Simple Pleasures Project, Day 200

The annual New Year's Eve Nerf war.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 199

The moon beneath the clouds.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 198

Finding a politcal candidate I actually want to vote for instead of just the lesser of two evils. Ron Paul's got my vote. I disagree with his environmental and immigration beliefs, but support pretty much everything else. Give the power back to the people!

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 197

4-wheel drive in the snow.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 196

Ricki Van Camp's raven photo.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 195

Having bagel, bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches for lunch.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 194

A movie marathon on Christmas Day. (This year, all the x-men films).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 193

Dressing up like an elf on Christmas Eve.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 192

Listening to the church bells play Christmas Carols.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 191

Christmas cards.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 190

Christmas books

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 189

Wrapping boxes.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 188

Candy Canes.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 187

Driving around to look at all the neighborhood Christmas lights.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 186

Musical Christmas lights.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 185

Playing Christmas songs on my guitar.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 184

Fixing carpet.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 183

Sewing with a new material; hemp.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 182

Lasagna

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 181

Finishing my children's book.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 180

A new pair of socks (you know, the kind that don't have any holes in them!)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 179

Making Christmas Cookies.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 178

Completing my first craft video.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 177

Christmas music (I like it because I don't work in a store or go shopping much, so I don't have to listen to it 24/7 to get sick of it)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 176

Playing Mancala.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 175

Elf-esteem (a craft video series I'm working, hope to be posting the first one this week)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 174

Seeing Santa Claus driving down the street in a jeep. It's kinda funny.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 173

First Christmas film of the year.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 172

Decorating the tree.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 171

Making snowmen out of gourds.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 170

Christmas lights - They're so enchanting.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 169

Playing guitar.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 168

Rubbing my sheep's ears.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 167

Putting up the Christmas Village.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 166

Choosing a Christmas Tree.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 165

Finally getting to clean Serenity (My car-named after Malcalm Reynold's ship).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 164

Thanksgiving leftovers, yum.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 163

Thanksgiving traditons: "Alice's Restaurant" and the chess championships.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 162

Making fruit salad with the whole family for Thanksgiving.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 161

Driving in the rain.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 160

Sitting with a cow.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 159

Captain Jack Sparrow (I love the fourth movie, almost as good as the first!)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 158

Garlic Parmesan bread.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 157

Having my headache go away on its own. :-)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 156

The First Snow.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 155

Gingham Ribbon.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 154

Watching the moon rise amidst the clouds.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 153

Doing photo shoots, especially when they're equine photo shoots.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 152

Riding a horse (for the first time in 4 years). Coincidentally enough, the horse I rode today is one who almost killed me a couple years ago (they get really tall when they stand next to you on their hind legs), and I was positive I'd never even lead it by a halter again, let alone ride it. Funny how things work out; I really enjoyed it!

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 151

Cheesecake!

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 150

Aurora Borealis.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 149

Throwing pumpkins over the fence for the cows.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 148

Getting to spending time in a craft shop.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 147

A moonlight walk.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 146

Watching a shooting star.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 145

Flannel sheets.

Simple Pleasures Project, 144

Making people laugh.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 143

Feeding the cows pumpkins.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 142

Writing.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 141

67 degrees in November.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 140

The feeling of nerves unwinding after the final harvest-time crunch of the season.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 139

Dressing up on Halloween.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 138

Carving pumpkins.

Simeple Pleasures Project, Day 137

Finishing the Halloween Costumes.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 136

A horse with blue eyes.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 135

A nice, hot bath.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 134

The Great Pumpkin.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 133

Bittersweet bunches.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 132

Fresh baked bread.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 131

Hot glue gun.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 130

Hiding in the woods with my brother so we can jump out and scare people coming to the Halloween party.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 129

The smell of woodsmoke.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 128

My sister's teeth shining white in the glow of the black light.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 127

Watching the cape on our Halloween witch blowing in the wind.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 126

My halloween sweatshirts.

