I am fastly coming to the end of my energy. I have one more small load to bring over, one load to take to Goodwill or the Nazareth Thrift Store (they are great and support the Nazareth Children’s Home locally), and the final clean up and drop the keys off. Sounds simple…..but first I have to get the energy to unload what I brought over yesterday……and that is a slow moving process this morning.
Two of my favorite pieces of art by my friend Pam Coffman. They did not make the move unscathed. I will have to get out my wood glue and reset the header on the Virgin and put the nails back on The Queen of Hearts. You have to place her in front of a mirror so you can see the key to her heart is protected by them. I love this. Pam is so talented and creative……..she also did the driftwood seahorse.
Found a home for it……….
Scary catch-all art/guest room…….one of those ‘one pile at a time’ places.
BUT…….the important things are set up and already in use……..
Saturday….a deep breath kind of day. Today is my son’s 48th birthday…..around 3:22 this afternoon…..How did I get such old children ? I remember it like it was yesterday. It was just as I planned….a warm, sunny May day, a little boy to go along with my little girl. Perfect family.
When my kids were little they would come to me together and try pushing each other out of the way, begging me to tell them which of them was my favorite. I would look at them and say, “You are my favorite son, and you are my favorite daughter.” and then I would get the ….”That’s not FAIR !!!”……… I have no idea what I would have done if I had had a third child.
I am reading Sue Perkins “Spectacles”. She is a Brit comedian whom I know from ‘The Great British Bake Off’ and QI Brit TV series. She really is quite funny. Ali from “Little Drops of Wonderful” podcast was reading it and recommended it. You cannot get this book in the USA. I had to get it through Amazon and it was only available from Britain.
I’ve just started it and she made a very thought provoking comment. She was stating how she had to go through a ton of stuff her mother had kept of hers to write the book and remembering everything, how it was painful to do so. “….to go back and see in such forensic detail and with such unimaginable clarity the person I was, trying to be the person I wanted to be.”
I think sometimes it is painful. It’s nicer and easier to forget, to gloss over the pain. Growing pains. Growing into the person we become. Maybe there are gaps in our memories for a reason, but we would not be that person if we had not gone through the fire, so to speak. The good and bad decisions that outline our lives. If I have to take responsibility for the bad choices, then I claim the good choices, too.
I still have a few things to bring over and have started the long examination of what I HAVE brought to my new direction, but for this morning it is a deep breath kind of day.
Wow……..two crazy weeks. Moved in with the help of family and friends….could not have done it without them. Just have a counter full of books and some fabric left to bring over. All the heavy lifting was done by others, to whom all the credit, thanks, and love goes.
Bought hibiscus treelets….my daughter was my gardener/planter. I love plants in any shape and color. Plan to have a lot more on the wrap around deck.
The deck is huge and will support plants and family get togethers and coffee in the morning and evening…..and knitting. It is so quiet here. I can actually hear the birds all day. It’s delightful.
Packed up all my yarn, but managed to start a new pair of socks. It is Zitron Art Deco German wool. It is a self-patterning yarn and feels quite rustic to the touch. Not buttery soft like most of my yarns. It will be interesting.
Someone made themselves to home. She was very happy when I started bringing in her favorite things, but she took to this new chair and hassock (did someone say yarn storage ? ) like she thinks they are her own.
I about died laughing when my grandsons brought over my washer/dryer set. She likes to play ‘fetch’ with bottle caps…..I guess this was her secret hiding place…….
There were a ton more under the washer. I wondered why she never had any out to play with, now I know.
So, getting settled. Getting used to the quiet (the first night I kept waking up….no trains, no traffic). The house is wonderfully composed. I feel like the fat lady who took off her girdle……I can just spread out. I have a sewing room and an art room/guest room, along with a huge living room/family room and a small front ‘parlor’ that mostly has a comfy couch and books, books, books.
What a crazy week. Last week it was just knitting as I went….life ticking by….and a house came open in the little town where my family and friends live and I thought “why not check it out ?”…….and I got it. I’m already moving my quilting and knitting stash over. I’m so excited….I couldn’t do it without my friends and family….and friend’s family…..such a relief. Such a great space, too.
I gave the house a present of three flower pots this morning. There is a huge wrap around deck that I can picture myself sitting on and knitting and having coffee in the morning. A wonderful space for having family and friends over to eat and laugh. I’m excited…if not a little blown away. Not a direction I thought I would be going in this week…..but, hey, I’m up for it.
I’ll have a sewing room and an art room, a huge open, airy living room that opens on the deck in the back…..did I say I was excited ?
So, I got my one sock done and the second one a good way towards the finish line…….
