The simple pleasures of the day (please add your own)

"Fighting" with my old rescue dogs for the sunny spot on the big bed when I want to lay down and read my Kindle for awhile.  (Really they aren't bad about making room, it's just slow to get them moving when they are asleep.)

Two things I enjoyed at lunch today:

-Wonderful local in-season apples from Montana
(I love that UMT has such a strong local food initiative at the cafeteria, because these tiny soft red apples were the best!!!)

-Organic dates I got from Costco a few weeks ago; I have been eating these slowly, and they are so tasty! I love the yummy sugariness of dates and the nice gooey texture of them. It makes me happy!

I love, love, love to run. Barefoot of course. If I'm ever feeling depressed, or anxious, it's like "Oh duh! I haven't been running recently.". So I put on leggings and a sundress and go for a run! By the time I get back, everything is right with the world again.

I don't know why such a small moment makes me so happy, btu at work today, I was waved at by a guy at the library I have a crush on, and I waved back at him! And he even spoke to me, in passing, how I was doing, and I got to greet him likewise! :)

And I started reading the $50 and Up Underground House by Mike Oehler, and I love the style and attitude that Mike writes with. He kind of has a similar tone to Bill Mollison, which I very much enjoy!

Waking up to my heel being healed. It was hurting for awhile, and it just finished repairing itself last night while I was sleeping.

I received compliments at the airport and looks of amazement and wonder from other adults while I was knitting at the airport yesterday. That made me happy! I like how everyone has always said good things to me when they see me crafting.

Being pleasantly sore after working hard outside. I spent an hour plus  clearing ivy and then moving a pile of stuff to burn tomorrow and now feel tired in a way I don't after my desk job.

I just ate the last of the Thanksgiving cheesecake, with the last of the home grown berries I thawed for Thanksgiving, and I am as full as a tick.

Yum

My cat coming home after being gone for 4 days and I was sure I would never see her again.

Trace Oswald wrote:My cat coming home after being gone for 4 days and I was sure I would never see her again.

Yay! I hate it when cats just vanish for unknown reasons. And sometimes come back for just as unknown reasons. Sometimes you can tell they had been trapped someplace, sometimes you can tell they ate well, they never tell you where they went though.
Very glad yours came back!

I should probably get the Day-After-Thanksgiving-Nastiest-Job-of-the-Year Award for putting insulation up around the rim joists of our 1930 Tiny Home. Yes it was disgusting; there was miserable 80 year old hay, burlap, rags, dust and rodent feces to deal with, but it becomes a simple pleasure of the day because an hour of work will really save so many hours of labor NOT having to build a fire in the basement stove to keep the pipes from freezing. That is a whole lot less cutting, splitting, and moving of firewood, not to mention the keeping of kindling and paper, and then maintaining the fire. The easiest job is one you seldom have to do.

I try to keep this in mind when I do anything: not how bad is this, but when will I have to do this again, and what will it save me. For instance, putting up sheep fence is tiring, BUT a 3 days of labor last 30 years...I can handle that!

Travis::  You rock, sir!!   :D

Enjoying a walk in the winter sun

Pearl Sutton wrote:Travis::  You rock, sir!!   :D

I gave that an apple, but then, that is kind of wrong because I am giving you an apple for giving me an award??? Is that like giving your teacher a box of chocolates after you just got an A??? Not that I am that fond of teachers, I have one for an ex-wife.

Either way, it is a win and I will take it.

Walking around in the early morning fog of Houston. Even though there aren't mountains, what happens with water is pretty magical. Seeing the sun crack through the fog, seeing dew on blades of grass, spider webs in pine trees, and a couple of rainbows as the fog was lifting. It was a beautiful walk this morning.

There was a lot of good that happened in the past few days.

-Saturday:
While doing small business Saturday shopping in a parking lot, I met a woman by chance who had gone through a parallel journey to the one I am going through in life, and meeting her was inspiring and motivating. She told me about how she used to work in an office and how she wasn't happy. How she would be happy before work getting ready, but as soon as she stepped into work, her happiness and energy drained. What she really enjoyed doing is writing. And she believes that what she enjoys doing is what God has put her on this Earth to do, that what she enjoys is her innate purpose. She questioned God's ability to to care for her a bit, because she still had two kids to put through college, but she put her faith in God, and she became a writer. And low and behold, she was provided for and she has put two kids through college and is doing what she likes, and she is happy! And she told me that I know what I here to do on this Earth, because I know what makes me happy and what I enjoy doing, and by doing what I enjoy, I shall be taken care of and provided for. *sighs* It really felt good to meet someone who also struggled a bit to break out and do what their passion is!

