the car could be driven without keys as long as it wasn’t shut off. Sure glad he didn’t go a mile down the road. Oh, and my phone was in my pocketbook on vibrate so I couldn’t hear him when he called.

    1. This is the reason we keep our car keys in a metal container that blocks signals so no one can break into our car or steal our car by using the signals from our key. People have had their cars broken into as they sit in their driveways because the thieves are using/boosting the signal from the key that is sitting in the house. That’s my PSA for the week!

  9. Still working on the blues, with some guilt because it’s so BEAUTIFUL here. People in India, etc. However, there are still some swallows hanging out on the phone lines. I think they must be related to my family, because they are leaving late.

    I’ve got a postcard campaign going on, sending them to friends. Found some from the 1980’s I haven’t sent yet. WHAT was I waiting for? However, I’ve been painting, quite quite uninspired, but the other day something caught in my mind and I could see what I wanted from it, which is the first time that’s happened in a long time. I woke up thinking about it, and how to achieve what I wanted. I did a study. Maybe the engine is revving up.

    I have mosquito bites on my toes, so I can’t wear walking shoes without exquisite torment. Life really is rough. Sigh.

  10. Jane Austen action figure? Do tell:) Sounds like a Sunday happy right there.

    The other day you mentioned Patricia, and I realized I hadn’t read any of her books so have been perusing them trying to decide on one to try. Following along with this sending of her gift to you, thinking her books would be fun.

  11. I have the Nancy Pearl action figure: she’s the Head Librarian in Seattle and when she first came on board and perked things up she became locally famous. So the equally locally famous toy-and-stuff maker Archie McPhee (also national these days) made an action figure of her. They also sell some of the other fun ones: Jane Austen, Edgar Allen Poe, etc.

    What has made me happy this week? I’m still working on being happy. I used to be an optimistic, positive person, but years of worsening depression and anxiety along with the universe kicking my ass every so often pretty much beat that out of me. But the depression is gone (yay!) — or rather, the dangerous clinical depression is gone — so I’m cautiously hopeful that I will regain a more positive outlook on life.

    That said, this was the week our housekeeper cleaned the bedrooms on my side of the house, so now my bathroom is clean and shiny and my bedroom is vacuumed and dusted! One of the many awesome perks of this living situation. The housekeeper comes every other week and does the public areas of the house; each time she does the bedrooms at one end of the house. So today, everything is clean. Also, I bought a clothes drying rack because I hang dry most of my clothes these days. It opens up like an umbrella, has two hanging levels, and is height adjustable. It’s fantastic! My life must be pretty sorry for me to get so happy over a clothes drying device.

    1. Coping with depression in the long run means taking time to enjoy life’s gifts without berating them for not being larger. No, a clean house won’t bring peace to the world, but it will make you happy, especially since you didn’t have to do it yourself. And your resulting good mood will be enjoyed by everyone with whom you interact.
      I wish that would inspire me to clean today, but I’ll settle for getting a much delayed errand done. And, I hope, writing a few postcards.

      1. I have a new therapist (I’m now in Dallas and my old one is in Seattle) and we’ve now had two sessions. This last one she made a particularly important remark: take “just” out of my sentences. I use that word a hell of a lot. Can we say self-diminishing? (I use “only” a lot, too.)

    2. I like the way that the “action” in the Nancy Pearl action figure is raising her finger to her lips to go “shh”. I also remember thinking that it looked somewhat like Dana Carvey as the Church Lady, but perhaps that part is just my memory playing tricks on me.

      1. It was even more special because a close friend bought it for me at a relevant moment: she had gone back to school to get her librarian’s degree (yeah, it has a longer name than that) and I was working part-time at a library.

        1. Masters in Library Science or Masters in Library Information Science. (I have the second one and a Nancy Pearl action figure)

  12. I was happy to see that the panda at the Washington DC National Zoo had its cub. She’s an older, experienced mother, so she’s doing all the right things and the cub is vocalizing.

    So I took it as a sign of hope — not sure of what for, but still… hope.

    1. I only just found out last week that she was expecting! My 12 year adores pandas so I’ll pass this on to her. Thanks for the update!

  13. well it’s not an almost life size animatronic pony but I like it. I’m only sorry I missed the tag sale! It must’ve been a good one!

  14. My big happys this week were both phone calls. First my friend Ted called to say thank you for a post card. I remember thinking that if that is the reward, I should really write them more often. I’ve been looking for motivation to get back to sending cards again, and there it is. People are happy enough to be remembered that they will forgive a lack of news.

