Happy List: #243

You made it through another week! Congrats and welcome to the Happy List!

This week on the blog I shared how we are feeling after we removed the woodstove from our kitchen. I also shared an update on how we like having an electronic door lock on our Carriage House door.

When we’re not hanging out here, we are usually sharing something on Instagram or Facebook. We invite you to join us over there too. Also, we love to see what you are making and creating. Please tag us or send us a message so we can celebrate your project wins with you!

Here’s the Happy List!

OVERSIZED BEADED ROPE

Alright, Pottery Barn. You’re giving me ideas here with this oversized beaded rope.

Also, I went at looked at the dimensions and then tried comparing them to the picture. Bottom line, I can’t tell how big these wood beads really are, but I like them.

(image: Pottery Barn)

EXHAUSTED

This news clip about a kid shoveling snow is so sweet and so funny.

One of my favourite kids was on the news tonight in Toronto and I have officially died. I’m dead. The name plate alone. Gold. pic.twitter.com/3XNs27oHoh

— Meaghan Derynck (@MeaghanDerynck) January 18, 2022

WREATH IDEA

I wasn’t joking early when I say I love to see what you are making, even though some of you are overachievers and are working on projects for holidays that are 11 months away!

A person I admiringly refer to as The Junk Whisperer is using vintage Christmas lights to make the happiest wreath. These lights are non-working, but it’s still fun and a great way for them to stay out of the landfill.

WINDOW SEAT

I’m smitten with how these windows slide back on this outdoor bar situation. I’d love to build one of these someday.

See more of this Sydney home in this Adore Magazine article.

(image: Styling The Style Chapter Co / Photography Mae and Co via Adore Magazine)

SECOND ARROW

Have you heard the parable of the second arrow? It is a Buddhist principle that says misfortune is part of life. When something we consider bad happens, that’s the first arrow. Our reaction to the thing that happened is the second arrow.

This was a really great explanation of the second arrow. If the video doesn’t load, here’s the direct link.

If you’d rather read about the second arrow, this article in Big Think was very instructive and gave me a lot to think about.

We talked about this idea at dinner one night this week and I hope it gave my kids something to ponder.

YUM!

I’m basically sharing this Mediterranean Quinoa Salad from The Kitchn so I remember to make it for myself!

Doesn’t it look good?

I was thinking I could do half quinoa and half brown rice and maybe add chicken to it too!

(image: The Kitchn)

CITIZEN SCIENTISTS

Did you know you can volunteer to be a citizen scientist for NASA?

NASA has a free app called Globe Observer and they rely on citizen scientists (you!) to collect data about trees, clouds, land cover, and mosquitos.

Last weekend we went for a hike as a family and recorded tree height info using the app. It’s easy. You just take a picture of the bottom and top of a tree. The app records where it is located. We took the additional step of measuring the tree’s circumference.

The data collected is shared with public, government, and scientific institutions. The land cover data, for instance, can be helpful in assessing risks for floods and fires.

Cool, right?

Learn more about the app and the program here.

CRUISE SHIP CONDOS

Have you heard of the company that is selling condos on a cruise ship starting at $400,000?

First, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened yet.

Second, I have a lot of practical questions about how this works. I’ll be curious to follow it.

The pictures of the condos are pretty though!

(image: Storylines via Luxury Launches)

POETRY MOMENT

This poem really spoke to me this week, especially the line that ends “who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.” Worry really is a tax on our present happiness. I hope this poem resonates with you too.

The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Thank you for reading today’s Happy List!

Be good to yourself and others this weekend.

I’ll see you back here on Monday.

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