Once upon a time, there was a blog… hundreds of posts and tens of thousands of words since I first put fingers to keyboard and I still can’t exactly classify it, but if you explore it, you’ll find lots about creativity and caring for the planet, about plants and compost, about cooking and mending, and about the things that make me the person I am. It’s a space where I share what I’m up to and where lots of like (and not-so-like)-minded people interact and have even become friends.
Now, ten years down the line The Snail of Happiness is also a real live shop. We are located in Lampeter in west Wales and we sell making, mending and pre-loved craft supplies. Our ethos is the same as the blog – encouraging everyone to be kinder to the planet, themselves and each other. By mending what we have and using existing materials and tools, we can have a big impact of the world.
If you want to get in touch, send me a message …
The Snail of Happiness 
shapeofthingstoni
/ May 19, 2012Hello and thanks for liking my recent post. Your blog is lovely. 🙂
Cheers,
T.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 19, 2012Many thanks… I just wish I could take photos as beautiful as yours!
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Dilshad
/ June 1, 2012Hi! That’s a very cute pair of knitted snails in your blog’s banner! If you are keen to share, I’d love to know more about your work as a scientific editor.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 1, 2012The snails are from a lovely book: Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh… I use them when I am teaching permaculture. I must get round to posting about some of my other knitted animals, but will have to photograph them first.
I edit scientific (and other) papers for authors who do not have English as their first language but want to publish in English (the language of many high-profile journals). They write their papers as best they can and I ‘polish’ their writing to make it publishable. I originally worked almost exclusively on forestry and ecology papers, but I am much more versatile now, covering a wide range of sciences plus education and anthropology. The advent of the internet has been a boon, especially now it is possible to send and receive remarkably large files – all my clients are overseas, but communication is so quick and all my work is done on a computer screen, so there is never any paper.
All this means I can work from home and combine earning a living with gardening, cooking and craft projects… as well as blogging!
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Dilshad
/ June 3, 2012Thank you so much for your reply; I really enjoyed reading about your work as a scientific editor. It’s great to hear how technology has aided the editing industry. Good luck with all your work and I look forward to seeing some more knitted animals and your blog posts too.
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babso2you
/ June 16, 2012Wonderful blog you have here! Thank you for the like on my blog about my Lasagna Garden!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 16, 2012Thanks for dropping by – I love your lasagna garden idea
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babso2you
/ June 16, 2012My neighbor told me about this type of garden. I am hooked! The garden is doing very well!
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jammiekern
/ July 31, 2012Just letting you know I’ve given you the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! http://jammiekern.com/2012/07/31/the-very-inspiring-blogger-award/ Thanks for all your information!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 31, 2012Thank you, thank you!
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jilrob
/ November 10, 2012I love your snail photo!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 10, 2012Thank you… they seem to have become my trade mark!
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Maryanne Birch
/ November 27, 2012I am looking for Bamboo Twine and cannot find it anywhere. I live in Canada but the teacher I am searching for might be willing to import it if I can find a brand name. She wants her class to build bridges with it. Thanks for any help.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 27, 2012I buy my natural fibre twine from Sorazora (http://sorazora.com), but their bamboo twine is very silky and may not be suitable. Anyway it’s probably worth contacting them because they do specialise in natural fibres and may have some ideas.
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nanacathy2
/ March 26, 2013I have enjoyed your blog so much I would like to nominate you for the wonderful team member award. Here are the details. http://nanacathydotcom.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/award-wonderful-team-member-readership-award/
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 27, 2013Many thanks for the nomination. I’m rubbish at getting round to responding… I still have one to do from the wonderful Lord David Prosser (Barcetshire diaries) from months ago, but I am very flattered!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ December 14, 2013OK, I’ve finally set up an awards page and started doing acceptances… yours will be the next one I write about. So sorry it’s taken me so long to get to this point, the time has just disappeared this year! And I must apologise for responding to the one from Mr Rooster (see below) before yours.
