Sunday Happy

It’s the last week of October folks. And this time next week it will be one hour earlier then it is now. I am already playing that game in my head with myself saying it is this time but will be that time. Getting mentally ready. And I know most people hate it, hate that it going to get dark out at like 430 but me, I am excited. I like having more sunlight earlier when I am awake and as for darker earlier, it just makes our after dinner walks that much more interesting. You can see inside peoples houses in the dark so much better.😳(Don’t pretend you don’t look too.)

The week began at Gifford Woods. After getting checked in and switching our campsite 3 times (for optimal light and a good chopping block )the mr and I hiked a long hike, he did some fishing (and actually caught one), I read, we made fire, we ate soup. All the good stuff. Then we went to bed with the knowledge that there was a bear roaming about. We woke up with no bear sittings (sad but probably good) and headed on back to town.

And it was Barbs 21 st birthday. So we had dinner with her and the boys at my moms, sang her songs, gave her shit, did the cake thing, and sent her on her way to go be 21.

After that it was back to it. Basically all the same stuff with some of this and that and a new, very expensive heater replacement at one of the apartments. (OUFF!) Then Barb came over for her second birthday dinner with the littles. Pie instead of cake, Coco shaking his booty, Miley harassing the mr about when he is gong to dye her hair, and Judah, well he was just being cool like a cool kid.

And that is pretty much it.

It’s Sunday and this is it, the last camping of the year. I would be lying if I said that I am not sad, but it’s ok, I don’t think I could handle the mr camping in the winter, he does not like to be cold. And honestly, we spend just as much time running around in the woods in the winter, we just come back to our warm bed at night so it’s not like we don’t still run away all the time. Anyway, heading out early, going to soak it in as much of the day away as possible, do a good hike, the mr is gonna fish, I’ll read and look at rocks by the river, and we will eat hot soup by the fire. Maybe as a last hurrah we will see a moose or a bear. I have no real control over that but wouldn’t that be awesome?

Oh and before I forget, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Some internet for your reading pleasure.

-A Rare Halloween Blue Moon in 2020. And it is daylight savings. Gonna be a crazy night!

This house. And the patchy, torn apart wall paper.. so good. Heading ‘Upstate’

-Are we living in a computer simulation? I don’t know. Probably. AAAAGH! But seriously, are we?

-Good to know. Is It Better to Bake in Glass or Metal?

-Veggie Burgers Can Be Called Burgers, European Parliament Says. I am sure this is pissing a lot of people off.

-Why living with and tending plants is good for you. So many reasons. I don’t know what I Would do without my plants!

-I agree. This Cozy A-Frame in the Woods Is One of the Dreamiest Cabins We’ve Ever Seen

-Cool AF mask. Zimarty Turns the Face Mask Into Wearable Architecture With zMask

-Pretty. Cloaked in Thick Smoke, Submerged Foliage Breaches the Water’s Surface in Mysterious Photographs

Pictures from the week.

Sunday Happy

Hello there friends! How is everyone holding up? Are we good? We are good. Good good good. Good. Haha!

The mr are back at it for the rest of the summer and into the fall. We will be camping and kayaking just about every weekend from here on out. Back to Belvedere because it is just the best. The weather was great, world was quiet, and we were just happy as clams. And then we came home. Which is nice yes, but really, I should just live in a tent, or like a cabin in the woods. I think it makes me a better, happier person. It’s gonna happen, one way or another. Life goals we are working on.

So home and the rest of the week went as usual. Busy. The mr and I seemed to be running around doing all the stuff and working all the workings. Nothing big happened, it just seemed like there was always something going on that needed immediate attention. Oh, we did have a freak storm that knocked out the power for hours and knocked over a bunch of big ass trees so that happened. And we did have the littles and Barb over for dinner, ice cream,and camping trip planning. Miley brought her new cell phone over with her and preceded to show everyone she could the text I sent her when she got it. I might have said something on the lines of “I am so excited that you got a cell phone!”. She screened shotted and is now using it against me. What can you do?

