Sunday Happy

I know some people are bummed that summer is over and that is has been abnormally cool and dreary this past week but I couldn’t be happier about it. I have worn some of my favorite sweaters, busted out all my comfy socks, and even pulled an extra blanket out for the bed. Yes friend, just yes.

We started the week hiking up Mt Elmore to the fire town and took the ridge to the big balancing rock. The day was gorgeous, the view was stunning, and the camping that night was good as usual, although it did rain a little on our fire and it kind of puttered out. We didn't really care, we just crawled into the tent early and were not mad about it. After a good nights sleep we woke up, packed up, and headed on into town. Did some stuff, made some bread for birthday dinner, then headed over to said birthday dinner with Miley. The girl is 14 freaking years old now and I don’t even know. When the hell did that happen? Anyway, we just hung out, Erin made her a cake, Emerson blew out the candles, we gave her a box of raisins with some money in it, Judah didn’t punch her back even though she was pounding on him, and Barb smashed a pyrex full of mac and cheese all over the floor. All and all It was a good night.

The rest of the week went by fast with work and paper work and making the lists of all the fall projects that need to get done. Then Friday after work, we headed over to Alex’s 16th birthday party. And I know, that happened too. A night of jokes, pizza, and another ice cream cake, all the while Sophia harassed everyone with her skeleton cat and Anthony broke everyones ribs from squeezing us with his massive arms. Then after Alex was sick of us, we went home.

Saturday was a wet one and because of that, the farm canceled it’s annual pumpkin day where we all get on a wagon and ride to the pumpkin patch. But my farmers being awesome and amazing told me I could walk out to the the fields if I didn’t mind getting wet. And so that is what we did. Rain jackets and boots, grabbed a wagon, and walked ourselves to the pumpkin patch. I think I enjoyed it even more then the wagon ride. And we didn’t have to see any other people. Ha! Had the first pick of the pumpkins! After that, we went back to the loft for hot chocolate and giant marshmallows and then we brought them home. The rest of the night I spent cleaning because that is what I do with my Saturday nights.

Today. Another wet one. We bounced the idea around to skip camping this week but as of right now, we have decided to preserver and just go for it. There are only a few more weekends of camping left so we figured we might as well. Plus I always think fall looks best on a rainy day. So yeah, we are going and it’s gonna be wet! Hope we can find some dry firewood.

Some internet from the week

- I just sent out a family Thanksgiving text.It seemed early but I there can be no excuses this year. @ months notice is ample time to figure shit out, no? The holidays are coming! The Atlantic Daily: Start Planning Your Holidays Now

-Mail Delivery Is About To Get Slower And Pricier Just In Time For The Holidays. Well shit. This kind of sucks.

-I have always said that I would never run a mrarthon, that I just don’t see the point. Buuuttttt… I kinda sorta have thought about it recently. 🤷‍♀️ Why do people run marathons?

-80s Fantasy Movies Are Awesomely Cheesy. DUH!

-How reading aloud can help you bond with your kids and make them better readers. Why is this not obvious to everyone?

-What Are Sichuan Peppercorns? First of All, They’re Not Peppers

-I know a lot of kids that think this. I was one of them. Kids are onto something: Homework might actually be bad

-Where Trust Grows Alongside Produce. Respect the honor system! Don’t be an asshole.

Pictures from the week

-C

Sunday Happy

Hello, hello, hey hey hey!

So how are we all doing? Enjoying all the enjoyment and taking the time to relax and be merry and all the good stuff? I sure hope so, at least for a little while at some point in your time. And now we are in the home stretch. Just a few more days and New Years. Can you even believe it? Another year gone by and into a new, shiny and fresh one. Goodbye 2019, and heeeeello 2020. Be good to us!

So the week. What a week. There was so much going on that I can’t even remember it all. Besides a little bit of this and a little bit of that, there was night time light drives, long walks, a few little craft projects, food shopping hell runs (I thought I was in the clear when I didn't have to do much of any shopping for Christmas presents but then after spending an afternoon grocery shopping a couple days before Christmas , I realized that food shopping might actually have been worse then any other store. People were ruthless and crazy and just about foaming at the mouth!). There was baking cookies, and cake, cooking food for normal consumption, cleaning and just get ready for all the holiday stuff.