And some of the yummiest yarn and bag came from Jodi Brown of Mrs Brown’s Bags (on Etsy)…she is one half of The Grocery Girls……it smells so good……..the colors are so vibrant….as much as I love the yarn above (like knitting with butter)….I am casting on something for moi with this new yarn ASAP……..
Lizz didn’t like the picture I posted……no one ever likes their own picture…….but she won’t let me take another one…….she and her daughter and I are going to the movies tomorrow to see the original ‘True Grit’, maybe she’ll let me take one she approves of. Who has a ‘best line’ from that movie ? My favorite is: “This is the real article. It is a double-rectified busthead from Madison County, aged in the keg. A little spoonful would do you a power of good.” “I would not put a thief in my mouth to steal my brains.”
I know it is originally from Othello, but it’s classic ‘True Grit’. Will love seeing it on the big screen.
Well, a little packing, a little knitting…..a whole lot of chocolate……….
I met with my friend, Lizz, at Koco Java’s yesterday to knit and chat. I have been a member of Instagram for years, but never posted, and she taught me how to upload pics to my account there. That’s a rabbit hole I never wanted to tumble down, and now I have. She says she has created a monster.
The delightful Lizz
I realized it was my third day in a row of peopling. So unlike me. We sat and knitted and chatted in a safe, friendly place. I even had my back to the room for half the time there, which is HUGE for me.
new shorties for my niece on the needles
Remind me to tell you the story of my niece soon. So this is HedgeHog Fibers ‘Primrose’ colorway….but it’s more like bees on crack to me. I love this soft, buttery yellow that isn’t quite showing up to its true loveliness here. It makes me think of what would happen to bees if they were beamed up in the teleporter badly.
I woke up at 4 AM today. Not in a panic, not in a funk, but in that grey area. It could go either way from there. Into a downward spiral or back up into action and living. I remember a cartoon strip, “Rose is Rose”, where the mother, Rose, fell into a well of despair and couldn’t get out…..so she drew a colorful mural on the inside wall of the well. I don’t think it is those deep despairs that get to you as much as the tonal grey areas of mild depression that you don’t even realize you are in until you aren’t…..when you emerge into a joyful, sunny day and look back and realize you’ve been treading water or going through the motions without emotions.
My sleep time is a series of naps I think. I went back to sleep around seven after knitting for awhile on my socks. Then I got up and made myself go out. Lizz had some lavender for me to add to some rice sacks that I am making to use for physical therapy…..hotten them up in the microwave and put them where my neck and back hurt. Lavender is a nice, soothing touch. Making them this afternoon. Not sure if I want to sprinkle the lavender into the rice or sew up a few five inch squares of them and stick the squares in the rice.
It’s that kind of day…….A green shake to start it off. I think my doctor may be correct in saying he thinks i have SADD, along with a myriad of other goings on. It is a cloudy, dank day and I’ve teared up twice this morning. Sooooooo, extra vitamin D, a green shake, a little action (run the cleaner, recyclables to the site, go to the bank…..have a lovely cup of coffee and knit with Lizz at Koco Java’s for a bit)……action is always better than inaction for depression and anxiety, even if it is in baby steps like throwing in and doing a load of laundry through to the folding and putting away stage. I saw a meme the other day that cracked me up…..”Laundry: washed and dried ….one hour…..folded and put away…..seven to ten business days”.
Yesterday was the last of @starryeyesali April vlogs. She uploaded it today. Now who will I have a cuppa with and start my mornings off with a smile ? It has been lovely getting to know her and her family through little bits of their daily lives. She and they are so charming……and of course, a knitter. At least she’ll be doing her regular podcasts.
Speaking of which….WTH is wrong with Youtube ? I know I have ‘subscribed’ to maybe….maybe….about 40 podcasters. I went on the other day and it said I had 928 subscriptions……..WHAT ??? So I started down the list and cracked up……some are anime, some are cooking, some are cars, movie trailers, musicians I have never heard of……like they were added by a toddler on crack (or my cat on crack). For the past few days I have been going through and destroying the delete button. I’m down to 500 and it’s insane.
Look what lovely yarniness came in the mail yesterday, all the way from the UK……from the delightful Amy Florence of Stranded Dyeworks. I ordered it from her shop….she is an amazing indie dyer.
Aran weightfingering sock weight…..this middle one is a BFL (Blue face Leicester sheep), which I’ve never used.
I cannot wait to cast on some lovely socks. I have never used Aran weight and will have to go into the rabbit hole of Ravelry and see what recipes they have for that yarn. It’s a little heavier (but not a chunky) weight than worsted. I’m sure anything you can make with worsted can be done up in Aran.
Oh, oh, the sun just stuck it’s head out for a second. Maybe if I’m quiet and make no sudden movements, it won’t run off. Can you run the cleaner in slow motion ?