-Sunday:
Doing my workout a second time during Thanksgiving Break using a tree and feeling the muscle development in my hands from using a tree as a pullup bar.
Spontaneously coming across one of my friends at the airport and then meeting a friend of his that has a passion for cooking, like me. It was wonderful to discuss and enthusiastically talk about all the things that we love to cook.

-Today:
Returning the $50 and Up Underground House book by Mike Oehler back to the library and checking out The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins. For some reason that book's name was stuck in my head, like it was calling me from my intuition, and I tried to see if other books in the library would interest me related to permaculture, but I picked up the Humanure Handbook and fell in love with it, because again, with me it's all about the voice writers use, joseph Jenkins has a captivating and provocative voice, which seems to be the types of authors I enjoy reading. And I am starting to further believe that Sepp Holzer is right! If you get an intuition to do something, act on it! That's why you have an intuition! (because so far, my intuitions are indeed leading me to things I enjoy and are proving to be correct for me)

Working out this morning outside in the cold of Missoula, MT. It felt so good to be using my environment for working out, and it felt awesome to have a friend with me, because that made it seem more legitimate and less easily challenged or dismissed by others as some crazy guy in the cold doing crazy stuff. That was wonderful! :)

oh, and one other thing. From yesterday, the Humanure Handbook brought me much joy; I am loving Joseph Jenkins' writing, how well he supports and researches what he is saying, hwo much thought he puts into what he says, and the hefty dose of humor and and attitude he has in his writing, as well as, the wonderful illustrations by Tom Griffin.

Sitting outside and watching folks go by,while drinking my morning coffee.and spoiling my lil brat..

-Getting an email about Geoff Lawton's online PDC opening soon for signup.... EEEK! :)

-Eating tasty red apples

Enjoying the beautiful snow covered mountain views in Missoula

A hot mug of tea.  Morning tea is the most important one, it makes me feel human when I'm up before the sun.  My blood is probably Earl Grey flavoured.  My husband likes his chaga tea, he says it makes him feel calm.

Today, I used my new-found "soak in the good" method (from here) of savoring my homemade five seed crackers. I slowed down, tasted their roasted crunchiness, including the chia or sesame seeds that floated up around and between my teeth as I chewed, and enjoyed their salty, savory goodness.

My wife was feeling overwhelmed yesterday. I had bought her flowers and a desert to share after the kids went to bed, but a friend dropped in, but sadly when she came home, he stayed, and stayed...it was really late when he left. She was pretty cranky at it all...

Well my daughters (5, 12, 13, 14) watch these silly hacker videos on youtube, so we put together a Treasure Hunt like the Hacker Videos do. It starts at the front door, with one daughters saying, "I love when you come home"! (She then has to figure out where the next clue is, which is by the key holder) That one says, "I Love snuggling on the couch with you", (She then has to go to the couch). That one says, "I love watching family movies at Family Time". (She has to find the next clue by the fireplace). That one says, "I love when you pray with me at bedtime". (She then has to find the next clue in the bible in that bedroom). That one says, "I love how we go on dates, sometimes to restaurants and sometimes at home". (She has to go to the refrigerator where she will find a card that says "We Love You!" and the big piece of carrot cake that is there for her.

It is not much, but shows how much she is loved.

(Oh, and the girls cleaned the house incredibly well too)

Being outside in the refreshing early morning cold of Montana. Doing a fasted workout in the cold, eating a good breakfast, and then spending an hour reading the Humanure Handbook, which I am almost done reading. Feeling the cool breeze from opening my windows and door. And looking forward to a roundtable Dungeons and Dragons session today with my friends, and I really love the way we place DnD. The way we play it is more of interactive storytelling, with much less emphasis on die rolling and character movements. We focus less on the game mechanics and more on the story of how our characters interact within the world our GameMaster tells us about.

A bowl of parsnip soup.  In a bowl made and given to me by a very old friend.  Made with chicken stock from one of my old hens.  With parsnips I found whilst sorting out the freezer yesterday.  With my feet up being warmed by a fire from wood that a fellow moderator cut for me when he came to visit.  The new dog, given to me by my new sister-in-law lying by my side snoozing, chatting online with my new partner planning our next adventures.  

It's been an intense year, but it seems to be ending a whole load more calmly than it began.

That bowl of soup looks sooo tasty!

And now that the day is mostly over, here are all the other good things that happened:

-had a wonderfully impassioned and meaningful conversation with a friend at lunch about life, the world, our different journeys with dating people, our hopes and fears about the world, what we want to do with our lives, and it just felt so good to have such a meaningful conversation with another person in real life

-had an extremely lively DnD session today, and was awesome! Our characters got into such wonderful chaos, mystery, and party member disputes, which were rather rowdy. I was quite loud today, but that felt so good! Hehe!