Christmas Day/Camerons Birthday came. The mr and I spent a little time just the two of us in the morning, trying to take it easy (the mr was kind of sick) until the house filled up. And filled with family it did, and it was great. Food, music, a little gift exchange and then birthday cake for the birthday boy (16 like what!?) We hung out, played with new toys, Megan helped me do some dishes, and then everyone got sick of each other and were exhausted and left. (I love when they come, but I also love when they leave. ♥️) Then the mr and I power cleaned for a while (the house wasn’t too bad this time) before sitting dow to do our own Christmas stockings. I got him a new hatchet, some crocs (so he will stop wearing mine), made him a shrinky dink trout needle minder and stuffed some candy and kiwis in there for good measure. Me, well the mr embroidered me a napkin with so much love, carved me the most beautiful salad serving spoons, added in some crazy fruits, purple carrots, and a couple bulbs of black garlic. The napkin and spoons are amazing and my favorite, but the black garlic…holy crap, that shit is AMAZING! I have limited myself to eating only a couple cloves a day, when what I really want to do is just eat it all at once. So good!

And then Anthonys birthday was the next day. Spend half of it making his cake with homemade caramel and decorating it all fancy like. Then there was his party (he is 18, wtf?!). Jeff Dad had just got into town then too so I talked to him a while, and then home we went for a little crash. Friday I spend the day doing some work and baking for Saturday and second family Christmas. It was a blink of a day because all of a sudden it was Saturday and I still had to go grocery shopping for more food and get more food ready, again. Da ja vu for real.

And so they came, again. Shannnon and I had it down and made a million mini pizzas. People were then fed and then we played, exchanged a few presents with dad, had more cake and cookies, and then they all left.. This time we were not so lucky and I was stuck with cake and sticky stuff all over the floors and light switches. The bathrooms were a disaster and the recycling/compost/ even the garbage can were over flowing. Again, not as bad as past family get togethers, but the mr and I definitely spent the rest of the night cleaning. And I still am not quite done yet. {the floors need a second moping and the rug needs another good vacuum… and some other stuff, but you don’t care so why am I telling you?)

Anyway, so I am ready for a freaking break. Today I am going spend a few hours at the gym saying goodbye to the old building {last day at the current location because they built a new one) then I am going to go have coffee and bring cake to my mom, come home to make one more birthday cake for the week, and then crash. I don’t want to do anything by curl up on the couch with tea, my book, which I barely have had time to even open this week, and chill the f out. One more brtihday party this week and then I am done. Hopefully this crazy storm we are suppose to get tonight will be all snow and we will end up with feet upon feet and be stuck in out own separate homes for days… One can only hope. Haha!

Links from my time on the internet.

-People Can't Even Agree On When The Decade Ends. I never even thought about the logic. I guess it isn’t really the end of a decade, is it? What are your thought?

-Speaking of decades . The Top 10 Food Trends of the Entire Decade

-This would be the perfect cabin for me to hide in.

-Are You Cleaning Your Couches Enough? I AM!

-I made the mr a needle minder with shrinky dink paper.. Don’t tell me it’s not magic! The Science of Shrinky Dinks

-We have a Christmas baby in out family. Not sure how he really feels about it. I know I would hate it, but that is because I like to hide on my birthday. Can’t hide on Christmas. The Christmas Baby’s Dilemma

-The most environmentally-friendly ways to get rid of your Christmas tree I think we are going to feed ours to some goats.

-An Expert's Advice on Coping With Post-Holiday Depression and the Dreaded January Slump.

-It’s that time of year where people often to forget to drink…WATER Effects of Dehydration to Your Body

-Cabbage Is Your Next Great Vegetable Crush. Cabbage is half my diet (I for real eat a head of day). It really is the best. Cooked, raw, leaves peeled back and then dipped in mustard. The possibilities are endless and so delicious.

