Gratitude Sunday: Mostly Grace & Wool

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A chance to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude.

Feeling grateful this week for:
::unseasonably warm temperatures and more outside time
::knitting outside on Wednesday. I meant to join in for Yarnalong but the day got away from me.
::the ladies at Serenity Knits in Newmarket saving the day with 5 skeins of Cascade 220 to finish off a big order of chicken mittens. Bless their souls! If you find yourself in or around Newmarket, Ontario go check out their store.

::a safe drive in and out of Toronto to pick up the aforementioned wool. The traffic in was a killer but there is something exciting about being in the heart of a big city. I love to visit and I love to leave!
::watching the Country Music Awards with my son this week. We're both big fans and it was special sharing this with my teenage son who is doing his best to be his own person separate from us.
::feeling content with my life of being mostly unemployed in the traditional sense. I found myself feeling satisfied with days off alone during the week, time to cook good meals, and time to knit uninterrupted.
::and then getting called back to my job at the airport. In all things be grateful right?
::grace being shown from one sibling to another. Absolutely awe-inspiring considering how these two love to pick fights with one another.

Gratitude Sunday: Chocolate, Wool & Fall

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A chance to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude.

Feeling grateful this week for-
::chicken mitten love. Wow. I am overwhelmed by how many of you love the chicken mitten. Thanks!
::rain and wind and sun and clouds scudding across the sky. Nothing matches fall's weather and that smell of leaves on the ground.
::time outside in the garden cleaning up. I always feel good after messing about in the garden.
::a good run this afternoon made possible and enjoyable by warmer temperatures
::my brother solving a minor wool crisis. With the unexpected rush of orders I found myself out of the right colour and weight of yarn and none to be had at my local yarn store. He suggested a place in Ottawa with an online store. Bless them and their warehouse and their free shipping!
::the wisdom to embrace my body's aversion to running in the fall and take brisk walks instead listening to my ipod.
::an extra day of work this week.
::a neighbour who came by especially to drop off Halloween candy for The Boy when he didn't show up at his door last night trick or treating. The Boy had decided he was, in fact, too old for this game and had stayed home with me to hand out candy.
::chocolate :) Feeling pretty blessed right now.
What about you? What are you grateful for this week?

Yarnalong: Wild, Chickens

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong.

Ah, it's good to be back joining in Yarnalong. I did miss the rhythm of Wednesdays and how it gave me the motivation to get knitting and exercise my creative muscles.
Knitting: Chicken mittens all the time around here. My Etsy shop (see sidebar) is open again and wow do people love the chicken mittens! For the not-wool version I use Bernat Super Value in the grey ragg colourway and knit them on 4mm straight needles. The comb and beak are Paton's Astra yarn. The wool version is knit with Cascade 220, a 100% peruvian wool.
Reading: Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I've wanted to read this one for awhile and the spirit finally moved me last week at the library. I'm finding it beautifully written but it's haunting me. I'm a sensitive soul and as such avoid books that are sad or deal with difficult topics because I feel the sadness/despair/anger/whatever like it's my own. I'm pretty protectective of my mental health and happiness. But this book seems worth the risk and I am drawn by her story of just going off into the wilderness to save her soul. I'll let you know how I fare. If the ghosts get to me I've always got the chickens to cheer me up.
It's a rainy day here and beginning to look more November than October. The forecast calls for a 100% chance of rain all day. If only the rest of life were so very sure and certain ;)

Gratitude Sunday: Boldly Going Forth

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday: a chance to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude.

It feels good to be back to the blog and what better way to begin again than with Gratitude Sunday.
Yesterday was your typical October day here in southern Ontario-cold, cloudy alternating between dripping and pouring rain. Today dawned all blue skies and brilliant sunshine.
Feeling grateful today for:
::sunshine and blue skies
::the wisdom to put down the work knitting and start up something just for fun-knitted pumpkins. Who doesn't need knitted pumpkins on their dining table??
::making peace with how things are right now. My mantra these days.
::the work contract that spanned 4 months instead of the anticipated 2 weeks. It allowed us to do so much this summer and helped me to know myself better. It's over now and has been for a month and I have finally settled into this new-old reality.
::my Etsy shop and the love people have for knitted chicken mittens. Who knew?!
::hoodies, flannel shirts and jeans. I love fall's wardrobe.
::that geranium up above. It just blooms and blooms and gives off that geranium smell despite cold rains and several frosts.
::the respiratory illness that has plagued both of my kids this month finally loosening it's grip.
What about you? What are you feeling grateful for this week?