-Finishing up the Humanure Handbook and checking out Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

-Eating corned beef. This is one of my favorite foods, because I love the nice soft juicy nature of corned beef and all the wonderful tasty animal fat that's on corned beef! Yum, yum, yum!

Watching the sun rise and listening to Paul's podcasts

Dave, you post the best happy things. Burra, your most recent post was epic, too. Travis, so awesome to hear a happy slice of family life for you guys.

Today, I have a quite a few simple pleasures and it's only just 10 a.m.!

paul made cowgirl coffee this morning, as he usually does, though I'm often up later, when it has cooled off. This morning, I got up and poured my mug while it was still nice and hot! Ahhh!

my brain was awake this morning before 7 a.m. - yes! I was able to do payroll for a wonderful client first thing (and really, all my clients are wonderful).

my mini stretching/exercising routine felt really lovely this morning, after a nice hot, hot shower. Plus, after just a week or so, my body feels better and more resilient, and the routine is feeling good - like a happy, lovely thing; not a chore.

the FPH RMH fired up easily per usual, and the warmth of wood heat is so, so nice!

mmm, breakfast! it wasn't greens and eggs like this, but it was decadent and yummy all the same, (even if I do say so myself about my own cooking!):  basted eggs with fresh sliced tomatoes on top and homemade krautchi on the side, plus GF/sugar-free/DF pancakes with berry sauce (just cooked berries, nothing else). There's even enough pancakes leftover for Paul to make a PB&J with at lunch. We don't eat or have bread around, so this is a special treat. :-)

The low winter evening sun filtering through the last brown seedlings and leaves of trees, that are just hanging on, as I listen to the crunch of snow beneath my feet, while I am walking back from class.

Tonight, as our family dined after Christmas shopping, our waitress exclaimed with glee her first Grandchild had been born today.

On a napkin I wrote, "Today our child was due to be born, but sadly we lost it to a miscarriage. It will never have a birthday or a Christmas, but as Christians we know we shall see it in heaven one day. Please take this money and buy your Grandson something for his first Christmas."

It was only $20, but we will not be deterred by our loss. We have four daughters and are grateful for that. But more importantly there is something wonderful in celebrating a child's birth, and the Christmas Season!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Getting mauled by the new puppy on the floor and smelling puppy breath.

Binding off a hand cloth I had made while flying back home from Thanksgiving break. I was confused what I was doing and forgot the pattern I had in my head, so I decided it was complete there.

Finishing up a silly warm winter hat I made, and it does look quite funny when I wear it!

And starting a new crochet project to make another Winter hat, but perhaps a little bit less silly and more just crochet. The silly winter hat was a mixed piece that involved crochet, Tunisian crochet, and knitting.

Finishing my last actual lecture for the Autumn semester, and all i have left is three finals to take!

And packing up three more boxes of stuff and putting Give Back Box labels on them, so that someone can make use of the stuff I have no need of (which is probably most of my stuff).

My hands smell nice from all the veggies I was stuffing into a jar in my first attempt at food preservation by fermentation. And I have an exciting story that I can share at parties, now, too! Because what an adventure that was! :) Great learning experience, too!

Went to Albertson's with one of my friends this morning, and we spent the rest of the morning together hanging out while we prepared two new batches of ferments that we will be tasting on Thursday. It's been nice getting to learn more about my friend, enjoy his company, and share some of the thoughts on my mind, too.

Stumbling out into the attached solar greenhouse in the winter with my morning coffee and gazing mindlessly at the latest seedlings or blooms.

Tasting my veggie and veggie/fruit ferments after two days, and enjoying their taste on top of the salad I had at lunch! It was delicious!

Our pre-Christmas environment:

• Waking to the aroma of gardenia and frangipani
• Newborn birds squawking for breakfast
• From a fruit bowl, the fragrance of fresh mangoes, nectarines, apricots, apples, bananas, tomatoes and cherries wafting through the house
• The incessant chirp of cicadas as the day warms, making it feel hotter and steamier
• The house cat collapsed under a ceiling fan, making an impromptu fluffy roundabout that we need to manoeuvre around
• Intermittent downpours, thunderstorms expected
• Checking the fig tree as fruit swells and gets closer to ripening
• Dusk approaches, birds squabble to roost, the ‘donk-donk-donk’ of a frog in the stormwater drain, and a chorus of crickets start
• The cat smooches and purrs wanting to be put to bed
• Cotton sheets, a fan, windows wide open, sleep

Finishing my last final exam and making some new sea salt ferments of veggies and fruits to ferment over Winter Break! I'm quite looking forward to see how the experiment goes: inoculated with yoghurt and uninoculated! :)