*three things that make me smile: an exercise in gratitude – feel free to steal this idea with wild abandon and fill your blog with the happy*
Inspired by Emily of Nerd in the Brain here are my Three Things Thursday.
First, grass roots action. All sorts of things have happened in the world of politics over the past year, and one result seems to have been that ordinary people have been galvanised into action. In the US, for example, there’s The Town Hall Project, which “empowers constituents across the country to have face-to-face conversations with their elected representatives”; there’s also Run for Something, an organisation that “will recruit and support talented, passionate youngsters who will advocate for progressive values now and for the next 30 years… We’ll help people run for offices like state legislatures, mayorships, city council seats, and more. We’ll do whatever it takes to get more under-35 year-olds on the ballot.”
Here in the UK, there’s More United, who “raise money to support political candidates who stand by our values, regardless of their party. Our support helps those candidates get elected and influences the makeup of Parliament, changing Britain for the better…. With a name inspired by the words of the late Jo Cox MP, More United stands for unity and inclusion, and rejects hatred and division.” I am an original member of this organisation, meaning I donated some money to help them get off the ground. I’m happy to be part of this organisation and to support its aims… and to show off my support these arrived this week:
getting political
Second, I passed! A couple of weeks ago I attended a Food Safety course at The Food Centre Wales in preparation for scaling up my cheese-making. There was an exam at the end and I’m happy to say that I found out that I passed when my certificate arrived in the post yesterday :
officially certified!
Third, new fabric. Although my heart lies with yarn, I have recently been enjoying a bit of sewing and so I was very happy this morning when a parcel arrived containing various pieces of organic cotton for two of my 17 for 17 projects arrived.
jersey, chambray and poplin
So, those are three things making me smile and for which I am grateful this week – what about you?
The Snail of Happiness 
Wild Daffodil
/ March 30, 2017Congratulations Jan!!! Looking forward to following your Cheese journey.
3 wonderfully uplifting things.
It made me very happy to be sending you some crocheted squares this week to add to the 60million trebles project. Thank you so much for giving them a new worthwhile purpose.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 30, 2017Oh yes, I’m looking forward to those arriving. I have a jumper to finish and my contribution to the Travelling Sketchbook and then I’ll be back to 60MT makes.
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Wild Daffodil
/ March 30, 2017Busy, busy! as always. 😉
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katechiconi
/ March 30, 2017I’m grateful for quite a lot right now. I’m grateful that Tropical Cyclone Debbie didn’t destroy our house or any of our major assets. I’m grateful she didn’t injure anyone I know, although she tried. I’m most of all grateful for an end to the howling wind, lashing rain and the flooding in our ground floor storage areas. On a slightly less grateful note, I’d be really, really happy to get the power back on. Being grubby and hot is getting a bit old…
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 30, 2017I too am grateful that you survived without major damage – any news yet on when you might get the power restored?
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katechiconi
/ March 30, 2017Not a squeak. The power company is here in force, there are 80 units with cherry pickers parked up in the showgrounds, and we’ve seen work happening in some of the busier areas. Thankfully they’ve also installed generators to run traffic lights at some of the more critical intersections in town. I suspect we won’t see power till next week, so it’s a good job we have fuel for the generator for a couple more days.
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katechiconi
/ March 30, 2017PS: do you get to be call Cheesemeister now? Or Grande Dame de Fromage? I think a certificate should entitle you to some sort of swankery.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 30, 2017hehe
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Wild Daffodil
/ March 30, 2017Yes! I agree ‘Some sort of Swankery’ is definitely in order!
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katechiconi
/ March 30, 2017What do you reckon, a competition to choose a title for her?
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Wild Daffodil
/ March 30, 2017Sounds like a fun plan!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 30, 2017I’m keeping out of this!
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katechiconi
/ March 30, 2017I don’t think you can, ma’am, you are, after all, the Doyenne de Fromage, the Chatelaine of Cheese, the Gastropod of Gruyère… How much will you pay me to stop…?
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 30, 2017I’m making raclette at the moment… what does that make me… actually I have to confess that one of the batches is starting to smell like Munster – it may have to go and live in the shed!!
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katechiconi
/ March 30, 2017Ummm…. (scratches head) Aha! La Vedette de Raclette (better than the Munster Monster, wouldn’t you say?)
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Nice piece of work
/ March 30, 2017How about the Big Cheese? 🙂
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Laurie Graves
/ March 30, 2017All things to be grateful for, especially the political activism. In the U.S. this activism was responsible for stopping the terrible health care bill the Republicans were proposing. The activists were loud and proud and showed up at many town hall meetings to express their views. So a sound and fury does work sometimes!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 30, 2017I’ve been reading with interest about all the voices being raised in the US – long may it continue – our politicians (whatever their party) should serve us the voters.
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Laurie Graves
/ March 30, 2017You got it! If there is one ray of hope after the dismal election in November it’s that progressive activists are spurred to raise their voices. Yes, long may it continue!
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nanacathy2
/ March 30, 2017Big Cheese has it for me. Many congratulations and good luck with the next phase. Can one be more united than just United? Like people who say 110%. What? Forgive me being perdantic, one of those days.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 30, 2017It refers to Jo Cox’s maiden speech in parliament, in which she said ‘We are far more united than the things that divide us’ – something I have found to be true since I started writing this blog!
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anne54
/ March 30, 2017I love Jo Cox’s words, because I too think that they are so true. It is good to know that her ideas are being carried on. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with your material (and the Sketchbook, of course!). And my vote is for the Chatelaine of Cheese!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 31, 2017I want to get some special supplies for the sketchbook – I tried on Tuesday, but got turned back by the police (!) because there had been an accident on the road I needed to use. I tried on Wednesday, but had forgotten that the shop is not open on Wednesdays. Tomorrow I’m going to make a third attempt – I’m nothing if not persistent!
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