Sunday Happy

Happy last day of February! Add a rapidly meting snow pack with 40 degree temaptures and we got ourselves a bonafide spring going on. Haha. I am not fooled. I have lived in this state my whole life. This is just a tease. I fully expect another snow storm and frigid temperatures to return again soon. But is sure is nice to have the windows open in the house for a little while!

Another week. More of the same stuff. Went for a little hike with the mr and then another with Megan, Barb, and So. I dived head on into 2020 paperwork for all of our favorite duty as Americans…Taxes. (😑), and Paul came over and sat on my back porch while I shaved his head. I worked, I read a book, I ran a lot. And that is about it.

Today the mr and I are going somewhere to walk the woods and have a car picnic lunch. After that I have a few house chores I need to get done. The littles (Miley, Judah, and Emerson) are going to be staying with us for the week while their mom has surgery so we are getting ready for that. I guess I probably should go grocery shopping as well. They eat a lot. Wish us luck!

The past week of interneting.

-Spring Weather Lore. I have heard a few of these. Vermonters talk about the weather a lot.

-I am not a marathoner but I run 4-5 miles everyday. It is crazy how spot on this is about runners, or what I think about a least. (I am not a badminton player so I wouldn’t know) What Marathoners (and Badminton Players) Think About

-5 Techniques for Mastering Your Spice Cabinet. Use all the spices!

-These pictures are so freaking sweet and amazing. Photographers Make Kids' Wildest Dreams Come To Life

-Will Regenerative Agriculture Change How We Grocery Shop?

-I did not know a yellow penguin even existed. I love it. A Rare Yellow Penguin Has Been Photographed for the First Time on a South Georgia Island

-I do all of these so I agree. 5 Cleaning Habits You Should Start Immediately

-We’re having trouble recognizing each other in masks, and it’s getting awkward. And even weirder is having met someone in the past year an not knowing what they actually look like.

-Is the Western way of raising kids weird? Hahaha, yeah but I didn't say it!

Pictures from the week

-C

Sunday Happy

All of a sudden I feel it. Spring is in the air. Not like spring is coming right now but there is a hint. The temperatures are rising a little (not -15 every morning) , the sunlight is stronger and the rising earlier. I am starting to get annoyed at my winter jacket. I want to clean every single nook and cranny of the house. Yeah, spring time. It is ah coming and I am not made about it!

Past another week and here we are. Not much different then other weeks for the past while. We went hiking on Valentines day and enjoyed just being together. Hung out with Barb, had a snow storm that didn't actually accumulate to much (although I did have to shovel a lot…stupid plow kept me busy) and spent a lot of time with the clay in both studios. Uneventful but eventful enough. I am starting to feel a bit antsy, like I need to run the streets screaming, and I am not sure if it is pandemic fatigue, a little touch of cabin fever, or if I am just losing my mind. It’s probably a bit of all three. So yeah, there is that. HA!

Today, circled right back to Sunday. What to do? The mr and I both have a bunch of stuff going on the next few days (weeks) so I don’t know how much time we will have to wonder off today but we really need to chill for a least a little while. Thinking maybe a smaller hike nearby or even just a nice long stroll along the lake. That actually sounds nice. And coffee. A lakeside coffee stroll.

And I think I might have just made a plan. Good on me!

Some internet from the week.

-Explaining this week’s deadly US cold snap. A shitty week down south for sure. And why it matters The Impact of Severe Winter Storms

-A Vegan Community Fridge at a Boxing Gym? Oh hell yeah! Boxers can be vegan too!

-A Bicycle. A Trip. Or Just Pants: The Things We Buy When Pining For Normal Times. Have you bought or planned anything in anticipation? I am planning, planning on doing then things that got screwed the past year.

-The trees know everything. Ancient Trees Show When The Earth's Magnetic Field Last Flipped Out

-I am not moving Mars. The Perseverance rover is now on Mars. What does it hope to find there?

-How To Keep Your Pantry Free of Creepy-Crawly Pests. My biggest problem is always fruit flies. Stupid flies.
-The BOOKS! Tokyo’s Kadokawa Culture Museum Houses an Arresting Kengo Kuma-Designed Bookshelf Theater

-There is something about this kitchen that I just really like. Calamine Pinks in a Converted Barn Kitchen by Plain English

-Thats a big drawing. Artist breaks world record for largest solo drawing

Pictures from the week.

Sunday Happy

Happy Sunday! Another week gone by and we are just living it the best we can. I don’t know about you but I love me some mid February vibes. It’s not usually terribly cold (well, not usually. It was freaking -15 again for a few days..) but February winter is good winter. There is snow on the ground, days on and off of gloom and sun, and the light is getting just a bit longer and stonger every day. There is also the anticipation of spring to come soon (in like 2 months) and that is one of the best things about the seasons, that they change! Plus this is the time of the year that I start thinking about the garden and what to plant and getting all the things ready. So yeah, love me some February!

