Metatalktail Hour: Sparking Joy

January 26, 2019 4:48 PM

Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! This week, I want to do one of my favorite things, which is ask you to show us a picture of something in your space that you love! In honor of Marie Kondo mania, show us (or tell us about) something in your home or office or garden or car or wherever that you absolutely adore and that always sparks joy!

As always these are conversation starters, not limiters, so tell us everything that's up with you (and, if you live in the northeastern quadrant of North America, HOW MUCH YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO WEDNESDAY WHEN THE WORLD FREEZES SHUT).

posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 4:48 PM (90 comments total)

I love my The Little Prince T-shirt. I feel like it's a little reminder to myself and everyone around me that "what is essential is invisible to the eye".
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:01 PM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]

I'm gonna start off subverting the prompt because I want to pat myself on the back. This is my kitchen table, after I've cleaned out closets and drawers and shelves and hidey-holes. All these things are going to a yard sale, where they will no longer darken my doorstep. I didn't watch Kondo on Netflix, I just realized I needed to get lots of shit out of my house.

This is my newly organized and categorized hallway closet. The before picture is too ungodly to share, but I've got it all shaped up and ready to be more useful.

----------

This week has been odd for me. Relationships ending, relationships starting (when you're poly, sometimes those happen at the same time), avenues for new things at the current job, avenues for new things at a possible new job, and avenues for the start of the idea that I stop working for the man and do it all myself.

I should be in my bedroom doing the 6 loads of laundry that I've got in baskets that I've been too lazy to actually fold / hang / put away. Instead, I'm sitting on my ass on the couch watching wrestling, because it's a good night to do that.

Tomorrow might start car shopping for me. My sedan is no longer what I want or need, and since it's paid off, I don't have to worry about having to refinance negative equity or anything like that.

Also, it's far too fucking cold outside, it's only getting worse, and I can't wait for spring. I need it.
posted by deezil at 5:05 PM on January 26, 2019 [13 favorites]

I have some really squishy, pretty yarn that makes me happy. I will probably use it to knit a hat that will also make me happy.

(and, if you live in the northeastern quadrant of North America, HOW MUCH YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO WEDNESDAY WHEN THE WORLD FREEZES SHUT).

I am actually sort of morbidly fascinated with what windchill of -50 is going to feel like. This is not to say that I'm looking forward to it, but I'm intrigued? I have a meeting first thing Wednesday morning in a building that also houses a coffee shop, and I think I'm going to get there a half-hour early just to have time to thaw before I have to attempt to speak and write and stuff.

I definitely have my cold-weather outfit down to a science, because I went to shovel snow today, and by the end of it, I was hot, even though it was 6 degrees Fahrenheit. I have mastered layers!
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:06 PM on January 26, 2019 [9 favorites]

Looks like the deep freeze is going to miss us in the Mid-Alantic area. It'll be cold, but not Minnesota cold. Good luck and stay warm to all Mefites living in the danger zone.

Speaking of danger zones, my Top Gun DVD sparks joy, because I irrationally love that goofy movie.

It's my daughter's 23rd birthday today - but she is 1000 miles away at grad school. In other news, I'm old enough that my youngest turned 23 day.
posted by COD at 5:10 PM on January 26, 2019 [9 favorites]

This is an old set of photos that I might have linked to before, but these are my succulents and they spark a ton of joy. I can't grow flowers- too many family allergies, but I can grow succulents alongside my veggies and they're so pretty and ornamental and lovely.

Everything looks good post downpour, not just the succulents. There are a few exceptions, the peas never came up and I had pull the tomato plant and I had to do a ton of mowing. Rain grows weeds as well as plants, after all. I finally tore out the weeds in the front patch which is nice, just in time for... more rain!

I can't believe I've reached 100 posts on my blog SO since I harvested this years first Bok Choy I did a deep dive on one of my favorite cabbages. In all seriousness Bok Choy is one of the easiest plants to grow, even if you get a fair amount of snow or sun. So in temperate San Francisco you can get your Chinese cabbage fix year round. We have had a small string of warm days, and I thought I could get a head start on green beans- but I checked the forecast and oops- more rain starting Wednesday. Oh well. I have to do another thinning of my carrot bed- but its so bushy and it's gonna pour again soon, so I'm waiting a bit.

I'm making homemade pizza tonight for the family- my hands still smell like dough even though I've washed them, I kind of love that. Dad's been really goofy today, like he was when I was a kid, and that's better than grumpy. I'm hoping that's a good sign health wise. He's been forgetting more and more though. Not much I can do about that.

I painted a hat's brim today. I have a great rhino snapback I got at the zoo- but the brim is red and... I don't like that for the OBVIOUS reasons. So I took some old gold fabric paint and now I have a very shinny hat that in now way can be misinterpreted. I'm hoping after the latest deluge we'll be getting some warmer days, I want to put in my first row of green beans. As long as I'm working I'm not thinking and I need that right now.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 5:13 PM on January 26, 2019 [15 favorites]

I have some small blue plates and some blue mugs that are such a perfect shade of blue that I feel a little spark of joy every time I use them.

I'm looking forward to Wednesday, hoping for my daughter's sake it will be a snow day. I'm annoyed that once again we're going to have a nice snowfall followed by temperatures too cold to enjoy skiing. But it's always nice to sit inside doing cozy inside things on a cold winter day, so I'm sure I'll enjoy it. It's not going to be that abnormally cold - no worse than what we saw here earlier this week. And at least this time it's not going warm up and rain afterwards. Rain should not be allowed in the winter.
posted by Redstart at 5:15 PM on January 26, 2019 [12 favorites]

I used to tutor ESOL students, and they were always really appreciative. One guy had this award made for me, and I nearly cried when he gave it to me. Every time I see it I smile.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:18 PM on January 26, 2019 [37 favorites]

My trusty steed, Feather. That picture isn't from today, because it was nearly freezing. I mean, don't get me wrong: I totally went out and rode around the county, but it was too cold to pull out a phone and clicky. :D

So much joy! :)
posted by introp at 5:20 PM on January 26, 2019 [13 favorites]

So much of my stuff is still in storage! But I love this vintage pearl bracelet, which cost me $20 because the pearls are funny little sputniks. They were harvested from the Illinois River about 100 years ago, where they were actually a byproduct of the much more lucrative mother-of-pearl button industry. Then there was a mania for them in the 1910s in Europe and they were briefly the most valuable pearls in the world. The mussel industry in Illinois collapsed (meat, buttons, and pearls) during the Great Depression when massive overfishing decimated stocks, and pollution thereafter kept them very low. (They've recovered a bit in the last 20-30 years.)

