Sunday Happy

How are you doing these days? Me, I am fine. Fine. Fine, fine fine. I am fine right?

This week was a doozy. It started off good with a family BBQ party for Anthony’s high school gradation. It was great. The weather was perfect, Megan was happy, Anthony was happy, and it was just nice to see family together at once again.

But then the week started to suck. A list of bullshit. It started with a cute little stupid asshole wood chuck. In the matter of 24 hour, the hairy little fucker ate my ENTIRE GARDEN!!!! Pretty much everything. All the greens, the beans, the zucchini plants, all the flowers, the radishes, I mean, EVERYHITNG. The only thing that it kind of spared were the tomatoes, although he did munch on them too. So I cried. and I yelled and cried some more. Then I replanted and fenced off my garden. Hopefully he won’t come back after the mr plugged the hole in the fence and had a stern talking-to with him…..

And then there was a lot of drama drama drama with a family member that I don’t want to get into but oh my fuck. Some people, I just can’t. I am gonna leave it at that.

And then the fridge decided to stop working again.

And I got stung by a yellow jacket and my arm blew up and itched for days.

And we are in a heat wave.

And I am getting ready to finally file taxes….

AAAAAAHHHHH!

So yeah. Not the finest week. But there was good stuff too, I am just to cranky right now (so freaking HOT!) to remember. HA! I really hate hot weather. I think I get a little summer seasonal affective disorder. For real.

Today the mr is working and I am spending the day doing chores. I have a desk that needs painting, a basement that is is dire need or cleaning, laundry up the wazoo, and a broken fridge that need fixing, again. I am also going to smack on my respirator and go to town on the clay dust in my studio. Then maybe I will allow myself some time to lay on the kitchen floor with my hot sticky body pressed against the cool wood floors, with a hot coffee in hand of course. Fuck I hate hot weather!

Sorry for the ranting. Have a fantastic day!

Internet links from the week.

-Bakers, and eaters for that matter, doing thing to make the world a better place. I think I will do a bake sale soon too! Bakers Against Racism Is Just the Beginning

-This is a question that I have asked a lot.When Is the Artist Assistant Just the Artist?

-Vermont ranked largest producer of maple syrup, brings in over 2.2 million gallons. Yeaya Vermont!

-Have you baked lately? Have you slowed down or stopped? I don’t know about you, but I always bake a little less in the hot ass summer months because I don’t want to turn stove off but I do know a lot of people are sick of the kitchen from all the quarantine time and have abandoned the kitchen. IT’s ok, you an always go back! The Great Pandemic Bake-Off May Be Over

-Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ice. Good information to know, especially now that it is summer.

-My dream WINDOWS!!!!

-BUILT-INS FOR THE WIN. I didn't think I was built in sitting kind of person but I love all of these.

-Live in Vermont? Know your shit. SINGLE-USE PRODUCTS LAW 

-Libraries Are Dealing With New Demand For Books And Services During The Pandemic. I know that my libraries (yes, I have 2) have had a huge demand. We are still doing online reservations and curbside pick up, but man, trying to reserve a book lately has been rough… always already out!

-When I was a little, I always wondered if everyone saw color differently and no one could prove that my blue was a different color then your blue because of how our brains work.. I still think that is possible. Hummingbirds can see colors we can’t even imagine. The humming birds know what I Am talking about.

Pictures from the week

-C

Sunday Happy

Can you actually believe that it is May? It still seems unreal to me. But you know what is so real right now? Spring. IT is so so so amazing out, like the best. Some rainy days and some sunshine and warmth, green stuff everywhere. Flowers, cut grass, gardening..I have been pretty stinking happy.

Another week gone by week. So many walks, hikes, and bike ride.(The mr and I are the officially the family outdoor motivators. Who doesn’t want to hang out with us?) Our first walk of the week was with Barb, Cam, and Jackson. We strolled to the lake, screwed around for a while, Jack meditated on driftwood in the water then fell in. Went back to the house where I proceeded to give Jackson my first haircut of the week and I did an ok job, especially because I was actually fixing the hack job of a cut he tried to give himself. Ha. The next day I went over to Erins and proceeded to give the second haircut of the week to Coco. That went alight, I just gave him a cookie and hacked away. Again, not bad considering he was fidgeting and kind of screaming at me the whole time.

