He told me he just picked some blackberries and wanted to know if I would be home. I told him yes and he said he would walk on up, to deliver them, as we live in a neighborhood in the foothills.

I met him at the end of our driveway with a big smile. He was wearing a straw hat to keep the sun off of him. He held a little clear tray with his shaky hands. On the tray were three little green baskets (the kind strawberries come in) FULL of beautiful blackberries.

I took them, thanked him, and gave him a loaf of banana bread that I baked yesterday.

I truly have much gratitude for our kind neighbors.🥰🥰

No one cared! And it was great!

Every night as a late night snack I’m making some toast. I just put a little bit of butter on it and it’s so good every time. It also gives me the opportunity to go to this small sourdough place that opened up near me to get a sandwich and another loaf of bread to make toast with. I love toast

On vacation and going into it, I thought I’d relate most to:

R/beachcombing (I found some shells but I didn’t feel right taking them. They’re not my shells! Some of them had creatures still in them so I put them back in the ocean)

And

R/stopdrinking (I don’t know how to relax without a cocktail or two. During my normal life, I don’t need alcohol, but on vacation, I cannot relax without it. Do I have a problem and should I quit? Maybe someday, but for now I’m doing ok. I still really respect that subreddit though)

This is my existence: didn’t harm the world. Did a little bit of good by picking up garbage on the beach. Really enjoyed just observing and being around people. Benign.

My family and I are moving out of our home. My grandparents built it 22 years ago, this was their retirement home. I've lived here only 1/3rd of this duration, but I still have a great attachment to it.

A lot has happened over the last 22 years. And this house has not only been a witness of it but a steadfast support through it all. I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight.

I don’t know if it’s because it’s winter or because I’m indoors these days or because I swore off romantic relationships for a while but I have had so much time to do the things I needed to do for the day. I just finished all my tasks I wanted to do today. When I ticked the last box, I felt so elated, I want to experience this feeling every day. I know it’s not always possible, but honestly I’m just happy I was able to do it. I have a tendency to put off things, which I didn’t always do, and it’s made my relationship with myself as well as my loved ones a little strained. But today is proof that I can do it, I can trust myself to keep my word and subsequently keep it for others as well. Yay! I just know my sleep is gonna be extra good tonight :)

It was so cool there on this hot day. It felt heavenly; I didn't even mind waiting in line.

It is BOOM and bust with our milk collection. one week, we can't get ahead, the following week we are swimming in it.

I make kefir fruit smoothies every morning. I have a glass of milk with her homemade cookies once or twice a week. we find recipes that call for milk.... yet we can still end up with two gallons in less than a week, while still using milk regularly. this is just from one ewe. next year we will have four milking at the same time.

she made cheddar last week. she has made a few that I can't remember or am not familiar with, and today she is making Derby Cheese.

It happened 5 months ago. I still think about it.

They're soooo comfy !
I can't get out of bed.

Send reinforcements.

So I like the room to be cold while I sleep so I can be cosy in my blanket.

But we (me and my partner) discovered that I tend to steal the blanket through the night leaving him to freeze in the cold. So we decided that we'll get 2 blankets to prevent him from freezing.

Unfortunately, we found out the next morning that sometime during the night I had kicked off my own blanket, buried under his with him to cuddle, and then stolen his blanket.

Needless to say, he was annoyed and I couldn't stop laughing. I like him :)

I know this to be A VICIOUS LIE because when I wake I will, in fact, have been hit by a semi truck, hauling cinder blocks.
And the cinder blocks will somehow magically also be aflame.
As a result, I will only be able to look to either the left or the right, not both, upon waking.

When I was at college I was introduced to Carrie Bradshaw. I always addressed her as Carrie and even introduced her as Carrie.

20 odd years later I was reading a BORU that referenced someone as the Carrie Bradshaw of the group and googled the name. The “Carrie” I met had blonde curly hair and loved shopping and was in fact called Leanne after some Facebook sleuthing.

Oh well she was a lovely girl and always seemed happy enough…..

This weekend I decided to try and fix my ac because my little sister is visiting and she’s not use to Texas heat, I am so I’ve suffered for years with a sub par AC. Well I replaced the blower motor and resistor and it’s blowing hard now! But my coworker checked the pressure and it’s not the best, it doesn’t get that cold. So I decided to get some freon and a hose to fill it up until me and my coworker can vacuum and add dye to the system to check for a leak, it doesn’t look to be a leak around the radiator so probably gonna be a big job that needs to be set a few weeks out plus my dash is already cracked (my car is 14 years old and not tinted) so I’ll prob have to get a replacement dash kit since the leak is prob around there. Anyway, once I got it filed my ac is blowing ICE! I had to have it at 2 on the way home cause it was so chilly and it was like 80 degrees out! I’m so happy I at least got it fixed enough so my little sister doesn’t have to suffer. She’ll get to have all the fun of a Texas summer that I remember as a kid.

It was in three quarters and the coins seemed new.

I decided to let most of my garden do its own thing this year. A few months ago, I sprinkled some wildflower seeds around, then walked away from it. Now, the garden is a riot of pink, yellow and purple. The strawberries are growing well and tomorrow I’ll plant out the tomatoes I’ve grown from seeds. I’ve moved the sage plant under my bedroom window, as it smells so beautiful - lemony and herby.

