cheerfulmonk.com

I like these videos because they are done seated, so we don’t have to worry about toppling over when we do them.

I’ll post another video tomorrow. It has some similarities to this one, but does include some more ideas.

March 3, 2025

I’ve recently been practicing the one-leg balance, but I like these ideas better. Fingers crossed!

March 2, 2026

(Click on picture for higher resolution.)

Ben

How did it get to be March already?! And we switch to Daylight Saving Time next weekend.

March 1, 2026

The bean plants are still surviving.

February 27, 2026

The ones on the right are starting to put out a few new leaves. And the one on the left has just produced two more blossoms.

February 27, 2026

The balloon has lost more helium, but it isn’t completely flat yet.

10 weeks old

Someone mentioned trying to grow a sweet potato, so I bought a small one and put it in water. It was 9 days old when I took this picture yesterday.

February 27, 2026

It doesn’t spark joy the way the bean shoots did,

October 11, 2025

But I’ll keep it for a while to see what it does.

Weather update: When I went shopping yesterday afternoon I didn’t need a jacket — the first time this year. The temperature was in the low 60s and the sun was out. It’s supposed to cool off some, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Happy last day of (meteorological) winter!

February 28, 2026

Drabble — Wednesday, February 25, 2026

I mostly do all right with Wednesday now, but I’ve been typing February wrong and keep having to correct it. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one. 🙂

February 27, 2026

I did not expect that punch line.

Wizard of Id

February 26, 2026

Kaitlin sent these pictures from Monday evening. She said Torben had found her ski goggles and they helped a lot with the blowing snow. She was done for the night and would finish it yesterday after the snow stopped and the plows came through.

These were taken after the snow stopped and the sun came out yesterday:

Yes! That was a lot of snow. Thank you, Kaitlin!

February 25, 2026

Kaitlin sent these pictures:

Hopefully the worst is over, but cleanup will take a while. AccuwWeather says,

Cleanup and difficult travel from the blockbuster blizzard will persist into Wednesday.

Fingers crossed for them!

February 24, 2026

Meteorologically speaking, of course.

Saturday Kaitlin sent me an email with this picture of the 30″ of snow they had.

And pictures of the pups looking at her lovingly after she had cleared their driveway and was eating lunch.

Now their weather report for today predicts a blizzard.

In contrast, Andy took these pictures up on the land Saturday:

February 21, 2026

February 21, 2026

February 21, 2026

And in case there is any doubt about spring coming, he took these pictures of the pussy willow yesterday:

February 22, 2026

February 22, 2026

Happy upcoming spring!

February 23, 2026

Shoe

I can understand why it wasn’t clear to people who aren’t Shoe fans, but that day’s comic was aimed at the politician of the strip, Senator Belfry. (From the term “bats in the belfry”)

According to ChatGPT:

The long-running newspaper comic strip Shoe (created in 1977 by Jeff MacNelly) features a recurring politician character named Senator Batson D. Belfry.

He’s a pompous, often clueless, self-important bird-politician — basically a satire of Washington insiders. MacNelly, who was also a Pulitzer Prize–winning editorial cartoonist, used Belfry to poke fun at political hypocrisy, spin, and ego.

Belfry was not modeled on one specific real-life politician; rather, he’s a composite caricature of the “career politician” type.

Years ago I was a Shoe follower, and I was recently surprised to see it at GoComics.com. According to Wikipedia:

Shoe is an American comic strip about a motley crew of newspapermen, all of whom are birds. It was written and drawn by its creator, cartoonist Jeff MacNelly, from September 13, 1977, until his death in 2000. MacNelly’s last strip was dated July 9, 2000;[3] it has since been continued by Chris Cassatt, Gary Brookins, Ben Lansing, and Susie MacNelly (Jeff’s widow).

I am once again a follower.

February 22, 2026