    Then Emmy returned my call and told me when they will be moving and gave me their new address again. As usual, I can’t remember where I put the first copy I wrote so I really appreciate the fact that she was able to reach me on only the second try.

    The reason I didn’t answer Emmy the first time she called was because I was on skype with my brother in France. This was the first time I had successfully initiated a call and now I feel like a real adult. We usually have to set a time via email, but the last time he called me he just tried on a whim so I decided to return the favor. It was a remarkably liberating feeling to be able to call on a whim for the first time in 40 years. And he answered! And it was free! Only someone who knows how expensive and low quality the calls were in the old days can appreciate what an improvement this is.

  15. Last week my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter came to visit for the weekend. GD (aged 3.5) promptly emptied out every Playmobil toy that here mother I and I had sorted the last time they visited, all over the living room floor. She had a ball with them. I’ll be resorting and doing some repair gluing over the weeks to come. GD starts pre-school (in person to start) Sept 8th, so this will probably be the last time we see them in person until Christmas.

    Fun stuff: Daughter is really into crocheting. She introduced me to the site of a designer that does Mosaic patterns and she is starting a “crochet along” (CAL) in the middle of September. Daughter suggested I do this “with her”. I suspect we are being a little overly ambitious in the size of our projects. Yarn kits are available (from England) for some suggested color patterns. I ordered mine Sunday night – it hopped a red-eye Monday evening and arrived at my house on Tuesday! DHL is incredible.

    Happiness is that my Connecticut county managed to keep a low enough COVID rate that we are able to come up and stay at a Vermont State camp ground without having to quarantine first. We joined my brother-in-law and his son at the next lean-to site to ours. A little lonely as the third couple that normally joins us can’t this year (stuck in Delaware. Also, none or the younger generation, who usually come up for a weekend, can join us this year.

    Having retired a couple of weeks ago, I can sit back, relax, cook some camp food, read, practice my mosaic crocheting and maybe do a paint-by-numbers kit just because.

    1. What is mosaic crochet? I love to crochet and have been working on getting myself back into it; this is a good time.

        1. What a good, calm teacher! I’m picking up the absolute basics from her, not just the lovely mosaic stitch. Thanks!

  16. Grape tomatoes from the garden. Millions of ’em. Enough to spread the happy to my next-door neighbors and my tenants.

    And they should keep producing for another two to four weeks, maybe even longer with the insanely hot weather (not so happy) that’s forecast to continue until the end of September, if not October.

    1. Oh, Tiny Tomatoes. That’s happiness. I wash bumper crops, dry, seal in container 10 at a time, freeze. I use them all winter in soups. Our compost, buried under garden crop area, has volunteered a great leaved gourd vine, which had to be trained out over the lawn. 4 big summer squash, so far. Smiling.

  17. Seeing me all stressed out, DH swooped me into the car, drove to the other side of the city, picked up a carry-out pizza, and took us for a picnic in a park.

    Also, I suggested we cheer up a far-away, self-isolating (with his high-risk mom) friend by sending a greeting from a celebrity, using the Cameo site. For $40 we had one of our friend’s entertainment heroes wish him happy birthday. The celeb did a fantastic job, and our friend got a big kick out of it. So did we.

    1. Ohhh…. that is so interesting! I had never heard of Cameo. Now I have it bookmarked! I never know what to get my Pop. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

  18. Had Sunday dinner with my cousin. I haven’t seen her in awhile because COVID-senior-citizen-highrise; and, also, because it’s just too much of a hassle to put on decent clothes and drive 3 miles (lazy). It did make a nice break for both of us.

    Her excitement was the delivery of a small, 3 basket upright freezer. She feels that if another lockdown with shortages comes she’ll be ready. Me. I’m just trying to hit that sweet spot between hoarding and stocking-up-a-little-bit-extra-just-in-case.

  20. Oh, and I got myself a silly gift that made me ridiculously happy. I’m getting ready to build a fairy village with my friends’ 12 and 13 year old kids, who desperately need to do fun things with someone their parents can trust. (I’m Fake Aunt Deb, I suppose.) When I was ordering some supplies, I came across a mini Airstream trailer.

