Saturday Already?!?

Friday came and went, just like that, and no post.  Had ideas of things to blog about and things to be reminded of, but the day just got away from me.

It's Saturday now.  Folks are starving (not literally, but feels like it somedays).  Had just gone to the butcher yesterday and picked a nice variety of beef and pork.  Thinking it's a chili dog type of day, but the beef we buy from the butcher was frozen.  I used one of my "kitchen hacks" to quicken up the thawing.  As soon as it was thawed enough to cut, I'd slice off sections (large or small, didn't matter). 

Larger chunks of meat

Once everything was cut down, I diced up the bigger pieces to smaller ones.

Smaller cuts

By doing so, there is more surface area to brown and thaw at the same time.  We didn't need to wait a couple hours for the meat to thaw, make the chili, and then have lunch.  Good thing, as I was starting about 11:00 AM and we were already HUNGRY.  By cutting down the frozen ground beef, I was able to brown the meat and onions, drain, at tomatoes and seasonings, and have chili simmering in about 20 minutes.  I like that kind of turn around.  And the chili, cheese hot dogs were good! 

It's been another dreary day here, so no visiting a happy place of out doors!  Oh well!  We did get chores done, shopping accomplished and had some down time.  Not such a bad thing, really.

The joy for the day would boil down to this:

• quickly made chili
• good lunch
• grilled dinner (even in the rain)
• good snacks
• vegging
• ice cream with caramel sauce

Hope you had a lovely Saturday.

199th post, but who's counting?

other things, in my life, by the number:

• 657 days this blog has been up and running
• 5,133 page views on "Joy Discovered"
• 35 published comments to "Joy Discovered"
• 10 countries viewed this blog
• 10 houses I've lived in (not including college dorms)
• 19 + a few months of mairrage
• 2 kids
• 8th car in almost 30 years
• 1 living pet (Charlotte is our 4th though)
• 14 years, this July, in current house
• 108 years, combined tally of our folks mairrage (57 & 51)
• 15 years 7 months out of the "work force"
• 3 states lived in
• 1 country, beyond USA, lived in

Sure, there is more I could count, by the number, but this seems like enough for now.

Boredom & Boredom Busters

There are days when I find odd things near each other and it leads me to crafting; crafting out boredom.  Then end result is sometimes amusing and a good thing, other times it's a dud, but not a waste of time.

Within the last week to 10 days or so, found myself at my desk, finished with whatever I was working on.  There were all the right items for a quick craft.  In view were scissors, burlap ribbon, a glue stick, and a mason jar (begging to be crafted).  Took the rim off the jar, cut a piece of burlap ribbon the correct size, put glue stick all over the lid, placed the ribbon & smoothed it out.

 Once the "ribbon" was dried a bit, which didn't take long, I put the rim back on, and this is what it looked like.  I was pleased with the quick boredom buster.  Still makes me snicker seeing it, knowing how quick and easy it was.

Thankfulness for the day:

• remembering the stash of good chocolate
• boredom busters
• meeting friends for lunch
• getting things accomplished around the house

Hope you've had a great day!  Off to do something else myself.

Opposite Day

2:00 PM brings:

That is what today can be summed up as.  Whatever yesterday was, today is the opposite; in almost every measure, except the actual digits for the temperature (it's gone down, unfortunately).  We're back to having rain, personalities are clashing, things are forgotten, difficult to muster through the tasks of the day, and on and on it goes.

Goodness, thankfulness, joy filled moments ~ I need to pause and reflect.  It's been that sort of day.  How to keep count of the good when life is feeling hard?  Start small I suppose!  Plenty of coffee and ice for my favorite caffienated beverage.  Dry spots to get out of the rain, that would be two.  Warm, fuzzy socks beckoning to the cold feet.

Not sure if this is getting easier, but it's a start.  And this particular post may end up being written in multiple sittings.  It's that kind of day.  My attention being pulled in multiple directions.  Kids needing something, dog needing to be walked, dishwasher needing unloading, computer work needing to be done.  You get the idea.  For now, I save what's written to move onto the events of the day.  More to write later.

11:08 PM day gone sideways
Yup, it went sideways!  The whole day ~ sideways.

