Welcome to the 400th edition of the Happy List!
Should we celebrate with cake? Perhaps cake is not needed when you’re surrounded by sweet friends who stop by weekly to check in and read the Happy List. Thank you for being here and for giving me a reason to keep compiling the list for 400 weeks.
Something that didn’t take me quite 400 weeks to install, but close to it, was curtains in the Carriage House. I shared pictures of those on the blog this week.
Also, and this is big, I shared the new project we are starting on. We haven’t tackled anything that really affects curb appeal in over a year, and now is the time to start tackling the rock walls on the front of our property. Start is the key word here.
Once again, thank you for being here. I hope the Happy List is a bright spot in your day and leaves you feeling inspired and encouraged! Part of the fun for me is connecting with you. If you want to reach out, please comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also direct message me on Instagram or Facebook.
Now, here’s the Happy List!
SO MUCH TO LOVE HERE
This photo in House and Garden UK caught my eye for the many ideas that we all can implement in our homes.
There’s a picture hung BELOW the window. Love that unexpected touch. The use of pretty plates and bowls on the table is wonderful. I’ve been using a pretty bowl all summer for cherries too! I’m also all about the bookshelf by the table. Why not? I love to read while I eat lunch, which I usually have by myself.
If you found inspiration in this photo, the rest of the house will have you drooling over your screen. Check out the photos here.
(image: Chris Horwood for House and Garden UK)
NOT YOUR AVERAGE GAMER
The Ann Arbor Library in Michigan has 16,000 people actively playing their summer game. Women in their 50s and 60s are a big chunk of the players!
In 2011, the library switched its summer game from a reading challenge for kids to a “library-using” game that was open to all library card holders. The game is inspired by corporate loyalty rewards programs.
To quote the NPR story, “Users earn points by solving puzzles, learning about local history and exploring neighborhoods. Points can be redeemed in the library shop for T-shirts, umbrellas and other merchandise, such as a very popular stuffed plushie animal that’s updated every year. (The 2025 animal is a small flamingo.)”
Is your library doing something like this? Read more about it here.
(image: Neda Ulaby, NPR)
P.S. Ilovelibraries.org is a great resource if you want to support libraries in general.
CAT WALKS?
Two cities in the Netherlands are installing tiny staircases in canals to help prevent cats from drowning.
This story was a small balm on the wound of all the horrific news I read this week.
Learn more here.
(image: City of Amersfoort via Good News Network)
CORK COASTER IDEA
IKEA has released their Halloween merchandise and these cork coasters caught my eye because they were cute and playful.
I think you could have fun making these pretty easily, but maybe not for the IKEA price. But do we craft to save money? No, we do not. We craft to spend more money for FUN!
Since I saw this picture, I’ve been wondering if I could adapt the idea to a cute mantel display for Halloween. Not sure yet though. I have time to mull it over and see what else inspires me.
(image: IKEA)
JAPANESE WALKING
Having you heard of the Japanese Walking Method? You walk for 30 minutes and alternate between 3 minutes of fast-paced walking and 3 minutes of slower-paced walking.
According to research done in Japan, it seems to have more health benefits than just walking at a moderate pace for 30 minutes. The bigger benefit might be that people stick with this workout.
You can read about it in this TIME article, including what counts as fast-paced or high intensity walking. It’s going to be different for different people. And, as always, don’t take your medical advice from me or TIME magazine. Do your research and talk to your doctor.
BABY SHOWER IDEA
I saw the neatest baby shower idea on A Cup of Jo this week.
Guests filled out this card for the baby, and the host took an instant polaroid picture of the person who filled out the card. Both items were compiled in a book. You have to go see how they executed on the idea because it became a precious keepsake.
(image: A Cup of Jo)
UNDERFOOT
I recently bought the green version of this oval 3×5 rug, but now I’m thinking about the version in blue. It’s so pretty! This is an indoor/outdoor rug, which I like to use by exteriors doors because life is messy.
(image: Rugs.com via Amazon)
NO KNEAD BRIOCHE BUNS
I suggested, at the top of this post, that we celebrate the 400th Happy List with cake, but bread is just as good as cake in my book. In fact, bread is life. I will be taking no arguments to the contrary.
I made this no knead brioche bun recipe from Alexandra Cooks this week. She had me at “no knead.”
Truly an easy and delicious way to elevate burger night.
(image: Alexandra Cooks)
POETRY MOMENT
Sonnets to Orpheus, Part Two, XII
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Want the change. Be inspired by the flame
Where everything shines as it disappears.
The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so much
as the curve of the body as it turns away.
What locks itself in sameness has congealed.
Is it safer to be gray and numb?
What turns hard becomes rigid.
Pour yourself like a fountain.
Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking
finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.
Every happiness is the child of a separation
it did not think it could survive. And Daphne
becoming a laurel,
dares you to become the wind.
(translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy
from Roger Housden, ed., Ten Poems to Change your Life Again and Again (Harmony, 2007).
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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