Tangled

 And thus ends August

Here are some happy things from today:

• Once again my day began pulling weeds.  I'm trying to be more gentle in the area I weeded today because the irises still have leaves.  If I'm able to get outside most weekend days like this, getting the entire triangle part of the driveway done before November seems very possible.  
• Keziah wasn't well today so I spent most of the day at the store.  I was able to put more things onto the sales floor for people to buy.  As I brought out one bin a lady came right over, asked to be sure the things weren't mine, and then proceeded to help me put things out while choosing things to buy at the same time.
• When things slowed down at the store I did some organizing.  Eventually I came across a mess of yarn.  That is when I grabbed it all and sat down to untangle it.  There isn't a before picture, but I took a picture early on in the process.  Then I took a picture of what was still left to do when I thought we were going to leave.  We didn't leave right away though and I got more sorted after that, but I didn't manage to finish.

• Oh, and I tried coloring my hair pink over the fading purple hair.  I think it just lightened the purple some.

☮

Finished listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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

Saturday at the Studio

 August 30th

Here are some happy things from a lovely Saturday:

• For a short time I did some general weeding in the yard and around the stairs by the house.  The weed wacker isn't working right now, so everything has to be done by hand.  If I had all the time, I think I would like doing the weeding that way better.  As it is, I don't get out into the yard enough to keep up with everything.  Not having the bits of grass and other weeds rub my ankles as I walk by is wonderful.
• Today and tomorrow (Sunday) Keziah’s store is having a fill-a-bag sale.  I went to help out for a short time in the morning.  There were bags of fabric that had been in storage.  Keziah and some of her team got them and brought them to the store.  I helped unload the trucks and then sort the fabric some.  There was some nice wool and other fabrics that I set aside for myself.  I look forward to making the time to use it.

In that dark doorway Keziah is moving boxes.

• At noon it was time for me to be at the studio.  A bunch of the people in the household got together for a crafting day.  Some things I noticed people working on: favor preparation, beading, weaving, lace making, and sewing.  I'm sure there were other things, too.  I struggled over which Viking apron dress pattern to use, then after deciding, I almost messed up the math.  Thankfully, I was able to figure all of it out with help from friends.  One of the best parts about getting together in a small group like this is the encouragement and brainstorming that can go on. 

This is the fabric I'm using for the Viking apron dress.  I got the fabric cut, but haven't started sewing yet.

A weaving project.

Favor prep... and my finger?  Sigh.

☮

Currently listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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

Long Day

 August 29th

Here are some happy things from today:

• This morning I didn’t get going as early as I thought I would.  The sun hadn't risen yet though, and I saw Venus rising ahead of it.

Just to the right of the tree top there is the tiny planet, Venus.

• Weeding some of the triangle part of the driveway was my first goal of the day.  I found more bulbs as I sifted with my gloved hands through the dirt.  They are probably tulip and crocus bulbs.  The closer I got to the irises, the more I realized that I needed to weed some of them today.  I wanted to wait and do the irises all at the same time.  Logistically, it won't really work well that way.  Anyhow, I pulled some of the tubers out and replanted them.  I actually have a few extra that I'll try to plant as I continue clearing out the area.  I still plan to buy more bulbs and some other plants to fill in the area better than it was. 

Before I started.

The space I weeded today is mostly the left side of this picture. 

Tubers, bulbs and rocks.

Weeded, more soil added, and replanted.  There is still a lot to do.

• After lunch I went to Keziah’s store, DIY Craft & Thrift.  She is having a fill-a-bag sale this weekend and I helped do things to get ready for that.  

Filling tables!

• In the evening I went to Craft Night.  There were people there working on illumination, knitting, painting, and embroidery.  I embroidered some on a favor as well as worked on my whip cording.  My guess is that the whip cording is at least five feet longer now.  I'm really happy to say that I found a nice place to hang the whipcord while I work on it.

A nail to hang the whipcord from!

• There was a rainstorm during Craft Night.   It rained hard, then the sky cleared some.  The following pictures are from the moon and sun setting after the rain.

I played with the settings for this pic.

☮

Currently listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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

Color

 August 28th

Here are some happy things from today:

• Last night my alarm didn't go off.  I have three alarms set, none of them worked.  Apparently a setting in my phone changed (by itself or I did it in my sleep?) so the app failed me.  I'm hopeful for next week, but I have already set up back-up alarms on my phone in another app.  I woke up one minute before my last alarm should have gone off.  Somehow I showered and only punched in at work three minutes later than I normally do.  Yay!
• When I left for work the night sky was gorgeous.  Had I not been running late I would have paused for a moment.  I have an app to help me identify constellations and I thought I could see Pleiades, but didn't take the time to check.  Maybe tonight I'll get outside again.
• The world near me is starting to show signs of autumn.  It is a season that I tend to enjoy.  I have reached an age that I no longer want the seasons to rush by.  The splash of the autumn to come is lovely.

☮

Currently listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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

Baby!

 August 27th

• Soon after work I looked at my FitBit expecting to see over 20,000 steps.  There were over 30,000 steps!  My feet are sore and I am tired, but I still didn't expect that many steps.  They were handing out wellness bags after work with foot care items.  I'm hoping to check some of that out this weekend.
• After work, I went home long enough to change my shoes and grab an umbrella.  Then I went to Keziah’s store to see Amy and her daughter who is visiting from Virginia with her children.  One of her children is two and a half months old and I got to hold him.  Amy was kind and took a picture that I can share.  He is such a good baby!  

Keziah, me, and a tired baby.