I also fired and unload a bisque kiln of mostly all my pieces this week and that was a treat for sure. I have never had a kiln (mostly) all to myself and I got to tell, it was pretty freaking fantastic. I can’t wait to have my own kiln.

Toward the end of the week Judah come over for a sleep over where we tried to tear a stump (unsuccessfully) out of the yard, ate so many cucumbers, and watched Ace Venture. I made the normal pancakes for breakfast followed up by bean and flower picking at the farm and then whatever else he and the mr were up to when they go out and do stuff. I came home to clean up their mess and place pretty flower arrangements all over the house. And eat beans of course.

So it’s Sunday which means we will be tossing the tent and kayaks into the truck and heading out into the woods for another camping adventure. It’s crazy how much camping we do and how I still get so very excited about it. Again, I should be living in the woods. 🏕

Stuff the internet had on it this week

-What the heck is happening with the Postal Service? Not good stuff.

-The mr was on the news! Little Free Pantries pop up around Burlington

-2020 Is the Year of the Freezer. The mr has been bitching at me for years about my freezer game. He can’t ever again.

-Underground gyms. I had a feeling this was going to be a thing. Secret Gyms And The Economics Of Prohibition

-Have We Been Thinking About Pain All Wrong? We should be grateful for pain? Kinda yeah.

-I completely agree.Don’t Be Shy—Paint Your Ceilings. We have painted out bedroom ceiling gold. It was 100% best choice ever.

-This L.A. Ceramicist Embraces the Strange. She has a treehouse for all of her ceramics. I should do that too.

-Say no to the undies!. This Gynecologist Wants You to Go Commando During Workouts — Here's Why

-The Escapist Land Of 'Cottagecore,' From Marie Antoinette To Taylor Swift. I guess when you don’t live in Vermont, well then you need the pictures. Ha

-I have a pie dough waiting to be filled. Everything You Need to Know About Par-Baking.

Pictures from the week

Sunday Happy

It SNOWED!!!❄️❄️❄️ Finally. And after a good bout of freezing rain. But you know what, I liked that too. But snow. It’s like all of a sudden the natural world makes sense again. No more balmy 50 degree days, just nice and cold. Freezing in fact but I love it. And seriously, my body does too. Those flip days where its damp and cool but not cold makes my hand swell and hurt. Give me teens and I am all good.

Besides the good weather we have had this past week, there hasn’t been to heck of a lot. The mr and I did drive Megans face (and body) down to Boston for a quick hot minute (or literally an hour) to a doctors appointment and then jumped back into the car and drove home. That was a whirlwind of a day. Mostly I have been spending a lot of time down in the basement studio working on mugs and plates and a few other things, trying to stock up on stock for selling purposes and what not. Because after a lot of though and second guessing of myself, I have decided that I am going to try and start selling more of my pottery. Even have a little online store thing (which I am trying to build now and is harder then I care for it to be). I even started a new instagram account for it (stemandnode) and am trying to figure out how to sell from that. So yeah, been busy trying to do business things.

Otherwise, same same. The mr has barely been home, working away on a few projects, shoveling snow, and showing apartments. We did get a to have an awesome hang out time and dinner with Judah. We did some drawing, ate some food, and just talked about how awesome we were. (That kid, he is one of my favorite humans.) I also spent time at the studio pugging clay and chatting up members. And finally, with a heavy heart, I moved the Christmas tree out of the house. It now resides on the front porch where it will probably stay for another few weeks. It just looks right out there.

We got even more snow last night (!!!) and snow means snowshoes and that is what we are doing today. I am very much excited. This will be the first time this winter that we are able to go! (due to lack of snow.) After snow shoeing, I think I am gonna hit the library, maybe go restock my spices from the bulk bins at the coop, maybe stop in an see the littles, and then hopefully, just come home and chill a bit. Get ready for a week of things and stuff. Make a big pot of split pea soup and go to bed early. Mellow and quiet. Sounds like an A+ day to me.

Some links from the internet to read.

-How Did Humans Boil Water Before the Invention of Pots? Whoa, what a process.

