peppers shaped into a smiley face on the happy list
happy list

Happy List: #355

Hi! I’m thrilled you are here for today’s Happy List. Whenever I take a week off the blog, I miss sharing the weekly Happy List.
To recap, it was a fun week on the blog, for me at least! Ha!
I shared how to make a Wood Leaf Wreath for the upcoming fall season. I love these wood leaves SO MUCH. I may buy more to make a garland. Have you noticed that I enjoy crafting with wood, particularly for fall crafts? It’s the best.
I also shared the plan for converting our Carriage House into a home gym. The plan involved a hammer and some crying. Ice cream was part of the story too. If you’ve been following the process on social media, this blog post may answer some questions for you.
As always, thank you for being here today. It makes my day to share things with you that interested me, made me smile, or made me think this week. I hope it makes your day too. If you want to connect, and I hope you do, you can always comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also reach out on Instagram or Facebook.

Here’s the Happy List!


THE HAPPIEST

This is the happiest “beach shack” I have ever seen. I would love to rent this for a couple of weeks, especially since it is in Australia.

More photos of this home can be seen over at Dwell.

colorful sunset striped beach shack in middleton australia photo by david sievers for dwell on the happy list

(image: David Sievers for Dwell)


ACROSS THE FENCE

This fence idea made me smile. I can imagine two dads coming up with this idea for hanging out. They look so pleased with themselves.

fence that pulls down on two sides to talk to your neighbors via beautiful work on facebook via bored panda on the happy list

(image: Beautiful Work via Bored Panda)


BEST ICE CREAM

The best ice cream we’ve had this summer is the Blue Bunny flavor called Bunny Tracks. I haven’t seen this yet in New Jersey. I had it in Colorado and I’m still thinking about it a month later.

blue bunny bunny tracks on the happy list(image: Blue Bunny)


OLD MEETS NEW

I am fascinated by the new addition to this very old home in England. It’s neat, right?

The vertical slats are on the roof too and they conceal the pipes and gutters for the home. I’m trying to figure out how this works. The slats must be a shell on top of the regular roof and siding structure of the home. Architects have the coolest job.

You can see more photos of this home over at Remodelista.

old school house with new addition in england photo by francesca iovene for remodelista on the happy list

(image: Francesa Iovene via Remodelista)

P.S. I did analyze the pointing on the stone portion of the home very closely since I’m in my Pretend Mason era.


BODY GLIDE

Brace yourself for some TMI. Handy Husband has used Body Glide for over 10 years to prevent chafing on his runs.

I’m now using it on my fingertips before I wrap my fingers up to do my repointing work.

My fingers were sweating inside my gloves, which was making them prune-y. That, combined with the abrasive nature of repointing the stones in our Carriage House was contributing to my fingers not being very happy. The Body Glide combined with a little cotton and the self-adhesive bandages I’m wrapping them up with seem to be the magic combo to keeping my fingers healthy.

If you have skin rubbing together or something rubbing on your skin that causes chafing, blisters, or irritation, Body Glide might help! It’s made by a Washington state company.

body glide on the happy list

(image: Amazon)


BOIL IT

According to a study released by Guangzhou University, most microplastics in water can be removed by boiling the water.

To quote the article, “Anyone who uses an electric kettle or coffee maker knows that the limescale builds up and needs to be addressed every few months. When the scientists boiled the hard tap water, the pushing out of the calcium carbonate from the water solution effectively trapped a variety of plastic particles ranging from 5 micrometers to 10 micrometers in length. 90% of these components were trapped in the limescale layer.”

It doesn’t solve the initial problem, but it is hopeful. Learn more about this over at Good News Network or read the study directly here.

electric kettle in an irish kitchen

P.S. This was a photo of our cute kitchen when we lived in Ireland. We boiled a lot of water in our electric kettle because instant coffee in Ireland is VERY good.


VINTAGE PERFECTION

I Spy DIY is back with another gorgeous makeover. What caught my eye in the photo was this vintage stool. Isn’t it neat? It got my wheels turning with ideas on how to make creative stools or plant stands.

You’ll want to check out all the pictures of this makeover because you won’t believe how they took something builder-basic and turned it into a WOW moment.

i spy diy makeover of lake den with electric fireplace and vintage stool on the happy list

(image: I Spy DIY)


WHIPPED RICOTTA

Today, I’m going to the store to get the ingredients to make this recipe for Whipped Ricotta from Alexandra Cooks. I’m going to serve it with some rustic bread toasted with olive oil. I suppose I’ll cook up some spicy sausage and veggies too because I doubt Handy Husband will think bread is a complete meal.

My friend, Nancy, shared this website with me. I’ve been hungry ever since.

whipped ricotta recipe from alexandra cooks on the happy list

(image: Alexandra Cooks)


POETRY MOMENT

HOW TO HOLD THE HEAVY WEIGHT OF NOW by Dana Levin

She said, “You just made this gesture with your body-”
and opened her arms as if she could barely fit them
around an enormous ball-

“Make that shape again,” she said, and so I did. “Now
let it change,” she said, and I did-

slowly closing the space between my arms, fingertips
converging until they touched-

I watched my hands turn together, align pinkie-side to
pinkie-side, I watched

my palms open, pushing gently forward, leading my
body forward, I watched them

let a bird go, I watched my hands
make

an offering-


Thank you for reading today’s Happy List.

Be good to yourself and others this weekend.

I’ll see you back here on Monday.

 

 

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