And Finally July

 I can't believe it's July and it's been so long since I've been able to post! It's been so crazy around here with me being gone 2 or 3 days a week to work in the city. I love the work I'm doing and the adventure of driving into Toronto by myself. Everyone is surviving and getting used to this arrangement. It helps that it's really only temporary. Soon enough the work will dry up but while I can I'm trying to get in as many hours as possible and build a nest egg.

Things are growing like crazy and my vegetable garden is...struggling. But I guess considering how little time I have to put into it as far as weeding goes, it's looking pretty good. The peas and lettuce and potatoes are doing well. Everything else is...struggling. Except the weeds. They're doing really well.

 We've been to the cottage a few times and gone swimming and done "cottage things". I feel like I wait all year for July and here it is and I am so happy. July is my very favourite month. I love the heat and the long days, trips to the cottage and the beach. I love how far away school still is.

This past weekend we made the long trip in to the cottage to bring in our new boat. It's been living in the hangar I work at for over a year while our friend patched holes, sanded and painted it. I am so very grateful for this little boat. I feel safe in it and don't have to worry anymore about our other boat that we had taken to calling "the widow-maker."

This would be my girl in her natural environment-up in a tree. This weekend she chose to stay with my parents rather than coming with us to the cottage. A good thing too as it was a very long, crazy trip in. By the time we got to the cottage and made dinner it was midnight. The next day I managed to get in a paddle and a swim before we began the long journey home.
So, that's my story. How is your summer going?

Gratitude Sunday: Peonies, Peeing & Poutine

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A chance to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude.

Feeling grateful this week for:
:: colour in our yard-an abundance of pink peonies, red flowers (who's name I can't remember) and purple sage flowers
:: after many months of belt-tightening, we are in a place of being able to relax a bit as far as the finances go. I prefer to be home tending the garden, the children etc but the reality is I have to work and it's nice to see results from those long hours.
:: a good run Friday night. I ran the whole time instead of my usual run, walk, run. I've never been a really athletic person and took up running several years ago to lose some weight and because I usually find walking really boring. Being able to run the whole 1/2 hour/3 km is a pretty big accomplishment for me.
:: The Boy's confirmation. It was a beautiful service this morning and he did well. It's not easy to write your own creed and even more challenging to have to read it in front of the church when you stutter. So proud of him!
:: an impromptu lunch with a very good friend yesterday. I needed that! We ate poutine on the patio, poked around in shops and talked each other's ears off. I came home with a new book to read, a couple of thrift store treasures and 2 hanks of wool/merino mix for my stash plus a healthier perspective on life.
:: the wisdom to stop on the way home yesterday at a lookout. In Southwestern Ontario, most of the lookouts aren't all that dramatic as we don't really have big hills or valleys but this one looks out over rolling farmland, meadows, trees and a piece of the Grand River. I followed the path down to the river and was going to keep going but I had to pee. I am the sort of person who is fine with finding a tree to pee behind but I had this feeling that I was going to run into people. Sure enough, on my walk back up to the parking lot I ran into the hot, young Conservation Officer and felt glad I had that premonition and kept my pants on ;)

Yarnalong: Mittens & The Road to Yesterday

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

Knitting: Chicken mittens. After a long break it's time to start knitting mittens again for my Etsy shop. The chicken mittens are my best seller so I figured I'd better start with those. The wool is Bernat Super Value, a good basic acrylic yarn that holds up well during knitting, washing and wearing. I use a 2-needle pattern from an old Red Heart pattern book. I can knit these things in my sleep now!

Reading: The Road to Yesterday by LM Montgomery. The other day I was feeling restless and bored in general, and in particular with the books I had on the go so I closed my eyes, rifled through my book shelf and ended up with this one. I was in the mood for some comfort reading and Lucy Maud always does the trick. This one is a collection of short stories with Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe included but more on the periphery.

