On a national level, just when you think things can’t get any crazier, they do. And by crazy I mean over-the-top-eye-rollingly bad. The mad king at the White House gets ever madder. The historian Heather Cox Richardson writes, “[Yesterday] he… called for the imprisonment of his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, as well as his own predecessor, President Barack Obama, and called Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris a ‘monster’ and a ‘communist.'”
The imperturbable vice president “who was supposed to go to Indiana to vote tomorrow, after campaigning in Arizona…cancelled his scheduled events and…headed back to Washington, D. C.” Can you blame him?
And as if this weren’t enough, a right-wing group planned to storm the capital to kidnap and perhaps murder the Michigan governor. Fortunately they were foiled by an informant and the FBI. In The Guardian, there is a concise, chilling account. What, exactly, was the right-wing group’s beef? The governor’s Covid-19 lock-down measures.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 rages on here, there, and everywhere.
So bring on the small pleasures! We need them, and we need them right now.
This week, there were chocolates from Scrummy After’s Candy Shoppe.
Even though Scrummy’s lovely little shop in Hallowell is closed, local folks who are in desperate need of incredibly good chocolate can order online and pick up the delicacies at Scrummy’s commercial kitchen in Augusta on 26 Eastern Avenue. Scrummy’s also ships.
Just in time for tea to go with the chocolates came this sweet mug, designed by The Tiny Potager, one of my blogging friends. She has a wonderful online shop filled with treasures she has designed. This mug makes me smile every time I look at it.
My last small pleasure is not quite as sweet or as charming as the two listed above. However prosaic this last one might seem, it sure fills me with joy. This is enough wood to heat our home for at least a half month, maybe more, and there is nothing as cozy as wood heat.
To add to the pleasure, the wood came from our very own backyard. Readers might recall how lucky we were that not much damage was done by the falling tree.
Need to read about more small pleasures to bolster your spirit? Check out Thistles and Kiwis. Also Purple Pumpernickel.
Here’s wishing you many small pleasures in the upcoming week.
Notes From the Hinterland 
That’s a fine stack of wood and all your own too!
Even better!
Never has stopping to appreciate the simple joys in life been more important than now!
You bet!
Oh I love The Tiny Potager’s designs as well! https://tinypotager.com
Politics in the US is completely crazy at the moment. I really hope your election goes the way you want and any transition is smooth. But let’s think of lovely chocolates and stacks of wood for the coming season! Thanks for the mention.
Crazy is right. Oh, gosh!
Thank you so much! ☺️🌸🤍
Oh yummy. A piece of good chocolate and a cup of coffee (or tea) sounds fabulous to me.
Bliss!
Nice small pleasures and I checked out the kinks – I was already at the purple pumpernickel blog post and liked it but the thistles and kiwis site was new and liked that posts a lot –
Thanks so much!
The rabbit mug is so cute, it gave me a smile too. Chocolate sounds so good, I have never had that kind but it looks yummy. I have taken up singing with the birds rather than watch the news,
Sing, sing, sing!
Thank you xx 🐰💙
A neatly stacked, well stocked woodpile is hard to beat.
Sure is!
The news cycle keeps on adding to the craziness! Thank you for bringing back the love in your FF which I look forward to every week!
Chocolate & cute mugs are right up my alley – I cheer along with you. And I am so impressed yet again with both your energetic dealing with fallen tree things, which now awaits new use.
Many thanks!
Any of those three would make me happy, too. The security of a large wood pile is esp. appreciated as the nights grow cooler. I’m amazed that we have yet to light a fire… while it is a bit chilly in the morning, the solar gain we get during the day keeps the house cozy enough. I’m in no hurry to start up the near-constant chore of feeding the stove. Soon enough!
Yes, we want to put off using the wood as long as possible.
There’s nothin quite like stacking a pile of you own wood! As the saying goes, wood keeps you warm twice!
Actually three or four times for Clif as he had to cut it up and then split it as well as stack it.
Chocolate, a rabbit mug, and firewood – all good things that would make a person smile. 🙂
They certainly do!
Yes, I’m with Judy, chocolate is a number one favourite, and just give me a log fire and a glass of wine… any day of the week!
Enjoy, and thanks for the links.
My pleasure!
Hi, Laurie – I completely agree about the joy of small pleasures.
Bring them on!!