    If anyone here has ever read my Baba Yaga books, my first Baba Yaga, Barbara, lived in an Airstream trailer–her version of the magical traveling hut on chicken legs the ancient Babas lived in. So not only was this really cool, but then when it arrived, I found out it was solar and LIGHTS UP AT NIGHT.

    The first time I went out and saw it glowing, I was ridiculously happy. Here’s a picture.
    https://www.instagram.com/p/CEMrL83HmRx/

    1. Remembering your Baba Yaga stories made me happy, and I am DELIGHTED by your Airstream trailer! Sitting here grinning. Thx for sharing!

        1. When my parents and I went to visit my brother and SIL in Bozeman, Montana many years ago a Wally Byam(sp?) convention pulled into town just before we left. 10,ooo Airstreams and the people inside them pulled in and prepared to party. It was a blinding sight. My brother made a lot of jokes about can openers.

    2. It lights up! How I love modern life! Oh, that is just gorgeous! I was jealous of Barbara’s Airstream, and this makes me more so.

        1. Well, if it was the competitor company of Avion, I’ll be all in. Along with my family. My grandfather bought a 1970 Avion trailer. It’s now parked in Door County in a trailer park. 4 generations have loved using that trailer.

          It’s in pretty decent shape, with most of it still original. The toilet, a subfloor and the fridge have been replaced but the rest of it is still 1970s. Thank God it’s not shag carpet though! We assume the tires are completely shot – no one’s seen them since about 1985 when Grandpa parked it at the trailer park.

  21. Yeah, I don’t really have happiness this week. I am out of plays to do. My play doing friends are distant. I can say the work retreat we had on Friday was pretty chill for a work day, so that was nice, and a friend sent me a cake.
    Fires in this area, at least, have somewhat died down. And almost everyone I know who had to evacuate ended up unharmed.

    However, my crush’s house burned down, so I am devastated for him. He is being pretty stoic, but…. you know. I did at least get to talk to him for a few days and tried to distract him with ridiculous stories. Our old director is taking up a collection for him and I put in money for that and I ordered some books to be sent to him, I hope that does a little something to make life less awful for him. If anyone has any ideas as to how to help him feel less awful from a goddamned pandemic distance, please let me know, I could use them.

    1. If you can, get him to talk about all the things that were lost in the fire — what he remembers most, what he mourns the most, what was the most valuable to others, and so on. Then you could work with others who know him to find ways to replace what’s replaceable, or meet unmet needs in some other way.

      1. Send as many funny cards and jokes as you can find to wherever he’s getting mail these days. I imagine he could use all the distraction he can get.

        1. Send him pictures of plays you were in to replace lost ones. If you know his family and friends try to get them to do it.

          A friend of my husband’s lost her house down to the couch springs in a construction accident ( they crew were rebuilding the garage In tbe winter and the propane tanks for the space heaters leaked and filled the garage and it exploded and then burning bits of wood landed on the propane tanks and caused a bigger explosion. Fortunately no one was home. ) her family sent her all the electronic pictures she had sent them of their son from babyhood on. It was all they had left from his childhood.

          Hopefully crush had his pics backed up in the cloud but still this is what might help.

  22. Yesterday we had a picnic with some friends we haven’t seen in ages and it was really nice. We were by the lake and it was really windy, the dogs got so cold we had to put them in the truck, but it was still nice.

    Also, on Friday, we swapped out the nasty fluorescent light in the laundry room that didn’t always turn on for 2 nice semi-flush mount lights. Not that my laundry room is nice, it’s very unfinished but I’m working on it. Now there is light over the laundry sink so I can actually see what I’m doing!!!

    We made a quick trip to Edmonton on Thursday and actually left the city in good time. Costco wasn’t as civilized as the early pandemic days but better than 2019.

    I’m going to Calgary next week to help my mom and my aunt with shipping some dogs so it will be nice to visit them.

    Best of all, today is my dad’s birthday. He’s 78 today. Happy Birthday, Dad!

  23. I did see something that made my day last week in our town’s Facebook page. It was a video of an ice cream cone made with soft serve ice cream. Using the handle of a wooden spoon go down through the center of the ice cream creating a well, pour caramel into the well. Cover the hole. Next upend the cone into chocolate coating and roll into crushed nuts. I may just try it with cupcakes and frost as usual.

  24. I was very proud of myself this morning. I emptied and refilled the dishwasher, and hand washed all the leftover dishes. I didn’t even grouse about my kids while I did it. Adults. Ha!

