Gratitude Lounge

Do kids count? 😂 …just kidding. My kids are grown now and just one at home and not for much longer.

I’d love to keep chickens, but my husband is highly allergic to eggs. I thought maybe one day I might try aquaponics for fish, but that would be an investment and I always have several open projects going as it is. We will see what the future brings. But I have been around farms with animals a fair bit, I’ve cared for horses, shorn sheep, used to have rabbits, ad I help new farmers and homesteaders with some advice on their animals.

It sounds so beautiful where you are! Is a tidal river like an estuary? I used to live in Kittery Point, Maine, and there are several estuaries there. We don’t have wisteria here, but we have fireflies, tree frogs, bunnies (all in my yard!) and yesterday on my walk a skunk crossed my path, right in front of me! 🦨

That sounds wonderful!
We loved walking on the ocean beaches at low tide and looking in tidal pools for sea life, but I can’t say I always enjoyed low tide in the estuaries, because the seaweed smelled perfectly awful in the sun, 😂🦨🌿!!!! But sometimes we would go looking for mussels for dinner, and I love eating those!

This year I am quite scaled back on homesteading and missing it very much. Still trying to build a new herb bed. I have some apple trees and currants, gooseberry, blackberry, black raspberry, and blueberry… and racoons that like to eat them. 😂🦝

It is so wonderful that you have found understanding of your needs, and from where they spring. I remember thinking one day, that the way we fill the “hole” inside us, is by giving ourselves what we lacked in childhood and needed… things like love, kindness, patience, non-judgment, consistency, freedom, laughter. Not from outside of us, like in finding a kind partner or friends, but in learning how to be kind directly to ourselves. I think my self care still includes some of those intangible things for my “hole,” and I did not remember it until you shared, so thank you!

I did not go for a walk today or visit my friend because of getting stung and having an allergic reaction. I thought it best not to exert myself or go out in the sun, for it was very hot today, and I had to take medicine, too, and did not know how my body would react if strained with heat and medicine it is not used to. But there is tomorrow, and I should feel better then, and it is something to look forward to. 🙂

My cabinets are at LEAST that old, in fact I think the shelves part goes back to the Great Depression era, repurposed from the earlier kitchen in this house when it was in a different room… or some ripped out shelving from somewhere else, before they had Craig’s List. The doors, though, are early MDF… ugh! But fine enough with paint on them, and the cabinet handles look mid-century modern. I kind of like the handles, so I kept them. They are heavy! The inside of the cabinet doors and the shelves were ORANGE when I moved in, and the counter top underneath the newer, but still ancient brown counter top on top, was orange formica! The kind with the aluminum edges tacked on. Very retro! I almost felt like we could carbon date this kitchen, LOL. Cameron had to replace our brown counter top which was warping, and he let me choose between the four cheapest countertop designs we could find, hahaha. I picked the imitation marble, and then worked my “design” off of that. I found a dish mat also in faux marble, and have been painting the cabinets white and the walls a very pale gray to coordinate, and like magic, it actually works! I have a marble tile backsplash picked out that we haven’t ordered yet. It is such a small space behind the sink we could afford it, but I have to figure out how to cut it or I’ll have to go with faux marble vinyl tile stick-ons. We are trying to find a free single cabinet to put by the stove and we have about 22 inches of countertop left we could put onto it. I’ve gone through cans and cans of paint in this room, even ceiling paint, and many containers of spackle, including one and a half gallons of “dust control” to smooth the walls. That’s why it has been taking me so long to finish. Then I have a plan for the floor, but I might wait until late summer to do that and give myself a break. We’ll see. Anyway, my family is happy about the kitchen, and a little surprised that I could pull a rabbit out of a hat. 🐇🎩

As it turns out, I am reading it in the morning. I have an idea – this won’t, unfortunately, help your friend, but – Since I am on the journey to “zero waste,” I am always coming across sources to donate or recycle things. Might your old laptop still benefit someone in a homeless shelter?
This first link is how to prepare your laptop for sale or donation (so your information is secure). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbShr8SNw-g
This second link is a place that raises money for a charity of your choice, through your donated laptop: https://donorconnection.org/

There are other ways, however, that your old laptop can be made serviceable again for others. Just let me know if you would like more information, and I’ll dig it up for you.

Most computer repair shops these days also refurbish old laptops. That is another option for your friend, but usually it takes time to refurbish it and she might need one sooner, but it might be a good place to find one that is inexpensive. And… question… did you ever reset that third laptop to factory settings? Sometimes that works when nothing else does. 💻 hahaha this is so funny, they still have “floppy disk” emoji: 💾 Sounds about right, doesn’t it? 😄

You are not greedy, Mica, just fortunate and able to recognize it. You said yourself you were trying to help her, and that shows generosity. I don’t think we should feel bad about being fortunate.

It was a good day, just busy. The days are not long enough for me to get to everything these days. I’m feeling “garden guilt,” “craft guilt,” and “housekeeping guilt.” Is that silly, or what?! No need to. Human experience is so funny. Maybe in the morning I’ll start some bread and then get to painting. 🙂🍞🖌