Anyway! They're so unique and interesting to look at, and they have such a great local backstory. They please me so much whenever I wear them!

I am actually feeling some anxiety about the cold next week! We're looking at a low of -24*F/-31*C (at morning bus pickup) and a high of -15*F/-26*C on Wednesday, so school will almost certainly be cancelled Wednesday and probably Thursday as well (-20 forecast for morning bus pickup). Apparently I did live through a cold snap this cold in 1985 but I wasn't responsible for keeping anybody warm back then. :D I stocked up on groceries today and ran to Target to get more winter pajamas for my kids -- the boys are more sweatpants-and-T-shirts sleepers, but this rental house we're in is barely freaking insulated and they needed something WARM. So hopefully I won't have to leave the house during the "arctic blast."

And in the meanwhile I'm keeping warm in my favorite cyberoptix shawls, which I adore, they're warm and durable and squinch down well for packing or throwing in a purse, and they're so so so pretty I love to wear them. I have this milky way one in ombre and this poppy blossom one, in orchid (which isn't listed as a color right now but it's very pretty!).
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 5:35 PM on January 26, 2019 [28 favorites]

Baking reliably brings me joy, and the Macaron Project continued yesterday with Experimental Macaron #9: Saffron macarons with cardamom buttercream. They're spectacular. And I'm baking another batch tomorrow, not because we've shoved thirty macarons in our gobs in twenty-four hours, but because my father's research lab is having a labwarming next Tuesday and I've been voluntold to bake something. This is actually fine by me (and his lab is a 10 minute walk from the lab I'm a postdoc in).

I also made another batch of wee lemon tarts... except that this time, I lined the tart shells with melted chocolate after baking. Slightly thinner, more strongly baked shells are really nice.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 5:49 PM on January 26, 2019 [14 favorites]

My Curious George flashlight. I will never give it up.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 5:57 PM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]

I love these Taylor & Ng Animates mugs. I had one and then my daughter and one of my stepdaughters each bought me one in the series this Christmas. Shown with my other Taylor & Ng mugs.
posted by vespabelle at 6:01 PM on January 26, 2019 [9 favorites]

This guitar and this amplifier. It’s the ultimate 90’s shoegazer rig but it reminds me I used to play in bands and be cool and shit. Now they’re just museum pieces on display in my house but each one is really unique and I think they’re very pretty.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 6:25 PM on January 26, 2019 [19 favorites]

Someone else has my Taylor & Ng mugs! vespabelle, we are mug twins! I have about ten of them (an ex got the rest of the set in a breakup). They are the best mugs. Perfect size and heft and cute, too. My parents got four as a wedding present nearly 40 years ago, and one of them survived all those years and is in my kitchen right now (the rest, I got on eBay).
posted by sockermom at 6:39 PM on January 26, 2019 [10 favorites]

All over the house we've hung small frames with poems/bits of poems/favorite sentences in them, most of them what I would consider "lovely". But in our bathroom and kitchen, either on the walls or taped inside the cabinet doors - because it's nice to see something fun when you open a door! - we have what we call the "fun ones". In that I'll go ahead and include our collection of song lyric embroidery like this and this, and a copy of the embroidery from the Martin Shkreli jury selection that reads: "And he disrespected the Wu-Tang clan" my BFF made for me. Or memes that reallllllly make us laugh, which change every so often.

They all bring me lots of joy. But there's two from that lot that really bring just absolute delight every time I see them: Another embroidery my BFF made, with the words from this t-shirt which are, "BRING BACK MEGAFAUNA / I MISS MY BIG FRIENDS" and has the worst embroidered woolly mammoth you've ever seen* which I love so much. And in a really nice frame in a spot that has the pride of place, in the bathroom, is the famous poem "The tiger is out". I get such a kick out of of both - they make me smile or even laugh all over again every time I see them.

*no I won't post a pic of it because I love her
posted by barchan at 6:53 PM on January 26, 2019 [25 favorites]

My retablos. They are beautiful, precious things and I love them.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 7:02 PM on January 26, 2019 [16 favorites]

I have finished going through all the clothes in my house. For the mister and Kid Ruki, that meant them sitting on the bed on their phones while they said yes or no to every item of clothing I held up. I don’t even mind though, because it’s done. Kid Ruki is supposed to do her laundry because she’s 17 and also because she’s never home when the weekly laundry gets done and we don’t know what needs washing, because 17. Instead, she decided to not do laundry and just go to Savers when she needed clean clothes. Three trash bags full of her clothes removed and everything that stayed is folded and actually put away. Two garbage bags just of my husband’s dress shirts. After the Purge, I did two loads of laundry, which is something the mister usually does, only I did it when it was five degrees before wind chill, and something bad happened and now our dryer is broken. I promise I did break the dryer on purpose.

Anyway, I have two “pop-ups” scheduled so my friends can take what they need from the clothes. Then I’ll donate the rest. (I recently read a book about fast fashion and clothing recycling so I want to ensure maximum use and minimum waste.)
posted by Ruki at 7:12 PM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]

It's such a silly little thing, but it makes me smile every morning to have my coffee in my Mickey Mouse mug.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:19 PM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]

I love my weighted blanket. My son is autistic, so I've been aware for many years that weighted blankets exist, but for a long time they were crazy expensive and only available from people who made them one at a time by hand. Now they've gone mainstream and easy to find. I always feel extra relaxed at the dentist's office when they put the lead apron on me for the X-rays, so I knew a weighted blanket would be awesome, and it is. As a bonus it's made from fabric that is very plushy and filled with tiny beads, so not only can I rest under the blanket, at the same time I can run my hands over the fabric and feel the beads with my fingers, and I may never have insomnia again. (My kid tried it and didn't like it, go figure.)
posted by Daily Alice at 7:34 PM on January 26, 2019 [19 favorites]

I have an ottoman in the shape of a moose that I love, even if it is never used as an ottoman. Also my ACTION bus stop mug.
posted by Kris10_b at 7:44 PM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]

Right now, I am sitting in my living room listening to the turn of the (20th) century Seth Thomas Regulator 30 that hung on the wall in our hall growing up.