Will do! We surely need them.
Hurray Laurie! So happy for the small pleasures you got but my favourite is the last one.
That last one warms my heart. 😉
Beck at The Tiny Potager is a real find in so many ways. Maybe he is now behaving so badly that he can no longer be ignored, even by those who know no better.
Beck is certainly a real find. We can hope that Trump’s appalling behavior finally sinks in. Three more weeks to go.
💙🤍🐰 Thank you so much Derrick x
So important to zero in on these small, sustaining pleasures. Thank you. Yesterday, for example, I got a big kick out of seeing four woolly bear caterpillars, somehow tying these times to some of the better moments of childhood. And yes, I love the posts at Tiny Potager, too!
It really is. The times just get crazier. The Tiny Potager is a wonder, that’s what she is.
Oh how good is that wood to come from your own back yard 🎉 talk about sourcing locally 😉
Very, very local. 😉
A good woodpile is a thing of beauty. I just talked to a friend staying at lake George and she was grateful for all the firewood that nobody had used through the last few winters!
It surely is! Every time I go down cellar, it tickles me to look at the woodpile. Lucky friend!
Our Lunatic in Chief is really losing it, Laurie. I think it’s going to get worse too. I’m praying that no one gets killed (beyond the thousand dying every day from covid-19). What a mess.
Thanks for ending on a sweet note – chocolate and stacked wood for a cozy winter. 🙂
I agree, things will get worse before they get better. I am glad there are many small pleasure in life to counteract all that is going on.
It’s a scary time, Lavinia. It’s important to remember all the goodness in the world which WILL get us through this. ❤
It sure is. Discouraging and scary. But, yes, so much good.
We need those small pleasures, that’s for sure!
Oh, same here! The plot against the Michigan governor is appalling. Glad to provide some kind of sweet ending.
There is great pleasure to be had in preparing for winter, time by the fire with a good cup of tea or beverage of choice. I look forward to seeing 2020 in the rearview mirror. 🙂
Same, same, same!
Wonderful small pleasures. I like the coziness of a wood fire, too. 🙂
Wood fires are the best.
Hi Laurie, Reading your post, all I can think about is all the hugs I send daily to my American friends. Challenging times. And, yes, small pleasures. I love quality chocolates. The mug also makes me smile. I will check out her online shop. And, nothing like a wood fire when it begins to cool down.
Many thanks! Such challenging times. Thank goodness for chocolate and other small pleasures.
I made a note of Scrummy as will be shopping for my best friend (who lives in Montana) only online this year.
The news appalls me daily and then the way Prez Horrible verbally attacked the governor, and never applies his law and order schtick to right wing terrorists, appalled me even more. I will read the Guardian article.
It just keeps getting worse.
Just when you think it can’t get any crazier in the U S, it does. Hang on for a white knuckle ride.
I do enjoy visiting Ju Lyn ‘s lovely blog – she is great!
It sure does. Holy cats! I, too, enjoy Ju Lyn’s lovely blog.
I just keep thinking how all that wood came close to being a home delivery! Good to see you can still find plenty of good things.
Quercus, I have to look for the good things. Otherwise…
It is a good habit at the best of times, but particularly now. Keep smiling!
The wonderful mug and chocolate lifted my spirits along with the thought of enjoying them by a warm fire. I really have no words for my stunned reaction to seeing our state leading all the news shows this week concerning our governor or to the words and actions of our president. Our COVID-19 cases are rising daily and we had our highest daily count (1,522) since April 7. We definitely need the small pleasures and thank you for sharing them.
So very, very sorry! A terrible time made worse by ugly words and even uglier actions. 2020 just keeps taking. Let us hope that November brings a positive change that will sweep into the new year with a vaccine and and an administration that actually cares about the people.
My eyes have been falling out on stalks watching from over here too. It is hard to watch people leading by (bad) example. But our Covid-19 cases are going through the roof, especially in university towns. The North West is particularly badly hit.
It’s good to see your woodpile. I’ll let you off for not making a stumpery with it.
Tee-hee! In Maine, we always think about warmth during winter. Never heard of stumpery until I started reading blogs from England. The things I learn from my blogging friends!
Oh my goodness! Thank you so much Laurie, love you to bits x 💙🤍
My great pleasure! I had my morning tea in the mug, and I’m just about ready for a refill.