March Closes

March 31st

Happy Monday!  March has come to a close.  Here are some happy things:

• This morning I picked up a two hour shift.  It was my last day.  My Leave of Absence starts tomorrow.   For the first time since I got this job, almost four years ago, I friended a coworker on Facebook.  For some reason, I don't want to lose contact with that place.  I'll be back when we finish the hike, but three to six months seems very long right now.
• Keziah and I sat down and went over all my finances today.  She should be able to manage my things while I'm gone.  We have one more thing to take care of on that front.  Hopefully we'll do that tomorrow. 
• The weather has been wet and cloudy.  The sky around sunset was not full of colors.  It was still lovely in its own way. 

• A friend got me some Golden Oreo Cakesters.  It was a gift when I stepped down from being Baroness a few weeks ago.  I carried them around with me that day but didn't get the chance to try them.  I tried them today.  They are so good!  They are like little vanilla whoopie pies.  Yum!

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Currently listening to: The Appalachian Trail: A Biography, by Philip D'Anieri.

Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!

Wet Sunday

 March 30th

Some happy things from today:

• The weather wasn't completly horrible this morning, so I went to work for two hours.  I'm working the same two hours tomorrow morning.  
• Last night there had been sleet and freezing rain. The roads were fine, but the trees were lightly covered with ice when I left for work.  The trees can be very pretty when they aren't dangerous. 

The windshield of my car.

• In the afternoon, I cleaned and organized some of my room.  I've gone through most of the things in my room at this point.  It is about two-thirds organized.  My room will most likely not be used while I am gone.  I'm trying to organize with that in mind.  I used some spare fabric to cover some things so they might get less dusty.  A few things were added to yesterday's pile of things to donate.

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Currently listening to: The Appalachian Trail: A Biography, by Philip D'Anieri.

Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!

Closet

March 29th

Here are my happy things from today:

• The weather outside was supposed to be frightful, so I stayed home.  Every time I went outside between the apartment and the house, the weather seemed okay.  There were signs of sleet and freezing rain, but I kept missing it actually happening.  Fifteen minutes ago I came back to the apartment, now I can hear the rain tap, tapping outside.  I'm really happy with my timing today.  
• My productivity level was low today.  TF called though, and that got me moving some.  While we talked on the phone I cleaned out most of my closet.  All my garb is on the left, the stuff on the floor got sorted, I even did a little vacuuming.  All that and great conversation, too.  It's great to have people to sit with me when I go through things (yesterday it was Amy).

There are a bunch of empty hangers.
Some of that is from packing some things away.

• There is a small pile of things from my closet that are now part of my things to donate. 

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Currently listening to: The Appalachian Trail: A Biography, by Philip D'Anieri.

Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!

Boxes

 March 28th

Last Saturday my hair was cut from around three feet long to about an inch.  Today, six days later, was the first time that I thought I should take the braids out.  That said, every time I look in the mirror is a who-is-that type of moment.  Every time I touch my head the tactile experience seems… different.  Every time I think about how my braids would land in the sink when I washed my hands or the fly aways would tickle my nose; I'm thankful my hair will be short when I hike the rest of the Appalachian Trail.  Here are some happy things from today:

• There are too many boxes of stuff in my life.  This morning I went through some of them and packed some up to go to the studio.  I found a mitten and some gloves  that I know I have the pairs to somewhere else.  I look forward to reuniting pairs. 
• Amy and I went for a nice adventure walk.  I use the word ‘adventure’ because we started by exploring some new-to-us parts of the trail and had to balance ourselves to cross puddles. Most of the trail was flat rail trail.  It was fun.

• 

There is still some ice on this pond

• Amy was nice enough to meet me at the studio after the walk.  There were five boxes that I brought from the house to the studio.  We moved some things around, threw some things away, and sorted things too.  Eventually, four boxes made their way into the corner of the studio.  These boxes are all pictures or other pieces of memorabilia that I plan to go through after the hike. One box came back with me to sort more on another time.
• We ended the evening at Craft Night.  I didn't end up working on a craft, but it was nice to sit and visit with folks.
• It was a good day.   I found some old pictures to share:

Keziah at Plymouth Plantation. 

The two people on the right are my dad and his twin.

