Simple Pleasures

My phone tells me that this plant is Japanese Thimbleweed. I have discovered the joys of using Google Lens to identify every plant I don’t know. It makes walks with me interesting. I think they are interesting because I now know the names of lots of wildflowers. My husband finds them “interesting” because he continually has to stop and wait for me. I don’t know why I feel the need to identify all the plants since we live in an apartment and I don’t have a garden to plant them in, yet, here we are.

Continuing the nature theme, we went to the zoo about a week ago. The animals were all very cooperative and active which was fun to watch. My favorite was the bear that was eating a coconut. We watched him smack it repeatedly on the ground to make a hole in it, drink the milk, and then break it apart to eat the meat. He was definitely enjoying himself. My kids were also enjoying themselves. They love the zoo and we love it when they go with us. It is nice to do things as a whole family which doesn’t happen as often now they are basically grown.

I started a new job as a library clerk last month. Basically, all my childhood dreams have come true. Well, that would be true if libraries still had the big date-stamp thing that makes the clu-clunk noise. I am assuming you all know what I mean. I do get a slightly similar thrill from scanning books and sending them on their way to other libraries. My own stack of library books is more than a little out of control and yet, I continue to request books. I have two more to pick up when I go to work today. (edited to add: it was actually 8 more to pick up. And then I came home and requested 2 more. Yes, I have a problem. No, I don’t really care.)

I bought pizza flour from Amazon a couple of weeks ago and it has made a big difference to my homemade pizza. I thought I made pretty good pizza before but now it is, quite frankly, amazing. We have been eating a lot of pizza.

We are having a strangely warm autumn. That isn’t a simple pleasure. Everyone reading this blog probably knows how I feel about warm weather. However, the nights are cooler now and that makes for lovely sleeping weather. Soon, it will be time to pull out my favorite afghan and I can’t wait. Unfortunately, today it is supposed to hit 81 degrees. That is just not acceptable October weather. The leaves are changing and that requires cool, crisp days. Get it together Ohio.

We just got home from our evening walk around the small lake behind our apartment. I stopped at the grocery store and bought vanilla ice cream to go with the cherry-apple pie I made this evening when I was supposed to be making dinner. My husband had eggs and toast for dinner but I think he considers that a fair trade if he can have pie and ice cream now. Pie is definitely the way to his heart.

I bought a new planner for 2022 because a planner is just another type of notebook and notebooks make me happy. It took me forever to find one that fits my stringent list of requirements. It had to have a page-a-day layout without hour markings on the sides of the page, have extra pages for notes, be hardcover, and include full month layouts as well. It is plain navy blue because the correct layout won out over the pretty covers. I also bought several new pens in various colors because I have decided my activities for the year need to be color-coded.

What simple pleasures have you enjoyed recently?