Guess who’s teaching another class? Me! Except this time, instead of teaching scone baking, I’m teaching plant care. Since I started selling plants, it seemed like a fun next step.
The class is with the Braintree Community Continuing Adult Education at Braintree High School.
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*Updated 5/22/2025* Unfortunately not enough people signed up, so the class was cancelled.
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Image: Course Registration
The last few weeks I’ve been sowing seeds. Both inside and outdoors. So far nothing has sprouted outdoors in the pots on the balcony, so I’ve tried a second set of seeds. Indoors the basil made an appearance! In a few weeks it will go outdoors. I’m looking forward to fresh basil this summer and maybe I’ll try some basil lemonade!
Since my federal student loans were forgiven last year, I’ve been super focused on my finances. Not having that debt feels like a second lease on life. I’ve made progress eliminating more debt and increasing my savings and investments. Before it all felt kind of pointless. Now I feel so much better and I’m enjoying learning more about personal finance.
I’ve set up different savings accounts to pay for things that I will need in the future, but didn’t realize that there was a name for them until recently. They’re called sinking funds. I have them set up, so that every week, money is automatically pulled from my main checking account and funneled into these different savings accounts.
One of the sinking funds that I’ve set up is for dental expenses. I don’t have dental insurance, so I pay for everything out of pocket. It really gets pricey, but it’s predictable. I don’t want to charge these expenses and end up paying interest on them. Which is what I was doing before. Not a good move.
For the longest time, I have been putting off getting a crown. I finally had it done! Since I had been saving for it, I was able to charge it, then pay it off right away. I got the points, but no interest! Since teeth cleanings and x-rays are predictable expenses, there’s no good reason not to prepare for them in advance.
This week is going to be a busy one and the weather is going to be nice. It’s easier for me to get up early when it’s sunny and warm. So this seems like a good week to try getting up every day at 6am. I usually get up around 7:30am, so this is much earlier for me. It’s another lifestyle experiment, so I’ll see how it goes.
Hope you have a good week!
A few weeks ago, I was watching a YouTube video about Americans visiting France. One of the hints for Americans was to not be surprised by a lot of people smoking cigarettes. And further, not to complain when encountering it, because it’s a cultural difference.
I was a bit surprised and wondered just how much more the French smoke compared to Americans. According to World Population Review, 34.6% of people living in France smoke as opposed to 24.3% of people living in the United States. That is a pretty big difference.
Maybe we have more restrictions here on where people are allowed to smoke? I would think by now, that most people all over the world know the dangers of cigarette smoking. But it’s possible that the dangers have been more publicized here because of tobacco litigation.
Smoking never appealed to me. My mom used to smoke and I remember waking up to the smell of it. I hated it. I tried smoking once and didn’t like the taste of it either. My mom eventually quit smoking and I’m sure that it’s added many years to her life.
Since so many of us are on board with not smoking, getting people to never start smoking is key. It’s so much harder to quit later.
Here in Massachusetts, the town of Brookline went next level with their attempt to prevent people from smoking. The sale of tobacco is not allowed to anyone born on or after January 1, 2000. The ordinance went into effect in 2021 and was upheld by the state’s highest court. So other cities and towns in Massachusetts could soon do the same to limit the sale of tobacco. This tobacco ban is apparently the first of its kind in the country.
I’m not sure if this is the start of a trend, but I would be surprised if it remains the only locality to try this. It will be interesting to see if and how soon other places may follow.
And for those young smoking tourists from France, if you visit Brookline, you’ll have to get used to the cultural difference.
Are you enjoying all the cozy vibes this season with string lights and candlelight?
For those who own their residence, then it’s no problem. If you rent the place where you live, it might not be so easy. Burning candles is often prohibited in lease agreements.