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Currently listening to: The Appalachian Trail: A Biography, by Philip D'Anieri.

Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!

Crocus

Here are some happy things from Thursday:

• On this last day of my work week, I made it through.  There were a few hours that I seriously considered using some of my paid time off and leaving early.  It is possible that a shift could open up this weekend for me to take.  Most likely I am finished with work until after we have hiked to Mount Katahdin, months from now.  
• Since I am not working tonight, I had a nice nap this afternoon.  Yesterday I fell asleep before going to bed. This resulted with me not being able to get to sleep when I was supposed to.  The nap rejuvenated my brain and made it easier for me to do more trip planning.  I may have kept Zed awake too late talking with him about mail drops and food planning.  I may have kept myself awake too long making lists of things I need to do.
• Two or three years ago I worked hard on cleaning up some sections in the yard and planting bulbs.  Last year I failed to upkeep those areas at all.  Even so, today I found some crocus trying to poke through the weeds.  Yay!

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Currently listening to: The Appalachian Trail: A Biography, by Philip D'Anieri.

Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!

Wednesday

March 26th

Happy Wednesday!  Okay, mine turned out rather frustrating, but I'm over that now.  I hope, reader, that your day was nice.  Here are things that made me happy today:

• Lots of people noticed that my hair is short and commented on it.  Whether they meant it or not, I appreciate the compliments I received. 
• Bel and I are planning to put together an Instagram or some other social media things to help document our hike.  We have been struggling on a name.  The current top runner is “Until the money runs out.”  We plan to hike from Springer Mountain to Mount Katahdin or until the money runs out to get us there.  ☺️ At this time we have already hiked Springer Mountain and about the first 16 ish miles of the Appalachian Trail. 
• With spring here and the time change I go to bed with the sun still up.  The sky was quite pretty this afternoon though so here is a pre-sunset picture.

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Currently listening to: The Appalachian Trail: A Biography, by Philip D'Anieri.

Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!

Daffodils

March 25th

Here are some happy things from my first day (well, night) back at work.

• At some point at work I started to wear a bandana to help keep the flyaway hairs out of my face.  With my new haircut there is no flyaway hair.  There is a center part that I would like to go away.  That and random bits of hair that wants to stand up straight convinced me that wearing a bandana still is a good idea.  What I learned at work today is that a bandana doesn't want to stay on my head.  I used to use a hair clamp to gather my hair and the bandana.  When the bandana started to slip off, I pulled it off and set it down until there was a pause that I could put it back on.  During the ten minutes or so that the bandana was off, one person noticed and said something about my hair.  They had a shocked look followed by something like, “Who are you?’  I thought this was very funny.  Tomorrow I'll wear a hat instead.   A hat is less likely to fall off.  
• After work I was able to gather the adults in the house together to make a plan.  Bel and I will try to get all the things we need to do done before April 6th and leave for Georgia again around then.  This is later than I hoped, but I'll hopefully get all the things done I need to do first.
• That week we spent in Georgia on the AT was a real learning experience.  There were things we forgot, the equipment problems, and we are changing how we do food going forward too.  I'm sure we will learn even more as the weeks go by.
• This YouTube video was taken by a dear friend on Saturday when my braids were cut off.  Enjoy!!
• Daffodils are popping through!

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Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!

Wet Day

Here are some happy things from today:

• On Saturday I received a new coronet for becoming a Baroness of the Court.  The coronet was made by a dear friend.  She embroidered this for me.  It is so wonderfully lightweight!  The pattern repeats so there are six sections; three sections with the white weaving tablet and three with the red billet with the needle piercing it.  If I eventually get a metal coronet, it most likely will have those two things on it since they are parts of my heraldic device. The best part about this one, it fits!  More specifically, it fits without a knitted cap under it.  That said, I loved those knitted caps for under the Baronial coronets. 

• Bel and I went out in the wet weather to REI for some equipment.  Bel thinks what we got will go a long way in helping them be more comfortable and not freeze on the trail.  I'm happy that we are another step closer to getting back on the trail.
• The weather kept me from going for a walk. I just didn't want to deal with snow and freezing rain if I didn't have to.  I'm not sure why, but I like that the weather was questionable today.  Bel and I drove by the Merrimack River and it was raging.  It is very dangerous, but also beautiful in its own way.

