Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I hope you’ve had a fantastic week.
It was a fun week on the blog. I shared what we do for family fun…make our kids look at old houses. They tolerate this activity if we promise them a stop at the arcade. It’s well worth the $20 we waste so that they can “win” 50 cents worth of candy. Arcades are just the children’s version of a casino.
But, seriously. If you haven’t been to Salem, Massachusetts, it makes for a great day trip.
On Wednesday the fun continued with a blog post all about us moving 10 yards of mulch. Kidding. I came up with a better title than that. The blog post was more about how we are visually connecting our decks with landscaping since we can’t connect them with more decking.
As a side note, I’m not going to say buying mulch is cheaper than a gym membership, but I can say it will actually force you to work out. So there’s that.
Now for a bit of housekeeping. No pressure, but this blog relies on the mysteries of search engine algorithms and on actual people like you seeing, caring, and sharing what you read here. Thank you in advance for reading today’s blog post, sharing things you like, sending good vibes our way, and even engaging with us on Instagram or Facebook. It all helps and we appreciate it.
Now, here’s the Happy List!
ROWALLANE GARDEN
We’ve been to Northern Ireland twice and both times I missed seeing the gardens of Rowallane.
If you’re in need of some garden inspiration, please go see the photos of this place in Flower magazine.
(image: via Flower)
FRIDAY THE 13TH
Today, May 13, 2022, is the only Friday the 13th in this calendar year.
Fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia.
Say that 13 times fast!
If you want to read more about the superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th, this article in The Almanac is fun.
BEST WAY TO MAKE GRILLED CHEESE
I’m a sucker for these types of posts by The Kitchn where they break down the pros and cons of making one food in several different ways.
I definitely picked up a couple of tricks after reading this article about ways to make grilled cheese sandwiches that I want to try.
(image: via The Kitchn | Photo: Joe Lingeman; Food Styling: Jesse Szewczyk)
HOSE HOLDER
If you want a hose holder that you don’t have to screw into the side of your house, I just got two of these.
I selected this one solely because it has an area specifically where you can hook your hose nozzle. None of the others that I saw have this feature.
(image: Amazon)
HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS OF BASEBALL
Have you heard of the Savannah Bananas? They are called the Harlem Globetrotters of Baseball.
No shade to professional baseball, but I think I’d prefer to watch this team.
You can read more about the Savannah Bananas in this CNN article or you can follow them on TikTok where they have 2.5 million followers.
(image: CNN)
READING NOOK
If I had a reading nook like this in my house, I’d probably never leave it.
More pictures of this mid-century home can be found at Desire to Inspire. I especially love the kitchen backsplash and island.
(image: by Studio Shamshiri via Desire to Inspire)
MADE ME LAUGH
A recent conversation in our household…
Me: I found gas for $4.15 a gallon today when everywhere else it was $4.29.
11y0: Is gas going up because of inflammation?
Me: Uh…Close enough.
Inflation. Inflammation. It all hurts.
But not as much as war.
TACO TUESDAY
I’d really, REALLY like to be invited to Sandy’s house for Taco Tuesday. I mean, look at this taco board!
Details on how she keeps the tacos warm and where she got that gigantic board are in her blog post over at Reluctant Entertainer.
(image: Reluctant Entertainer)
SHE SHED INSPIRATION
I don’t want to give too much away, but I think this will be inspiration enough for you to go check out the She Shed by WM Designhouse.
You could probably stare at the photos in Wendy’s post for 10 minutes and still not catch all the details.
(image: WM Designhouse)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.” – Aldous Huxley
Thank you for reading today’s Happy List.
Be good to yourself and others this weekend.
I’ll see you back here on Monday.
P.S. If you want the recipe for the bread in the opening picture of this blog post, it’s a Dave’s Killer Bread Copycat recipe that I’ve been baking for years. The recipe is here.
*affiliate links in this blog post*