Cheap Things That Make You Happy

[HappierAtHome]

Watching a great film on Netflix.

...such as??

Just watched Annihilation. So good!

[Basenji]

The Little Free Libraries (take a book, leave a book) all around my neighborhood. https://littlefreelibrary.org/

Just found a memoir of a paleontologist and read it this afternoon. Tomorrow while walking the dogs, I'll take it and a decluttered book to a different Little Free Library to keep things moving around.

[HappierAtHome]

The Little Free Libraries (take a book, leave a book) all around my neighborhood. https://littlefreelibrary.org/

Oh I LOVE my local Little Free Libraries! There are a heap within walking distance of my house :D

[chicwhitesox1]

Free stuff makes me happy. like free coffee and free breakfast in the office

[mspym]

- A cup of homemade cold brew coffee with some oven-baked french toast, using up the halfprice raisin turkish bread, topped with fresh banana, maple syrup & walnuts. So many gold stars for my husband and my son for this one today :)

- The dog-and-child friendly park out back of our house- we get to see all the people and dogs going to and from, and there are generally some pups that would welcome a pat and a ball-throw. Last weekend there was a free blues concert there from 3-6 and it was such a lovely atmosphere and great crowd.

- This morning's workout on the homegym we found on the last hard rubbish day.

[lemanfan]

Listening to podcasts while cleaning the kitchen.

[Hirondelle]

The sunsets I can watch right from my window every day. If they're exceptionally pretty I get out onto my balcony to take pictures.

[vern]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUgvAoTzWBA

[HappierAtHome]

Friends doing silly, cool April Fools pranks.

Free DVDs of a series I'd been meaning to show Mr Happier, via Buy Nothing.

[Rural]

Just discovered I only drank half my beer with supper a half hour ago, so that's like free beer, right? :)

[Hirondelle]

Game night at a co-worker with potluck food and leftover beers from his birthday last month.

[Rowellen]

Visiting my Nana. She's almost 90. We sit and chat and do jigsaw puzzles together. She can no longer do them easily herself but she always has one set up for me to work on while I'm there.

[Linea_Norway]

A thing at work: doing a test together with a developer on the other side of the world and discovering that the many major issues we found were not that bad after all and most had a logical explanation.

[Trifle]

The Decorah eagle cam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/ 

[begood]

The Decorah eagle cam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/

This is awesome! We have a bald eagle nest within view of our house, but it is up in a tree so we don't get this fabulous "in the nest" view! Our eagles also seem to have at least one fledgling - we see the adult feeding something in the nest.

[Trifle]

The Decorah eagle cam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/

This is awesome! We have a bald eagle nest within view of our house, but it is up in a tree so we don't get this fabulous "in the nest" view! Our eagles also seem to have at least one fledgling - we see the adult feeding something in the nest.

It really is awesome -- totally addictive.  We've been watching a lot the last few days; their last egg hatched late last night.  This pair is very experienced -- they've been together since 2007, and the chick that hatched last night is #31 for them.   :)   

[TheWifeHalf]

"Naked Ladies"
When we bought our house, 37 years ago, the guy next door kept a flower garden, in her yard, so the invalid woman who lived here could see them out her window. There were 5 Naked Lady clumps.
A Naked Lady is a very old fashioned plant, sprouts up a clump of leaves that look like daffodil leaves on speed, that die down about May.
Then in August, it sends up one stem, about 3 ft high, with 4-5 lily looking pink flowers on it.

I've been splitting the clumps in the fall, and now have 39 clumps growing. Some are old, will have 7 flower stems!

They have some official scientific name, but to me they are known as 'Naked Ladies"  I walk outside a lot in the spring, usually with a smile on my face.

[LilMissMinimalist]

Waking up to a clean house.

[Exflyboy]

I love doing things that normal people spend insane amounts of money on for free or close to it.

Examples of my recent exploits..

Removed three trees by climbing/delimbing first then felling. One was overhanging the house/barn and two were VERY close to 20kV overhead powerlines.

