Happy List: #410 – A Pretty Happy Home

Hello and Happy Halloween! How sweet it is to see you here. I hope you have fun plans that you’re looking forward to this weekend.

This week on the blog, I shared the new project we started in the Carriage House. We also finished (for now) the project. Can you believe it? One and done in a week! This little bit of work now will give us a jump start on installing a window next year.

Once again, I am grateful that you’ve chosen to spend a few minutes of your day here. I hope you leave here feeling inspired and less stressed out. Maybe you even laugh. Too many things on the internet raise our blood pressure, and I hope the Happy List is the opposite of that for you. I also enjoy 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.

Here’s the Happy List!

THIS IS IT

This is it, folks. This photo is the inspiration I was seeking to tuck away for when we finally revamp the shower in our main-floor bathroom. Not necessarily the colors, but the vibe.

I don’t know when we will tackle gutting the shower. We’ve been pushing it off for six years now. It’s a can of worms we’ve been scared to open. Considering the things we’ve tackled around here, that’s saying something.

You’ll love the rest of this home. The entry gives off Father of the Bride and Diane Keaton vibes.

(image: Reid Lambshed for House and Garden UK)

FOR A LAUGH

How do you fix a broken jack-o’-lantern?
With a pumpkin patch.

What happens when you stay up all night on Halloween?
Wait for it—it will dawn on you.

Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Figs!
Figs who?
Figs your doorbell so I can stop knocking

HOW F1 RACING SAVED CHILDREN

I didn’t think this was real when I first saw it on Instagram, but doctors in Britain did indeed consult F1 pit crews to see if they could help them improve the process of transferring pediatric patients from the operating room to the ICU. And they did! Fewer kids have died as a result of this collaboration.

F1 has also helped speed up toothpaste production and improve refrigeration, among other things. Who would have thought?!?! Read more about it here. You can watch the Instagram reel about saving patient lives here.

(image: Wikimedia Commons, credit Peter Wright)

CERAMIC TURKEY MAKEOVER

I have idly been searching for a thrifted ceramic turkey for ages. Still haven’t found one, but I do love how Andrea at Pine and Prospect Home gave hers a makeover.

You can get all the details here.

(image: Pine and Prospect Home)

PAY BY WEIGHT

Do any of you live in an area where you pay by weight for your garbage collection? Apparently, this incentive is one of the most effective ways of reducing waste going to a landfill. Pay by weight is also the best predictor of whether a city will implement a food composting program.

It’s not without its complications, as is anything, but you can read more about it over at Reasons To Be Cheerful.

P.S. This is a gratuitous picture of the pull-out trash can cabinet we built under a table in our kitchen. You can read more about that here.

TOMFOOLERY

T his frog shirt made me laugh. Someday, I’d love to casually drop the word tomfoolery into a conversation.

(image: Etsy shop FairlyStupidShirts)

NUT GARLAND

This is a serious question for the group. If I make a nut garland, do I have to throw it away after Christmas? Are bugs going to get into it? Are critters going to sniff it out? Who has experience with this?

Please weigh in in the comments so I can assess my risk factor here. Ha!

(image: House and Home)

TREAT BOXES

I am the person who decides to make holiday treats for neighbors or coworkers at the last minute, and then tries to find something at the grocery store to package them in. The disposable package selection is always dismal by December 20th.

This year, I’m planning ahead. That’s peak adulting! Look at the treat boxes I found. Aren’t they festive? The cutouts are so fun.

(image: Amazon)

PRETZEL DOGS

Our Halloween tradition is to make mummy hot dogs for dinner.

This is the one time a year I eat a hot dog. I can tell you they are a million times better wrapped in homemade pretzel dough than crescent roll dough from a tube.

I got the recipe from Let the Baking Begin. It has an almost 5-star rating! You can also skip the hot dog part and just make homemade pretzels…then dip them in butter and cinnamon and sugar.

(image: Let the Baking Begin)

POETRY MOMENT

On the Street in Lancaster, Ohio by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

I like your costume,
the woman said, and I said,
Thank you. Thing was,
I wasn’t wearing a costume.
I was dressed as me,
a middle-aged woman
in tall black boots,
black yoga pants,
a long gray sweater
and my dad’s gray hat.
It wasn’t till after she left
I laughed, delighted
to be called out on
dressing up as myself,
a person I’ve been
trying to be my whole life.
And where, I wondered,
does the costume end?
Does it include my hair?
My skin? My name?
My stories? My resume?
My voice? All of it
a costume of self
worn by whatever
is most alive inside.
This human frame
is just some get-up the infinite
has slipped into for a time,
even as it slips into other
costumes, one that looks
exactly like you. And hey,
I like your costume.