simple pleasures

I came across an article from Cup of Jo on simple pleasures. It was a fun article to read, including the comment section where readers chimed in. 

Here are some of mine, off the top of my head:

Seeing blooms on my house plants.

Good chocolate ~ bean to bar, made in-house. 

The reassuring weight of Clementine curled up next to me at night as I'm sleeping.

Seeing the first pops of daffodils in the time between winter and spring. (It is way too early here to be seeing these, but we're having an unusual warm spell.)

Bouquets of Trader Joe's flowers around my house in the winter.

Little comforting book piles.

Some more simple pleasures, no photos:

That first cup of coffee in the morning.
Texts and phone calls from our son Tim, who lives 2000 miles away.
Snuggling with Brian on the couch while watching TV.
Clean sheets.
Playing Wordle every morning.
Lying in savasana after yoga practice.
Browsing in the library.
Getting a magazine in the mail. 

* * * * * * * * *

I could keep going on and on! How about you, what are some of your simple pleasures in life? Please share.
💓

lights, blooms and staying cozy

Hello friends, and happy 2024! This first week of January has rushed by in a blur. But a good blur. Lots of friend time and some fun activities. Oh, and I'm happy to report that the plantar fasciitis that I had in my left foot right after Christmas (I mentioned it in my last post) only lasted a couple of days. I did a bunch of stretching exercises I found online, lots of massage and ice, and that all seemed to work. I've also learned I can't go shoeless in the house anymore like I used to - I need cushioning. I hate wearing shoes in the house ~ I've always been a barefoot girl. Getting older does some fun things to your body. 😉

Back to the new year: Our tradition on the first day of a new year is to take a hike in the nearby State Park.

We basically have the entire park to ourselves because it's closed on New Year's day. We park on a nearby side street and walk in through the side entrance. Talk about peaceful! We feel like we're the only people on earth. Just us, nature all around us, and the occasional bird chirping.

Here in northeast Illinois, we never know what kind of weather we're going to have on January 1st. A few years ago when we were about a mile into the park, we got pelted by an ice storm. Other years, we've had light snow on the ground.

This year, we got lucky with mild temps and no snow. We hiked about four miles. (And for the next two days, my shins were killing me!)

Here inside Comfy House, Christmas decor started coming down on December 26th. Those of you who've been with me for a long time, know this is my norm. I feel that Christmas is over and I get tired of the clutter. I enjoy starting over with a fresh, clean look for the new year. But because January and February are such gloomy months here, I like leaving up little lights and candles to add some warmth and coziness to the house.

I left some green bottle brush trees on the mantle too, and brought out a couple of snowmen.

I even left up little snowflake lights in the bathroom. Why not warm up that dark space, too?

I needed a new essential oil diffuser and decided on a glass and wood one. Glad I did because I love the way it looks. It seems to diffuse stronger than my previous plastic diffusers, too. You can change the color of the lights on this one, which lends a pretty glow in a room on an otherwise dreary day. A little PSA: please research which essential oils are OK to diffuse if you have pets. Some can be toxic to them!

Interesting how my plants that bloom are all all doing so right now: the shamrock plant (Oxalis)...

African violet...

and Christmas cactus. Maybe somehow they know that we need some color and cheer on these gray winter days.

We're expecting our first winter storm tonight into tomorrow evening, with 5-8" of wet, heavy snow and up to 40 mph winds. Then another winter storm bringing much of the same on Friday. After that, frigid air will move in and we'll be below zero (F) at night. THIS is the kind of weather I loathe. 

Clementine has the right idea with her heated cat bed. I have one, too. Not a cat bed, hee hee, a heated bed. We have an electric mattress pad which I turn on high an hour before we get in bed. Feels so good to slide into a warm bed on these cold nights. I then turn the heat off, but the bed stays warm long enough just to drift off into blissful sleep.

Maybe with all this snow and frigid air coming our way, it'll give me an excuse to stay home and get some organizing projects done, as well as working in my art journal again. Perhaps have more of a Sacred Day as my blogging friend, Jennifer talks about ~ something we all need.

💓

'til next year

How was your Christmas? Ours was good. Games, too much food, good company on Christmas Eve, some lovely gifts from Brian.

Quiet times by the fireplace were certainly appreciated, too.

I'm not in the mood to write much. I have some loved ones in the hospital right now and also - out of the blue - plantar fasciitis attacked my left foot and I'm in a lot of pain.

I've been slowly de-Christmasing my house and trying to put things back in order, but moving slow and taking lots of breaks. I left lights and greenery on my mantle for a warm, winter look. Not done tweaking, but this is good enough for now.

I'll just leave this here...

