Simple Joy Sunday

Finding the simple joys each week...

Although, I didn't get to the beach early enough last Sunday to go for a good walk, I still enjoyed my time there. Not only was it a delight to my senses, but I got some pretty pictures, too.

On Monday, I had a pretty crappy day at work. I let a lot of little things get to me. I know it wasn't personal, but it bothered me nonetheless. When I finally got home late that night, however, the day finally turned around. There were two packages waiting for me by the front door. One was from Tropical Tea Company. I had some problems ordering from their website, so I have to admit that I kind of had my doubts about the order. When I opened the box, I discovered my order plus another full size package of tea, a smaller one, and an individual serving; all of various other flavors that they carry. I thought maybe the order got confused, but they did include a note about the free samples. Score.

The second package was addressed to Jack (The Official Kitty of Athena's Armoury) from my mom. You can check out my blog post from earlier in the week detailing the antics that ensued after opening that box.

I randomly found out that a guy I went to high school with will be in the theatre where I work for the next month or so. He was a few years younger than me and we were in the theatre group together. Sweet guy and very talented. I'm glad to see how well he's doing! Talk about a crazy small world!

This week at work FLEW by! It's amazing how fast time goes when you actually have something to do. The work I was doing wasn't particularly exciting, but it kept me busy and I wasn't quite as miserable there as I usually am.

Because I was so busy this week, though, I still haven't had a chance to blog about some of my recent herbal concoctions. I made three different things last Sunday (Lavender Honey, Goldie Locks Vinegar Hair Rinse, Queen of Hungary Water), another during the week (Fire Cider), and I suspect I will be formulating again today. I'm hoping to tell you more about them this week.

Yesterday, Scott finally had a day off (this was another week of 16 hour days for him) and we had such an amazing day. It was an absolutely gorgeous day out, so we grabbed our bikes and road down to St. Pete. It wound up being about an hour to get to downtown. We had a super yummy lunch at Lucky Dill and then hopped back onto the bikes for the return trip. We were both kinda sore and tired on the return trip and were riding against the wind, but we made it. It was such a fun day. Happy.

In other news, I've been pondering the meaning of life (well, my life anyway) and am starting to feel like I'm getting back on track. A few different people have said things to me recently that have really struck a chord and made me think. Here's to hoping!

As always, check out more Simple Joy Sundays over at Cool Zebras. What were some of your joys this week?

Friday Finds - Biking Accessories

The weather is finally starting to cool off down here in the Sunshine State. This weekend, in fact, it's supposed to be in the mid to upper 70's. I've been really looking forward to getting the cooler weather mainly because Scott and I got these amazing bikes over the summer and I can't wait to be able to get out and ride! We tried when we got them, but I nearly collapsed from heat stroke. Not fun.

We got Giant bikes and this particular model can be used both on the street and off road. Me being me, I had to get a standard bike instead of one specifically built for women. Partly because I hate the fact that things are considered either standard or for women (women aren't normal, I guess?) but also because the women's bike fit me a little too small (I'm a bit Amazonian). The regular bike also, somehow, felt more rugged and I like that (I miss my Jeep).

Because my bike is so rugged feeling, a handlebar pouch just doesn't feel right (and don't even get me near a handlebar basket!). I really like this hip pouch for carrying the necessities.

Hip Pouch in Black by Death and Texas

It's important when going on long rides to make sure you've got your miscellaneous bike repair accessories with you: bike tool, extra tube, pump, etc. This is such a great little roll up case to store everything in. Plus, it attaches under your seat. Click on the link to see it stored.

Tamale Green, Blue, and Natural Pears/Natural Duck Cloth by Bike Burrito

Right now, our garage is so packed with stuff, it's difficult to move. If I can find a bit of wall space, our bikes would be up out of the way and showed off quite nicely on these wall mounts.

Wall Mounted Bike Rack (reclaimed wood) by cantilever and press

Attack Cat

It has been a long, long time since there were any gratuitous cat pictures on the blog of Jack, The Official Kitty of Athena's Armoury. So, today Jack gets his own blog post.

My mom had made me a crocheted lap blanket once upon a time. Last winter, I had been keeping it out to be all cozy like in front of the TV. Well, there were quite a few times that I would wake in the morning only to find it pulled off the couch and on the floor. Then one day, I caught Jack, red pawed, with it *in his mouth.* Needless to say, the blanket only came out when I wanted to use it after that.

Along with so many other people this year, my mom's company downsized and she was let go. She was starting to feel besides herself lately with nothing to do, so I suggested that maybe she should start crocheting again. She asked if there was anything that I needed. Me? No. Jack? Yes. Maybe if he had his own blanket, he'd leave mine alone.

Monday night, I arrived home to a couple of boxes: one was Jack's blanket. It came out adorable! I didn't know she was going to do this, but my mom sewed felt letters onto it spelling out his name. Upon closer examination, I realized that they were filled with catnip. I couldn't help but laugh, but also had the realization: "Oh, no... He's going to destroy this..." Well, here's the progression from innocent, discovering kitty to evil kitty.

Loving my new blanket. Look! It even has my name spelled out in felt letters! It gets even better!!! The letters are filled with catnip!!!!!!

Must Get to Catnip

(Blanket licking quickly proceeds to pulling at, burrowing in, and playing with the blanket.)

(Evil kitty takes over and attacks the brand new kitty blanket.)

What? Did I do something wrong?

Beach Walk

Despite living only about ten miles away from the beach, I somehow only managed to get there a handful of times this summer. Lately, I've been feeling the need to connect with Mother Nature so I've been trying to make up for the lack of summer beach time. I'm trying to make a weekly ritual to get there for a walk, meditation, or just enjoy a sunset. This past weekend, I got there fairly late in the day and it was super cloudy and windy out, so I spent some time taking pictures and just "being".

There is only very limited parking, but what is available is free. Makes parking on beautiful summer days a little difficult, but not so much in the cooler weather. This is the pathway from the parking area down to the shore.



The very first thing I do whenever I go to the beach is immediately take off my shoes and put my feet in the water.



There was some rough weather in the Gulf with Hurricane Ida, so the surf created these little sand cliffs when the tide came in earlier.



Depending on the time of day, tides, and even weather, you will find powdery soft sand on our Gulf beaches or you may find patches of broken shells.



Please keep off the sand dunes and do not pick the sea oats. There are some endangered plant and wildlife species that inhabit these areas. The dunes also capture sand from being blown into populated areas. Not only are sea oats beautiful, but they also preserve and stabilize the sand dunes. It is illegal to pick sea oats.



It may have been cloudy, but the sunset was still beautiful creating a play of light through the clouds.



It got dark pretty quickly after the sunset, so I was forced to end my time visiting Gaia.

Thanks for visiting the beach with me!