Mom brought it up at Christmas, and I hung it then, but it is sort of.... well... that moment when a piece of home enters your home and makes it more of both.
posted by Nanukthedog at 7:44 PM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]

My promotion has meant that I moved from a large office with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a lake to a tiny office with no windows, which seems backwards but whatever, so I am currently in search of things that will spark joy in my new windowless weekday existence. I think I've decided on a big canvas print of the Big Sur coastline for the wall I mainly look at. I'm hoping that, plus some full-spectrum bulbs in lamps that I will also need to buy, will help.
posted by lazuli at 7:52 PM on January 26, 2019 [8 favorites]

My duvet cover has a nautilus shell and flower print, and it is ridiculous and literally chintzy and I love it.
posted by momus_window at 7:57 PM on January 26, 2019 [9 favorites]

Thanks to the world of blogs I can track back just when I got my faithful companion, hat. It is my adult woobie. It doesn't so much spark joy as continue to be a nice and faithful consisten part of my life that just works. I am glad I have you, hat.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 8:17 PM on January 26, 2019 [11 favorites]

This is my GenieBidet. Something is wrong, I've spent the last two months spiking fevers and having terrible gastrointestinal issues, as sick as I've ever been in my life. I have an appointment with the gastroenterologist on Thursday. Anyway, things would be ever so much worse without my GenieBidet. When I saw my GP, he said he was sure that I must be having a lot of inflammation and I said "No, I'm fine. I have a bidet," and he made me write down the details. Details in the link.
posted by HotToddy at 8:33 PM on January 26, 2019 [10 favorites]

My favorite object is a mechanical pencil. I bought it as a high school freshman for $14, 'cause it looked cool. I used it continuously for every academic assignment until retiring it after making corrections on the penultimate draft of my PhD thesis. It was made (or marketed) by Yafa in the late 90s. The company is known for making the silliest booth-schwag imaginable; as far as I can tell they've never made anything else that's actually useful. But, the pencil is amazing. Sturdy metal body, a nib that retracts easily and completely, a wide and long eraser housing that accepts generic erasers, a mechanism that's easy to unclog. It's the perfect pencil.

Around ten years ago, the company began selling the model again after a long pause. I bought a lifetime supply. (Based on a 3-sigma frequentist estimate given how long I'd owned the previous one without losing it, with the questionable assumption that pencil loss is uncorrelated.) I'm still using pencil #2 and #3 at home and at work, respectively. I've given two away to dear friends. There are 8 more new ones in a box. Every once in a while I take out the original. But, I don't take it out of the house any more. I expect the internal plastic bits may degrade before I get to #4. But, fabricating replacements will only become easier in time.

If my home burns down, I'll check that my data is recently backed up off-site, and then I'll feel bad about losing my pencil. I'll miss a few other things, but not nearly as much.

Here's a photo. Top is 7 year old (and far less used) pencil #2. Bottom is 24 year old pencil #1.
posted by eotvos at 8:39 PM on January 26, 2019 [26 favorites]

"Mom brought it up at Christmas, and I hung it then, but it is sort of.... well... that moment when a piece of home enters your home and makes it more of both."

I know exactly what you mean, when I moved into my first house I scoured the web until I found the exact spice rack my mother had when I was growing up (which she'd gotten rid of when she moved after we all moved out, much to all of our shouted dismay!) and as soon as I hung it in my kitchen it felt so much like home. When we moved last year my husband hung it in the kitchen first thing, before I even got to town, because he knew how much I love it, and it was such a nice surprise. And when my sister got married I found her one for her wedding gift, and it was the first thing she hung in her apartment. Nowhere feels like home until I hang it up and stock it with my spices!

(Honestly it's a bit small for my spice rack needs, being from 1965 it envisions Italian cooking as as exotic as you'll get but now we've all got our Indian spices and Mexican spices and Chinese spices, but I WILL USE IT FOREVER NO MATTER WHAT.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:40 PM on January 26, 2019 [12 favorites]

I love my dining room table! I live in a tiny 900 square-foot house that somehow magically fits a SEVEN FOOT LONG dining room table (ikea!) that weighs like 200 lbs and is sturdy as all get out.

I'd post an actual photo but right now you cannot see the table because it is currently multipurposing in multiple ways as follows:

- Laundry collection and folding space
- Extra dry goods storage from this week's grocery run
- Filing cabinet
- Plant stand for my happy little green pothos, Juliet
- Home to half a dozen candles in mason jars
- Computer desk
- Banking and mailing station with bonus box of stickers/stamps
- Valentine mass production factory
- Printer stand
- Puzzle-working space

Every week or two I clean it up so it's just a broad surface where Juliet can hang out enjoying the western light from the window. Right now it's a mess, though, but I like being able to work on any of a dozen things at any time as the mood strikes.
posted by mochapickle at 8:49 PM on January 26, 2019 [10 favorites]

I have a hooded gray sweatshirt dress that is my favorite thing to wear, ever. I got it from Title Nine a few years ago and it's worn like iron since then. I wear it to go hiking a lot, it's got a cozy hood, and it's just ridiculously comfortable and wearable. It's not the most flattering thing I own, but it reliably sparks incredible joy basically anytime I wear it.
posted by kalimac at 10:04 PM on January 26, 2019 [10 favorites]

My bigtooth maple tree. That pic was taken last spring just after it had fully leafed out. It’s dormant right now & going into its fifth spring as a family member. It was about 4 feet tall when I planted it & measured at about 7 feet this year. It’s kind of a slow grower, but should eventually reach 30-40 feet.

This variety is native to Texas & does well in the poor, alkaline, rocky soil of the hill country, of which we have an abundance, just under that lawn. Our house is on a bluff on the outside of a bend in Shoal Creek, & all the dirt in the neighborhood was surely imported. They’re hardy, pest & disease resistant & I wish more people would plant them. Given a proper freeze in the fall, they’ll turn bright colors, anywhere from light yellow to orange to deep red. Ours in on the orangy side of yellow in the fall.

I greet it every morning & afternoon, & when I’m walking the dog, I’ll occasionally point out to him “There’s your arboreal brother.”