Again another week flew on by. I went for a couple hikes, one with the mr and one with Megans and So. Barb and I walked all the neighborhoods and I keep on feeding her face. I also did a lot of glazing, sold offf mugs, and over all did a bunch of studio work. We had the littles over for pizza night and to play with those spinning things that I can’t seem to remember the names of (busty blades?) I also busted the sewing machine out to sew a heart on a sweater and to make Barb a new neck warmer (pictured above). And I made soooo much bread, a cute ass cake with hearts, and manage to keep the tip of my nose from completely falling off even though the skin had been peeling off. Definitely got frost bite. Anyways, not much of the super exciting, just plugging away at life, drinking lots of water, organizing that papers, doing the stuff.

Back to Sunday and Happy Valentines Day to those who celebrate it! The mr and I always do but not with gifts or flowers and definitely not with fancy dinners and shit. No, we always just make sure that we get to spend the day together, not bickering, and do something fun. And yes, there are hearts involved but that is not just a Valentines day thing for us (we have hearts all over the house). So today being that is is Sunday AND Valentines Day, we are doing our usually and going for a good hike, getting coffee, and chilling out a bit but then we decided we will eat dinner at the table and not the kitchen island. That is romance right there. HAHA! And then maybe we will try to watch a movie together ( I say try because I will probably fall asleep on the couch by 8). Nothing fancy, just quality time with my love and that what Valentines Day is all about.

Stuff from the internet.

-It’s time to double up. CDC Says Double-Masking Offers More Protection Against The Coronavirus.

-How much chocolate would you have to eat for it to kill you? I think you are safe to eat that box of Valentines chocolates.. or are you?

-I don’t understand how there are still people that don’t recycle. And I don’t understand why companies don’t make it dumb easy to recycle. I don’t understand why there has to be so much shit to recycle in the first place. I guess I don’t understand a lot of things. Companies are failing to do this one simple thing that could boost recycling

-Michelle Obama’s ‘Waffles + Mochi,’ a Culinary Kids Show, Will Premiere March 16 on Netflix. I am here for this. Don’t even care that it is a kids show.

-This is really cool. I wish I could see it for reals. More my speed then a ton of drunk people throwing shit at me. HA! 'Float houses' are popping up all over New Orleans for Mardi Gras 2021:

-A Stunning Shot of Sharks Cruising Under a French Polynesian Sunset Wins the 2021 Underwater Photographer of the Year. The duck feet too!

-I didn't know so I looked it up. How Do Rosaries Actually Work?

-WARMING UP MID-CENTURY MODERN. Very much my aesthetic

-The Popular Bookshelf Trend That’s Gone Too Far. I am not a curated bookshelf person but any books in a house is better then none, no matter how they are organized. (Ok, I kind of hate the color coded thing but who am I to judge?)

-C

Sunday Happy

We are into it, the deep winter of the north and I cannot be happier about it. Sure it is freaking cold but you know what? I love it. I love the cold, I love the light , I love the snow. This is my time of year. Are you into it too?

The week started off good. I went on a couple of really good super snowy hikes, one with just the mr and another one with Megan, Barb, Alex, and So. Both hikes were just all sorts of amazing with all the snow. One thing that can always make this lady smile is a good hike thorugh a snow covered forest. You can’t beat it.

Besides being outside ad much as I could be, I did a far amount of glazing in the beginning of the week. I also started on some new designs for mugs which I am kind of obsessed with but I should really see how they come out of the kiln before I get too excited.

And then Wednesday things suddenly just felt lighter. You feel it too? After listening to the news all day we had the littles and Barb come over for a good sledding session. Bundles up to the nines we headed over to the park, ran up the hill, and flew out butts down. The snow was just right for some serious speed. Even little Coco was flying down the hill (which scared the shit out of me). Then back to the house for hot chocolate and food and heat cause we were all pretty frozen by then. It was a great first sled of the year!

After that it was my birthday. It came and went which was a day and that was it. I forgot to pick up farm share. I can’t even with myself so now I am back to eating all the frozen green beans and broccoli until next week. ( I still can’t believe I forgot to pick it up.) The week ended with more work at the studio and I don’t know. I feel like more happened that I am forgetting but I guess it wasn’t that exciting if I have already forgot, HA.

Today is up in the air. I am not entirely sure of the plan but I hope to get out of the house for a little while. I know it is suppose to be stupid cold but you know what? I don’t really care. I have all the layers and yesterday I even made myself a fleece face covering so my mouth and cheeks don’t freeze off when I am running. (Good call on me!) So yeah, gonna let the day do it’s thing.