• We have had some passing thunderstorms today. When I got home it had just finished raining and I checked on the orange balm I planted the other day.  Yesterday it looked like it wasn't going to make it so I added some good soil.  It looks like the soil has done the trick.  The plant has perked up and looks like it will be be alright.  

☮

Currently listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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

Flowers

 August 26th

Here are some happy things from today:

• Work went well for me.  It was busy, but not overwhelming.  I made it there on time and was assigned to Problem Solve, so that was good.  
• When I got home, Zed was having his lunch break.  We had a nice conversation while he had leftover pizza for his lunch, and I had leftover pizza for my dinner.  😋  
• After a nap that I probably shouldn't have had, I walked some in the backyard.  There are grapes that are very nearly ripe that came with the property.  Corvidae has some pretty flowers that are blooming.  Calendula and borage are the two I didn’t know.  There is also a marigold.  

☮

Currently listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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

Weeds

 August 25th

Most of my day I spent in a bad headspace.  Something frustrated me and I spiraled. I'm very thankful that I was able to power through it.  I'm also thankful that my morning was spent alone so I could work through stuff.  Here are the accomplishments I made that reversed my downward spiral:

• Sometime before the ground freezes again, I hope to have the entire triangle part of the driveway cleaned up with many more bulbs and things planted for the spring.  Today I got dirty and pulled many weeds.  There is still a long way to go, but, yay!
• In the process of pulling weeds I found some bulbs.  I'm assuming they are tulips, but I'm not positive.  They have been replanted around the rack that I am hoping to use for morning glories.  
• Morning glories seeds got planted under the rack.  Do I expect old seeds planted near the end of August to sprout? No.  However, if they do, yay!  If they don't then the area is mostly prepped for planting them in the spring.  

I believe the little plant is a volunteer iris.
That means they are spreading!

The rack where the tulips and morning glories are planted.

Some of the triangle area of the driveway. 
I'm trying to use cardboard where I have weeded but not planted yet.  I didn't put down enough cardboard.

☮

Currently listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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

Also... I edited the picture to remind me next year...

Happy Sunday!

 August 24th

Here are some happy Sunday things:

• Next weekend Keziah’s store, DIY Craft & Thrift, is having a bag sale.  This weekend she had extra people come visit to help get ready.  I went to help for a short time too.  I walked to the store.  Here are some pictures I took along the walk.

Trumpet vine

Merrimack River

• At the store I sorted containers.  Before I left I found some lovely pieces of what seems to be wool.  I have ideas on what to do with the wool pieces.   

There are a bunch of pieces.
It is such a pretty color.

• One box I emptied, there was a piece of thread inside that reminded me of a dog or a seal.  It was so cute I had to take a picture.

• I couldn't stay to help for very long, there was archery practice today.  Corvidae and I went and we brought a friend too.  This wasn't at Stephanie's house, but another friend's archery range.  I haven't shot archery there before.  My shooting wasn't the best, but I had fun, and that is what counts.

This is the only picture I took.  I think it was my best scoring round.

• We were given some plants.  Corvidae got some oregano and other plants.  I got an orange balm plant.  I've planted it by the stairs to the apartment for now.  If it lives, I might move it later.  It smells sort of like an orange.  

☮

Currently listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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

Cleaning Day

 Here are some happy things from today:

• My morning started with me cleaning the apartment.   While I waited for the bathroom floor to dry, I sat with the door open to let the fresh air in.  A sparrow visited outside the door.  It found something on the stairs to eat. 

• The cats were playful this morning and fun to watch. 

• Since Keziah was expecting some company this evening, I helped her out by doing some more cleaning of the house.  I cleaned a little, rested, ate, and cleaned some more.  
• For some reason I couldn't seem to eat enough to feel full.  Eventually I realized that I wasn't as hungry as I was thirsty.  Somehow my brain went, in a matter of seconds, from making some lemonade, to remembering I had raspberries in the fridge, to remembering I have a bottle that can join all these together.  I made my own raspberry lemonade and it was lovely. 

• When I was done with cleaning it was shower time.  I tried something new with the color in my hair.  It didn't come out as I had hoped, but I like it.  I didn't think it was that much different from yesterday's color, but some people noticed the difference.  

☮

Currently listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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

Black Moon

 August 22nd

Happy Friday things:

• Much of the day I spent cleaning and organizing the house with Keziah.  One of my tasks was to find expired items to get rid of.   I'm pleased with the progress we made.  
• We have some Golden Oreos.  I had some during the day and one had one of the sandwich parts on backwards.  The result was the design and word Oreo pressed into the filling.  

• For a very short while, I made it to the studio and Craft Night.  I did a small amount of embroidery. 
• Tonight is a Seasonal Black Moon.  This is basically an extra New Moon that happens about once every 39 months.  To "celebrate" this, I tried taking pictures of the night sky.

Cassiopeia is in this picture. 

I move too much.

I did some research and I think the star "topping" the tree is Arcturus.  I use an app called Star Tracker.

☮

Started listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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

Purple

Sunset. 

Here are some happy today things:

• My work week is done.  It was a good shift.  I was able to get the things done that I wanted plus I started some new training.  I also left work with over 20,000 steps on my FitBit. 
• Thursday is generally laundry and nap day.  I did some of these things, talked on the phone with TF, and that is about it.  It was a restful afternoon. 
• Since I use a depositing shampoo to color my hair, it can wash out after a few regular shampoos.  This week I've been brightening it up.  I like the purple, but over the weekend I'm hoping to try something a little crazy for me, because I can.

☮

Started listening to: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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