I don’t think we’ll be around to see it fully grown, & that makes me a little sad.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:18 PM on January 26, 2019 [18 favorites]

The pizza was a mistake. Lactase pills have done nothing. Pray for me.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 10:20 PM on January 26, 2019 [15 favorites]

Everybody, everybody, everybody! I just got home from the axe-throwing bar, which are popping up in every city right now, and I cannot encourage you strongly enough to go. Even if you physically can't or don't want to throw, get together with the people you want to be with when the zombie apocalypse comes and make sure they're honing their skills. (Sensory note: ours was quite loud, warehousey and music blaring and then 100+ people throwing axes at targets, so you may need hearing protection if you're bothered by loud echoey places.)

I've had an awful couple of weeks at work, and I think I was the victim of some real sexist bullshit, and going out tonight for ladies-and-nonbinaries night out to throw the fuck out of some sharp objects in a super-supportive environment (including the delightful young man who coached us/kept us safe/kept score) was A++ will throw again, am interested in joining a league now.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:36 PM on January 26, 2019 [27 favorites]

Just before i left for fieldwork I asked my parents to bring my art down to my apartment, and I bought myself a comfy chair and an ottoman and a bookcase and a giant fleecy blanket and a few throw pillows and I can't express quite how excited I am to get home (less than two weeks, now!) and sit in my chair with a cold alcoholic beverage, wearing something immodest that exposes my shoulders and knees and a Star of David necklace, and watch the bustle of Boston. Feeling excited that I'm going home - and having my own space that feels like home - is sparking joy!
posted by ChuraChura at 11:12 PM on January 26, 2019 [25 favorites]

Slarty Bartfast, that setup is drool-worthy.

I'm fortunate to have many things that spark joy. Many have changed as I get older. When I was younger, I didn't really pay too much attention to the things that my mother made (she's really good at sewing and crafts, for instance). Now I very much enjoy seeing her handiwork, such as her decorative baskets, and a large embroidered blanket that she made before she got married.

I have a bulletin board where I put up postcards/cards from friends around the world. It's the first thing I see when I open the door to go in my room. I keep some special cards on the bookcase in front of my desk.

One thing that has sparked joy has not changed for decades...my favorite teddy bear from childhood. Small enough that I would take it with me on trips as a kid. I remember when I first opened the box to see the bear for the first time, and just feeling...I dunno. Safe? Happy? Immediate friendship? It sounds silly if I try to explain it now. Just that one bear; none of the other bears or stuffed animals had quite the same effect.

Some people used to make fun of my bear as I got older, but my parents never did, not even my father. My mother even made little teddy bear clothes and a teddy bear hat. And I knew I had kind friends in college when they didn't make fun, either. I still have the bear, now pretty much stationary in the same room (if I revealed their name and photo, people I know IRL would be able to ID me right away, so apologies for not linking).

Whenever I'm watching a TV show or movie and see someone's childhood teddy bear/stuffed animal -- and it's written in a considerate way -- it makes me smile. (Once, there was an AskMe where someone asked about their childhood teddy bear, and the photo had a lot of similarity with my bear. I thought about memailing them but didn't...I probably should!) If this were anywhere else but MetaFilter, I doubt I would say all this, but I feel okay about sharing here because you all are so nice.

And btw here is a picture of Judi Dench reading a book called "The Net" to a teddy bear.
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 11:20 PM on January 26, 2019 [12 favorites]

I like my mantel. I was going to move across the river to the east side and then I saw this apartment and said fuck the east side.
posted by bendy at 12:39 AM on January 27, 2019 [14 favorites]

I love my plants! Two yucca plants, a combo Dracaena marginata with weeping ficus, a philodendron monstera, a sweetheart hoya, Chinese money plant, and a Boston swordfern. I was at a friends for dinner last night and she gave me a rose plant that she had been gifted two of but had killed the first one.

My sister is visiting this weekend which is lovely, and we just did this fun dance workout, making it five consecutive weeks I’ve exercised!
posted by ellieBOA at 2:32 AM on January 27, 2019 [8 favorites]

I have many favourite objects, as befitting a hoarder-in-training courtesy of my dad. One of them is something I genuinely disliked for years but didn't get rid of because it had belonged to my mother. It is a hand-stitched quilt made for my mom by people from a tiny town in a southern state where she grew up. It is from the 70s, so the top is pieced together with two shades of polyester fabric, one dark blue, the other a kind of coral or peach-on-steroids. The folks embroidered their names on varies pieces and if it were not hideous (in my eyes), it would be lovely.

The quilt has been in storage here in Sweden since shortly after my mother died. Recently I reclaimed it and realized the backing is a plain, homely light muslin or similar fabric. Now I put the polyester side down and wake up to the backside, which I enjoy. The faintest shades of the colours are just visible through the backing. Mostly what I see are individual stitches and the patterns of those stitches. Now I enjoy using this quilt. I also enjoy this iron bottle opener, which a student from Japan gave me when we both were in college. I have carried it from home to home because it makes me smile. It's like a tiny, sturdy sentinel keeping watch over the place.

lazuli, congrats on the promotion. I know the discontent of a windowless workplace. And thanks for the shout out to your weighted blanket, Daily Alice! I will be in the US next month and may buy one. I have always enjoyed the lead-apron routine as well but a weighted blanket would never have occurred to me otherwise.
posted by Bella Donna at 4:03 AM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]

My whole house sparks joy at the minute. I’m really lucky. When I got separated I left everything behind and started over at 37. I bought the only house I could afford, a tiny terraced house full of damp. In the last 5 years I’ve worked to fix it up and then a year ago me and my husband borrowed enough to knock down a wall and extend the kitchen and fix the damp. It’s furnished 90% by Ikea which is cheap here, and the rest is family donations, and my table and chairs which are solid pine and we got them for only £150 from gumtree already refinished in the right colours so I just love them. These are some pics - a before and after where we ripped out the tiny stinky kitchen to find years of damp and cobwebs behind the units (boke) and that became a wee seating area, the cupboards we built under the stairs which were full of boxes until Christmas (we got married in November and people were so generous so we were finally able to get the last of the furniture we needed and cleared loads of clutter) and my table set for Christmas dinner this year, the first time I’ve ever been able to have people over for dinner and felt really proud of everything. I’m so happy here, partly because it’s so calming and we’ve worked hard to get it like this, but mainly because we’re just really happy together and it’s been lovely building a little home.

