~Blocked~

I finally, finally took the time to block my Rivulet scarf. (Ravelry link). I only finished knitting this last January of 2012...

What took me so long? Perfectionism and a lot of excuses. I didn't have blocking wires, I knew it would take a long time to pin out, I knew the edge wouldn't be "perfect". So I never took the time.

But yesterday, with a sick little girl nestled on the couch watching football with my husband, and a long afternoon in sight, I decided to tackle blocking this scarf. Um, yeah. Totally should have done this ages ago!

I am looking forward to wearing this now! Yay me! :)

Next up? Another blocked scarf!!!

~Mixed Media Art~

Inspired by Amy's recent post show-casing her girls' art, I decided to something similar with my daughter.

This is what she came up with:

Snow White and Cinderella

I cut out the faces and we glued them to the paper. My daughter decided that they should be princesses. Snow White has some hefty arms there. I don't think she's ever been depicted with such large arms. ;-) My daughter did all the drawing. The "grass" is part of a chair which I cut in strips for her, the tree was a houseplant which she had me cut without the stem. She decided clouds were necessary, so we used cotton balls.

This was a lot of fun, and I can see that we'll do it again sometime!

~Ugly Shoes~

I was thinking about this poem recently, which I posted on my blog a few months after I experienced my loss. I bolded the way I feel right now.

"An Ugly Pair of Shoes"

I am wearing a pair of shoes.
They are ugly shoes.
Uncomfortable Shoes.
I hate my shoes.
Each day I wear them, and each day I wish I had another pair.
Some days my shoes hurt so bad that I do not think I can take another step.
Yet, I continue to wear them.
I get funny looks wearing these shoes.
They are looks of sympathy.
I can tell in others eyes that they are glad they are my shoes and not theirs.
They never talk about my shoes.
To learn how awful my shoes are might make them uncomfortable.
To truly understand these shoes you must walk in them.
But, once you put them on, you can never take them off.
I now realize that I am not the only one who wears these shoes.
There are many pairs in the world.
Some women are like me and ache daily as they try and walk in them.
Some have learned how to walk in them so they don't hurt quite as much.
Some have worn the shoes so long that days will go by before they think of how much they hurt.
No woman deserves to wear these shoes.
Yet, because of the shoes I am a stronger woman.
These shoes have given me the strength to face anything.
They have made me who I am.
I will forever walk in the shoes of a woman who has lost a child.

Author Unknown

The reason I was thinking of this poem actually had something to do with a physical pair of shoes. A pair of shoes I bought to wear on Easter Sunday, just two short Sundays after my loss had been confirmed. A pair of shoes I have rarely worn. They are ugly to me. They hurt my feet when I wear them. And they hurt my heart. I threw them away. They had lots of wear left in them but I realized I just didn't want those shoes hanging out in my closet any longer.

Today, my baby I lost would have been 3 years old. It's a bittersweet day for me. Knowing my baby is with the Lord is very sweet to me. But not having my baby here with me is very bitter. Till heaven, sweet little one. Mommy loves you. XO

~Monday Musings~

Ah, Mondays!

This morning it is raining steadily.

I'm coming down with a cold.

Coffee is all I've had yet this morning, so I'm thinking about what is for breakfast.

Thinking about the work I need to put into tomorrow's class for CC.

To do list: dishes, laundry, straighten the house.

Going: nowhere! Staying put today.

Ink and stamps going on to my right, I should be putting a stop to it but I'm kind of out of it this morning, so self-entertainment is a good thing. Mostly. ;-)

So as it is raining, it is of course not good lighting for pictures, but here's a little something I whipped up on Saturday:

A coffee cup sleeve! I came across this fabric which I'd purchased quite a while ago, and sat down and made a little stack of coffee sleeves. I plan on using the extras for gifts and possibly selling a few as well. We'll see. 

Incidentally, I went to the coffee shop yesterday afternoon and totally forgot to take mine with me. I had a free drink at the coffee shop, because of my birthday. It was enjoyable until it made my stomach sick because of the high sugar content. Since this last summer I've not been eating (or drinking! LOL) much sugar at all so I've found that sugar in any amount over a teaspoon or so really bothers my stomach. But...that's ok! I've lost just over 20 pounds as a result of better diet and fewer calories, so I guess I can't really complain. ;-)

And there you have it! Random thoughts for Monday! :-)

~Pick a Pin: Craft Project~

One of the things that my daughter has really enjoyed from Classical Conversations is the art that we've done. She has continued, on her own, to draw the things we learned to draw in the first six weeks. I've been trying to come up with more craft projects for her to do, since she enjoys it so much.

Today I looked through my pins on Pinterest and found this simple craft. The blog is written in Italian, but there are pictures, and in fact I didn't even look at the link before we started.

This morning we painted fall trees, using a paint brush for the trunk and branches, and Q-tips for the leaves:

Right now my daughter is busy with scissors and glue. Pretty soon we'll be cleaning confetti out of the living room but for now she's entertained. :-)

~November!~

On this first day of November:

Rain. It is raining, a drizzly type of rain that picks up and lets off every once in a while.

Presents. I'm sewing for Christmas! I'm so excited about my project(s), but I will have to refrain from actually saying what they are or showing pictures until after Christmas, because some of the recipients read my blog.

Apples. I'm so over the apples I dragged home a few weeks back. I was so proud of myself being proverbial and all ("she bringeth her food from afar", don't you know) but now I still have 3/4 of a bushel of apples still in my kitchen. That'll teach me to start thinking of myself as a Proverbs 31 woman. ;-) I shouldn't be so down on myself because I've actually worked through a lot of them, including a batch yesterday. But I just see those apples and....le sigh...it's so much work still!



Apples! 5 half bushels, plus a half bushel of squashes thrown in for good measure.

But: blue jars! I bought some blue jars on clearance and I had the brilliant idea (yesterday, while I was standing at the stove stirring my sauce) to can white beans in them. Oh my, I can hardly wait. They will look so pretty! So I need to get the apples done so I can work on the beans. And then I'm going to haul all my canning equipment downstairs and be done with canning!

My birthday: tomorrow. How is it that I'm getting so close to 40? I feel like I just turned 30, and here I am, turning 30-something-rhymes-with-Kevin. Hmmm. Kevin and our daughter went out shopping and got my presents several weeks ago, so that has been dangling over my head. My daughter is a good little surprise keeper, so I have no clue as to what I'm getting.

Happy November!