What about you? What are you knitting and reading?

Gratitude Sunday: Being Late, Rain & Serendipity

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A chance to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude. A day late but whatever...

The Em-ster looking slightly frightening and yes, that's ET

Feeling grateful this week for:
::The Em-ster's 11th birthday. What an interesting kid. For her actual birthday dinner she chose hot dogs and Kraft Dinner and I made her a chocolate cake from an old Betty Crocker cookbook I have. She's definitely her own person, quite the individual, with a strong sense of who she is (and isn't) and that includes an...interesting sense of fashion. Everyday is an adventure with her and we love her to bits.
::a new member of our family and The Em-ster's birthday present from us-a Holland Lop rabbit. I have tried numerous times to take a photo of Mia but it's kind of like trying to take a picture of a toddler. They're just so fast. Mia is entertaining, nice to pet and provides my garden with lots of goodness :)
::rain. Like many of you, we too have been feeling the need for some rain which came over the weekend.
::pepper plants from a neighbour around the corner. I had been wanting to add some to my garden but between the time and the expense I hadn't gotten around to it. I love it when the thing you need appears out of seemingly nowhere.
::colour in my front garden in the form of annuals, found on sale over the weekend.
::an impromtu fire and hot dog dinner on Saturday night with my husband's family and a relative visiting from Germany. There's a conservation area 5 mins away from our house and has been the site of many picnics over the years we've lived here.

Yarnalong: Half-a-Cardi

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

 Knitting: Half-a-Cardi, a pattern I found on Ravelry in a desperate search for a little sweater I could wear to a wedding in a week. I knit like mad all week, knit in the car on the way to the wedding, hid in a corner of the venue and furiously cast-off. I didn't have time to finish the sleeves so I just tucked in all the ends and wore it anyway. Nobody noticed or nobody cared-not sure :)

My Mom and I and The Sweater.

 I finished the sleeves a few days ago and I was so pleased with how they turned out. You put all the sleeve stitches back on your needle, knit one row, purl the next, knit another and then cast everything off.

 It desperately needs to be blocked but even still it behaves quite well. I tried reducing stitches at the edges to give it a rounded look but it didn't quite work out. I was definitely winging it and will check out another pattern to see how it's done before I try again.
Wool-my favourite-Paton's Classic Wool in currant. It took about a ball and a half.
Needles-#4 circular.

Reading: nothing in particular or at least nothing I'm excited about. It's hard to find time to read these days between working, parenting, my garden and the laundry.

Gratitude Sunday: Still Alive, Still Knitting

Joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A chance to look back at the look that was and reflect with gratitude.
My apologies for my absence these past 2 weeks. Each Tuesday and Thursday I've been commuting an hour and a bit into Toronto, spending 10 or 11 hours trying to remember how to fix airplanes and then driving home again. It's exhausting but so satisfying.

 The beginnings of Dandelion Dreamer's Half-Cardi. I have one week to knit it and block it. Yikes!

 This girl! Don't we all combine cake-frosting and crocheting??

Feeling grateful this week for:
::satisfying work, feeling totally used up physically and mentally at the end of each day, then a drive home to unwind and process the events of the day
::a family that is willing to make huge concessions to their routines so I can drive into the city and revive my old dream of being an aircraft mechanic
::a new tap in our main floor bathroom. It's been so long since we've been able to fully use that bathroom and with 4 people in this house it makes life so much more peaceful
::2 raised beds in my vegetable garden being made from spare wood. I'd always planned on raised beds but that was way in the future. Now I have them!
::good food and plenty of it
::warm weather finally
::my independent girl who can make, bake and ice her own cake from scratch
::a new knitting project on the go to wear with my fancy clothes for next weekend's wedding reception. Feeling optimistic ;)
::a hammock in the yard. The Em-ster has spent a good chunk of her time in that hammock staring up into the trees, listening to her ipod.