But all that is just material. One thing I learned from leaving with just a small suitcase is that you really can live without stuff. It’s nice if you can have some but it really is just a bonus. The real stuff that sparks joy is more important. And to that end, here is mr bee meeting his new granddaughter, his daughter’s first baby. A tiny new human here with us all. That filled me up this week.
posted by billiebee at 5:55 AM on January 27, 2019 [30 favorites]

Not a single object, but we just completely gutted and renovated our terrible terrible old kitchen and it is now the happiest of my happy places. Cooking has become a joy again after years of it just being a utilitarian slog of not enough counter space and washing dishes by hand. Every time I walk in there I start thinking about all the wonderful things I'm going to make, and there's finally enough room that I can involve my son without him just being in the way. We made Tom Ka soup last night together.

Meanwhile work is crazy in a good way but still crazy. There's a lot going on in the background of the general busyness involving my career path and choices to be made regarding it and it's just a lot on my mind.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:26 AM on January 27, 2019 [16 favorites]

My nineteenth-century books always put me in a good mood!
posted by thomas j wise at 6:48 AM on January 27, 2019 [5 favorites]

billiebee, I love your happy new home and happy new hubs! It's a most encouraging story. Thank you for this!
posted by HotToddy at 7:01 AM on January 27, 2019 [8 favorites]

I'm pretty sure that I've linked this picture in a previous meta but I'm still so happy with my 1960s 4x5 press camera. It takes great pictures and let me indulge in a little cosplay as the photographer weegee for Halloween this past year.
posted by octothorpe at 7:02 AM on January 27, 2019 [4 favorites]

I have a pair of boxers from old navy, burgundy, printed all over with hedgehogs. I love them, but I only wear them on days that I think will be special, or, days that, by wearing them, will become special. I never wear them when I have to work, and I almost never wear them unless I’m going to be with Mrs. Ghidorah most of the time. When such a day arrives, I’ll notify her that today is, in fact, a hedgehog day, to which she usually rolls her eyes. My hedgehog boxers are wonderful.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:30 AM on January 27, 2019 [25 favorites]

Now I wish I had hedgehog underwear.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:42 AM on January 27, 2019 [7 favorites]

"Saffron macarons with cardamom buttercream,"
There are not enough likes to cover this...
posted by Oyéah at 8:54 AM on January 27, 2019 [7 favorites]

The decorations in the space I’ve turned into a dining room collectively spark joy. (The table does not, but that’s a thing to deal with in the future.) There’s a Nikki McClure calendar, a bulletin board with all the tickets and gift certificates we need to use and Joy Harjo’s wonderful kitchen table poem on it, a pair of orange and golden stained glass wings hanging from the ceiling that remind me of my family’s tradition of raising monarch butterflies when I was little, and Pop Chart’s fruit and vegetable taxonomy poster in a nice frame. Right now a big burl bowl of mandarins and a vase of red and purple tulips are on the table, as well as a huge moon snail shell I found during the recent lunar eclipse and the sparkly New Year’s Eve noisemaker my kid has been blowing into the shell to amplify its sound. That corner of my house feels the most like home.
posted by centrifugal at 10:02 AM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]

I have . . . a lot of scarves, which I wear in frequent rotation, and for years I struggled to find a way to store them so I could view them all at once, and easily extract/replace a particular one. Finally I came across a device from Hammacher Schlemmer, which is intended as a trouser hanger, but works beautifully for all my (currently ~50) scarves. (I notice that they really are kind of a mess right now, and I need to take them down, re-fold, and re-hang more tidily.) I am so delighted to have figured out this solution!

(Also, of course, these spark joy on a regular basis, but would not wish to be referred to as "things.")
posted by Kat Allison at 10:03 AM on January 27, 2019 [17 favorites]

Oh, and I wish I could settle a large warm down comforter over all midwestern MeFites in this coming week. Having spent more than half a century in Minneapolis, I have vivid, acute memories of what -50F windchill feels like, and will take a moment on Wednesday for humility and gratitude that I was able to relocate to a place that should be around 52 by midweek. Take care and stay as warm as possible, everyone!
posted by Kat Allison at 10:12 AM on January 27, 2019 [5 favorites]

All the Marie Kondo talk actually inspired me to pare down in the spare room, since we keep talking about making it more friendly for houseguests and that would require probably getting rid of a bookcase or two. So I finally recycled all the college notebooks I never opened after I graduated, pilot training material that's 20 years old, and a bunch of other junk that I've been carrying around for who knows what reason. I still kept a bunch of the paperbacks and textbooks I swore I was going to donate, but one step at a time I guess.

I guess what's been "sparking joy" lately has been all my hobby stuff that I've been putting by the wayside. That burnout article from the other week struck a nerve, I guess, and I was kind of realizing I had stopped doing things that I genuinely enjoy because they started feeling like tasks to check off. It's been nice to get reacquainted with the guitars and the cameras and other stuff.

Anyway, this is what brought me joy this weekend. And a nice long walk with this goofus.
posted by backseatpilot at 11:36 AM on January 27, 2019 [5 favorites]

It seems like such a minor thing, but I cook enough at home that having a really good chef knife makes me very happy. The one I bought 2-3 months ago is fantastic - it's very well-made, the design is well-thought-out (like, even to the point of rounding off the top spine to help prevent calluses and painful wear when using a pinch grip), it fits perfectly in my hand and feels like a natural extension of it, and the blade is made of good metal that takes - and keeps, with minimal maintenance - an extremely sharp edge. I'm reminded of how much I appreciate it and enjoy using it each time it glides effortlessly through all my food-prep tasks.

That notion extends to quite a few items I've collected, from a well-made musical instrument to actual "tools" kept in a toolbox to things that let me keep my other things in top condition to apps on my computer and phone, all of which let me do what I need to do with as much assistance and as little hindrance or irritation as possible. Those are the sorts of things I seek out - I'm very much a "function over form" person - in the hope that as I get older and my income and circumstances begin to degrade, at least I'll have some good tools to help me make the best of it.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:47 PM on January 27, 2019 [5 favorites]

Mine is a bit of a MeFi double-whammy, as its origins ultimately trace back to this AskMe recommendation of the Sespe Wilderness above Ojai, CA, made by visual mechanic when I was looking for a place to do nocturnal wilderness field recordings.

