Plans

 Knowing that I was going to tour the mall store again today and knowing that we were going to measure it, I should have been more mentally prepared for the amount of time it would take.  The plan is to rent this abandoned mall store for an SCA event in March.  Plans are coming together and I think it is going to be a really great event.  Other happy things for today:

• The moon is out during the day now.  It is hard to see in the picture, but it was pretty.

It is just over the tree to the left of the light pole.

• Eggnog.
• Finding real maple syrup on sale at Ocean State Job Lot.  My love for sugar is huge.  Maple syrup is a glorious food that I never want to run out of.  There were other items on my list that I didn't find and I may go back for more later this week.

☮

Currently reading:  The Middle Ages: A Graphic History, by Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Holiday Lights

 My Sunday was spent mostly being lazy and playing games on my phone all day.  Well, almost all day.  Eventually I went for a nice walk as the sun was setting....

and the moon rising.

After I got home from my walk Zed came home and he and I took the dog, Aesop for a walk.  The sun had set by this time but there were still some beautiful colors along the horizon.

The family gathered and got into the van to see the Gift of Lights ay NHMS.  It was an interesting display with different themed lights along the way.   Some were Santa themed, others nursery rhymes.  There were a few other themes as well.

Santa's race car.

Six geese a-laying.

Those are my happy things for today.

☮

Currently reading:  The Middle Ages: A Graphic History, by Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Look to the Sky

 This morning Keziah and I took Aesop to a local dog park. ALL the dogs were much larger than Aesop. He would have fun, then seem a bit overwhelmed, have fun, overwhelmed. We brought him to the other side of the fence and he played with one of the big dogs through the fence. Eventually we took him for a walk on the trails near the park. They are brand new trails with big bridges near the river.  It is a beautiful area.

We let Aesop be on the long leash.

Deer prints!

Other happy things from today:

• Zed, Gideon and I got up before dawn to try to see the lunar eclipse.  The rain had stopped and the clouds thinned when we first went out.  We got occasional glimpses of the moon, mostly a dark orange color with a sliver of it bright and silvery.

As usual, the camera on my phone doesn't capture the moon well.
The batteries needed charging on the other camera.

• The moon had a magical look when thin layers of clouds would glide between us and the moon.
• The sky got clearer as the time passed.  We all saw at least one shooting star.  These were most likely part of the Leonid meteor shower that was at peak the previous night.
• The constellations were also big and shiney once the clouds went away.

Much of Orion.

• After Gideon went back to bed, Zed and I saw four different satellites.  I Googled where the International Space Station should be and it is unlikely that any of the satellites were it.
• While the sky was performing above, we performed a ritual below.  Zed decided to take an old shirt that he should have just gotten rid of and burn it.  So, I decided to burn something too.  There was a nightshirt of my mother's that I put into my rotation of night clothes after she died.  It was threadbare and tearing but still extremely comfortable.  I recently purchased some new nightshirts and was going to get rid of it then, but didn't.  It had a Halloween-ish theme, so maybe after that, nope.  Maybe it was more autumn and could wait until after Thanksgiving... I have a problem.  It is gone and before Thanksgiving because Zed wanted to burn his shirt.  These two items of clothing as well as some sticks and old mail are now ash.  Zed saved some of the ash, he has a plan.  The rest is for me and it will go to feed part of the garden.

Ash...

The nightshirt went up real fast.

Burn!!

• Another lovely sunset.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Placebo

 Last night there were supposed to be meteor showers but I didn't go out to see them.  Tonight is a lunar eclipse.  Zed wants to see it so I might get up and out too.  Currently there is cloud cover.   He has been listening to a podcast that has to do with the open-label placebo effect.  It is called The Placebo Magick Podcast.  It sounds interesting and I am going to try to look into it later.  The point of this is that we might try some placebo magick during the eclipse tonight, if we wake up.  Other happy things from today:

• Stepping outside with our dog, Aesop, this morning I didn't wear any shoes.  I had expected a very cold ground, it was only a little cold.  There were no signs of frost and the ground was good under my feet.  
• The day warmed to almost 70 degrees which made for a lovely day to go for a walk with my friend Amy.  We hadn't seen each other in a while and it was good to walk and talk for a while.
• Along the walk we saw a Halloween display still up in someone's yard.  There was something about the carriage that they used that I just think was spectacular.  It's a beautiful carriage and interesting Halloween decoration.  Apparently one can be purchased at Home Depot.

• There was a lovely sunset.  

• And a bright mostly full moon to light up the night.  Later there was rain, but the evening began with mostly clear skies.

☮

Currently reading: Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Spacey

 From November 18-19 there will be a partial lunar eclipse.  Here is a website with some details.  I also found this website which includes the weather outlook.  It looks like conditions are poor for watching the eclipse where I am.  I'll remain hopeful, whether I remain awake or not is another story.  🤪  The Leonid meteor shower is tonight (November 17-18) but there is cloud cover here.  Things other than space that I am happy for today:

• The moon shone brightly down as I left for work this morning.  It looked nothing like the picture I took of it.  

The moon is/ more like a star in the picture.

• Zed and I toured the mall store that we are hoping to rent in March for an SCA event.  It was kind of cool to see some of the back areas that the general public doesn't tend to see.  One thing I never realized before is that some of the walls are so thick because there is access to electricity in them--at least that is my understanding.  
• Keziah bought a carrot cake and I just had the last piece, yum!

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Ding!