After that the week was full of more hiking, another round of cupcake baking this time with So Bean, paperwork up the butt, and research on tires and cellphones. Blah. I hate shopping research. Oh and the parking lot. Need an idea for something to do with some littles, Find a vacant parking lot, get a bouncy ball, and let it rip. The mr and I took Judah and Coco to the empty school lot and spent almost an hour chasing around a freaking tiny bouncy ball. It was the highlight of all our week. That and the long phone conversation I had with a cop about Mark. Mark is officially a college grad (I know, CRAZY!) And has basically been hired to be a state trooper (so many Super Trooper jokes) She called just to talk about what kind of person he is and to make sure he hasn’t murdered anyone. To bad I told her he is just a fucker and should not be hired to police ANYBODY HA! Just kidding, I made him sound even better then he really is. HAHAHA.

So yeah, other then that, nothing to crazy. Just staying sane with lots of running, biking, a little work in the studio, gardening, and making sick playlists on Spotify. Oh, and I gave my third haircut of the week to myself. I was in the kitchen cutting up rhubarb with the kitchen scissors and the urge hit. Gathered my hair into a bunch and just snipped a few haggard inches off… Not my best work but I don’t really give a shit. 😁

Today the mr and I are leaving super early for a hiking/fishing excursion, then we are going to check out Shannon and her mans house that is under construction. We need to make it back in town to do a few errands and to go check on the littles. Plus I really want to spend at least an hour in the backyard getting all the dirt under my fingernails. Going to cram as much stuff into the day as we can.

Interent links from the week.

-The Man Who Runs 365 Marathons a Year. I don’t know about a complete marathon, but I get it. I can’t stop either.

-How I stumbled on this???? Whoa Diddy, whoa.

-I really appreciate a good shelve. GETTING YOUR SHELVES TOGETHER.

-Passive homes are way cool. A Passive House Primer, Ultra-Energy Efficiency Edition

-What To Do When People Don't Practice Social Distancing. Screaming “Stay the fuck away” might not be the right move.

-I guess I am a person that wants a bean bag chair now. The Original Bean Bag Chair

-And here I thought I was fancy with my empty milk carton house.These downloadable architecture projects let kids build their own cities and skyscrapers

-This weird trick can make an onion taste like an apple. What do you think of that!?

-Art out of nature. Stones, Leaves, and Shells Whorl in Hypnotic Land Art by Jon Foreman

-SNL Nails What It’s Like to Grocery Shop Right Now. Dasini Water. SO TRUE!

Pictures from the week.

Sunday Happy

The past week was a blur.

A friend sent me a meme the other day that really hit home for me. It said “I wish this would all be over so everyone would just leave me the fuck alone” Yup.

And a few days ago I accidentally dropped my new toothbrush into toilet. But I am ok. And in case you are wondering, I had a new toothbrush on standby so my teeth are ok too.

How are you holding up? Going crazy? Are you getting shit done? Are you loving it or hating it? Or are you just getting use to it but then freaking out about how use to it you are getting? That last is me. Usually what happens is I will be feeling calm and fine but then I will read or hear something totally fucked on the news (I listen to NPR for most of the day so it’s my own damn fault but I have been switching my listening habits to mostly music or podcasts. I have made some pretty sick quarentine playlists for sure.) and the emotions go haywire again. But I think mostly, for me, I am just feeling kind of, well I don’t know, wonky? Itchy? Irritable? All of the above, plus a little scared, sad, and crazy. But also happy, grateful, and calm. So many feelings and I am not good with a lot of feels at once. Thats it! I am a EMOTIONALLY OVERLOADED!

