My weekly exercise in gratitude – three things that are making me smile – feel free to steal this idea with wild abandon and fill your blog [or Twitter account or Facebook page or diary or life in general] with happiness.
First, an evening of indulgence. In my work in progress post yesterday I mentioned my sudden need for fingerless mittens. As the rain fell and the wind howled last night, I settled down with an audiobook, a glass of wine and got busy with my crochet hook. Before the end of the evening I’d finished my mittens. I’m not sure that the yarn is something I would have bought, but it will certainly keep my hands cosy and I do like the colours… and I woke up to sunshine this morning, so I won’t need them at least for today.
Second, baby carnivores. I’m really delighted to have had a some success with producing new carnivorous plants. The seeds of pitcher plants require cold treatment before they will germinate and they don’t grow quickly, but it’s very satisfying once they do. Here is one of my babies:
Sarracenia hybrid
Third, winter food. This year I’m hoping to harvest at least a few things from the limery. There should be some citrus fruits (lemons and limes) and I’ve got some pots of lettuce growing well. Although winter isn’t a time when we crave lots of salad, it will be lovely to have fresh lettuce leaves available as well as the stronger oriental leaves that are often the mainstay of winter salads.
So, that’s what’s making me happy this week. How about you?
-oOo-
Emily of Nerd in the Brain originally created Three Things Thursday, but it’s now being hosted by Natalie of There She Goes.
The Snail of Happiness 
Guy Guy
/ September 28, 2017I like your thoughts and ideas 😀😀😀
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2017Thank you – I write a post every week listing three things that I’m happy about – it’s important to focus on the positive sometimes!
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quietwatercraft
/ September 28, 2017Even baby carnivorous plants are cute! Do you have to feed them ‘meat’ or do you just leave them to catch any passing bugs?
My three things for this week are – access to free dental check ups, finding a truly beautiful top for £3 in my favourite charity shop, and having enough time and means to work on my yarny hobbies
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2017Now time is always a great thing to have access to!
The carnivores feed themselves… in fact they earn their keep in the limery by keeping the flies down in there.
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katechiconi
/ September 28, 2017I’m grateful to have finished the pills that were making my stomach sore, I’m grateful for the simple pleasure of bread rolls, and I’m really, really grateful for a lovely new quilt to plan for and design 🙂 Glad you got your new mittens finished before it gets too cold 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2017I hope that in the next few days you’ll be grateful for doughnuts too!
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katechiconi
/ September 28, 2017Soon! I’m thinking either chocolate or coffee glazed…
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2017Drool… I rarely eat a doughnut, but we did have some wonderful ones at the local food festival in the summer
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katechiconi
/ September 28, 2017The best doughnuts I’ve ever eaten in my life were in France about 40 years ago; there was a roadside stall at a market, and they were turning out fresh hot doughnuts filled with apricot jam and dusted with cinnamon sugar. Food of the gods!
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Nice Piece of Work
/ September 28, 2017Very rewarding to propagate your own plants, even my daughter has got in on the act.
My three things: a better night’s sleep last night (5 on a scale of 1 to 10); a beautiful spring day that has the gazanias opening up and the birds hopping around in the sun; a full refund for something I’d paid for and no longer need – without any complaints or run-around 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2017The whole day looks brighter after a better night’s sleep… I hope you make progress towards 10 very soon… little change for me with aging dog who asks to go out up to 4 times a night, but good last night as there was only one trip!
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Laurie Graves
/ September 28, 2017So important to focus on the positive! As we would say in Maine, those mittens look wicked warm.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 29, 2017I think they may be a bit too warm for spring and autumn and I might need to make a pair with something finer.
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Annie
/ September 28, 2017You know, that’s odd. Salad leaves are something we really look forward too over the winter. So glad we have enough to see us through.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 29, 2017Maybe now I have some lettuce I will enjoy salad more in the winter – I find the usual winter leaves a bit tough and overpowering sometimes.
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Annie
/ September 29, 2017What do you grow? We have perpetual spinach, chard, beetroot leaves and lambs lettuce as the main stay, plus what ever happens to be around ‘normal’ lettuce wise. To this we add bits of sorrel, sage, parsley, basil etc. Different every day. 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 29, 2017usually mizuna, tree spinach, young kale/broccoli leaves and Claytonia (which I do really like) plus whatever oriental leaves I happen to have self-seeded (often hybrids).
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nanacathy2
/ September 28, 2017Totally distracted by you and and Kate and talk of doughnuts. Best ones I had were fresh cooked cinnamon ones at wait for it Flamingoland Land- a theme park. By golly they were good.
I love your plants, attractive and practical if they eat slugs.
I am grateful today for , finally agreeing on new french windows, the successful nearly final step on winding up my Dad’s estate, and a bumper runner bean crop.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 29, 2017Sadly they don’t eat slugs, but they do a great job on cluster flies.
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thecontentedcrafter
/ September 28, 2017The thought of you tending your carnivorous ‘babies’ makes me chuckle! Anything that feeds on flies gets my vote! I found an enormous spider yesterday lurking within the curves of an outdoor chair I’d upended for cleaning…… she was clearly cross with me, so we had a little chat as I moved her to a higher plane and suggested she get on with her job there as the warmer weather is bringing the little buzzers out in force! That she’s there makes me very happy! My two healthy, happy little fellas are also making me very happy at the moment – grateful for them!!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 29, 2017We also encourage spiders to live in the limery… there’s a beautiful garden spider in there at the moment with the most fabulous web.
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Born To Organize
/ September 30, 2017What fun it must be growing your own baby carnivores. That made me smile! Finger-less gloves are such a good idea. It so rarely gets that cold here, but I can appreciate the convenience of “free fingers” as you go about your day. I’m grateful for cooler temperatures today. It was 92F earlier this week and now we’ve dropped by ten degrees. I’m grateful for your uplifting posts.
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KerryCan
/ September 30, 2017The gloves are wonderful but the image of you making them, cozy with your wine and audiobook, is even better! It’s that kind of evening I’m thankful for.
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crawcraftsbeasties
/ October 4, 2017Oooh, nice mitts! I swear by fingerless gloves… My hands are always cold and I rarely leave the house without a pair of mitts in my bag! And congratulations on your carnivorous babies… Long may they feast on the Limery flies!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 4, 2017I am planning to stratify more seeds this winter, so I hope to have lots more babies next year.
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