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The Belmont Rooster
/ November 10, 2013Jan, I have just nominated you for The Liebster Award. You can follow this link to my oat so you will know what to do next: http://thebelmontrooster.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/the-liebster-award/
Congradulations and good luck!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 10, 2013Thank you… that’s one of my November NaBloPoMo posts taken care of!!
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The Belmont Rooster
/ November 10, 2013GREAT!
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Megan S
/ November 21, 2013Congratulations Jan, I’ve nominated you for the Inner Peace Award. I really believe that having passion for sustainability and the environment and attempting to live a sustainable life is a key way of finding your inner peace. You can view the award here: http://wp.me/p43FEK-5y
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 27, 2013Sorry it’s taken me a few days to reply… all this NaBloPoMo-ing is rather distracting! Anyway, I’ll be posting about it in a day or two
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Megan S
/ November 27, 2013No problems! I know what you mean about NaBloPoMo being distracting. 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ December 14, 2013OK new page for awards set up… I promise to get round to them all eventually!
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Jo Woolf
/ November 22, 2013Thanks for stopping by both my blogs, and for following. It’s a great feeling to be followed by the Snail of Happiness! I will be taking care where I place my feet! Best wishes, Jo
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 23, 2013Of course, oftentimes the snail follows very slowly!! I’ve discovered so many lovely blogs recently and I’m very pleased to have found both yours.
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Jo Woolf
/ November 23, 2013Thank you very much! 🙂 Welcome to both!
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Megan S
/ November 26, 2013Congratulations Jan, I’ve just nominated you for the Blog of the Year Award. You can see it here: http://mychroniclifejourney.wordpress.com/2013/11/26/blog-of-the-year-nomination/
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 26, 2013Thank you Megan!
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Megan S
/ November 26, 2013Your welcome 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ December 14, 2013As before, now I have a dedicated page I’ll get organised (I hope!)
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Mari
/ December 2, 2013Hi! I’ve enjoyed reading your blog, and have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award (although I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve already received it and I missed it). You can learn more about the award here: http://gatherandgrow.org/2013/12/02/versatile-blogger-award/
– Mari
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The Snail of Happiness
/ December 3, 2013Thank you!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ December 14, 2013Right, I’ve set up an awards page, so I promise to get round to accepting properly soon!
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katechiconi
/ December 13, 2013Hello, let me add to your already heavy burden of awards. I have nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award, because I believe you’re living the life we should all lead, and are making interesting reading of it too. I can’t tell if you have it already, but if not, and you’d like to do something about it, go here: http://talltalesfromchiconia.wordpress.com/2013/12/14/inspiration-has-struck-2/
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The Snail of Happiness
/ December 14, 2013I am going to try to get organised about all these awards… I think there’s about four or five I haven’t thought about yet (sorry people). Perhaps a special awards page is in order.
However, for the time being,thank you so much!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ December 14, 2013Awards page now created… just realised how many I have to accept officially (hangs head in shame)
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katechiconi
/ December 14, 2013It’s not supposed to be an instrument of torture! Relax and enjoy, there’s no time limit. But a rogue’s gallery is a good idea if you have an embarrassment of riches…
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Megan S
/ January 1, 2014Congratulations Jan, I’ve nominated you for 3 awards! Check them out here: http://mychroniclifejourney.wordpress.com/2014/01/02/another-welcome-to-the-family-plus-liebster-and-lighthouse-awards/
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youngatfifty
/ January 11, 2014that’s a multifaceted personality wow ! I am inspired 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 11, 2014I think it’s down to my short attention span!!!
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slipperywitch
/ January 14, 2014Lovely blog. I’m a bit rubbish at reading other blogs but try to catch up every now and then. I notice in a recent blog you mention you’re in Wales. Dare I ask whereabouts? We’ve just moved to Wales – in my case ‘back to’ as I was brought up in Wales from the age of eight – and we’re loving it. Very excited that spring is on the way.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 14, 2014We are in Aberaeron – where are you?
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wscottling
/ January 16, 2014You’ve been so very nice that I nominated you for the Liebster Award. Here are the details: http://willowscottling.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/liebster-award/. Thank you!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 16, 2014Many thanks… I’m a bit behind with awards, but I’ll have a blitz on them soon – I promise!