    Then I made pickles from the over large cucumbers from my garden. I took the skins off because they had gotten too thick to eat. That made me happy too.

    But the best part was participating in a birthday parade for an 85-year-old friend. There were so many cars and I was happy that she is so well remembered. I don’t think she recognized me, but that’s okay. She was so happy. And that made me happy. It can’t be easy to look into cars and try to figure out who people are as they go by.

  25. My son ( who lives with me while he finishes college) finished his classes last week, and did very well, with a 93 / 100 average. It is such a pleasure to see this young man’s confidence bloom over this past year! He really struggled in hugh school, barely graduated, then flunked out the first year he tried college. After five years break, he returned and struggled the first year, but this junior year he hit his stride, and is now planning forward.

    I also finally got smart and planned out this week’s dinners with him, posted the list on the fridge, and we have successfully followed the plan. This makes me and my pocketbook happy, since I am no longer ordering dinner delivery 4 nights a week!

  27. I am happy that the Post Office police managed to arrest the )*^$@#%s who purloined money donated to build a wall on our southern border. I can’t keep from grinning as I listen to Tuesday’s Opening Arguments podcast about it. I sincerely hope those bozos are tried and if convicted, serve every minute of their sentences.

    [Note: I think building a wall on our southern border is one of the dumbest imaginable projects possible, having spent more than thirty-five years in a large-projects-our-only-specialty engineering office — the Rio Grande is not a moat! the logistics are really complicated from an engineering standpoint! people are perfectly able to climb over any wall likely of construction! the Berlin Wall with barbed wire and sentry boxes is not a feasible option! — but the people who did believe in it and donated aren’t rich and were taken advantage of in a particularly contemptuous way, so I hope the crooks get their comeuppance.]

    Also happy that after several delays

    1) my new computer arrived and I’m in the throes of setting it up and transferring files;

    2) a good many of said files were on the hard drive, which the shop saved for me after the motherboard died. I hooked up the hard drive to the new PC, which (Windows 10) said “there’s something there, but I can’t read it.” Happily, it occurred to me that my laptop was Windows 7, so I connected the hard drive to that, and it said, “There’s a drive there, but it has errors, shall I fix?” Took a couple of hours for the laptop to trudge its way through the drive, but once it had, I connected the drive to the new PC which now recognizes it as Drive D!

    3) files being transferred, programs slowly installed, but my old, reliable DOS-based calendar, ON TIME, is booting and functioning flawlessly. I’ve RELIED on that calendar program since 1990 — it’s better than any of the others I’ve tried to use. The only thing I can’t do with it is calculate the Belmont Stakes, a common calendar problem.

    4) last but not least, my brother has been snookered into fostering two kittens rescued and in need of antibiotics for URIs and ointment for eye infections. He isn’t used to medicating small animals, so I’ve been roped in to help with the little guys.

  28. Should have mentioned that the kittens are clearly much better after just a few days of care — we have the living room fenced in, partly with the carton the computer came in, supplemented with other cardboard boxes and chairs. Luckily we aren’t doing any fashionable entertaining right now.

    1. One enterprising kitten demonstrated his ability to escape the living room and turned up at my feet in the dining room! Luckily he hasn’t figured out that I will restore him to durance restricted! Names being debated. They look likely to be foster fails, especially if the elderly resident cats decide that they are acceptable additions to the household.

  29. To achieve maximum happiness for the most people, we should throw a politician into a volcano to appease the corona virus. One-a-day (per volcano) until the pandemic is over. Start at the top and work our way down. We have lots of volcanoes. We have lots of politicians.

    1. Oh, I like many politicians — similarly, I like many men, religious believers, tattooed and/or pierced people, and folks who don’t use past participles correctly.

      And I believe in an American government that lives up to values I won’t bother to list here. Dedicated, energetic, talented politicians are required for the government I believe in.

      1. I like many politicians as well, but those that I like all died before the turn of the century. Just think – there are 169 active volcanoes in the United States. I think the majority are in Alaska, though the two most dangerous are in Hawaii and Oregon. In any case, there are generally 60 to 80 eruptions per year. Bear in mind that some eruptions go on for weeks.

        So it depends on how we choose to appease the virus. Only feed the volcano if it is erupting? Feed it if it is active? The former would sacrifice something like 100 to 150 poly ticks (poly for many, ticks are blood sucking critters). The second option would empty the White House and Cabinet, both houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court and most Federal Judges in a week.