Internet from the week.

-Bernie Sanders And His Mittens Win The Inauguration Day Meme Game. Ah Bernie. If this is not a shinning example of a Vermonter (practical clothing, heavy mittens, and a trip the post office while you are out), well then I don’t know what is.

-There’s a right and wrong way to be bored. Jeez. Now you need two be bored a certain way.

-Don’t ask me why I am looking, I just am. AGA cookers. Maybe someday?

-Don’t get mad at your postal workers, it is not their fault! 'There's No End In Sight': Mail Delivery Delays Continue Across The Country

-The Practical Magic of Vermont’s Witch Windows—and Why Every House Could Use One. Again, Vermont being practical.

-You know you want to know even if you don’t know you want to know. Wait — Kim Owns the Land and Kanye Owns the House? Rich people problems…

-I Get Enough Sleep, but Why Am I Yawning So Much? Experts Explain. Contagious yawns are crazy real. I yawned just thinking about it.

-I just bought a toaster for the mr but I really wish I could have bought THIS TOASTER. I am in love.

-Science Says Camp Sleep Is Good for You. Oh how I miss camp sleep and camping in general. A couple more months and we will be back out there (I would go camping now but the mr would have none of it.)

-I want a room that is all windows! INSTAGRAM WORTHY: @VALDIROSE.

Pictures fro the week.

-C

Sunday Happy

I only wash my hair once (if that) a week so I go through a bottle like once every 18 months. This past week when I went to wash my hair I hadn’t really realized that I ran out of shampoo. I ended up having to use some of the mr’s. He uses Herbal Essences, the one in the see through pink bottle (If you know, you know.) So all week I have been getting wiffs of the smell and it keeps brining me back to 1995 which is crazy and weird and makes me feel old and that the world is now a sci fi movie but also is has been comforting in a way. I mean, at least the shampoo hasn't changed in like 25 years so there is that. And as for getting more shampoo I still haven’t refreshed it so it looks like I will be using the Herbal Essence again if I choose to wash my hair, just like when I was 12. HA

Oh the week. Well it came, it went and wow it is now almost Christmas. How? We got snow which thrilled me to no end. Both the mr and I were pretty busy doing the doings. I finished up some last minute special orders and was delivering mugs and the mr, well I am not exactly sure what he was doing, but he sure was out and about all week.

We also did dinners with Barb, finished up Christmas cards, went on a couple of light drives, and had a evening where the little came over for a couple (masked clad) hours and we finally put up some ornaments on the tree and put together cookie houses! Miley and Judah are now old enough where their houses actually look like houses. Coco o the other hand, well he wouldn’t decorate the cookies as a house, he just slathered on frosting and ate them.

Other then that, not much. I picked up last farm share for the year (I have to wait THREE weeks until next pick up. AGH!) Went through the closet and started to plan a way to get rid of EVERYTHING, and gave the mr a hair cut and an eyebrow trim. Gosh, we are just so exciting…..

Today the mr and I are on a mission to hand deliver all of our Christmas cards. We do this every year and it usually takes the day because we stop in a talk to everyone, but this year it probably won’t take too long since we won’t be hanging out with anyone. So we we will do that, then I will come home and make coffee and start a big pot of soup (thinking a good spices split pea). I have a stack of books to get to but I am in the middle of a knitting project so I am thinking I might park my butt on the couch and watch me a Christmas movie (Home Alone or Elf?) and drink all the coffee because I can tell it is going to be one of those day where more coffee is just not enough.

Some stuff from the internet to read if you wish.

-Dear Present Procrastinators: Ship That Holiday Gift, Now. OR another idea, shop local. I have even had people from other states buy pots from me to drop off to family that live locally here. So smart!

-Do you jerk when you are falling asleep? I do ALL THE TIME! Why Your Body Sometimes Jerks As You Fall Asleep. Defiantly because I am a monkey.

-I you live in Vermont, you have heard people talk about the flatlands for sure. Where Do The Terms 'Woodchuck' And 'Flatlander' Come From?

-Yeah I would live here. Yup yup yup.

-Sisters are the best, even when their the worst. The Secret To Success? Having A Big Sister

-Gingerbread House Goals! 14 Architectural Gingerbread Houses That Are Definitely Not Cookie-Cutter. But this one…. SO GOOD! The Prettiest Gingerbread House of 2020

-Take care to season your cast iron. We Seasoned Cast Iron Skillets with 5 Different Oils and Have a New Favorite

-A New way to travel across the US. On bike! Might just be a goal of mine!?!

-I need new running shoes, ones that are good and grippy for running is the woods and in snow. Do I dare These? Are they too bright?

A few pictures from the week, mostly taken with the mr’s or Barbs phone because my phone be broken!