Joy Lane Happenings

Ah, my old nemesis, the basement. Our war began when it flooded past my ankles minutes before my in-laws arrived to stay for the weekend. It won that round. A couple sump pumps later, and a gutter system fixed in the opening gales of a hurricane, and I had vanquished my foe. Or so I thought. But it rose again with a backfiring boiler that rocketed our CO2 levels and sent my family and me to the sidewalk. We fixed our boiler, and it limped along with us swapping parts out until recently, when it finally perished. Even as we...

Petty crime sure doesn’t make this year any easier. Someone stole the registration stickers off our car, and it’s the second time it’s happened. Theft of any size feels so violating. No matter, as a Sherlock enthusiast, I donned my cap, popped my collar, and began looking for a motive. They could be trying to avoid registration fees, or maybe it was just teenage hooligans (a phrase I feel entitled to use now that I’m in my 30s). Registration stickers aren’t hard to take, but I was still surprised someone would actually kneel down and pry them off like that....

Lots of hard conversations lately. Mostly, end of the day, collapsing into the couch together, pouring a couple nice drinks, and talking about the reality of juggling remote learning, running our small business, raising three girls, and renovating our house. On January 19th, 2017, I wrote, “By 2027, we will offer an annual full year scholarship for a nurse to work on Mercy Ships.” My Dad spent the final years of his life working on the Africa Mercy with my mom, and we resolved that we would continue that legacy, so 1% of every sale goes to a crew member...

It's a cool morning this morning, and I'm enjoying the feeling of wearing a sweater, sipping my hot coffee while the girls are finishing their morning chores before school. I'll be heading into the studio to make 8 batches of goat milk soap later, but before then, I'm fixing a car ahead of the farmers market tomorrow. Last year, the lift supports for our 2014 Subaru Forester broke, and I bought replacements, but the Forester is a little unique in that it has 3, not two, and I never got around to getting the third one. We've been holding it...

At dusk, we love sitting out in our yard, watching the birds dart around in circles overhead. There’s dozens of them, all the same kind, that come out as the sun sets. We’ve pointed them out to friends lots of times. Well, a couple nights ago, Katy and I were sitting in the yard having drinks. “I wonder if they’re all over Rollinsford or just over our house,” I said. “One just went in the chimney!” Katy exclaimed. It didn't dive as much as flap to a midair standstill and then fall inside. I did a little research, and they’re...