Pictures from the week.

Sunday Happy

It is kind of hard to believe that it is October already. I thought I was ready, but I feel a little like I am falling behind. There is so much fall stuff to do and I need to do it all. Like hiking up all the mountains and then a lot of sitting in a pile of bright fall leaves, wrapped in blankets, wearing my coziest socks, drinking hot drinks, and reading/knitting/napping. All three at once, while the apple and pumpkin things bake and the little paper bats hanging from the ceiling sway in the breeze. Yeah, that sounds about right. And I am getting some of it done, just need to get more of it done. Especially the napping. Haha.

Last week, camping at Zack Woods Pond, was for sure, some of the best we ever have done. Before we got to the middle of nowhere that was camp, we stopped at a harvest festival and did some poking around. Found letters for all the games, a washing machine, and unicorns. Then we drove away some more and checked out a chunk of land that we want to buy but won’t because it is almost unaccessible in the best of times, so yeah no, not gonna work. But the search continues. After the land we headed to the place where we were camping but got a little lost. We had to go to a nearby state park to talk to the ranger and get a hand drawn map to find the place. Well hidden to say the least, but we found it and pretty sure not many other people know about it because we didn’t see a soul. It felt like we had the entire world to ourselves. And oh was it beautiful. The colors were starting to pop, the air was crisp and clean and brisk. The campsite was, well it was a small rock fire pit and trees. Perfection. After setting up the tent we took the kayaks out on the pond and paddled around in all the greatness that was there. Then we hiked around and the hung out by the fire because it was cold. Had dinner facing the pond and all the pretty trees, then the mr did a little sunset fishing. More campfire sitting and off to bed. As it got dark out a couple girls ended up having a fire or something that far away where we couldn’t see them, but we know it was a couple girls because they were very LOUD. And annoying, but they only stayed for an hour or so and their echoing mouths were gone and it was back to being the most silent night and back to sleep. Then the painful part. Waking up the next morning. 33 degrees was the number of the air. We didn’t complain but we did packed up really fast, jumped into the car, and blasted the heat. Cozy and warm and full of happy outdoor feelings. The best way to start a week.

Back home the days did their thing. Work, dealing with stupid stuff, me breaking everything. I dropped my camera and smashed the lens. My phone all of a sudden didn’t want to work right and the battery is now basically dead. The shower head decided to break mid shower and spray water all over the freaking place. I broke a chunk of finger off pugging clay at the studio. Then the stem of my pumpkin broke off right before I broke a flower pot. All not the worst individually, but goodness gracious, give me a freaking break.. Ah hahaha. Oh well. Shit break I guess.

Other then all that, there was a 14th birthday party for Alex. I found a new cute pyrex bowl for 50 cent which made me happy. I went down to the farm mid week and picked bags and bags of parsley to freeze for the winter. Then there was actual farm share with celeriac back in rotation! I worked at the studio (the chunk of my finger is still there), did another birthday party for Coco, who is now 3, and took the littles pumpkin picking with the mr and Barb as per our tradition. They got their jack o lantern pumpkins, I got me my pie pumpkins, and we found a garden snake. A game of tether ball and that was that. I came home after dropping them off and spent the day trying to warm up because it was freezing. And yeah I know,I could turn the heat on but no, not yet. I refuse to turn the heat on for at least 3 more weeks. November 1st. Until then, all the sweaters and socks will have to do to keep me warm.

Today we are doing it, camping at Branbury State Park, even though it miiiight rain. Hoping that it holds off until at least 830 tonight (we will be in the tent by then) or maybe even until we wake up in the morning and are on our way home? That would be great. We will see, and either way it will be good. And not going is not an option. There are only 2 more weekends of camping before everything closes up and it starts to snow. Yup, before it snows. That is happening and I don’t think I can convince the mr to set up the tent in the snow.

Links from the week from the internet of stuff.

-All the pretty colors! What Causes Leaves To Change Color?

-Got a garden? These are the Frost Tolerance of Vegetables. My tomatoes are caput but the chard is looking oh so fine.