Anyway, the weather, so nice! Good thing to because besides taking the littles almost everyday out for their daily hikes, or being able to walk around the block with my mom (10 feet apart), either the mr or I might end this thing living up in the tree house. Hahaha. No, we are so good, we just have our moments that may or may not end in obscene hand gestures and lots a vomit. 😁 But seriously, the tree house. It’s our contingency plan. The mr has spent a fair amount of time up there carving spoons or just sitting, just to give me space. (he is so nice!) And I have discovered the amazingness of headphones. I don’t usually have a need to wear them but this week I busted out an old pair and realized how amazing it is to not hear anything other then music. Really loud music. It’s like being alone. Ah, the small things.

Today. Sunday, in case you were wondering. It is not a great day for me. It’s 4 years ago that Sean died so I am emotional and cranky and blah. So what I am going to do is go for a run, call my mom, text all my siblings that I love them and then tell everyone to leave me the fuck alone. The mr and I are going to take a drive, find some woods where I can be with no one else around hide away for a while. Then we need to go grocery shopping. I am down to my last serving of carrots and ran out of my St Patricks day stash of cabbage. I am really hoping people have calmed the fuck down and haven’t emptied the produce section by the time I get there. I will lose my shit if I can’t get some carrots. Not today. Just have the fucking carrots.

My internet looking from me to you.

-Read a few and you will laugh and feel better about wanting to punch a wall or bite your partner. The Social Distance Project

-Fuck It, Let Them Eat Cake. If it makes things ok, even just for a little while, then why the fuck not.

-I could totally be quarantined here. Detailed Minimalism’: A Designer’s Bucolic Cottage in the Welsh Countryside

-There's No Better Time to… Use the Oldest Thing In Your Pantry. Seriously. I went through my pantry and have been using all the oldest stuff first. I haven’t even restocked half of my beans because I am trying to use up all of what I have. (I have like 12 different varieties so I have a tone of beans) IT feels good.

-This is very important. How to Not Completely Hate the People You’re Quarantined With.

-STARTING SEEDS INDOORS: HOW AND WHEN TO START SEEDS. I started a bunch of stuff this week!!!!

-You wanted to know, you just didn't;t know you wanted to. The Wild but True Story of How One Writer Figured Out the Origin of the “Triscuit” Name

-As a potter and a perpetual hand washer anyway, my hands are always dry as fuck. This is one of my favorite hand creams (I use it on my face at night in the winter too) Weleda Skin Food Original Ultra-Rich Cream Also this. Hemp Hand Protector

-How Nature Has Become America’s Saving Grace As We Shelter In Place. Just remember to take care and maybe consider what will happen if we don’t take more steps and keeping this planet healthy….

-Still have a couple rainbows and mugs for sale on the web store. Going to throw some rainbow mugs up there later this week too. stem+node Ceramics

Pictures from the week.

Sunday Happy

Holy shit. I am so hot. Like heated to the very depths of my soul and can’t even think straight, hot. And It sucks, but what can we do about it? (Apparently I can bitch about it. Ha!)

We started the week off in the woods doing the camp thing. The park, Allis State Park, was just gorgeous. Nice and quite, lush and green, with a really cool fire tower with views for days. (I climbed it, the mr stayed on solid ground) The weather was amazing and it really was just what we needed. We went for a good hike, made lentils and zucchini for dinner, then just hung around and chilled by the fire. The perfect start to camping season even though I forgot my camp clothes. We were coming from a visit that required me to look decent and I forgot to pack a change of clothes and only grabbed my thin thermal underwear that I sleep in. But lucky me, the mr let me wear his extra shirt so I managed alright. That mr. Always looking out for me.

Back in town we did life as usual although with the heat and all we, especially me, have functioned at a much slower pace. We did manage to go for a bike ride lunch, another couple small hikes, and pick lots of flowers on top of feeding Megans cat everyday. And my garden is growing at a rapid pace and is now on the verge of being overcome by the onslaught of weeds. I just haven’t wanted to spend to much time weeding this week because again, heat and all. Other then that, same old, same old.