My subsequent backpacking trip through the Sespe was life-changing, and resulted in a song [MeFiMusic], as well as this amazing sign - handcrafted by some folks on Etsy who do beautiful wooden reproductions of U.S. National Park signage. It hangs above my desk in my studio, just over the walking stick I used on that same hike. I've always considered that sign a magical talisman on my subsequent hikes through the Sespe, so to have one of my own makes my heart sing.
posted by mykescipark at 1:11 PM on January 27, 2019 [6 favorites]

What a week. It's been hot and humid AF here in Sydney. My hayfever has been going crazy and I feel like my head's in a vice. I'm so jealous of all you US mefites talking about snow and whatnot. I literally cannot imagine what that's like.

I'm not big on possessions (I mean their importance; I have tonnes of them!). I think for me I would break it down to 3 things:

1. My dough covered copy of Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread. My favourite of all my cookbooks. If you only buy one bread book, this is the one. It's not gimmicky - indeed it's partly written for a professional audience. It's got a lots of recipes, lots of science, and Hamelman is a lovely writer; his prose is actually quite beautiful. I love this book.

2. My collection of nature documentary Blu-Rays. I love nature documentaries (good ones, not like "43 Animals that could Bite Your Face Off right now!!"). With my urbanised city life, they never fail to make me happy.

3. This one is a little crazy. When my dad died, he'd only been retired about six months, he never got to spend his retirement savings, and subsequently I inherited a bit of money. After some donations, I dutifully put the remainder of this money straight onto our mortgage - with one exception. Near our work at the time there was an ergonomic furniture store that sold these incredible Japanese massage chairs. In a moment of grief-induced lunacy, I bought the most expensive model.

Dad - infamously tight - would have been horrified at such hedonistic splurging. I was kinda horrified myself! But damned if we don't use that chair all the time, and it's really good! So whilst I have kitchen equipment etc that sparks joy, I would say the chair sparks joy, every time. And whenever people come over, they go straight for it haha.
posted by smoke at 3:32 PM on January 27, 2019 [12 favorites]

Mine is my car. I've always loved small Audi sedans but never even considered actually having one - I am thrifty by nature and I don't even really like to drive. But then I got breast cancer in my late 30s, and after years of living way below my means I realized: I am an adult with a reliable income, and I can do what I want. I bought myself an A3 to celebrate the end of treatment. Three years later, I still get a thrill of joy when I see it. And it turns out, driving a little Audi is freaking FUN. Anyway here it is.
posted by something something at 4:02 PM on January 27, 2019 [12 favorites]

A heart shaped ceramic bowl, hand-made by my "bonus daughter" (daughter in law) and exactly the right size right for steel-cut oats with berries and cream, tells me every morning that I am loved... and sparks joy.
posted by evilmomlady at 4:10 PM on January 27, 2019 [8 favorites]

Given my Wisconsin location and the impending weather, the J Crew fleece I'm currently wearing is making me happy. Ordered it in college (1998?) with another friend's order (when you had to, like, call and place an order over the phone) and it's held up tremendously well. It's the warmest piece of clothing I own and my go-to layer when going for walks in the winter time.

And I'm posting this from my favorite piece of furniture ever - a couch with extra deep seating for my long legs. Found it (and the matching loveseat) at a clearance center of a nearby furniture shop. It was the first furniture I bought after my divorce and sitting on either piece is so incredibly comforting and cozy.

Wonderful thread, everyone - so fun to read about these little bits of you and your lives.
posted by Twicketface at 4:27 PM on January 27, 2019 [7 favorites]

I have moved so many times over the last 20 or more years that I have pared down over and over and now nearly everything I own meets the "sparks joy" test. I do always have to pare down books though, but the pain of that is nothing like it was the first few times. Back then, I had notions that I was building a library for some kind of posterity, my own later years or to pass on to... whomever would need it in the unformed future.

Anyway, at this time I have a group of books I will probably never release, such as the copy of Wizard of Oz I learned to read on, some collections of poetry, etc. Sometimes I give a book as a gift, thinking I'll replace it and I don't.

But the first thing that came to mind with this question is my kilim, which was given to me by a French woman who spent some time in the states one summer and who had a miserable time but found my company supportive. She was staying in my landlady's house, landlady having gone abroad for the summer, and the house was in no way up to her standards of cleanliness and order and she was a little freaked out. I basically just befriended her since, well, she was there....

Her husband worked in some form of grain speculation and they spent lots of time in the Middle East. The next summer, both of them returned to the US to visit and she brought me this beautiful kilim she had purchased in Morocco where they had spent the previous months. I have loved it ever since and my feet feel so happy to walk on it.

I lost touch with her though... this was before the internet was everywhere and she and I had exchanged snail mail, but then I moved across the country, my parents died, 9/11 happened, and life became very different. But that kilim has been "the floor of my tent" ever since.
posted by luaz at 4:44 PM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]

and that would require probably getting rid of a bookcase or two

Whoa, whoa, easy now. Let’s all just try to keep our heads.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:31 PM on January 27, 2019 [11 favorites]

One of my proudest accomplishments at my old job was getting a full nursing assessment done on a guy who had been evading efforts by other nurses for four years. I went out to his home on a day when I had time at my disposal, came prepared for a lot of digressions, (this guy loved to talk about his as-yet unfinished novel and his takes on current events, which made any attempts to direct the conversation to other topics difficult), and somehow, against all odds, snuck a blood pressure check and all my various inquiries about drug use and bowel movements and health goals in between him shoving newspaper clippings at me.

Anyway, this guy’s other great love was dressing flamboyantly, and at the end of my visit he gave me two strings of gold shamrock-shaped Mardi Gras beads that matched the ones he was wearing. I got fired from that job a few months later, and it was terrible, and I’m still bitter on occasion, but I keep those beads as a reminder that I’m really fucking good with patients that other medical professionals give up on. They hang on my closet doorknob and spark joy every time I see them.
posted by ActionPopulated at 6:34 PM on January 27, 2019 [21 favorites]

For many years my daughter made pottery. She gave me a big cup with a handle just the right size for big coffee, tea or soup. I kept it in my studio and used it for everything, for years. So once I painted a still life with the cup in it, it was full of green tea. Of course I had to break it, but I kept the painting, it is on my kitchen wall forever keeping my daughter in mind.
posted by Oyéah at 6:48 PM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]