I love the scents and soft light of candles. They are part of my daily routine when I do yoga, meditate or just want to relax. Especially this time of year when we’re losing daylight. Tomorrow is the winter solstice. Winter starts officially and we will have more hours of darkness than any other time of year. Creating our own light sources indoors is the best way to create hygge and embrace the season.
My first encounter with burning candles being prohibited was at my last apartment. Before signing the lease, I spoke with the owner of the property and negotiated an addendum allowing me to burn candles.
The next encounter I was not so lucky. It was around this time last year that I sold my mother’s house and rented her an apartment. Again, the lease did not allow burning candles. This time I was not able to negotiate anything. It might be the difference between renting an apartment in a smaller multi-family house from an individual versus an apartment in a large complex with hundreds of units and a corporate landlord.
Further, where my mom lives there had been a recent fire caused by a candle, which resulted in a lot of damage. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), “Candle fires peak in December and January with 11 percent of candle fires in each of these months.”
Because of the dangers caused by candle burning, I can see why property owners want to prohibit the practice. According to Statista, there were more than 40 million housing units occupied by renters in this country last year. That’s a lot of people who are potentially having lifestyle restrictions.
I wonder about that fine line between a lifestyle choice and a religious and cultural practice. How often do landlords enforce this provision in a lease? When they enforce it, do they enforce it uniformly? At what point could this restriction result in religious discrimination?
Are people allowed to have birthday candles? If someone has a birthday party and they light candles and blow them out right away, that is different from someone burning several candles for a sustained period of time.
What if someone is lighting a menorah for Hanukkah? Or lighting the kinara for Kwanzaa? Not all candle burning is the same, so I wonder how do property owners decide. Maybe there is no actual enforcement, until there’s a fire and someone has to pay.
Have you heard of Svalbard? I hadn’t until this past week.
A suggested YouTube video for me with the title, “Life in the DARKEST PLACE on earth (24/7 darkness)︱Svalbard, an island close to the North Pole” caught my eye and I watched.
I had never heard the term “Polar Night” until then either. I’ve heard of places where it’s dark 24/7 for periods of time during the winter, but this term seemed to encapsulate something different the way the vlogger, Cecilia, describes it. Polar Night in Svalbard lasts for two months!
The tourism website for Svalbard describes it in a rather fun way too.
‘Winter doesn’t just show up overnight’ is something you’d be safe enough to say most other places in the world without being wrong. But what if the night doesn’t just last a couple of hours, but instead spans over two months? The dark season in Svalbard lasts from around the end of October until the middle of February, but between November 14th and January 29th we enter the darkest and cosiest part of the dark season, also known as the Polar Night. As the days darken during late autumn the cold of winter also creeps in, and with the coming of the sun the light also shines on a new winter in our archipelago. While winter may not show up overnight, a lot can happen during the course of a Polar Night!
Cecilia loves this season and really leans into it. She’s all about the hot drinks with sweets, lighting fires and plaid flannel pajamas. Full on cozy! Which I love, and reminds me of when I started writing my Collection Of Moments series. Where I could find the good in all the seasons, not just the warm ones that I prefer.
I learned about hygge, which is a Danish term, where they also lean into the coziness of the dark winter months. Svalbard is one of a cluster of islands that are part of Norway, but very west of the country and closer to the North Pole.
One of the wildest things that she talks about is the polar bears. There are many around and they are a real threat. In one of the videos when she went for a walk, not only does she have a hat with a spotlight, she slung a rifle over her back. I’m not a gun person, but I can definitely see the need for one. This is no joke and one of the many tools for survival.
So I’m enjoying the videos and will watch more. But I don’t think that I would visit. Especially not during Polar Night. We’re in the darkest month right now here in Massachusetts. It will keep getting darker until the Winter Solstice on December 21st. Getting dark at 4pm is bad enough. Never mind complete darkness for two months!
I don’t want to wish time away, so I’m leaning into the cozy as well. The light will return soon enough. And at least we don’t have to worry about polar bears!
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Image: Screenshot