Thank you for reading my blog this year, sparse though it may be at times. Wishing you all love, peace, and good health for the New Year.
💖

only one week 'til...

CHRISTMAS!!

Are you ready? I am! Shopping and wrapping done, gifts for loved ones out-of-state shipped, house decorated, cards mailed out (I only do about a dozen these days), food for Christmas Eve guests purchased, made some Christmas cookies today.

I am wishing you a Christmas filled with love and peace, good health, and loved ones by your side. 💓

it's about time

Where to start when it's been seven weeks since I last posted? It's been a combination of things. Not in a blogging mood, having a busy (a "good" busy) fall, and feeling like I have nothing to say while at the same time, having too much to say. 

{my darling Clementine is still doing well!}

I at least wanted to say hello and check in with you all and see how you're doing. I know the world can be very heavy on our hearts at times. Personally, it's been a good fall for me except for September 25th, a day I always dread. That's the date of my oldest son, Philip's passing. It's been 14 years, which seems like forever ago. It's still a very difficult day for me and Brian and I know it will be until we take our last breath. It doesn't matter how many years have passed. When you lose a child, the jagged wound in your heart is irreparable. 

Otherwise, this fall has been full of farms and petting goats and walking along the beach (Lake Michigan); reconecting with my yoga and Reiki communities; trying new-to-me art mediums (watercolor); and lots of one-on-one time with my friends.

{rocks and beach glass found along the lake shore}

The absolute best thing this fall was Tim coming home for a visit! It had been a year since we'd seen our boy. His time was limited while he was home as he was standing up in a wedding, but we enjoyed a day in downtown Chicago; hanging out for a bit at a couple of his friend's houses (with one friend and his wife and kids, I'm like their bonus mom and grandma ~ and with Tim's other friends, I've known them since they were in their late teens); a visit with extended family; just hanging out together watching a couple of movies; and an evening where Tim made us carnitas for dinner. 

I haven't been reading as much as I'd like lately. (Goal: less time spent on social media!) How about you?

A trip to the library and the threat of cold weather moving in next week spurred me on. I'm nearing the end of Absolution by Alice McDermott. I have mixed feelings on this novel. McDermott is a wonderful storyteller and there's some compelling parts in this book, but it's also a bit dry. I'll take a break from fiction and dive into a non-fiction book next. 

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is only a week away. To my American friends, I hope your day is full of gratitude and love.

💓

first day of fall

Happy first day of fall! While summer is my favorite season, I do admit that fall can be beautiful. 

Fall gets a little depressing for me though because my oldest son, Philip passed away on September 25th (2009). My dad, grandpa and mother-in-law also all passed away in the fall. I also hate seeing all the flowers dying and perennials withering, packing away all the summer yard decor and covering up the patio furniture...all reminders that the dreaded winter is right around the corner. (Ignore the bag of potting soil, plant pots and gardening gloves lying on the porch. I repotted several houseplants today.)

But back to the good stuff: Brian bought wood and stained it, and built a raised bed in back of the house for an herb garden. I had herbs back there in the ground for years, including mint, which I was always having to prune and dig out. The little area served us well during the past years, but with the french drains being put in the ground a few months ago (you can see one of the drains behind Brian), the area was looking scraggly. And I was sick of taming the mint. So Brian dug out all the herbs except for what I wanted to save ~ chives and red veined sorrel. I'll plant other herbs next spring.

Some color still abounds around the yard. Black-eyed Susan in the butterfly garden is drying up, but still lovely.

Plenty of color on the north side of the house with hosta blooms, coleus and impatiens.

I picked the last of our tomatoes today ~ even the green ones ~ and roasted them until they were saucy. Added to my pot of chili for dinner.

Another snapshot of my day: Clementine is my loyal companion. She follows me all over the house. I was making dinner, so she had to supervise, of course.

Even though it was warm and sunny today, I was craving chili. I don't use a recipe. This is my own creation. I taste and add things as I go along, though I do use some basics: half ground turkey, half ground beef (organic, grass-fed), onions, red and orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, garlic, a can of black beans, tomato sauce, dark beer, a little chicken broth, seasonings (chili powder, cumin, Mexican oregano, salt, pepper, chipotle red pepper), a tablespoon of cocoa powder. I doubled my usual recipe so that I could bring a container to a friend whose Significant Other just got home from the hospital.

Whatever you choose to do this weekend to celebrate the Autumn Equinox, I hope it brings you joy.

PS ~ still having trouble with my blog header. Designed a simple graphic through a website (can't even remember which one now), but I can't get it to center. That's what I get for using a freebie site, I suppose. I'm still not wanting to pay for a photo editing site since I will rarely use it, but I might have to bite the bullet.