Simple Pleasures Project, 125

Jack-be-littles

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 124

Alova, my favorite fabric in the world.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 123

Having the weather nicer than the weatherman predicted (even if it only lasted a little while).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 122

An autumn walk through the woods with my cat.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 121

The big cornstalk teepee at the city farm market.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 120

Boxed Macaroni and Cheese (Since we don't eat it very often, it seems like a treat when we do).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 119

Nights warm enough to wear a T-shirt in October.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 118

Having enough time before work to take a quick walk through the leaf-covered path in the woods.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 117

An eighty degree day in October (especially when it's a day that I'm not at work, so I get to go out and enjoy it).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 116

Apple cider and fry cakes.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 115

Geese flying south for the winter.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 114

The stepping stones in Gramma's garden all covered with pear leaves.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 113

The first Halloween movie of the year: Hocus Pocus (best Halloween movie ever made!)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 112

Assembling desks.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 111

Doing chores (feeding cows) while it's still light out.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 110

Decorating for Halloween.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 109

Coming home to a nice cozy and warm wood stove.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 108

The sky filled with all the leaves soaring on the air as they're blown from the trees by a brisk autumn beeze. (I think this is my third simple pleasure involving leaves. I guess leaves always make me happy no matter what they're doing)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 107

Walking through a patch of colorful, chest-high zinnias.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 106

Doing cartwheels in the grass.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 105

A group of robins taking a bath in a puddle at the end of the driveway.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 104

Running across the open field that separates our house from Poppy and Gramma's next door.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 103

Halloween postcards.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 102

Watching a squirrel busily burying nuts for winter.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 101

The fuzzy little black and orange catepillars that crawl everywhere this time of year.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 100

Making Cards.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 99

Fallen leaves all over the stone steps leading down to our creek in the woods.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 98

The last rays of the setting sun shining with blinding, golden radiance on the open stretch of road before on the drive home.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 97

Leftovers from last night's supper for today's lunch.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 96

Spending the morning cutting an entire field of broomcorn with the knife Poppy gave me when I was about 12. (I love cutting broomcorn, harvest is my favorite time of the year!)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 95

My cat Blackie happily running out to meet me, just like a dog, whenever my car pulls in the driveway.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 94

Cool fall air at night.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 93

Using the glue gun an entire night without burning my fingers once.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 92

2 days in a row without having to get up early :-)

Simple Pleasure Project, Day 91

Rolling Stones music.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 90

The Halloween edition of Martha Stewart.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 89

Sitting in the middle of the orchard munching fallen peaches and gathering up as many of them as my sweatshirt can hold.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 88

The autumn smell of apples.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 87

A woodchuck running through the meadow.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 86

Harvesting pumpkins!!! (I didn't get to plant them, but darn it, I get to harvest them.)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 85

The calf in the pasture by the road racing me in my car...it doesn't get much cuter than that.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 84

The first branch of maples leaves turning flame red against the green backdrop of the other leaves.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 83

One word: Bacon!

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 82

Finding out the costume I made for my cousin fits perfectly.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 81

An afternoon nap when you've only had 4 hours of sleep the night before.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 80

Dying Queen Anne's Lace.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 79

The modern convenience of running water. (We've got a leak in the well, so running water isn't something we've had the last few days. Today I got to use running water at my aunts. Oh what a treat.)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 78

The sight of tomatoes growing on a rooftop garden in the city.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 77

Laying on my horse's back; we both kinda just took an afternoon nap together.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 76

Flowers in my hair.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 75

Finding fossils in the creek.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 74

The mist burning off the field as the sun comes up in the early morning.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 73

Hunting meeps with my 12 year old cousin and using cabbage leaves as armor-protection from the meeps. (And we're still not sure what meeps are, that's just what we were calling the imaginary creatures we were hunting).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 72

Eating peaches right off the tree.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 71