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Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!

Shorter

 March 23rd

Here are some happy things from today:

• It is very short, but not short enough.  If you have been following along, you may know that I went from hair that went below my bottom to short hair yesterday when my youngest cut off my braids.  It's okay, I asked them to.  This morning I awoke with a different kind of bedhead than I have personally experienced.  Now my hair is even shorter.  I'm not sure if it is short enough yet.  I'm glad that I'm not totally regretting this choice.

• One of the things I failed to mention yesterday is that I received two beautiful scrolls.  I got pictures of them today.  Unfortunately, I didn't commit to memory who the artists were.  Thankfully, one of the scrolls has the information on the back.  Both of the scrolls are beautiful and special to me.  I also have a new coronet.  I'll share pictures of that tomorrow. 

• Bel, Corvidae, and I had puzzle time tonight.  We filled in quite a bit together. 

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Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!

Long Day, Long Post

March 22nd

When I was a young teen I remember having a conversation with some family members about hair.  Long hair to be precise.  I said that I was always going to have long hair.  My Aunt Hazel suggested that I would cut it off when I grew up.  I denied that.  No way would I ever cut my hair short.  Aunt Hazel insisted that it would be gone by the time I was 35.  That conversation has stuck with me for some time.  I'm sixty years old.  I still love long hair.  I've wanted to be the crazy old lady with long white braids for quite some time.  

However, the shortest I remember ever having my hair was chin length around fourth grade.  I was born bald.  It hasn't been really short since.  Until today.  As part of the schtick of us stepping down, Bel cut the braids off my head.  Well, the schtick is that the coronet was tied to my head using the braids.  The braids had to be cut for me to relinquish the coronet. I've been trying to plan this for over a year.  It didn't come together until this week and today.  When the video is ready, I'll post the link.

Before the event.

It was a good day.  We had a morning court, gave out some awards, and stepped down.  People would ask me if I felt free, but I wasn't there yet.  

There was a lovely lunch.  Keziah took on her first apprentice.  We prepared for the afternoon court.

Their Majesties and the new Baron and Baroness of Stonemarche.  

Kitchen crew

Keziah and her new apprentice with the new Baron and Baroness bearing witness.

The afternoon court is where the schtick was.  Beforehand, Keziah and a friend helped me get my hair where it needed to be attached to the coronet. We snuck up to where the court was.  Eventually, court was to begin and we snuck onto the thrones.   The new Baron and Baroness pretended to be surprised that we were there.  Keziah and I said we changed our minds and that Keziah wanted us to become a republic instead of the monarchy that the SCA tries to be.  There were jokes about the Stonemarche Inquisition.  Keziah was playfully tied up and she relinquished her coronet.  Then it was my turn.  I told them they had to cut the coronet off me if they wanted it.  So Bel (who was appointed the Baronial Hairdresser) came up and cut my braids off.  I relinquished it at that point and covered my head with my St Birgitta cap.  It was an experience.  Then court began and our new Baron and Baroness did a wonderful job.  Keziah and I were awarded with the Order of the Keystone Vert; that award is for people who do something special (like work really hard) to help the Pennsic event work.  However, it can also be given to someone from Stonemarche who performs exceptionally well on the field as a fighter, or archer, or other ways.

During the Kingdom part of the court Keziah and I were awarded Court Baronages.  So we are still a Baron and Baroness, but we no longer have land and people that we care for.  We had some other friends become court baronesses for the work that they did for their Majesties. 

Many people were curious about Bel and my travels so far on the Appalachian Trail.  Now that this event is over, I can focus on getting back onto the trail.  

Bel and Keziah worked at trying to cut my hair.  I honestly didn't know what to expect.  There are cousins that I thought I might resemble more with my hair short.  Mostly I think I resemble my oldest brother.  

This is my hair after the event and before any shaping.

This is what was cut off.
What a color difference!

It was wonderful to get to spend time with friends.  The friend that organized the event outdid herself.  The site was lovely, the food and atmosphere were great.  It was a good day.

Pictures of the work in progress:

That part is close to 60 years old!

It looks a little different after I showered.

Many thanks to all the people who helped to pull this off.  You all ROCK!!

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Thank you for being here and being part of my daily happy things. Stay safe!