Friday I was really excited to spend the afternoon working at the studio. But when I got there, all the kilns were on and reaching maximum temperature so the studio was a bit toasted warm and not the pleasant cool I was looking forward to. After work, the mr and littles picked me up, (they just went to the movies and were complaining how cold it was… brat faces) we went home and I made them pasta because I couldn’t do much more. They played in the sprinkler then we tried to walk around the block but they just couldn’t make it around because of the heat, then Miley felt sick and had to go home. So the mr and Judah brought her home and went to get supplies. Ice cream and chips. We ended up watching Kindergarten Cop which I haven’t seen in like 20 years (it was terrible and Judah loved it) then made Judah a bed in our room so we could all crank the ac for the night and not melt.

Woke up, did the pancakes, went on a few errands, and dropped the boy off to his air conditioned family. Then the heat really just plowed me over. My brain tuned to mush, I cleaned a bit, picked blackberries from the yard, and basically just laid around on the floor and sweated. It was nasty and I was miserable. Meanwhile the mr was outside mowing the lawn because he is a glutton for punishment. And crazy. And that was the day. I was showered and locked away in the bedroom with the ac on by 7. And it was nice.

Currently sitting in the living room, with no ac, at 4am and the tempature is 87. It’s just not right.

Going onwards with the day we are headed back into the woods again and I am optimistic. Camping by a lake in a forest so we should be semi cool?? Or less hot then right now I hope. At the very least we can jump into water. But I am pretty sure the heat, or at least the humidity is going to break today. It has to or else I am a goner.

Hope you al are holding up better then I am. HAHA!

Linkage from the net.

-I am in the Spice Girl Generation. And yes, I loved them and still do. The Rise of the Spice Girls Generation

-The mr and I have been going back and forth between new sleeping pads or an inflatable mattress or just using yoga mats for camping…. Maybe the hammock is the way to go. Camping hammocks free you from tent tyranny

-How changes in barometric pressure affect the human body. I am so so so sensitive to it. I get head pressure and joint aches when it fluctuates. It’s annoying.

-Why Do We Yawn? Reading about yawning makes people yawn. You are probably yawning right now. I totally yawned.

-It is so hot so you should know exactly what your options are. What’s the Difference Between Ice Cream, Gelato, Sorbet, and Sherbet?

-There's An Explanation For Why You Always Get Sick During Time Off. I don’t get “sick” per say, but I definitely crash after a long stint of work.

-What the holy fuck. Arby’s mocks the fake meat trend with vegetables made out of meat (or “megetables”) But pretty dang funny.

-I love a good tile floor. Who doesn't? CHECKERED PAST.

-Hiiiiii! THIS is how texting has changed grammar & the way we communicate. I think by now we all know that a period at the end of a text is hostile. HA

-This could be my calling, or just a good way to get out of the country for a few years because, well you know. New vacancy for sheep dyke warden

Pictures from the week.

Sunday Happy

Hey there people. Happy end of March. Yes, it is true, already a quarter at the way through the year. And no, I don’t know how it happened either. But so that is the way of time now isn’t it.

A week, oh what a week. Not going to lie and say it as all to fanatic to start with. We have been so busy with work and other stuff. Other stuff being bills and paperwork and me trying to get the taxes done. (New rule. We just not mention taxes again until they are done). We did manage a warmish walk to with the littles to spend an hour arguing over weather they can get a king sized candy bar at the store over a lollipop (ended up with gummy worms). There was also a little wood carving, yarn weaving, library pursuing , and neighbor visiting to be had, but other then that, not much else of interest. The week just came and settled into what it was.