Yarnalong: One Arm Down & Some Theology

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

Reading: The God We Never Knew by Marcus Borg. Nothin' like some nice light reading eh?? I finished Alan Doyle's autobiography Where I Belong the other day and enjoyed it immensely. So honest and bright. I feel called right now to work my way through this book. The description on the back of the book describes it thus: "...leads us from the distant, authoritative God of our childhood to an equally powerful, dynamic adult understanding of God. Tracing his (the author's)own spiritual journey, he reveals how to embrace a fresh, authentic view of God that is fully compatible with good science, critical thinking, and religious pluralism-a view that promotes a much healthier and more vital life of faith today." 

Knitting: That Weasley Girl sweater. I'm just about done the first arm. I feel like that arm took forever to knit. It was just around and around and around with the odd decrease to break up the desperate monotony. I cringe to think I still have another arm to knit. I blame the dpns. I do not love knitting with dpns at the best of times. If this sweater is going to have 2 arms I had better find a way to knit the 2nd arm on circs!

For the past few days the weather has been hot and sunny but the temperature plummeted yesterday from 29C to 9C today. I just couldn't make myself go out this morning for pictures. Hence the less-than-inspiring indoor pictures. My apologies. I will do better next post.

Gratitude Sunday: Serendipity

Joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A chance to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude.

 Bleeding Heart bush-a gift from another Mother's Day

 Periwinkle

 Mystery plant growing in the back corner of my yard. Any idea what it is??

 Pink tulips from my front garden

Concrete toadstool and lots of lush green-ness

Feeling grateful this week for:

::3 days straight of 30C temps. I appreciate the heat and humidity in May with the memory of a cold winter so vivid yet.

::all the growth that happened because of that heat-everything has bloomed like crazy and we have leaves on most of the trees now.

::hanging 3 loads of laundry out to dry yesterday and it all being dry in an hour.

::serendipity in the form of a contract job for a few weeks just as I was losing hope anything would ever change. I'm an aircraft mechanic and had long given up on ever returning to that job but the hanger I apprenticed at needs some help for a few weeks. It means a nasty commute across Toronto but the returns include experience I can put on my resume, a good paycheque and the chance to really stretch myself mentally. 

::5 wheelbarrow loads of cedar mulch from our neighbour who couldn't use all he bought. I've wanted to put mulch down in our front and side gardens for years. It's funny how just what you need appears sometimes eh? He didn't want to be paid but I think a loaf of homemade bread is in order.

::Mother's Day gifts-from my daughter-a matching ring/necklace/earring set, from my son-3 Lindt chocolate balls. Every year I look forward to their thoughtful gifts. They are always perfect in one way or another.

::Rouladen for dinner and cheesecake for desert. Not sure which one I enjoyed more

::that tired-muscle feeling after a good run.

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

Yarnalong: Be Simple/Where I Belong

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

Knitting: I finished my Be Simple shawl on Monday, blocked it and chucked it on random bushes and gates around my yard today. It is squishy and warm and I am so pleased with how it turned out. The wool is 30% animal-of-unknown-species from China (possible Alpaca or Angora) and 70% man-made fibres. I used 5.5mm circular needles but could've gone down a size.

Reading: Where I Belong, written by Alan Doyle of the band Great Big Sea. It is hilarious and honest and down to earth. I am a huge fan of Great Big Sea, quite by accident. In college a friend dragged me to a concert at Lakehead University's pub, The Outpost, in 1996. Some band I had never heard of that I pictured in my mind as being Great Big "C". Why would you call a band Great Big "C"? Anywho, I was hooked. If you don't know Great Big Sea (not C) they can best be described as playing traditional Newfoundland music with a modern twist. It's happy, rollicking, good fun.
What about you? What are you knitting and reading?

A What's Growing in my Backyard Post + Knitting

Went for a walk in my backyard this morning with my camera. I find it gets the creative juices flowing to spend time outside and oddly enough gives me a sense of abundance. Must be all the green things popping out of the ground that weren't there last week.

 Pea Shoots

 Violets

 The awkward teenager stage of my peonies

 Sedum

 More violets-they're all over my lawn

Rhubarb

And last but not least, my Be Simple shawl in the beginning stages of casting off, amongst the vinca.

I call it periwinkle but have heard it called vinca too. What's the right answer? Or are they 2 different plants?