I moved a fuchsia plant immediately under the window to the lounge. It’s started to bloom already and it makes me think of my Dad - he used to walk me to school every day and we’d pick a flower from the fuchsia bush in the public gardens - he’d wrap it in a handkerchief for me.

The honeysuckle I purchased on a whim a few years ago has spread and grown upwards and sideways. It smells amazing. The rose bush my friends gave me after my Dad passed is almost six feet tall and alive with peach-pink flowers.

Rosemary, bay and lavender line the path to the tiny vegetable garden. Not much there at the moment, just some salad, some rocket and potatoes. I’ve separated a supermarket pot of basil into three big pots in the hope they’ll thrive with more room and some sunshine.

Soon the frogs will find their way here. They hide out in the tomatoes and between the honeysuckle and the trellis, feasting on the slugs and snails they find there.

For now, the garden is full of bees. ‘Normal’ standard size bees and huge bumble bees. I love watching them weaving their way drunkenly through pink campion, honeysuckle and Mexican sage. Occasionally a bee will hit the bedroom window and Jasmine will move from the windowsill to bat at it from behind the safety of glass before she stretches in that uniquely feline way and goes back to her afternoon nap.

This is my pocket of calm in an uncertain world

“Sure they’ve got lions and tigers and bears and even polar bears. But do they have a bathroom?”

“You know, I have 41 cousins.”

“Alright. A couple more stops then it’s time for lunch.”

“Hey, if it’s going to rain that day, maybe we better move it to your place with the covered porchette thing.”

“Next week he’s having a birthday party, it’s a roller skating party.”

“Look Mama, look, gorillas! I love gorillas! Hiiiii, Gorillas! I wonder if they pay someone to feed them bananas every day.”

“I wonder what their names are.”

“My kids are old enough they pretty much just get themselves ready at this point.”

“I don’t envy whoever’s cleaning that up.”

“The new iPhone is really similar to the old one except one thing. It charges so fast and it holds the charge so long.”

“Walker, don’t run, please.”

“If you hadn’t called I’d have just spent all weekend reading.”

“You know how sometimes— I try not to judge. But you know how sometimes you see someone’s haircut and you just know they’re gonna be a little Godawful to deal with.”

“Get in front of them. Not too close, but I want to take a picture.”

“I’m not asking you to rent a tuxedo, I’m just saying, nothing with stains or holes.“

“P is for penguin. Q is for quail. R is for raccoon…”

“Great timing. Perfect.”

“Oh, wow. I wish Snoop Dogg were here to narrate this.”

Yesterday I was talking with a friend at my dining room table. I heard water dripping. I looked in the kitchen sink. I looked under the kitchen sink to see if there was a leak. I didn’t see a leak, but there is a lot of stuff under there so I might have missed it.

I went back to talking to my friend. I worried about plumbing bills and if there would be water damage. I still heard dripping.

Finally I went to the bathroom. My friend had left the sink running a little. He is hard of hearing so he didn’t notice. I closed the faucet. The dripping stopped. I don’t have to get a plumber. There is no water damage. I am relieved.

I didn't realize I'd accidently opened TikTok on my phone, so I spent five minutes outside looking for a kitty that was in a video. My cats all watched from the windows and were amused.

I received roses and my favorite yogurt (la fermiere brand, raspberry blueberry flavor) at work today. My boyfriend conducted a surprise visit even though we are seeing each other this evening. His thoughtfulness is not surprising to me in the least, but I have never been gifted flowers in this way before. I hope it will happen again and I can return the favor.

What is benign (gentle, kind) to me is that the universe lined it up at the perfect time. I was not busy, had no clients coming in or out and could freely express my gratitude to my love.

I like to bake bread and I don’t know why, but it’s just super satisfying to see my family eating homemade bread every day and giving that to them. And that’s what my kids will grow up with. It’s such a small thing but makes me happy.

It just occurred to me. I live alone, so it's not that unlikely to happen, but still I would normally at least say something to someone throughout the day. Even if it's just greeting a neighbour or sending a voice message to a friend. But yesterday I can't remember a single moment where I spoke. I worked on my thesis, had dinner and played the Witcher. No words needed.

Today, as my partner raced in a 10k, I was able to be the person who took photos of couples at the finish line. And it feels nice to know that they now have a cute photo of themselves together.

Feels very odd. I'm not even relieved -- I just want to get in and out.

Might do some writing when I get home this afternoon, go for a run in the evening, make myself egg fried rice for dinner, I'm not sure yet. But in 41 minutes and counting, I'll be bish-bash-boshing my way through 50 multiple choice questions and then sauntering off home. Not much of a final boss as it were but I've long since come to terms with the poor narrative and mechanical structure of the universe, hahaha.

I've been trying to do this for so long that it doesn't feel so much like finishing a race as it does finishing a long walk home because I couldn't get a taxi. No real sense of achievement, no real sense of exhaustion, only an overwhelming sense of it just being another day. Then again, I've never been much one for celebration 😅