-Spending to much time looking at kilns. Maybe someday or maybe someone will just buy me one. HA

-Should we buy it?

-Our average body temperatures seem to be dropping. I know my average is like 97 something. I always thought I was special. I guess not.

-Apparently Cleaning Our Homes Gives us Just as Much Adrenaline as Race Car Driving. I guess I know how reach car drivers feel on a regular bases.

-Taking care of yourself has a few more benefits other then not feeling like shit all the time. Scientists Calculated How Much Longer You Can Live With a Healthy Lifestyle

-The New York Public Library Has Calculated Its Most Checked-Out Books Of All Time. I love LOVE that is was a children's book, about snow!

-Oh this is so tempting. I miss working in coffee shops. This Irish Island Will Pay Room and Board for You and a Friend to Work in a Coffee Shop

-The Dark Side of ‘Compostable’ Take-Out Containers. Not as good as you thing.

-Awesome. Delicate Embroideries Feature Anatomically Accurate Lungs, Brain, and Facial Vessels

Pictures from the week

-C

Sunday Happy

December in action and we are taking it at full speed. All the activities, the birthdays, the holiday celebrations… So much and I love it all, even if I feel like a crazy lady and want to run screaming from groups of people bigger the 2. I’ll deal with the interactions now and just plan to spend the month of January hiding and recovering. I’ll be ok.

The week started with the hunt for our Christmas tree. The Green Mountain National Forest, seventh year running, and this year did not disappoint. A fantastic hike into the woods near a beaver pond with lots of trees, snow on the ground, and no people. Exactly how I like to find our tree. And find it we did, the most perfect (too perfect?) tree. And it only took about an hour of almost cutting down like 20 other trees. Once we were positive, the mr cut it down, we said our thanks to the world, then hiked our tree out of the woods and slid it into the back of the car. Hopped in, cranked the Christmas music, and we were good to go. A perfect Christmas tree expedition.

Then life. Kind of a busy week in terms of birthdays. The beginning of the week Justin turned older by a year, then the next day Sophia did to so we partied with spaghetti, chocolate chocolate cake with tiny apples (she wanted it to be apple shaped but I just made little apples instead), and ballerina style dancing. Then there was a little lull in activities as far as birthdays where the mr and I did some stuff like work stuff, (more him then me), decorated, hung out with Barb, did the doings.

And then Friday. After an afternoon of loading kilns next to other kilns that were 2100 degrees and almost burning my face off, it was a rush to get home and prepare for the masses. Not technically the mr’s birthday, but we had his annual grilled cheese and soup birthday celebration. Pretty much the whole fam at the house again. Lots of grilled cheeses sandwiches were made, so much soup was scooped (tomato and split pea per usual), and cake and ice cream concluded the night. And I only found half a grilled cheese sandwich under the couch when I was cleaning yesterday… Progress? I don’t know, but there definitely was a few big dried soup puddles on the floor. But not on the couch! So there is that.

Back to Sunday. Not sure whats on the agenda for today but I have some stuff I need to do and I know that the mr has some stuff he needs to do. Plus together we have some stuff we need to do so we will see what gets done. Mostly though, I think I am shooting for a small hike, some coffee, and a chill afternoon of reading on the couch, facing the lit up Christmas tree. That would be swell.

Check out what I checked out from the internet this week.

-The Farmers' Almanac Winter Forecast Is Here—and Brrr!. Give me all the snow!!!!

-I can’t imagine a life without reading. Not A Regular Reader? 4 Strategies To Make Reading A Habit

-Why Your Kid Loves the Garbage Truck So Much. I liked the cement trucks…they don’t stink an they spin.

-I am sorry, but this is some bullshit. Italian Artist's Duct-Taped Bananas Are Selling for $120,000 Each

-How to Stop Making Excuses and Start Composting Already. And in Vermont, it’t the law!

-Netflix is perverted. Ha! The Brands Are (Literally) Too Horny and Must Be Stopped

-Food delivery and takeout are on the rise. So are the mountains of trash they create.I like the idea of reusable metal tin. Could we get there?