I'm a pretty sentimental person and so a lot of the things in my house spark joy for me. To narrow it down, apropos to the World Freezing Shut, right now my dad's old bow saw is sparking joy for me, as I use it to slowly cut down into 2 foot lengths the old locust fence posts that got pulled out when I redid all my pasture fencing this year. Black locust is extremely hard and dense--a 6 ft post weights about 75 lbs and is one of the highest BTU hardwoods you can get, so it's great to burn when you really need to get all the heat you can get out of a woodstove. My woodstove is sized perfect for heating the whole house when its 25-50 degrees out, which is the situation most of the time during the heating season, but it becomes increasingly hard to keep the house at a decent temp when it's below 20 degrees and the wind's gusting hard. It takes me about 5 minutes to saw through one of those fence posts and I have to pace myself and do only one cut at a time otherwise I risk aggravating my tendonitis.
posted by drlith at 7:56 PM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]

Here's another joy-sparking plant, your favorite and mine, the turnip. pictures also include close-up of that good good garden child the earthworm. Fun fact: the turnip and the bok choy are the same species; Brassica rapa. Also fun fact: both are freaking delicious.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:00 PM on January 27, 2019 [3 favorites]

I painted a still life with the cup in it, it was full of green tea. Of course I had to break it,

Back in a previous life when I was a more observant (in almost every sense) devotee of Zen Buddhism, I encountered the notion that when your cup breaks, you should rejoice at all the time you had with it rather than grieve at its loss. It has been a touchstone in my life ever since.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:01 PM on January 27, 2019 [9 favorites]

Actually, I think I can share here the story of the last thing that came into my house that brought me the greatest joy. See, the in-laws just sold their house, and a few weeks ago, the mister and Kid Ruki went to the house to get a wardrobe we wanted. It turned out to be way heavier than we thought, so it didn’t come home with them, but something else did. A giant poster print of the mister that was displayed at his Bar Mitzvah and signed by his friends and family. It was a studio portrait and he’s on skis, in all his 13 year old glory. My husband haaates it, but he loves me, so he gave it to me. It’s in my home office. I’m going to get it framed. It’s so awkward and adorable and I love it. Not in a mocking way, but sincerely, although my husband doesn’t get why. It’s just really cute. I’ve been going through my photos to find an equally awkward picture of me to give him, but I think I’m going to have to hit up my mom’s photo albums to get something he’ll find comparable.
posted by Ruki at 9:42 PM on January 27, 2019 [12 favorites]

I spent a lot of time last year making this thing. The joy is that I was both able create this from my mind and follow through on the many hours it took to design and build, neither of which would have been remotely possible for younger versions of myself.
posted by MillMan at 9:52 PM on January 27, 2019 [60 favorites]

When we bought our house, we decided to use certain rooms in a different manner. The dining room got renamed The Chill by one of the tradies and it stuck. It’s off the kitchen with lots of windows. Perfect place to hang out on Sunday baking day. So I began to bring my beloved things in. The stuff I chose to ship across the pond. Then he got me the spherical chair of my dreams. It makes me smile every morning.
posted by lemon_icing at 1:26 AM on January 28, 2019 [8 favorites]

Holy crap, MillMan, that is incredible work!
posted by mymbleth at 2:45 AM on January 28, 2019 [14 favorites]

My Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I abandoned the entire rest of the kitchen to my ex wife but I grabbed that. Ten well-used years and counting; may it outlive me. Aiming for a recipe a month out of the Brave Tart cookbook this year, among other delights.

Our lives are close to entirely containable within the downtown Minneapolis skyway, so the cold snap will affect us less than most. I hope that those Mefites who are more exposed get through it ok. The snow is beautiful today.
posted by Kwine at 6:42 AM on January 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

Here's another joy-sparking plant, your favorite and mine, the turnip.

Baldrick? Is that you?
posted by slkinsey at 8:39 AM on January 28, 2019 [6 favorites]

I spent a lot of time last year making this thing

Wow.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:37 AM on January 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

I'm putting together a care package for my sister, who is defending her PhD this spring, so I bought this sitting-up-kitty brass brooch for her on Friday. It's shaped just like her super-soft, eight pound lady cat who likes to sit on surfaces, all prim and proper so that she can JUDGE THE FUCKING FUCK OUT OF YOU, A LOWLY HUMAN.

It's been sparking joy for me all weekend, even sitting inside a little paper box on my dresser, so I may have to go back and get one for me.
posted by joyceanmachine at 9:48 AM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]

The thing that most consistently brings me joy isn't actually IN my house. It's this lady, who sits right out front.

The other thing that is currently bringing me giddy amounts of joy is my shield. I'm a LARPer in a full-contact combat sport, and I commissioned an AMAZING foam-and-latex shield to use on the fighting field. Every time I see it hanging on my wall waiting for the next event, I squee a little inside.
posted by hanov3r at 10:15 AM on January 28, 2019 [3 favorites]

Hey MillMan, that is amazing. Because I am a philistine (um, not that there's anything wrong with that), I have no idea what medium (media?) you used. Can you please share more about how you made it and what it is made of?
posted by Bella Donna at 11:15 AM on January 28, 2019

It was designed in Illustrator, it's made from 140lb card stock of various colors, and it was cut with a laser cutter. All the layers are superglued together. Was inspired by this guy's work. Any other questions DM me, I don't want to spam the thread. I'm really flattered by how much people like it.
posted by MillMan at 11:39 AM on January 28, 2019 [9 favorites]

I would read a lot of spam about your work, MillMan. Like. A lot.

It's absolutely astounding that you made that from card stock.
posted by joyceanmachine at 11:43 AM on January 28, 2019 [4 favorites]

This weekend I spent nearly 40 of the 48 hours getting rid of stuff that didn't spark joy and I am freaking JOYOUS! Not even kidding. I love my house so, so much. It is my safe place where I know who and what I am and I can sit in the silence and love every single thing around me, but lately, there were certain rooms that were getting awfully cluttered up. We had a big chosen family yard sale on my lawn on Saturday and made a good bit of cash toward my new laptop and sent the leftovers to a good charity that doesn't discriminate.

Also, these are my favorite "things" in the house - photo taken Sunday morning. At the moment of this photo, they are actually not in the house but on the brand new patio that is my new favorite thing outside the house. I cannot wait to barbecue next weekend because it is 75 degrees here in L.A.

