when the quiet deafens

[liminal_space]

my "happy light" arrived friday and i've had it on quite a bit since then since the weather has been composed of lots of clouds, lots of grey, and lots of drizzle. while i appreciate any and all bright light right now, i was hoping for more of a hard hit of "it feels like sunshine!" 

oh, well. tuesday and wednesday are sunny days and i'm going to take advantage of them. 

[i remember watching /twilight/ and thinking how i would just LOVE to live in that sort of environment. now that i find myself actually LIVING in the not-so-sunny land of permacloud, i am sort of couching my enthusiasm.]

*

the chicks are doing really, really well and three of the girls are almost fully feathered. two or three times a day, we go out to the garden shed and open the top of their brooder so they can hop out and explore. mostly, they just like to climb and snuggle on us and it's all cute and sweet until they take a big poo. 

chickens have no shame about their poopin'. 

we have mitigated getting poop on our clothes through clever placement of paper towels, and i continue to mentally design chicken diapers. 

anyway, coop placement plans have changed once again, but i THINK i'm happy with where we're putting it and their run. 

in other homestead news, the ground for the barn was leveled yesterday and excavator guy is starting work on the arena today or some other time this week. once sod is pushed off and the ground is leveled, gravel is coming, sand is coming, and we'll be ready to start fencing. wow! it looks like a horse or two will really be here by summer! =D

then come the alpacas, goats, and tigers and i'll be done. o.O

*

friday mister and i went to duluth for a date day and had an OK sushi lunch before watching "the mummy" (the 1999 and most best version) at a nice little theater. i had movie popcorn for the first time in i don't know how long and you know what? i could TELL it was good popcorn, i ATE IT like it was good popcorn, but.....i would have been OK without. 

next time we go to the movies? i don't know if i'll want it — it will be interesting to see if i can enjoy a movie without popcorn in hand. 

[funny side note: i do NOT like touching popcorn and at home use chopsticks to eat it. i snuck in a pair and used them with my movie popcorn. lol]

it was nice being out with just the two of us and i think we need to do it more often. so much has changed in our relationship and i still find myself not sure of my bearings. it's weird. he's like the most constant thing in my life, something i depend upon just as much as the air i breathe, but i feel a disconnect. then again, i feel a disconnect with EVERYTHING right now. :( 

yesterday we had more fam time and went to bayfield, wi — which reminded me SO MUCH of cambria, ca (especially if i squinted) that i felt a sense of being at home which was really, really nice. we had a great lunch, did some touristy shopping, and had a little sit down at a coffee place that served the BEST chai latte i have ever had. 

i'm not kidding. it was SUBLIME. there was a spicey heat to it that i first found a little offputting, but after a few sips, i was in heaven. kid got a caramel latte and it was also delicious. the boys behind the counter liked her a lot more than me....she got hearts:

love :)

she pointed out that my chai latte probably was not easy to make hearts in. i pointed out she's 17 and gorgeous and the boy was 19 and adorable. she blushed and muttered and ignored me. ;)

i would like to go back this week for another one. lol

*

i just pulled a focaccia gift out of the oven. she sure is a pretty little loaf:

gimme yr carbs

i could have put more olive oil on the garlic, but i really love the caramelized brown parts and always hope others will as well. it's a testament to my willpower that i'm not lying and saying the bread was a fail and i'd have to do another loaf for a gift. ;) 

~~

so that's what's what right now. 

be well, lovelies. 

Comments

[kensmind.livejournal.com]

It all sounds so lovely to me. Once upon a time I wanted to live in the heart of the big city — Vancouver where I thought all the action was. It turned out to be where all the traffic was, as well as the allure of overpriced shopping for things I did not need. Now I live off a dirt road in the middle of the woods (with neighbors' homes within catapult distance) and I love it! Small town movie theatres and coffee shops are my idea of a good time, and even the so-so restaurants that all seem to specialize in artery-clogging country-fried steak still make me smile. Chicken poop is a new one for me, but never say never!

Thanks for not keeping all of this to yourself!

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Barn!

[inchpinching.livejournal.com]

I love this entry. Your date sounds awesome (The Mummy was in a theatre?!), and I hate getting greasy popcorn hands but never realized I could utilize a tool to avoid this so thank you! I remember when we were teens with new corn snakes and letting our friends hold them too and saying it's a rite of passage to get pooped on because we all got nailed eventually, I imagine it's the same with chickens :'D Your bread is beautiful, and I have likewise yearned for a damp green forest environment but been told I wouldn't really like it because the overcast is clinically proven to be depressing. I adore the latte foam art and teasing your daughter about a cute barista, my son was vaguely listening in on me rewatching an old Degrassi TNG episode about a first date and I started pestering him asking whether he's got a first crush on anybody yet and the way he grinned even when he said "no" made me keep poking him a couple more minutes and it was just a good silly moment tonight.

I hope you feel more present and in sync ASAP 🙏

[howlin-wolf-66.livejournal.com]

Great loaf! <3

[zeecha.livejournal.com]

man that bread looks DELICIOUS!!!

the latte looks beautiful!

And your popcorn chopstick thing-that cracks me up!

[kitegirl24.livejournal.com]

I had happy lights for several years — they definitely helped when I used them consistently, for a while each morning, nearby while I was reading or something. Hard habit to keep up though, and getting outside on the nice days definitely helps more when you can!

I also found a lot of success with giving up added sugar, which contributed to my anxiety a LOT, and maybe the seasonal depression too?? And making sure i eat better and exercise regularly. And a lot of reading along the lines of Dan Harris "10% Happier", and "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolley.

Just some unsolicited advice in case you'd like some lol, if not then feel free to discard it! :)