cheerfulmonk.com

August 28, 2025

August 27, 2025

Ann wrote about growing celery from a stump, so I tried it:

I don’t expect to ever harvest more celery, but it’s fun to watch it grow.

Here’s a video about it:

August 26, 2025

is great! That’s what Andy said yesterday morning when he opened a pickle jar.
 
 

Yes! It works great:

Thank you again, Ginny, for telling us about it!

August 25, 2025

August 24, 2025

Click on the picture to see the video.

How sweet is that?

August 23, 2025

Wikipedia

She’s six years old, lives in Brisbane and might just be one of the best resilience coaches on television.

We’re talking about Bluey, the animated Aussie pup whose adventures have captured the hearts of families around the world.

But as our new study reveals, Bluey isn’t just entertaining kids, she’s modelling how to to deal with life’s ups and downs.
— Researchers watched 150 episodes of Bluey – they found it can teach kids about resilience for real life

Good for them! It reminds me of when Kaitlin was little. A friend of mine said the best way to teach manners wasn’t by lectures from the parents, but to read books together which modeled good behavior. So Richard Scarry it was.

That was one of the wisest pieces of advice I ever received.

August 22, 2025

Bound and Gagged

Do you use alerts? I almost always turn them off, but last week Duolingo would email me in the evening if I hadn’t done a lesson that day. I was up to my ears in something so I appreciated the reminder. Then, as suddenly as the messages had appeared, they stopped. I had found it so useful I poked around to see how I could restart them. No problem, for only $25 a month Duo would start them again.

Sorry, Duo, they were nice, but not that nice!

August 21, 2025

Sunday and Monday’s posts reminds me of Dr. Julie Smith’s

I’ve been interested in personal growth all my life, and I’ve read a lot of self-help books. They often had good ideas, but they usually oversold how things would turn out. Nope, there are never any guarantees in life. For me it was knowing my values and focusing on playing my part well, hoping for the best but not giving up if things didn’t go my way. Dr. Smith understands that:

When you start to share things on social media or you write a self-help book, lots of people get the impression that you have it all sorted. I have seen a lot of authors in the self-help industry perpetuate this idea. They have to look as if the things life throws at them leaves no dents or scars. They suggest that their book contains all the answers — all the answers you will need in life. Let me demystify that one right now.

I am a psychologist. That means I have read a lot of the research that has been produced on this subject and I have been trained to use it to help guide other people in their quest towards positive change. I am also a human. The tools I have acquired do not stop life throwing stuff at you. They help you to navigate, swerve, take a hit and get back up. They don’t stop you getting lost along the way.

They help you to notice when you have lost your way and bravely turn on your heel and head back towards a life that feels meaningful and purposeful to you. This book is not the key to a problem-free life. It is a great bunch of tools that helps me and many others find our way through.

Hurray for her!

August 20, 2025

Even if you don’t watch the whole video, the beginning shows some great examples of puppy eyes,

August 19, 2025