Gratitude Sunday-summer's last hurrah

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday:

Some photos of our walk today on the trail beside the river. It has been 25C for the past 4 days. We're all busy enjoying the days of this warm spell knowing this is probably summer's last hurrah. 

This week I've felt grateful for:

:: the warm weather and all that comes with it-kids playing outside until it gets dark, hanging laundry out to dry, still wearing shorts and sandals, the windows open

:: lots of time to knit and not getting tired (yet) of only knitting mittens

:: checking out some neat businesses in town. Small businesses are awesome in that they can offer services big box stores can't or won't. For example, the little art store that also offers free range, organic chicken eggs. How great is that??

:: the carrots the Em-ster found on her way home from school that someone had planted on the boulevard. I love guerilla gardening! Perfect timing as I was making chicken potpie and we'd run out of carrots.

:: my mother-in-law offering us eggs yesterday when I was down to my last 4.

:: a walk near the river and all the wildlife we saw. Enthusiasm for this walk was on the low side until we came across a little snake, then a grasshopper, followed by wooly bear caterpillars

:: the simple abundance in my life that comes to my attention when I most need it. We have so much.

Bear mittens and karaoke??

I have been furiously knitting mittens and this week among other assorted forest animals a pair of bear mittens got faces and ears.

I love their frank little faces. I worked the ears in the round which is ok but not quite right so I'm still cruising the internet for a better ear pattern. I also finished one minion mitten and remembered to knit in the black stripe for the goggle strap. It's important to remember these small victories.

That puts me to 4 completed pairs of mittens. Not exactly to quota. By my previous calculation and admittedly impossible plan I should have about 10 pairs done. Huh. But do I really need to sleep? If I don't sleep I could probably crank out my day's quota. I have a feeling the people around me would be less than understanding. This girl does not do well without 8 hours of sleep a night followed by a strong cup of coffee the next morning.

In other news and against my better judgement, the Em-ster bought herself a karaoke machine at a garage sale this morning. Best $5 she ever spent she says! My parenting theory is such that I encourage my children to try anything that piques their interest. Hindsight being what it is I should have thought twice about this one. Our day has been filled with booming announcements throughout the house such as "Mom please come to my room!!" and various ghost, airplane, train and wind noises issuing forth from The Boy who for a time also thought this was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I am told that tomorrow I will know when my coffee is ready because she will announce it over the loudspeaker. Imagine. My. Delight. Anybody wanna buy a used karaoke machine?? I'll sell it to you cheap.

Yarnalong-Minion mittens and still Out of the Woods

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

Still reading Out of the Woods by Lynn Darling. It took a surprising twist when it became a memoir of cancer survival. Maybe I didn't read the back of the book very well but I didn't expect that and I didn't expect the very candid way she talks about her ordeal with cancer. I don't usually read a lot about cancer as it hasn't affected me in a really close way. It's the first time I've come across some of the experiences and subsequent feelings she describes. Fascinating and well-written this book is. Definitely not your usual "back to the land" type book.

This week a pair of minion mittens flew off the needles. So fast and easy they were. Do you see my mistake, any of you die-hard Despicable Me-Minion fans?? I forgot to knit in the black stripe for the goggle strap and didn't notice until my 10 year old pointed it out. Now I need to rip out both little mittens to the point that I started decreasing for the top shaping. Sigh. Nobody's perfect.
Once I get that fixed I just need to figure out how to add the goggles and smiles.

Gratitude Sunday-rainbow and wool

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday:

This week I've felt grateful for:

::Monday-I knit and made stuff all day. All day. Not even kidding. It was decadent.

::Tuesday-going to work because going to work allows me to stay home the next day.

::Wednesday-a day at the International Plowing Match and seeing what the kids gravitated towards. Very interesting. The best part for me was finally finding the Quilting Tent that contained quilts AND wool. Lots and lots of beautiful hand-dyed and hand-spun wool and spinners spinning wool. 

::Thursday-another day of work followed by banking and grocery shopping. Life feels very abundant on Thursdays here when I check in with the finances and stock up the fridge. We have so much when I look at what really matters.

::Friday-a PA day here and a good day spent with the kids. Then my night and more knitting and making stuff.

::Saturday-such an amazing, warm outside day. It just got better and better.