        1. Mt St. Helens is in Washington State. I think it killed 84(?) people in 1981 when it erupted. Mt Rainier when it last erupted sent a mudflow that reached where Seattle is (well it was close). I once saw a plume from it in the 70’s. My Baker sent up a small plume in 1975 or so that I also witnessed. Mt Adams has been pretty quiet though. Most Oregon volcanoes have been quiet for awhile. And I don’t know what the California ones are up to. OT: Visit Lassen Volcanism Monument if you get a chance. It’s amazing.

  30. A week or 2 ago in my ongoing campaign to keep my friend Dave’s store open, I bought a bunch of novelty items and sent them out to my friend who is raising 4 kids on a farm. Due to Covid-19, her parents aren’t going out there every week so I haven’t been getting the grandchildren news the way I once did. But today I ventured down to the mailbox on the off chance that I had received something yesterday.

    In the box was the coolest Thank You I’ve ever received. It was a laminated post card. On the front were 2 pictures of the twin babies, each playing with one of the stuffed fruit I had given them and the words Thank You. On the back was a paragraph from the kids’ Mom, telling me how all 4 of the kids were playing with the stuff I’d sent. I realize that now that everyone uses digital cameras, this kind of personalization is easier than ever, but it still knocked my socks off. The name of the company that produced the card is on it, but I am almost afraid to look up how much they spent on it. I know that they can’t afford any luxuries (Grandma Carol isn’t quite sure how they afford the necessities these days) so to have done this is Way above and beyond the call of duty. I am so touched I could cry (which may be why they chose to laminate).

  31. Just got a phone call – I’ve got a job interview! As we’re in Stage 4 lockdown here in Melbourne, it will be on Microsoft Teams (I’ve been unemployed since early March).

    I have a spray can of touch up hair colour to mitigate my covidhair situation (I might be a grandmother, but they don’t need to know that!). Now I have to find a wall in the house where there isn’t a pile of fabric, yarn, spinning fibre, or a bookcase with books that don’t say ‘competent Business Analyst’. I may have to clear a spot…

  32. We last bought TVs when the kids were babies. So 10+ years ago? Yesterday the kids, now 10 and 12, told us that the living room tv, was turning off and on, by itself. My spouse, is both delighted and embarrassed about being delighted. He’s been wanting a new living room tv, quietly, for 6-18 months now. And he couldn’t justify it to himself since the old one worked just fine. So last night he did some research and ordered a new tv. He’s happy. I’m happy because it’s cheap and because he’s happy about it.

  33. Friends are a gift in themselves, and I am many times blessed. Saturday was my great nephew’s 8th birthday, and we got to facetime with him. Of course he’s an 8yo boy, so an actual conversation was not in the cards; but by virtually twisting his arm we did get that he had a good time and got presents. There was also a zoom chat with friends and fellow cherrybombs (yes, we are still out there).

    After suffering in the summer heat, my tomato plants are making a come back, and my peppers are ripening up nicely. There will be lots and lots of peppers in my future. I experimented with the seeds of some store bought peppers, planting them in pots with different kinds of potting medium. The most robust plants are from my half-asped compost (I’m lazy about it and just use a dry wall bucket with lots of drainage holes). So there you go, even on a small and indifferent scale, it still pays off. I should add that it consists mostly of yard waste, and very little food waste, so I don’t have the bug problems that come with composting on a larger scale.

    I am in the process of getting estimates for new windows. It’s long overdue, and of all the things I need to get done, this seems to be a reasonably safe project. It kills me that now that I’m home and have time to get things done, half the things that need doing require either repair people coming into the house, or at least people with more size and strength than I possess. So I’ll focus on what can get done.

    In that vein, yesterday I scrubbed down the storm door and cleaned both that window and the door window, plus took down and washed the lace panel. While they didn’t look that bad before, I have to admit there is a lot more light coming in, so obviously way overdue. Next up is power washing the front of my house, before I get the new windows so that I don’t spatter on them.

    And as long as I’m supplying Working Wednesday on Monday, I might as well throw in Good Book Thursday and recommend The Wizard’s Butler, by Nathan Lowell.

  36. Me again – The first 2 Kate Clayborn’s books are on sale at Amazon:

    Beginners Luck is $1.99
    Luck of the Draw is $2.99

    I enjoyed these a lot – about 3 girlfriends who win the lottery

    1. Also am very jealous of your Spike gift.

      James Marsters narrates the The Dresden Files books

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