Redesigned and made parts for my Wife's late model car to get around serious design errors (the dealer simply replaces parts for $700 each time it fails.. which is about every 3 or 4 years).

Rinse/lather repeat on 3 issues.. all done for some ingenuity on my part.

New roofs on my three buildings.. I don't like it but its easy to do.

Built an entire boom sprayer rig for the tractor to be able to spray the 5 acre pasture for weeds.

Come to think of it I have never hired a contractor or mechanic.

[middo]

Built an entire boom sprayer rig for the tractor to be able to spray the 5 acre pasture for weeds.

I've done this too for our 25 acre property.  A salvaged landrover with no brakes or dashboard, an empty pallecon, about $50 worth of parts.  It starts, runs and sprays!

[Exflyboy]

Built an entire boom sprayer rig for the tractor to be able to spray the 5 acre pasture for weeds.

I've done this too for our 25 acre property.  A salvaged landrover with no brakes or dashboard, an empty pallecon, about $50 worth of parts.  It starts, runs and sprays!

Thats even more inventive.. Well done! I at least had the luxury of the three point hitch and a PTO..:)

[rosarugosa]

The Decorah eagle cam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/

I am mesmerized!

[SmokeySnow]

cheap salsa dance lesson (free with canned food donation) and latin social dance night

[Serendip]

The Decorah eagle cam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/

I am mesmerized!

Me too!
 Thank you for sharing this @Trifele I watched last night, and first thing this morning thought "wonder how the eaglets are doing?"

[Trifle]

The Decorah eagle cam: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/decorah-eagles/

I am mesmerized!

Me too!
 Thank you for sharing this @Trifele I watched last night, and first thing this morning thought "wonder how the eaglets are doing?"

Haha -- me too!  The re-wind feature is cool.  You can catch up on what you missed on the live stream.  The nighttime infrared is neat too. 

[TheWifeHalf]

Page 15 of this topic

There's 'Basenji' and 'rosarugosa'

Before my car accident, I was active in breeding and showing basenjis.  When I decided that I could breed in a way that would help the breed, I had to choose a kennel name. I chose Rugosa. (Basenjis have wrinkled foreheads, are considered one of the least domesticated breeds in the AKC and I wanted to retain the dogs quirks and wild spirit, while still being a welcome addition to a human family. )

I was also a flower gardener and knew that 'rosa rugosa'  was the wild form of the rose - hardy, let them go and they'll take over.  Rugosa refers to the wrinkled leaves.

My first show dog, my foundation bitch, was Rosa Rugosa. She was typical basenji, but with the temperament that I wanted to be the base of my kennel.

It made me smile seeing 'Basenji' and 'rosarugosa' on the same page, only a few messages apart.

[Serendip]

Gathering wild edible plants (clover, dandelion, linden, rose, etc)

[Linea_Norway]

Gathering wild edible plants (clover, dandelion, linden, rose, etc)

In May I will be going to a course to learn this. I have a small book already, but I think some of the plants are a bit too similar. It will help to get some instructions.

[rosarugosa]

Page 15 of this topic

There's 'Basenji' and 'rosarugosa'

Before my car accident, I was active in breeding and showing basenjis.  When I decided that I could breed in a way that would help the breed, I had to choose a kennel name. I chose Rugosa. (Basenjis have wrinkled foreheads, are considered one of the least domesticated breeds in the AKC and I wanted to retain the dogs quirks and wild spirit, while still being a welcome addition to a human family. )

I was also a flower gardener and knew that 'rosa rugosa'  was the wild form of the rose - hardy, let them go and they'll take over.  Rugosa refers to the wrinkled leaves.

My first show dog, my foundation bitch, was Rosa Rugosa. She was typical basenji, but with the temperament that I wanted to be the base of my kennel.

It made me smile seeing 'Basenji' and 'rosarugosa' on the same page, only a few messages apart.