The smell of mom making tomato sauce when I get up in the morning. (Smells like the coming of fall, my favorite season).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 70

Seeing a fish in Gramma's pond.
(We had thrown in a bunch last year after friends of ours caught them fishing, but a heron had been skulking around the pond right after we threw them in. We figured the heron had eaten them all, but looks like at least one managed to get away.)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 69

Having leftovers for lunch.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 68

Finding a place to stand under and stay dry during the pouring rain.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 67

S'mores.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 66

The birds singing in the trees.
("All the birds in the trees, they were singing so happily, oh joyfully..." ~ That Supertramp song just keeps popping up).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 65

Imitating Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music while I pick flowers (when no one's watching of course, otherwise I might look just a bit more than strange twirling around in circles).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 64

The sound of crickets chirping in the barn in the morning.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 63

Scattering timothy seeds on the air like pixiedust.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 62

Crows in the vineyard.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 61

Porkchops, nice and dry, just the way I like them (or as my father refers to them "the consistency of old shoe leather).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 60

Sewing Costumes.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 59

Legend of the Seeker.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 58

Full moon nights
(And as far as I know, I'm not a werewolf).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 57

Brushing my beloved cow, Dragonfly.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 56

Blueberry jam on toast.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 55

Freshly cut grass.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 54

Eight whole hours of sleep.

Simple Pleasure Project, Day 53

Figuring out how to fix my computer's exe application, so my programs will open again when I ask/want/need them to. (ah, smiles...)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 52

Seeing the satisfaction on Dragonfly the cow's face when I give her a big bucket full of old veggies.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 51

Cultivating the crops with the old planet junior (it's an old push cultivator that belonged to my great-grandfather. Around 100 years old and it still works great).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 50

A bright rainbow rising out of some wispy white clouds, against a backdrop of stark gray.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 49

Fresh, sweet corn on the cob for supper. Yummy-yum.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 48

Hoeing the pumpkins. (I may have missed the first planting, but at least I get to do the hoeing, because do love that as well).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 47

Watching a hummingbird admire his or her own reflection in a window.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 46

Seeing pink wild roses for the first time. (I've found plenty of white and a few yellow ones, but never seen pink, always neat to find something new).

Simple Pleasure Project, Day 45

Listening to the peepers sing. Poppy (my grandfather) always loved them too. It's kinda like an official marker of the warm season when the peepers start singing. It always makes me think of riding a canoe down some river in the midst of the woods under the light of a bright moon, while the peepers sing on the banks (I've never really ridden a canoe down a woodland river, but it's on my list of things to do someday).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 44

Watching a flock of 50 birds land on the roof of the barn at exactly the same time.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 43

Hot air balloons flying overhead.
They usualloy do it a few times a year, and when we're out in the field, they sometimes get close enough that you can hear the hiss of the hot air going up into the envelope. Love them.

Simple Pleasures Project Day 42

Cutting the first real armload of sunflowers. They'll be great for market boquets this weekend.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 41

Blackberry juice tatoos (don't laught until you try it). They're kinda like henna that doesn't last as long.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 40

Crossing more off my to-do list than I add to it (for a change)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 39

Listening to Ian and Becky play music for us at the farm market. (Love that "Friend of the Devil" cover they do!)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 38

Getting to bed before 1:00 AM on the night before the farm market...it doesn't always happen.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 37

Air-Conditioning on a 95 degree day.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 36

Watching a cow yawn while I do chores at dusk.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 35

Meditating in the woods.

(Well, maybe it's not really meditating, but that's what I call it. Basically it's just sitting quietly until my racing mind calms itself down so I can organize my jumble of thoughts. It's sort of like having a cluttered desk. When the papers are all over the place it's hard to find the one you need, but when everything is all organized, finding the right one is easy. My head is like that, so sometimes I just have to sit quietly and get my thoughts in order to "de-clutter the desk." Either way, it's a simple pleasure because I feel refreshed when my thoughts are in order.)

