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?

Gratitude Sunday: Camping & Coffee

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.
This weekend my son and I went to Scout camp. I only had my ipod with me but did capture some moments from a hike we took through the property. The weather was perfect although the nights were cold. I should've known better and brought my favourite huge sleeping bag but didn't and shivered my way through 2 nights. Thank God for coffee and plenty of it.

 My accommodations for the weekend-a 3 person tent all to myself. Decadent I tell you.

 One of the cabins on site, complete with stone fireplace

Feeling grateful this week for:
::the wisdom to take a step back from everything I do and give myself room to breathe, then slowly add things back in as the Spirit moves me.
::warmth and sunshine, especially this weekend at camp
::the energy to spend all day with kids and adults without zoning out by 4pm. This introvert used to have such a hard time by Saturday afternoon but now for some reason I have built up this ability to be with people all day and not need to find quiet and solitude. I suspect it's because I love being outside and enjoy the company of the people I was with.
::coffee at camp. It's my comfort blanket, that thermal mug.
::little pea shoots coming up in my garden
::the birth of a new baby boy next door this week. I heard him crying this afternoon and it made my heart glad
::binding off my current knitting project and the joy of looking for the next thing to knit
What about you? What are you feeling grateful for this week?