::Sunday-I volunteered to read the readings at church. This terrifies and the morning of I wonder why on earth I put myself through this level of anxiety but once I'm up there it's fine. They say you should do one thing everyday that scares you and I think I'm good for today. I also drove to see a good friend today for lunch and to come up with a game plan for our craft sale table. We're going to make coordinating hat and mitten sets to sell. Stay tuned for photos of minions, owls, frogs and bears.

Driving home I drove under such a bold, bright rainbow I could actually see the rainbow on the trees where it met the ground (no pots of gold or leprechauns unfortunately). Amazing.

What about you? What are you grateful for this week?

Saturday Postcards

Russet potatoes and Honey Crisp apples from the market this morning

My Shalom sweater drying

Today has been one of those beautiful, warm days that September seems to keep in store. Just when you start to get used to the idea of sweaters and fall rains, September plays this card and it's back to shorts and barefeet and games of hide and seek in the backyard with the neighbourhood kids.

Hoping your Saturday is being good to you too wherever you are...

Yarnalong: Out of the Woods and Knittin' Mittens (still)

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

Still knittin' mittens and will be for awhile. Soon I'll have some more completed ones to show you and I'm pretty excited about that. Knitting the mittens is satisfying but putting on the ears and faces is pretty fun.
In case you're wondering, the wool is Vanna's Choice from Lion Brand. Some excellent, soft acrylic yarn. Perfect for kid's mitts.
I'm reading Lynn Darling's Out of the Woods that I picked up a few weeks ago at the library. It's about Lynn's struggle with finding a new identity after her only child leaves home for college. Lynn decides to move her life to the country from New York City thinking quiet and solitude and time in nature would be just the thing to help her figure out who she is now and what to do next. Lynn's writing is almost lyrical in its perfect descriptions of life and wilderness. She is both funny and raw and this book is a pleasure to read.
I'm a long way from the empty nest stage of my life but I know how fast time flies. I do wonder what it will be like when my kids are gone and I am left with myself.
The wooden chair that was my prop for the above picture came from a booth at the International Plowing Match today. We took the kids out of school for the day and drove to little Ivy, ON to check out all things farm. Our first stop was the Stihl chainsaw booth where one of the reps chainsawed this little chair as a demonstration for the crowd. When the Em-ster asked if she could have it, he said sure. He was kind enough to let us store it at the booth until we were done for the day. I'll have more to say about our day soon including pictures of wool and spinning and bashful, long-lashed alpacas.

Makin' Stuff

Last night I climbed into bed at 9:50-all pleased with myself and my time management skills, with a plan to read for 40 mins. But a little voice in the back of my head quietly said "You're not done yet". I thought "Sure I am, I've been for a walk, tended to tomorrow's lunches, helped clean up after dinner, knit till I can't knit anymore. I'm done". The voice repeated "You're not done yet."
So I got up and wandered down to my little corner of the basement and began to listen to the voice.

Book-binding has been on my mind lately and I haven't made the time to give it a proper go. So I sat down at my desk, pulled out my collection of magazine pictures and pieced together a cover for a journal. I like makin' stuff but I'd prefer if the creative urge wouldn't hit past 9pm. Sometimes you have no choice but to feed the need so you can settle down all the parts of your mind and go to sleep.

This afternoon I found a couple of pins on Pinterest on how to bind a book, made myself a couple of practice journals and let my creative juices flow on the covers. That was satisfying!

I used a sewn binding with some old crochet thread I had. It was pretty easy. Now I need to nip down to the scrapbook store and get some washi tape to cover it up nicely. 

Gratitude Sunday

Joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday::

This week I have felt grateful for:
:: reconnecting with a good friend who I've had trouble finding the time to call for a chat. Our friendship seems to go like that-in fits and starts. We've always been able to pick up right where we left off and for that I'm especially grateful
:: having enough. Enough food, enough money. Not extra, certainly not in the money department but always enough for what we need.
::the sometimes rare moments of peace between my children when I hear them speaking to each other like a friend, when my daughter lets the little sister's love and respect for her big brother shine through. It gives me hope that they might actually like each other deep, deep, deep down.
:: a growing sense of abundance. I guess I'm more of aware of it these days but I feel like we have so much. I hang my laundry out to dry and am aware of how fortunate I am to have these clothes.