Sorry.
posted by Sophie1 at 12:17 PM on January 28, 2019 [8 favorites]

I tried taking pictures, and I can't get a good picture that isn't going to require me spending 15 minutes blanking out stuff with photoshop, because I have degrees and the placecards from my BIL's wedding and promotion letters and all kinds of stuff with my full legal name all over, but what brings me joy right now is my silly, messy work office (though I do need to do a little straightening up, the piles are growing again). I have pictures of my best beloveds all over every flat surface, the magic 8 ball my wife gave me as an inside joke, the Texas paperweight from her girlfriend, the pottery from this year's Quonmas, flowers from our wedding, a huge Ocean's 8 poster. I spend so much time in this office, I want to be comfortable.

But the best part of it is the pictures of my people, because I remember I'm loved every time I look up. :)
posted by joycehealy at 1:37 PM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]

joyceanmachine, the store you linked to brings me joy. There are a remarkable number of silly cat things there that I may need to buy for people.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 1:48 PM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]

Yesterday I replaced the battery on my iphone all by my damn self after it had been sitting on a shelf collecting dust for months. Today I am delighted to discover that it is so much nicer to use than the old one I had brought out of retirement, and every time I see my 8th generation blue jay phone case I grin like a goofball.
posted by bq at 2:29 PM on January 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

I am also rather excited by the clean, empty ten gallon aquarium that I have sitting upstairs. I gave a rescue betta a good home for a while, but he recently expired of old age. Now I have a glass box full of possibilities. I'm wondering whether to get more fish or get frogs or make a terrarium or or or....
posted by bq at 2:30 PM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]

The pellet stove was and is a luxury but it makes winter at home so damn cozy I can barely stand it. It's a programmable fireplace - it turns on before we wake up in the morning, so traipsing downstairs to make the coffee is now by firelight, and some of the chill of the early morning has dissipated.

I don't often wear dresses, but I have a cheap nylon dress that is covered in colorful dinosaurs and it never fails to make me smile. I try whenever possible to wear it with a hot pink pair of Converse that I've had since freshman year of high school, and it's fun being so garish.

I have a tattoo of a red-winged blackbird on my left shoulder. A friend made it, and every time I see it in the mirror, it brings me joy.
posted by coppermoss at 6:02 PM on January 28, 2019 [5 favorites]

I have a big fat Royal Copenhagen 1968 Annual Mug that looks like the one here
I feel so happy every day using it. It is inspiringly beautiful and I'm proud that I got it for myself at a time when it was a small extravagance. So it is my secret little motivational object.
posted by Glomar response at 12:03 PM on January 29, 2019 [4 favorites]

I have spent a significant amount of time drooling over Royal copenhagen.
posted by bq at 6:14 PM on January 29, 2019

Happy Polar Vortex Eve, fellow Midwesterners! How is everyone holding up? Are you set for provisions like chocolate and warm-beverage-making supplies?

I've got all my faucets running a little bit to keep the pipes from freezing, and it is *so hard* not to turn them off. Every time I walk by a faucet, I think "oh, that faucet is dripping, I should turn it off," and then I have to remember that it's dripping because I want it that way. Here's hoping the pipes hold up and the furnace is up to the challenge. Other than that, I'm ready for the cold. I'm working from home tomorrow, so I don't intend to leave the house except for a couple of minutes to see what windchill of -50 actually feels like.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:15 PM on January 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

I was essentially and functionally evicted from my apartment because of a burst pipe (it had been going for at least ten hours and did major damage) so I’m five hours away, where I have a place to live for the month (remediation and fixing will take at least that long). I am VERY worried about the polar vortex. My landlord assures me that the heat is on in all the other units, but I’m highly suspicious. I’d been warning him since October about the possibility of damage. Where I am, it’s going to get to -30 windchill tomorrow, and I don’t plan on leaving except maybe to go to the gym, if it’s open. I work from home, or from my home away from home, right now, thankfully.
posted by sockermom at 7:13 PM on January 29, 2019 [3 favorites]

It's not that cold here, but it is colder than I'm used to. All I want to do is nap and eat soup, and I want to know why this isn't considered socially acceptable.
posted by PearlRose at 7:26 AM on January 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

All I want to do is nap and eat soup, and I want to know why this isn't considered socially acceptable.

Cause if you try to do them both at the same time, you'll end up with a wet, scalded face.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:08 AM on January 30, 2019 [3 favorites]

Alright I'll spam the thread a bit more - I put the mandala up on projects. The album (same link as above) has been greatly expanded to discuss the design and build process.
posted by MillMan at 9:33 AM on January 30, 2019 [8 favorites]

Things in my playroom that spark joy:
The yellow blanket that I hide under with the kids I see
A postcard printed with a photo of JD from the Mountain Goats in full sing
A picture of my late baby cat Smidgen making a blep

Things in my purse that spark joy that I carry around with me:
A bag of stones I chose for love and lust and relationships and playfulness
Essential oil roller with mint and lavender
My hot pink journal with a sticker on the front that says ME inside a heart
My Inquire Within oracle deck

Things at home:
Handmade pottery made for us by a friend for our wedding
My copy of Black Pear Tree by the Mountain Goats and Kaki King
My witch altar which is covered with dried greenery from our wedding
posted by fairlynearlyready at 6:23 PM on January 30, 2019 [2 favorites]

It is the end of January, and nearly Imbolc and the time of Saint Brigid, and Spring, and with these things warmth and longer days and more sunlight; and so pagan happenings will occur in the woods tonight. Because reasons I've fallen in with a different Druidic-Pagan crowd lately; these are somewhat more intense in practice than any group I've encountered so far outside the Vale of Evesham. Hence no public pictures from this evening because of privacy, decency, and how other people will deliberately misinterpret them.

After that, a night of probably getting dry and warmed up, maybe one more post on the blue before sleep, then tomorrow it's - finally - time to disappear back into the folds of the Wolds for political reason a'while. I was planning this with others for a few days back, but events dear boy and am still annoyingly here. Interesting times ahead, anyway.

So I'm busy packing, for tonight and for travels ahead, and doing some administration while keeping one eye on the forecast. As part of this administration I'm trying to hand over some things to Gerald, the butler of my occasional afternoon tea acquaintance; he is a safe and trustworthy pair of hands, though perhaps not as versed in Internet use as I would prefer.

Anyway, I need to go scour AskMeFi to hopefully discover the correct method of ironing an expensive shirt, and also packing it in the best manner. I've somehow gotten to deep middle age by winging the whole wearing a good shirt correctly thing, but no more. Toodle pip for now.
posted by Wordshore at 6:47 AM on January 31, 2019 [4 favorites]

Happy trails, Wordshore!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:56 AM on January 31, 2019