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Tony
/ March 14, 2014Hi I see you have a Vantage Vue, do you have it online? It would be good to compare figures as I have a weather station near Lampeter.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 16, 2014We haven’t got round to putting it on-line yet… is yours? If so, how have you done it?
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martinrickerd
/ June 3, 2014Hi there,
Following your contribution on the WordPress forum about the recent problems, I have written to the CEO’s Office at TalkTalk asking them to look into the way TT blocks sites after an alert about inappropriate material. I’ll let you know when/if I receive a response! Best wishes, Martin.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 3, 2014Thanks Martin – I’d be interested to hear about the response.
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Barbara
/ June 8, 2014Hi Jan. I am the lapsed member of the Diploma group, looking to “jumpstart” myself this year. I love your blog and its title. I want to start a blog myself and I am wondering how you did this and who hosts it. I already have a domain name and am tempted byiPage’s introductory offer, but would appreciate you telling me about your experience.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 10, 2014Hi Barbara… losing momentum seems to be a real problem with the diploma… I’m not sure whether I would have found it easy to start again if I had ground to a halt! My blog is here on WordPress and they host it, but I’m not sure how to use it if you already have a domain name registered. I really like WordPress and find it easy to do most of the things that I want to do. E-mail me or message me on FB if you have any specific questions or want a bit more support!
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quarteracrelifestyle
/ July 14, 2014Hi there. I was wondering if you would be interested in doing a post as part of a Creativity Blog Hop? I have been chosen to do one for next Monday and need to choose two others for the following Monday. I can’t think of a more creative blogger! http://paulinekingblog.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/blog-hop-around-the-world/
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 14, 2014You’ve been beaten to it by about 2 days! Kate Chiconi has already asked, so look out for my post on 28th!
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quarteracrelifestyle
/ July 15, 2014Ohhhh, OK 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Moke
/ August 1, 2014Hi and thanks for asking to join the Wool n Stuff Facebook Group. I’ve accepted your request so you should be on board now. I love your blog, you constantly echo and expand my thinking. Thank you. Moke xx
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 1, 2014I love a virtual knit and natter group!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 1, 2014Not to mention a real one!!!
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Moke
/ August 1, 2014It’s all good. Thank you also for tea bag info I have passed it on. Moke xx
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ourworldheritagebe
/ August 15, 2014Hi! Just wanted to let you know that we have received a blogger award and decided to nominate you as well… More on http://ourworldheritagebe.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/our-very-first-blog-award/ 😉 Greets – Annick (http://catstitches.wordpress.com)
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 17, 2014Thank you!
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ayearinredwood
/ September 28, 2014Have only just now found your comment on my blog! How the hell did I miss that? Love your blog and thank you for stopping by mine.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2014Thank you! Easy to miss a comment or two… I can see that I currently have quite a few to catch up with!
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Liz
/ December 8, 2014enjoyed meeting you over at KerryCan–we have excellent taste is friends 😀 The pieces you sent her are exquisite. So much fun. I can’t even imagine putting something like those together. Must take so much patience! But I love the colors and design.
Love your mission and that you care so much about the planet. Very cool.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ December 8, 2014I’ve only been crocheting for about three years, but it seems to bring out the creativity in me!
The rest of the stuff, like caring for the planet, I’ve been doing for longer!
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daniellajoe
/ March 6, 2015You are surely multi-talented, I love visiting with you 🙂
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mustanghenry
/ March 11, 2015Very happy to see you still on WordPress. I am an old familiar face using an alias for the time being… But, I will soon return and unveil the mask… Sorry I disappeared from WordPress in January 2014. Keep up the good work and GET DIRTY! P.S. I don’t have a mustang and my name isn’t Henry.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 11, 2015Well I guess you were formerly TBR… if so you can find a blog post about how sad I was that you disappeared at the time.
