Friday, January 08, 2021

A Jar Full of Thankful Weekly Link Round-Up


Things are pleasantly quiet here at Casa Kittling. I've been rounding up decorations and going through all the bins to weed through things I no longer want to use before I pack all the keepers away. I'm about to finish one of my needlepoint projects for Holiday Season 2021, and when that happens, I'll start another one. I'm also about to finish my first afghan of 2021, and I'm torn between starting yet another or beginning a new knitting project for the house that has a complicated pattern. We shall see when the time comes.

I've shown you the shelves above my desk in the past, but this week I want to point out that empty Mason jar. Well, before I do that, I'll tell you about that lidded china box immediately to its left, the one with "Springfield, Ill." in gold lettering on the side. I found that in an antique shop in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Since I grew up less than fifty miles from Springfield, I just had to have it. I use it to keep stamps in, but its original purpose was as a hair receiver. When Victorian women cleaned their hair brushes, they saved the hair to make bracelets and other things. Go figure.

Anyway, that Mason jar is my Thankfulness Jar, or you could call it a Gratitude Jar. I know friends who keep gratitude journals in which they keep daily records of things they are thankful for. I'm too lazy for that kind of commitment, so once a week, I write the thing I'm most thankful for and put it in that jar. At the beginning of the new year, I empty the jar and read what I've written on all the slips.

In 2020, I had many things to be thankful for, but the three I thought I'd mention were rather indicative of the year we've all just experienced. At the beginning of the year, Rear Admiral Cellulitis launched an amphibious assault on my right leg, thus causing me to be thankful for my improving health. Another thing that cropped up a lot in my thankfulness jar was all the clearing, condensing, and reorganizing that was done here in the house. The third thing was mention of every time I left the house. I left the house a total of twenty-three times in 2020. (Good gravy, just typing that brought on an attack of cabin fever!) All but nine were for medical reasons, and only five excursions occurred after April.

Yes, those three things-- Health, Staying at Home, and Leaving the House-- from my Jar Full of Thankful are very much attuned to 2020, and as I fill the jar back up in 2021, here's hoping for a much-improved year for us all!


►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄
 
►Crafty Gems◄
 
►The Happy Wanderer◄
  • The oft used Australian colloquialism "beyond the black stump" is said to have originated in Coolah, Australia. (Beyond the black stump is Aussie for the middle of nowhere.)
  • How Juneau, Alaska, is becoming an epicenter for Indigenous art.
  • The Park Tunnel in England: an engineering error ensured this cavernous 350-foot-long subterranean thoroughfare was never used as intended.
  • The crime stories of New Zealand
  • It's hard (yet wonderful) to believe that The Poisoned Pen Bookstore is over thirty years old.
 
►Fascinating Folk◄
 
►I ♥ Lists◄


That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. And don't forget to curl up with a good book!

13 comments:

  1. I like that idea of the thankfulness jar, Cathy. In times like these, it's really important, I think, to remember that there is good in life and keep a focus on that. Otherwise we get overwhelmed, I think. Now, I'm thankful for your links, and I'm going to check out that ghost city!

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    1. I thought you might be headed in that direction!

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  2. I think your thankful jar seems like a good project and not one that takes a lot of time. I love the idea of reading back through it in the new year. OK, hair to make bracelets? Not for me, but honestly, I don't have a whole lot of hair anymore. LOL

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    1. I only let my hair grow out once in my life-- to prove a point-- and once I'd proved it, I go out of my way to keep it short and unavailable for jewelry projects!

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  3. Nice links. I love the PP photos. (I did send them a donation in appreciation of their posted author interviews.)

    Always love the animal videos. And as for the book lists (sigh). I wish I had 24/7 in which to read, but sometimes I read the reviews or blurbs just to enjoy them.

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    1. I was working on The PP's Pinterest boards and thought of you when I saw that they've scheduled an event with Donna Leon on March 9.

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    2. Wow! Thanks. I'll write it down.

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  4. Wow...only 23 trips outside the house. That is really pretty astounding when you think about it. A year ago none of us would have imagined saying or reading a statement like that one unless it came from someone with major health issues.

    Waiting patiently for my turn at a COVID-19 vaccination, and trying not to become overly depressed and angry about what has been happening in DC this week. That's about all I can handle this week, and my reading is suffering again. Way too distracted to focus on the page for more than a very few minutes.

    I still have high hopes for 2021, but...

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    1. Think like I do. I do believe that 2021's REAL New Year's Day is January 20 at 12:01 PM.

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  5. Let's all hope that nothing like a repeat of what happened on Wednesday occurs before, during or after Jan. 20.

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  6. I've kept a gratitude jar for several years, but I put in notes as things happen or come to mind, so I usually have multiple notes in a given week. It's helpful to have the visual reminder of the good around me - especially during weeks as upsetting as this one was. I agree with you about the 1/20 start for the New Year :)

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    1. I think of my jar as more of a highlight reel. At this point, I've trained my mind to put in a new slip every Friday.

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