The week's good news: Jan. 19, 2023

(Image credit: Chester Zoo/Handout via REUTERS)

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1. Virginia designer's custom jackets have been turning heads for 40 years
2. Humble 'Hobbit house' becomes tourist attraction in Scotland
3. New Orleans woman surprises other single moms with gifts
4. 'Precious' endangered Western chimpanzee born at Chester Zoo
5. Archeologists make 'dream' discovery of 2,000-year-old rune in Norway

published 19 January 2023

1. Virginia designer's custom jackets have been turning heads for 40 years

Nancy Epley has made more than 200 showstopping jackets in the last 40 years, with each one reflecting the wearer's likes and interests. "It's a pleasure for me to work with fabrics," Epley, 100, told The Washington Post. "I've always enjoyed it so much." It all started in 1980, when she made a jacket for herself featuring horses and a carousel. People came up to the Lexington, Virginia, resident and started raving about her ensemble, and it gave Epley the idea to start making jackets for friends, relatives, and even strangers. Epley asks people to provide a "list of all the things that matter," and she uses this information while designing the jacket. In Ursula Keeley's case, she wanted illustrations of her children, pets, and family keepsakes. Her jacket "really represents my life ... if there was a fire, this is the only thing I would take and run," she told the Post.

When Stuart Grant bought a 200-year-old shoemakers' cottage in desperate need of repairs, he had no idea it would one day become a tourist attraction. The 89-year-old spent decades working as a joiner and carpenter, and when he bought the cottage near Inverness, Scotland, in 1984, it had no roof, no doors, and no windows. He cut the wood "from fallen trees and collected stones from the river for the stonework," he told SWNS. "I put the stairs in. It took quite a few years, I never counted it. I just enjoyed doing it so much." His unique home has become a destination for tourists, with many visitors leaving behind change for Grant to thank him for letting them stop by. Although it resembles a Hobbit house, Grant has never seen Lord of the Rings, and said it's "just a coincidence that my front door is almost the same shape and same kind of wood."

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Quiana "Q" Rowe knows that single moms often go without to ensure their kids have what they need. Rowe, herself a single mother of five, oversees eight Walmart stores in New Orleans, and one day at work came up with an idea: What if she could connect with other single moms and brighten their day with a special present? It was time that they were put first, since "they don't mind not having gifts," Rowe told WGNO. "It's about their children." She went on her Facebook page and invited friends to nominate single moms for these gifts. Soon, Rowe was purchasing presents for women in Louisiana, Kansas, and Texas, which they picked up from their local Walmarts. "Being able to do this is not something I would have thought of 15 years ago," Rowe said. "Being able to gift the mothers, it's tears from me and tears of gratitude from them."

A Western chimpanzee was recently born at the Chester Zoo in Cheshire, England, "a small but vital boost" to the global population of this animal. The Western chimpanzee is the most endangered subspecies of chimpanzees, and this baby boy is a "precious" new member of the zoo's troop, Andrew Lenihan, team manager of the Chester Zoo's primate section, said in a statement. The baby "instantly bonded" with his mom, ZeeZee, and Lenihan said he also frequently sees the baby being passed between the other female Western chimpanzees "who want to lend a helping hand and give ZeeZee some well-deserved rest." The baby's older sister, Stevie, is one of those chimps, and "it looks as though she's taken a real shine to him, which is great to see." As is the zoo's tradition, the baby will be named after a rock star, with his moniker revealed in the next few weeks.

Archeologists in Norway have found what is believed to be the world's oldest rune, with inscriptions dating back approximately 2,000 years. The etchings on the brown sandstone rock are "among the oldest runic inscriptions ever found," according to the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, and are the earliest recording of written words in Scandinavia. While runes have been found on other items like bones, "This may be one of the first attempts to use runes in Norway and Scandinavia on stone," Kristel Zilmer, a professor at the University of Oslo, said, adding: "Without doubt, we will obtain valuable knowledge about the early history of runic writing." The rune was found in the fall of 2021 in a grave excavation west of Oslo, and was likely inscribed between A.D. 1 and 250. Zilmer said the text "possibly refers to a woman called Idibera and the inscription could mean 'For Idibera,'" but since rune language changed substantially over time, "not all inscriptions have a linguistic meaning."

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.