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Mustang Henry
/ April 5, 2015I have been getting the blog ready, pretty much as before. So far it has been private, which has been a bit strange writing posts to myself… SO, very shortly, TBR will be riding (writing) again.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 5, 2015Hurrah!
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Thrifty Weaver
/ July 16, 2015New blogger (2 1/2 days), came across yours whilst looking for like minded peeps.. it really is all rather overwhelming. Lovely blog, thanks for sharing 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 16, 2015I hope that you enjoy blogging… I’m just off to visit your site now 🙂
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Thrifty Weaver
/ July 16, 2015All feedback gratefully received 🙂
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Kitty
/ January 30, 2016Hi Mrs Snail, I have nominated you for a Sunshine Award:
Please don’t feel you have to participate but I love reading your blogs. 😉
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 31, 2016Thank you!
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Kitty
/ January 31, 2016My pleasure and well deserved Mrs Snail. 😉
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http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com
/ June 1, 2016Thank you for following my blog. I like what you do very much. I am hyper-concerned for the planet and my daughter and her family work in conservation.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 1, 2016Hello Viv… I’ve managed to sort out following all the sisterhood blogs on WordPress, but not to reading them all… I could have spent all afternoon enjoying them, but sadly I had to go and see the accountant (oh, joy!). Anyway, it’s lovely to make contact with more creative folks from around the world… and the sketchbook is such a fantastic idea!
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Andy Laub
/ July 27, 2016Dear Ms. Snail of Happiness,
Do you think stringing beads would have a similar effect on the alpha brain waves? I am thinking of introducing stringing of beads in a residential treatment setting as an example of a mindful activity.
Andy
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 27, 2016Yes, I think so – any small repetitive activity that does not require lots of concentration should work. I also highly recommend wet-felting – anyone can do it and you can easily make flat pieces of felt, balls or a simple pouch… it can be a little bit messy, but it’s only soap and warm water, so easy to mop up.
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M. L. Kappa
/ November 12, 2016Hi, and thanks for the follow! Your blog looks very interesting, I’m glad to have discovered it. Pleased to meet you, Marina
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 12, 2016Hi Marina… I got to you via Anne Lawson…. I’ve been so busy following all her links I haven’t had time to browse through the blogs she pointed me to! I need to settle down for an hour or two with a big cup of tea and do some exploring!
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M. L. Kappa
/ November 12, 2016I know! There’s never enough time!🌺
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iamsimplyhooked
/ June 29, 2017This is a bit off topic (or any recent topics anyway) but you were talking at some point about Scientists who also do other things and I wondered if you have read any of Barbara Kingsolver ‘s books? She is a biologist who also writes fiction (and non-fiction) and I think the biology shows through!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 29, 2017I really love The Poisonwood Bible, but I’ve only ever read one of her other books ‘Prodigal Summer’, which I really didn’t enjoy and which put me off seeking out any of her others.
Gosh and I still haven’t got my head round trips away… must do that soon.
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iamsimplyhooked
/ June 29, 2017I was thinking about ‘Animal, vegetable, miracle’ which is non-fiction and about their family experiences of trying to eat locally.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 29, 2017I’ll have to see if they have it in the library.
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readinginmirkwood
/ August 25, 2017I love your account name, why did you choose it? I also love the crochet snails in your background photo… They are simply adorable! Looking forward to reading some of your articles later.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 25, 2017There’s an explanation of the name in a very early post: https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2012/04/12/the-snail-of-happiness/ but I’m sure that I wrote something more detailed too, which I will try to find
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 25, 2017found it… here’s the other post: https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2013/09/07/happiness-and-doom/
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gaiainaction
/ February 4, 2018Hi, I am so happy to have discovered your blog, so interesting and inspiring! I’m an observer of nature, not professionally but with much enthusiasm. And now I am about exploring more of your blog, which by the first look contains much that interests me.
Kind regards
Agnes
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 4, 2018hello Agnes – I hope you enjoy it!
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gaiainaction
/ February 4, 2018Yes indeed, thank you!
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aFrankAngle
/ November 6, 2020First-time visitor. Cheers to your longevity
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 8, 2020Welcome!
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