 I make a something-out-of-nothing dinner and am aware of how much food we do have in this house.
::knitting. Goodness, but I love knitting. I could knit all day if the dishes would climb into the dishwasher on their own and the floor would mop itself. I especially love knitting outside on the front stoop, watching the world go by.

::evening walks. I love going for a brisk walk at dusk when summer is turning into fall. I am that person peeping into other people's windows to see what it looks like inside. It makes me feel like we're more the same than different when I see dishes on the counter and toys strewn all over the living room floor. That and I'm nosy ;)
I especially like these fallish walks when I come back in and smell the baked chicken and potatoes we had for dinner. That is totally a comfort smell for me.
What about you? What are you feeling grateful for this week?

Still alive and knitting furiously

The computer troubles that have been plaguing me of late are nearly sorted out (thank God!) and I was able to download 2 pictures-no small feat, let me assure you. I have been knitting furiously away on mittens and managed to successfully assemble these guys:

I have a tendency to get discouraged if things don't come together just like in the pictures right away. I put together the first mouse and the ears were all bumpy and crooked, I didn't like the eyes and I couldn't get the nose the way I wanted it. He sat for a few days while I stewed about it. I realized I was being a perfectionist and no one is good at anything the first time they try something so I did up the second and was much happier with the result. It's been clear sailing ever since and I am all about the animal mittens right now. My annual craft sale weekend is coming up in 2 months and I want to have 60 pairs of assorted creatures ready to go. I'm thinking bears, owls, cats and mice in 3 different sizes. If I knit one pair a day I should be fine. Right. Not insane at all. 

So I apologize as my knitting news is going to be a bit boring unless you love unbearably cute animal mittens. That is until I get sick of sewing noses, have a small mental break-down and in rebellion start knitting a sweater or something.

It's good to be back:)

Frustration, Contentment and Some Words about Knitting

I've been pretty quiet here this week. I had things to say and I really wanted to join in with Ginny's Yarnalong on Wednesday but the thing is this old laptop of ours is full up to capacity with photos and whatever else takes up memory on a laptop. I couldn't cram one more thing into it and surfing the internet is taking forever. I'm feeling pretty frustrated this week. We need to update the operating system and get all these pictures onto an external hard drive but lack of knowledge, experience, time and confidence has been holding us back for months. I've said it before but this is the weekend we're just going to do this thing and hope for the best! Stupid technology.

While I've been feeling pretty frustrated at my inability to upload all the great photos I took this week at the beach I have been feeling pretty content with other aspects of life in general. Our monthly income has been greatly reduced by me not being able to do my former job anymore and I was really worried our day to day expenses would seriously eat into our savings. So far that hasn't been the case. Somehow, by the grace of God we've had just enough money to pay the bills, eat well and cover a few unexpected costs that have come up. Amazing. When I was working in a retail environment 5 days a week there were so many things I wanted to buy or felt we had to have but now that temptation is totally gone (except for the crock pot. I still really want a crock pot-does that make me weird or boring???). I feel content and satisfied and it's a nice feeling. I am apparently a lot nicer to be around too.
It's the knitting to be sure. I have time to knit. I wanted to show you a picture of the little, tiny heel and toe socks I finished knitting on the weekend. The recipients were happy with them too. I wanted to show you the mouse mittens I'm almost done. I knit the mittens months ago and the spirit finally moved me to make the ears and they are so very awesome. It is with great sadness and some relief that I've decided to frog the Kirin Shawl. I just can't get the rthym of it and its driving me mental. I don't know if it's me or the pattern but we need some apart time. Sometimes you just have to accept that some knitting isn't meant to be. I have a few ideas for the wool but haven't settled on anything yet.
If I could upload photos to this tired dinosaur of a computer I would show you the gorgeous scarf I found yesterday. It was in the lost and found bin at work, headed for the Goodwill store and I snatched it up lickety-split. It's a basket-weave pattern knit from sock wool in this orange-mauve-brown variegated colourway. Being a knitter I know that if I had lost a hand-made scarf I'd want to know that someone found it who appreciated the all of it. So, if you were in an outdoor store in Waterloo last winter and you lost a scarf matching this description you can thank your lucky stars it has found it's way to a knitter's house and is being well cared for. Unfortunately you can't have it back because it's MINE, MINE, MINE now (enter maniacal laughter)