Rainy days need colorful umbrellas!

Happy Places

What's your happy place?  Where do you go to unwind? To recharge?

Is it a library or book store or a run?  Maybe some place loud because you're an extrovert and need that to recharge!

Life has been wet, to say the least, around my parts of the world.  Heard some folks compare our area to Seattle, Washington because we'd had rain everyday for over two weeks.  Thankful for the rain, as we didn't have to water the new grass, but it does get old after awhile.  Yesterday and today have been gloriously sunny, mild temps, and cool breezes.  This led to finally planting a garden.  For me, that is a happy place.  Sun, breeze, dirt, plants, digging, things to add to the soil so the plants get "good" fertilizer (I added bananas for the potassium, egg shells for the calcium, and Epsom Salt for the magnesium, plus some sand to help loosen up the clay).  It felt wonderful to play in the dirt!

 Two tomato plants and a grape tomate plant!

 Planted beens this year!  A new thing for us to try.

I'll put some twine around the poles and weave the plants through

as they grow.

Three baskets with potato seeds in them.  Found

the idea on Pinterest.  The little plants, to the right of

the laundry baskets, are basil.  Second round unfortunately;

weather has been so unpredictable, we've lost a few things already.

And back to counting the joy:

• warm, dry weather (with a breeze even)
• planting our garden
• final weeks of the school year
• coffee
• getting a computer back

Been thinking . . .

a lot about this blog the last few weeks.  Haven't made the time to come over to post, but have been pondering and thinking.  The intentional counting of joy was the intent of keeping the blog up and going.  I have managed to let life get in the way and not count the joy; not even jotting things down to  log a bunch at one time.  Things need to change!  My intentions need to change.  My focus needs to change.

How will things change?  Here are a few ideas I have been mulling over:

• Knitting ~ have been thinking of making a scarf based off of one years worth of weather.  Here is what I am musing:  5 to 7 colors that the sky might be at noon (sorry, no sunrise or sunsets), this would allow for a few shades of blue, gray, and white.  I'd note in my planner, after coming up with a code, of the color for the given day.  Then, on a predetermined day of the week, knit those seven days of color.  Think I know the yarn I want to use, but need to check availability of colors.  I will play around with size of yarn, pattern, and number of rows per day.  (Raverly has a "paatern" and videos already if you are curious!)
• Another area I want to pick back up is reading.  Think I read 5 or 6 books in January and then quit.  Not sure how I'd blog about that, but a good book should bring you to a happy place.
• Photography ~ either my own or a friends.  Know several folks who take some amazing pictures.
• Articles, videos, music, etc. that leave you feeling good or stretching your mind and heart.
• Possibly sharing of dreams (not literal night time dreams), the things hoped for, worked for.

That's about it for now!  Hope to hear from you.

Crazy, Random, Rapid Fire!

That is what it has felt like for blog posts the last few days.  Coming quicker than I can jot a note or take a photo.  Before I know it the day is done, lights out, sleep overcomes, and a new day is fast approaching.

I have been mulling over expanding on this blog.  Not just the joy in life, but occasional other posts such as:  books read (at the end of the month), Simple Woman's Day book (I think that is what is called, need to look it up, but internet is slow today), possible just photo days with minimal words explaining it, and a few other ideas I am not ready to share.

Questions for those of you who read this:

1. is to much of the same thing bad - meaning just posting joy stuff?
2. would you want to read more variety of stuff or at least in a different format?
3. how often on blog posts?

Would love to read comments on these ideas!  Preferably here, but Facebook is fine too!  Why here?  I occasionally go back to see what folks thought and it's nice to see others input.

Here are some random things that have brought joy.  One day, I will learn to note them down, but for now these will do:

1. aches and pains subsiding
2. ladies bible studies starting again
3. fitbit challenges to keep the step count up
4. promises of Spring
5. kids maturing
6. fresh coffee
7. getting back to a regular routine
8. time for coloring
9. time to read
10. seeing kids smile
11.  sunshine
12. daffodils peaking out of the ground, way to early

 Warm weather to dry out a tent after Klondike Camping

Beautiful Sunset!

Yes, the woods are covered with snow.