Hey WH, I'm glad I helped make you smile!  RR has been my screen name and online identity since 2009 when I created a profile on Deadnet (a Grateful Dead site).  My DH had used one of our garden pics for a profile pic (sunflower) and I was looking for a cool pic to use and found a nice shot of a RR from our garden.  I decided that could also be my name since it sounded like a kind of cool Italian hippie chick, lol.

[Basenji]

Page 15 of this topic

There's 'Basenji' and 'rosarugosa'

Before my car accident, I was active in breeding and showing basenjis.  When I decided that I could breed in a way that would help the breed, I had to choose a kennel name. I chose Rugosa. (Basenjis have wrinkled foreheads, are considered one of the least domesticated breeds in the AKC and I wanted to retain the dogs quirks and wild spirit, while still being a welcome addition to a human family. )

My first show dog, my foundation bitch, was Rosa Rugosa. She was typical basenji, but with the temperament that I wanted to be the base of my kennel.

It made me smile seeing 'Basenji' and 'rosarugosa' on the same page, only a few messages apart.

Woof!

[lifejoy]

"Naked Ladies"
When we bought our house, 37 years ago, the guy next door kept a flower garden, in her yard, so the invalid woman who lived here could see them out her window. There were 5 Naked Lady clumps.
A Naked Lady is a very old fashioned plant, sprouts up a clump of leaves that look like daffodil leaves on speed, that die down about May.
Then in August, it sends up one stem, about 3 ft high, with 4-5 lily looking pink flowers on it.

I've been splitting the clumps in the fall, and now have 39 clumps growing. Some are old, will have 7 flower stems!

They have some official scientific name, but to me they are known as 'Naked Ladies"  I walk outside a lot in the spring, usually with a smile on my face.

Wanting to see what these look like, I instantly thought, “Oh! I should google ‘Naked Ladies’”

HA! Guess I’ll just have to imagine them  ;)

[lifejoy]

Page 15 of this topic

There's 'Basenji' and 'rosarugosa'

Before my car accident, I was active in breeding and showing basenjis.  When I decided that I could breed in a way that would help the breed, I had to choose a kennel name. I chose Rugosa. (Basenjis have wrinkled foreheads, are considered one of the least domesticated breeds in the AKC and I wanted to retain the dogs quirks and wild spirit, while still being a welcome addition to a human family. )

I was also a flower gardener and knew that 'rosa rugosa'  was the wild form of the rose - hardy, let them go and they'll take over.  Rugosa refers to the wrinkled leaves.

My first show dog, my foundation bitch, was Rosa Rugosa. She was typical basenji, but with the temperament that I wanted to be the base of my kennel.

It made me smile seeing 'Basenji' and 'rosarugosa' on the same page, only a few messages apart.

Wow! That’s really special :)
The universe works in mysterious ways...

[deborah]

"Naked Ladies"
When we bought our house, 37 years ago, the guy next door kept a flower garden, in her yard, so the invalid woman who lived here could see them out her window. There were 5 Naked Lady clumps.
A Naked Lady is a very old fashioned plant, sprouts up a clump of leaves that look like daffodil leaves on speed, that die down about May.
Then in August, it sends up one stem, about 3 ft high, with 4-5 lily looking pink flowers on it.

I've been splitting the clumps in the fall, and now have 39 clumps growing. Some are old, will have 7 flower stems!

They have some official scientific name, but to me they are known as 'Naked Ladies"  I walk outside a lot in the spring, usually with a smile on my face.

Wanting to see what these look like, I instantly thought, “Oh! I should google ‘Naked Ladies’”

HA! Guess I’ll just hdave to imagine them  ;)

Belladonna Lilies

[lifejoy]

"Naked Ladies"
When we bought our house, 37 years ago, the guy next door kept a flower garden, in her yard, so the invalid woman who lived here could see them out her window. There were 5 Naked Lady clumps.
A Naked Lady is a very old fashioned plant, sprouts up a clump of leaves that look like daffodil leaves on speed, that die down about May.
Then in August, it sends up one stem, about 3 ft high, with 4-5 lily looking pink flowers on it.

