Happy List: #390

Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. It is so good to have you here. Grab a cup of coffee and get ready to relax and be inspired!

This week on the blog, I shared how I repurposed a half of a mortar and pestle set to make a planter. I love how unique it looks!

I also published another update on the Carriage House and discussed all the challenges the pipes in this building have created during the restoration.

If this is your first time here or your 390th time here, I hope the next few minutes leave you feeling inspired, encouraged, and maybe you will even learn a thing or two. I know I did this week! I absolutely welcome the opportunity to connect with you and hear what you are doing and how you’re feeling. If you want to reach out, you can always comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also reach out on Instagram or Facebook.

Now, here is the Happy List!

BED NOOKS

I’ve been pondering the lack of storage in my son’s small bedroom. A bed nook might be the answer.

This photo is from the “ski chalet” of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer, Chad Smith, featured in Architectural Digest. Sometimes I regret not being in a famous band.

Check out the photos here. It’s pretty cool. (Snow pun intended.)

(image: By Ken Fulk Photography by Douglas Friedman via Architectural Digest)

P.S. Does anyone want to break the idea to Handy Husband that I want to build a bed nook?

DUTCH SHOE DECOR

Never have I ever seen wooden shoes used as home decor until now. I love this sort of creativity from Jennifer Rizzo.

Check out her blog post for the details on those faux strawberries and how she installed them in the shoes.

This is a good example of how if something is meaningful to you, you can use it as home decor. It’s better to display it than keep it stored away in a box where you can’t enjoy it.

(image: Jennifer Rizzo)

SOLAR ON TRAIN TRACKS

Switzerland is conducting a pilot program of installing solar panels in the unused portion of space between train tracks. This sort of ingenuity is exciting to me!

They aren’t the only country studying this idea. However, if the Switzerland pilot is successful, and they installed solar panels on all of the viable tracks in the country, they could generate power for 300,000 households per year. This would be equivalent to 2% of the country’s power consumption.

The panels are removable so track maintenance can occur. They also can fit trains with a brush that cleans the solar panels as the train passes. I’m sure it’s not actually cute, but that part sounded so cute to me.

You can see a video of them laying the solar panels here.

(image: Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott via Swiss Info)

(334) 844-4244

That is the number for the James E. Foy Information Desk in the Melton Student Center at Auburn University. The Information Desk has been answering calls and questions from the public since 1953.

Students get paid to answer the phones and help callers as best they can. They usually get between 10 and 15 calls per hour from all over the world.

This was one of the most delightful articles I have read in ages. It is a fantastic reminder of the importance of human connection, of feeling useful, and of being polite and not judgmental. Please drop everything and go read it. If you call the number, let me know!

(image: Emily McCray for Oxford American)

NO HELIUM BALLOON CENTERPIECE

I’m planning an outdoor birthday party and was looking for balloon decorating ideas that didn’t use helium.

This centerpiece has balloons tied to dowels and then the dowel is stuck in a bucket of sand. Clever, right?

Marshmallow roasting sticks from the grocery store make great dowels for something like this when you’re improvising. Ask me how I know.

I’ll bet you could use dry rice or floral foam instead of sand in the bucket too.

(image: Dana Gallagher via The Pioneer Woman)

READ AND HEARD

Snopes.com is a good site to bookmark if you want to know if a claim on social media is true or not. They are a fact-checking site and will show you the receipts to prove whether or not an internet rumor or headline is true. I almost shared a quote from Pope Leo XIV this week, but I’m glad I didn’t because it was made up. A great quote, but not true. Just the act of pausing before sharing or commenting on something is important. This demonstrates discernment and can cut down on the vitriol and misinformation on the internet. It’s something I’m working on being better at.

Speaking of headlines shared on the internet, I listened to the Science Vs. podcast about whether or not we have one plastic spoon’s worth of plastic in our brains. It was fascinating to learn about the science of how these claims are determined and the challenges with the technique so far.

WORKTUNES BLUETOOTH EAR PROTECTION

It’s lawn mowing season and that means you need ear protection. I’ve shared before that we have the 3M Worktunes Connect Ear Protection and it has been a game changer. My son doesn’t complain quite so much about mowing the lawn since now he can listen to music and keep his ears protected. I don’t know exactly how long the battery lasts, but I’ve worn them all afternoon before.

As you can see from the picture, these things have seen some dirty times as I wear them while chipping old mortar in the Carriage House. Only the best photos for this blog. Haha!

Home Depot is the cheapest place to get them right now, by a lot. Don’t go to Amazon for these unless you want to give all your money away. Try Walmart or Lowe’s next. These would make a great Father’s Day gift.

STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MAGIC BARS

I’m actively looking for a good excuse to make TidyMom’s Strawberries and Cream Magic Bars. The crust is made from golden Oreos.

Mondays are a bit rough. Does that count as a good excuse for dessert?

Get the recipe here.

(image: TidyMom)

POETRY MOMENT

Wait by Galway Kinnel

Wait, for now.
Distrust everything, if you have to.
But trust the hours. Haven’t they
carried you everywhere, up to now?
Personal events will become interesting again.
Hair will become interesting.
Pain will become interesting.
Buds that open out of season will become lovely again.
Second-hand gloves will become lovely again,
their memories are what give them
the need for other hands. And the desolation
of lovers is the same: that enormous emptiness
carved out of such tiny beings as we are
asks to be filled; the need
for the new love is faithfulness to the old.

Wait.
Don’t go too early.
You’re tired. But everyone’s tired.
But no one is tired enough.
Only wait a while and listen.
Music of hair,
Music of pain,
music of looms weaving all our loves again.
Be there to hear it, it will be the only time,
most of all to hear,
the flute of your whole existence,
rehearsed by the sorrows, play itself into total exhaustion.

P.S. If you’d like to hear Kinnel read this poem, click here.

Thank you for reading today’s Happy List.

Be good to yourself and others this weekend. I think we could all use the extra grace.

I’ll see you back here on Monday.

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