 Coming home today, knowing that I needed to paint parts of the house, messed with my routine and I almost forgot to practice Duolingo.  I have now done all but one of the things I like to do every day and I am working on that last one by writing this.  Here are  my happy things for today:

• Full moon.

• Keziah and I primed and painted the parts of the house that we have been trying to fix.  Yay!  Project complete.  

This is the second story stuff I've been working on.
Some boards were replaced, others just painted.
Some we did nothing to.

This is the part of the wall that had a hole.

• Winston, the orange tabby, wanted to come out onto the roof to join me while I painted.  

• Sunset.

☮

Currently reading: Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

A Short List

 It is way after the time that I should have gone to bed.  Let's just say that the afternoon didn't go as planned... and leave it at that.  My happy list is short, but here it is:

• The almost full moon shone down brilliantly as I was leaving for work.

There always seems to be a glare...
Maybe someday I will find the time to research that.

• Keziah noticed the rose today.  Two of the three I posted about previously are basically gone.  Just one fully open now.

• I went around behind the shed to see the burning bush.  They are considered invasive.  It is on the border of the property so I am not sure who it belongs to.  

It isn't completely flaming yet.  😉

☮

Currently reading:  Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

• Speaking of burning... There are many buildings that have burned down on Mount Washington.  I feel like I should have started a tally.
                  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Roof Time

 It is 2:30 in the afternoon and I am up on the roof. This particular roof has a soft slope making it fairly easy to walk on. Currently I am taking a break from paint scraping to write this and watch the clouds meander overhead.

In the back, thrown weapons practice is happening.  Even with the loud traffic passing by the house, the roof seems peaceful.  

It is late in the evening and time for me to reflect on other happy things from today:

• For a little while there was a friend to help me with the paint scraping.  He had more experience and taught me a little more about some of the finer details of scraping paint from a house and some of the reasons why things are done the way they are.  The scraping and wire brushing is done for today.  The replacement clapboards on this small upstairs section are up too.

• At some point I took a break from the roof to practice throwing knives.  I had trouble making them stick but one time, all four knives landed well.

• The full moon is a few days away.  Tonight it was bright and beautiful.

• Aesop, the dog.

I call this picture, "You don't see me."

☮

Currently reading:  Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Where is the Foliage?

 On days that I don't work and return to what some might consider a 'normal' sleep schedule, I get up real early.  This morning as I make my way downstairs I notice how bright the moon is by the shadows it is casting.  Sometime in the next few minutes I remember I have a new phone, with a new camera, and I could see how it performs in the night.  I step outside in my bathrobe and notice how amazingly fresh the air is and the constellation Orion.  Another step and there is the moon, above Orion.  I take a couple pictures and retreat back into the house before a car drives by.  

As with my last phone camera,
the moon seems to create another light.
Most of Orion is visible,
even with the waning gibbous moon.

Other things that I am happy for today:

• There was to much time spent down the internet rabbit hole this morning.  I was able to find a blog I keep forgetting to follow.  I am happy to have found again, Fabled Practice.
• Another thing I was able to do while in that rabbit hole was to update my Amazon wish list a little.
• Yesterday I finished clearing an area of rhizomes, tubers, and pips.  Today I replanted some.  They have room to grow and I have a bunch of rhizomes, tubers, and pips to plant in other places.  Hopefully this will happen before they go bad.

The irises in the back, then daylilies.
Closest are the lily-of-the-valley
 that are mostly underground.
I put the pitchfork there as
 a rough measurement.

Close up of a pip.

• Aesop, the dog, decided that eating snowberries would be a good thing.  He seems fine and probably didn't get any because the cone he is wearing makes it hard to reach somethings.  According to one website I saw the berries often pass through without the toxins being absorbed.  As far as I can tell, I cut down all the branches from the offending plant.  One less thing to worry about for now.

Snowberries.
They remain on the plant all winter.
Some animals and birds can eat them.

Snowberry flower.

This is the one quince on the bush that the
 snowberries seemed to be taking over.
It will need more work if we decide to try to save it.

• I forced myself out for a walk so I could get my step count.  I checked Facebook while I was out and in my memories was a picture of last year's foliage.  I went out and tried to match the spot to get another picture to compare.  I couldn't get the exact spot, but there is a big difference in foliage.

This is from last year,
September 27, 2020.

This was taken today-
September 27, 2021.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Innergize Day

Leaving for work tonight the moon appeared to be moving across a small section of sky. It wasn't, of course, there were clouds moving quickly that lent that appearance to my first quick glance upward. My initial thought was movie time lapse. Other happy things for today:

• During lunch after work, we had family time and watched Star Trek Deep Space 9. Zed is still not working as he heals from last week’s surgery. There were some curveballs that Gideon didn’t expect in this episode. I’m not sure what was going on when they originally aired, but we have reached the part of the series where I didn’t watch much and there are gaps for me too.  This one, I knew was going to happen, but I missed the episode when it did.
• There are spots of foliage out back. I hope to get out there more often so the paths will become more prominent.

• On the phone today with TF we were discussing that we should have some time on our schedule for self care or something similar.  Apparently today is a day for something like that, Innergize Day.  
• The new phone has three different camera options.  The following three pictures were taken from about the same distance and I just changed the settings.  I'm liking this option.

Aster.

• A statue appeared at the entryway to the garden. A pelican statue and surprise gift from Keziah. In the SCA, a Pelican is a high ranking service award and I have that award.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.