I've been splitting the clumps in the fall, and now have 39 clumps growing. Some are old, will have 7 flower stems!

They have some official scientific name, but to me they are known as 'Naked Ladies"  I walk outside a lot in the spring, usually with a smile on my face.

Wanting to see what these look like, I instantly thought, “Oh! I should google ‘Naked Ladies’”

HA! Guess I’ll just hdave to imagine them  ;)

Belladonna Lilies

Heh thanks!!

[kei te pai]

Feijoa season, yum, yum! This may be a NZ thing, feijoas are a delicious autumn fruit that grows easily in many parts of the country. When they are in season they are so abundant people bring bucket loads to work, and share them round the neighbourhood. Feijoa crumble, feijoa muffins, feijoa chutney, feijoas everywhere. After  month or two they are finished and its a year to wait until the next crop.

[koshtra]

Bumping against a curious word and finding there's an extensive thread discussing it on Language Hat: http://languagehat.com/feijoa/

[redbird]

I don't normally buy books, but I bought $18 worth of books today. My library has a book sale every ~6 months and they sell donated hardbacks for $2 each and paperbacks for $1 each. These are generally extremely good condition, practically brand new in some cases. I buy books typically at every book sale to support the library. I feel I get tons of worth out of the library and I like to support them beyond just the local taxes I pay. I always budget myself to $20 for each sale, so I don't spend too much but get a bunch of things to read!

[Linea_Norway]

Not really happy, but makes me content: our second-hand bought composting bin is doing a good job with temperatures now being above 0C. When I open the lid and pour the contents from last winter around, the damp comes off. What lays under has already turned to black earth.

[HappierAtHome]

Evening walks with my family.

[Trifle]

Not really happy, but makes me content: our second-hand bought composting bin is doing a good job with temperatures now being above 0C. When I open the lid and pour the contents from last winter around, the damp comes off. What lays under has already turned to black earth.

+1.  Compost in general makes me very happy.  I love the smell of a cooking batch of compost -- it's like the essence of life. 

[middo]

Going for an evening walk with my wife and adult daughter, and happening to stumble on one of my favourite singers, Missy Higgins, doing a sound check the night before her concert at a local beach.  About 20 of us got a short impromptu concert, which we really really enjoyed.  Missy Higgins seemed to like our feedback too.  A pity the tickets were $140, or I may have been tempted to go to the concert.

[Warlord1986]

I went to bed early last night and woke up refreshed and chipper. My cat curled up next to me and just as we were falling asleep, he gave one of those contented little sighs that completely melts my heart. :)

[Linea_Norway]

A good, not expensive meal, cooked by DH.

DH repaired a broken bifold door in our house by himself.

[zolotiyeruki]

DH repaired a broken bifold door in our house by himself.

In the same vein, fixing a major problem with an inexpensive part, without having to call a technician or tradesman.  For example, a week ago our water heater's relief valve started leaking severely.  A quick trip to the hardware store and a $15 part fixed it.  I was worried it would turn into an $800 water heater replacement at first.  It's 12 years old, so I also ordered a new anode rod.

[abhe8]

Practicing my violin! I played for 12 yrs, then took a 16 yr break, and am now getting back to it. I bought the Suzuki book and CD, but now so the practice I want is free.

[HappierAtHome]

Much-needed rain.

[deborah]

Much-needed rain.

I wish!

[HappierAtHome]

Much-needed rain.

I wish!

No rain for grey haters.

[deborah]

Much-needed rain.

I wish!

No rain for grey haters.

Hahahahahaha! Good one HaH!

[Carrie]

Practicing my violin! I played for 12 yrs, then took a 16 yr break, and am now getting back to it. I bought the Suzuki book and CD, but now so the practice I want is free.

Thanks for this. I need to dust off my old violin and see what I can do. If you have an orchestra nearby that could be a fun little side gig! I still have my suzuki books and my kid is learning piano (future accompanist! ), so no reason not to play again.