And then it was Friday which was a shit day. First off, it was the anniversary of Seans death so you know, already a not great day. But better yet, I Woke up at 4, stub my toe hard on the way back from the bathroom, laid in bed in pain until the throbbing subsided, went to the kitchen to start coffee. As soon as a I turned the faucet on, a little mouse ran across the counter. It took me a good minute of just staring at counter before I registered what happened and started to scream FUCK, FUCK FUCK! I woke the mr up with my profanity. Yup, a mouse in the house, munching on the a bowl of squash seeds I left on the counter. So what can you really do at 4 in the morning? Not much so I went to the gym. I then came home and started cleaning before I had to work at the studio but as I started in on cleaning, the vacuum decided to stop working. Agh. And so the cleaning ceased, I went to work, came home, ate dinner, emptied all the food from the pantry into bags and boxes, then felt all to defeated and sad to do much of anything so just crawled into bed. I figured I would just deal with it all Saturday and I just really needed the day to be over.

Yesterday was the lady, my moms, 60th birthday. Whoop whoop!!( HAPPY HAPPY TO MY MOM). I woke up, baked two cakes, two batches of focaccia, and home made mac and cheese, salad, prepared other foods, and then something for my dinner (my breath still have not recovered from the funk that is of a red onion eaten raw).There was a quick detour during the bake-a-thon to the library for the annual seed swap plus I definitely took out everything from the pantry and vacuumed and sprayed every surface and inspected every piece of food for mice disturbance. (I pretty much have the cleanest pantry ever now.) As for the rest of the house, it is still a mess. Not anything to do with mouse mess, just my Saturday, tear the house apart before I clean and put it back together, mess. While baking I starred in on my weekly clean but things happen and all of a sudden it was time for the mr and I to pack up all the food and head over to my moms house. There we finished food preparing, helped Erin decorate and clean up the house, and then lost my mind a bit. After a near breakdown due to lack of sleep, I mellowed out in time for everyone to show up while Mark and Paul were out with my mom for coffee. When they came home, Mom walked into a house full to the brim with all her kids and most of the grandkids. She was so very happy, I think….. Ha, no, she was. We then ate the dinner I spent the day slaving over, played outside, went for a walk that looked like a parade, came back for cake and ice cream and presents (everyone got her plants.), and whoa, before I knew it it was 7:30 pm and I was still awake and not in bed. Craziness. But that was it, I lost all steam. We came home to a half trashed house and I basically just assed the f out. The mr set the mouse traps. Have- a-heart, but also some not. I don’t want to know. I just can’t.

Today I am going to clean clean clean. Then maybe clip my toes nails, brush my hair, and get my head ready for the hectic week to come. It’s going to be a full one. There is concrete pouring, the dreaded “not the be mentioned until they are done” papers, I have a shit ton of stuff that needs to be glazed, seeds to start, yards to clean. It’s spring. Everything needs to be done. Good thing the world has coffee. I am going to need it all.

P.S. It is official. The sandals are out. No more shoes for the next 6 months!

Here are some interesting reads from the interent this week. Read what you want.

-The most significant event in the history of earth. Thats some shit. The Day the Dinosaurs Died

-Why Do I Put Off Doing Things I Love? I know I have been guilty of doing before but I really try to use what I have, especially it is my favorite. Having shit just stashed away is pointless. Use it (whatever it is)

-I want to experience the greatness of the cherry blossom. 25 gorgeous photos of cherry blossoms

-Life we would be something with giant cats. Japanese Illustrator Imagines A World Where Humans Live Among Giant Animals

-I love airbnb but this is definitely something that has crossed my mind and kind of freaks me out. Airbnb Has a Hidden-Camera Problem. But there are cameras and hidden cameras everywhere so….

-Why Rewatching the Same Shows Is Actually Good For You. I get this. I barely watch tv, but when I do, I like to watch old shows that I have watched before. Gives me good feels and plus I don’t have to pay attention. Plus. Too Much Video Streaming To Choose From? It's Only Going To Get Worse

-Whoa dude. Yep, You Can Juice a Lemon Without Cutting It—Here's How

-14 ways to break your plastic habit. Even doing a few of these things will make a difference.

-Awesome. KAWS Floats a Massive Inflatable Sculpture in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour

-GREEN IN THE KITCHEN. Yes to all of them.

Pictures from the week.

-C