-How Gen-Z Is Dealing With a Looming Climate Apocalypse. Yup, shits hitting the fan and everyone knows it,

-Kneadable erasers are the best and I guess work for more then there attended purpose. The best $1.50 I ever spent: a kneadable eraser

-Swetaer weather for sure, but what is sweater weather? What “Sweater Weather” Is

-The Female Founders Disrupting the Vagina Economy. Of course they are not.

-Philip Pullman and his dark materials. A new book. I an SO EXCITED, I might just buy it!!! 'The Secret Commonwealth'

-How to charge your devices the right way. I have been doing it wrong for so long.

-I am good. Actually, even better then good. I change towels pretty much every day. Here’s How Often You Should Be IWashing Your Dish Towels, According to Microbiologists

-I am in love with this little place.

Pictures from the week.

-C

Sunday Happy

That there is the Shasta and the mr's new obsession . When we brought it home last we said that we would not even think about touching it until maybe later this winter. Well guess  what, he has already started ripping some of the siding off to reframe it and re side it and yada yada yada. Later inter my ass, but I should have known. Just as long as we get the bathroom done!

Yes, finally we have started to redo the downstairs bathroom. It's the last (besides the basement) place in the house that needs to be done. It' taken so long because we have been in a impasse about having a shower in there. The mr has to have one. Me, well I kind of think it's a waste of space.. But what can I say, I gave in and we are sticking a shower in there and I am ok with it, mainly because I get full say in what happens with the rest of remodel. There is going to be gold paint everywhere.

It was Miley Lu's tenth birthday this past week, as well as Grammy Stems ninety-seventh. We didn't get to see Gram, although we did talk to her.(If you are reading this Dad, she was not happy you made her eat her ice cream in a hot car. It melted all over he pants) We had Miley's birthday party at my house and did a cake with balloons and super shitty music dance party.(I am working on her musical taste but you can only do so much for a ten year old who is starting to like cute boys and boy band garbage)

Four day heat wave followed by sixties has tossed by body through a loop. I might have got a little something making me feel a little crummy or my body is just still a little confused as to what the fuck is going on.  Either way, I am done with the drastic fluctuation in temperatures. Just be and stay fall, ok , thanks. Anyway, that was the week that and I went a little crazy and bought a shopping cart full of seltzer waters because when they are 40 cents that is what you do. Oh, and the computer. Still using barbs, but I need to give it back to her today. I guess that means I really need to figure my shit out in the next couple days. The mr is going for an iPad (much cheaper then another computer ) but me, I need a real computer.  Blah, I really don't want to deal with it.

Ah Sunday. It's Alex'x birthday today so we are going over to Megan's to  have a birthday lunch party and then maybe am birthday. After that definitely a nap and some reading all cozied up on the couch with a big soft blanket and hot beverages. A nice fall afternoon. And is it time to  bust out some tasteful Halloween decorations? I think so.

What was on the world wide web this week.

-I am all about the falling fruit (I call it roadside fruit) The mr had this idea years ago. He is going to love this and be pissed because it was his idea.. Forage with the Falling Fruit Map

- What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster It's a lot and we need to know.

-I have been thinking about all the things that I want to see in the world and that I better do it soon before they are gone. These Breathtaking Natural Wonders No Longer Exist

-The Evolutionary Event That Gave You Pumpkins and Squash. Thank you evolution, thank you. 

- When apples are cheap I stock up. How to Store Apples to Retain that Fresh-Picked Flavor

-This was a good read. WOMEN AREN'T NAGS—WE'RE JUST FED UP. Emotional labor is for real.

-Just one more great thin g to come out of Vermont. 40 Years Of Athletic Support: Happy Anniversary To The Sports Bra

-ELON MUSK'S MARS COLONIZATION PLAN NOW INCLUDES INTERCITY ROCKET TRAVEL. So people need to ne rockets around places now? Not a fan. 

-Raw or cooked veggies How about a some of both! Does Cooking Boost Nutrients in Tomatoes and Spinach?

-10 Tips For Living Minimally Longterm. Really good tips. 

Pictures from the week.