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 34

Finding four-leaf (and more leaf) clovers.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 33

Watching my neighbors' bulldogs playing in their swimming pool. They even cooled me off nicely when they came over and happily rubbed their wet bodies all over my clothes.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 32

Playing badminton with my siblings.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 31

Having every square inch of my car chock-full of flowers to take to the market. It looks very pretty and it's fun watching the looks of amazment on the faces of people staring at my flower-stuffed car when I drive by.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 30

Eating sun ripened blackberries right off the bush.

Simple Pleaures Project, Day 29

The big old round hay bails sitting out in an open field on a sunny day.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 28

Trying out a new candle mold for the first time.

Simple Pleaures Project, Day 27

Finding a brilliantly colored Bluejay feather in the path, on my way to the barn to feed the cows. (I use the feathers I find to make earrings, and bluejay feathers are some of the most vibrant).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 26

The way the sun peeks through the trees in little golden patches of light when you're walking in a dense woodland.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 25

Having the birds outside my window singing me to sleep.

~ On Friday nights, I usually only get about 3 or 4 hours of sleep, due to going to the farm market on Saturday mornings. So, I take a nap when I get home to regain the lost hours. It's so relaxing to listen to the afternoon birds twittering outside my window as I drift off to sleep.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 24

Watching the small airplanes fly overhead in a clear sky on a sunny day.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 23

Sharing a hug with my best friend.



Dragonfly (the cow) and me.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 22

Listening to the little black and red bugs squeak as they crawl all over the milkweed blossoms that line the old cow fence.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 21

Watching Ziah (aka Bullseye, aka Bully) the sheep battle with the trees. The trees usually win...they're still standing after Ziah's done trying the beat them to death with his head.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 20

Playing bloody werewolf (it's sort of like hide and seek in reverse) with our cousins while waiting for the fireworks across the lake to start.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 19

The tranquil hush that washes over Poppy's barn just before sunset.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 18

Spending a quiet evening home with the family, eating pizza and watching a movie.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 17

Having Poppy and Gramma's farm right next door, just a quick walk across the field.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 16

Actually having my camera with me when I see something I want to take a picture of on my walk down from Gramma's.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 15

The brown heads of the cattails slowly becoming that downy, white fluffy stuff as they go to seed.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 14

Watching the dragonflies by the pond.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 13

The welcome feeling a cool breeze blowing through the window on a hot afternoon.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 12

Waking up to see the bright orange plumage of a Baltimore Oriole sitting in the apple tree outside my bedroom window.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 11

Relaxing with my kitty curled up on my lap.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 10

Seeing a sign warning of buggy crossing in Menonite country.

I've always found those kind of neat, because while you can find deer crossing signs all over the country, buggy crossing signs are a bit more rare.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 9

The sweet smell of fresh cut hay.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 8

The sound of raindrops hitting the roof.

Simple Pleasure Project, Day 7

Watching honeybees buzzing around the clover blossoms.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 6

Gathering flowers to dry for craft projects.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 5

Walking barefoot on the cool, dirt floor of the forest.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 4

Lori Thompson's chocolate-chip cookies.

She's one of the bakers at the farm market and has the greatest chocolate-chip cookies in the world. Of course, as nobody in my family is capable of baking chocolate-chip cookies, it just makes hers that much better. But, while my own family's choc-chip cookies may not turn out well, the cold dough is always excellent. (yeah, we eat it raw eggs and all).

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 3

The sight of big, fluffy clouds at sunset, looking like something from a fairyland scene in Fantasia.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 2

The sweet taste of the season's first strawberries.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 1

Seeing as how my goal with this project is to take the time to "stop and smell the roses," that was exactly what I did in the litteral sense on the first day of my little endevor. As I walked along the cow fence, the sweet fragrance of the wild rose bushes in the pasture surrounded me with a most pleasing and relaxing aroma.