-Here's Why Your Favorite Headband Always Leaves You With a Headache. I used o wear headbands all the time, but had to stop because of the head pressure it caused.

-How Often, Really, Do You Follow This Recipe Instruction?. Never but always. I like to add color to food, but only when it is edible and adds flavor.

-The sink that looks kind of like a mini tub…. Swoon. For a Long Winter’s Nap: A Manor House and a Schoolhouse in the German Countryside, Available for Stays

And pictures from the week

Sunday Happy

Not just sweater weather, which it had been all week and I am LOVING IT, but it’s lamp light weather too. I forgot that I had all these fantastic lights around my house and yesterday when it was dark out at 6 (it was raining so the sky was cloudy) I got to turn on a couple lamps that haven’t had any action in months. It was soooo nice and cozy. This my friends, this is the best time of year!

Camping last week was great and not so great. The campground was pretty, but our fellows campers were very rawdy and loud and there was a party at the picnic pavilion that had a shitty classic rock cover band playing. The noisy people and shitty music echoed through the park for longer then anyone should have had to deal with it. But I guess that happens, especially on a long holiday weekend. And really, besides the buttheads, we had fun. We went for a nice hike through the woods and into giant fields of wildflowers and goldenrod then spent some great time in the kayaks on a nearby lake (away from all the people). Plus after eating dinner and then packing it in for the night, we didn’t get soaking wet, which we could tell by the many car doors slamming and people screaming at 1am , a good few people did. Our tent stayed nice and dry inside and we even managed to stay dry when we got out of the tent and and realized it was sitting in a giant puddle. We even managed to stayed pretty dry packing up and getting on our way home, in the rain! It’s because we are good at coming I guess.

Then the rest of the week came and went in a fast blur. Mostly some same. Had lunch with Barb, cleaned apartments for new tenants,, made cards for artwork, picked up farm share, and you know, other life stuff. I have been busy in the kitchen harvesting garden food and canning or freezing it as well. Trying to stock up on as much food as I can for the winter. Then the littles slept over Friday. We watched Dumb and Dumber and I fell asleep on the couch. Woke up made waffles (I was so excited to use my waffle iron. It’s been too long) and sent them on their way home to be moody tweens because that is now happening.

Oh, and I can’t forget about how some little shithead smashed in the back of our car. Yup, that happened too. But that is pretty much it. I think….

Now for today. Mt Auscunty State park if all goes to plan. Should be a fun one with lots of hiking and a big high tower and stuff. I know it is gonna get mighty cold tonight so I am packing my winter long underwear and a jacket, hat, and mittens. So excited!

Links to explore on the internet.

-Doctors are now prescribing houseplants to help treat anxiety and depression. Makes a whole heck of a lot of sense to me. And why not try this simple remedy before trying a bunch of drugs?

-I wasn't;t surprised much when I read this. Junky processed food is so bad, especially if it is all you eat. .19-Year-Old Goes Blind Due to Diet of Pringles, Bread, Fries, and Processed Meats

-Lush Botanical Forms Translated Into Abstract Embroideries . So very pretty.

-Another good reason to ditch that pessimistic attitude and to look at he bright side of things. It doesn’t hurt to try. Optimists For The Win: Finding The Bright Side Might Help You Live Longer

-Why do clowns creep us out? Because they are creepy, that is why.

-I want, no, I need this cabin. Totally Off-the-Grid Cabin in the New Hampshire Woods

-This Apple Might Be the Most Anticipated Piece of Produce in History. I heard about this apple few years ago. I wonder if it’s gonna live up tp all the hype. We shall see.

-Why don’t we have one of these? The Otter: The 1950s Amphibious Caravan That Time Forgot!

-Can Bullet Journaling Save You? I am a list maker in all the ways. I a ma doodler to no end. I love pretty things and I love hand writing and have a ton of sketch books but besides the occasional list of note in a sketch book, I have never really gotten into Buju. It’s to time sensitive I think, for me anyway.

-Squeeze in a Quick Nap at Work with This Under-Desk Hammock. A new way to sleep on the job. HA.

Pictures from the week.

-C