Crafty

Never an idle moment in the last quarter of the year!

The days have been passing in a blur as every moment not spent on home, hearth and schooling has been dedicated to crafting.  Some of it is knitting, some of it sewing, and it has been pretty equally divided between making things for our Etsy shop, Frost Lane, and making Christmas gifts.  I have made wool dryer balls from these instructions, for myself and as gifts.  The little autumn babies tucked into walnut shells are in our shop now awaiting adoption, and I have made a number of cherry stone heating pads/ice packs for the shop as well.  Currently in production are the "Pocket Babies."  I have to attach their little gnome hats and wrap them in their felt blankets, but I hope to have them in the shop soon--with a couple put aside as gifts for a couple of special little girls I know.

I'm linking up with Frontier Dreams (Keep Calm, Craft On)...

Monday Musings--27 October 2014--Indian Summer

Right now...it is nearly 3 p.m.  It is a marvelous, unseasonably lovely day.  The laundry is on the line, waving like banners in the warm breeze.  Tomorrow rain is predicted, and thereafter much cooler temperatures.  But today at least there is still a little time for bare limbs, sun-dried laundry and rides around the house on the 4-wheeler.

This morning we had some problems during milking time.  The power to the pump on the milking machine kept shutting down.  Two calls to Bret to try to work it out were to no avail, so Sebastian finished the job by hand.  Lola, our calf, has been rough on Fiona's teats, and she has a number of cuts on them, but Sebastian said she tolerated it all pretty well.

Have I mentioned lately how proud I am of that boy?  No, I'm not here too often, so I'm sure I haven't.  Sebastian is 13 and has been milking our cows for 3 years.  He does it in the heat of summer and in the winter, swaddled in insulated clothing and with a cup of hot tea.  He hates it.  But he's only said so once.  Daily, but for Sundays, he goes out and milks the cow without complaint, never groaning, never griping.  When there's a problem, he tries to work it out himself before coming to me with it, not wanting to add to my workload or concerns.  I am in awe of the young man he is becoming, and I can only say this:  if you are the mother of a young boy who is a pain in the neck and who drives you to near-madness nearly daily, take heart--such a one can blossom into something totally unexpected and wonderful.  Sebastian was such a child, and now he is an absolute gem.

Some plans for this week:  I am working diligently knitting and sewing gifts for Christmas and making things for the Etsy shop.  I have plenty to do with some little pocket-sized dolls I'm making for the shop, and I have some St. Nicholas dolls to make as well.

We will be taking Friday off for a little Halloween celebration with my sister and her kids, God willing and no one gets ill between now and then.  I would like to make a bean-bag toss game for the little party and towards the end of the week we will make some treats.

I'm praying for...Olivia, the littlest one of friends, who just underwent surgery this morning to correct a kidney/bladder related problem that has sent her to the hospital a couple of times.  I'm praying for her dear mommy, too, whose eldest has diabetes and is gluten intolerant, and so the young woman has a lot on her platter!

Something that makes me smile:  the laughter of children even above the roar of an ATV motor.

I have to go put my yogurt--a gallon a week is what we go through--in the insulated cooler with a heated rice bag now, before the milk cools.

Have a great week!

Living in the moment

It's been no less crazy than usual around here.  My determination to stick to some sort of framework for our schooling is not so much born of a need to organize (I have gone from hyper-organized to a happy, disorganized mess over the decades), but from a need to keep the kids occupied enough to make a dent in the petty bickering.  Seems that too much free time is not a good thing in this house.

Anyway, between staying on top of schooling 6 kids from Kindergarten through 11th grade, trying to keep up with the household stuff, making things and being the shipping department for our Etsy shop and attempting to cook everything from scratch these days, I barely have time for any hobbies.  I do my running at 6 a.m. for an hour, I exercise for 30 minutes in the evening, I knit in the van and occasionally in my chair when there's a good movie to watch, and I read for maybe 30 minutes before I slip into my 6 hour, nightly coma.  That is how I squeeze in personal time.  Which is why this blog has suffered such neglect.

As I write this at near-10 in the morning, I am looking out my workroom window at the pasture and the changing colors of autumn, my favorite time of year.  I have a few Etsy shop orders to pack up and of course school stuff to attend to, but I'm hoping to bake pumpkin bread this afternoon and maybe make some miniature cakes with Gemma in her little cake pans.  I like the kitchen so much more this time of year, when I'm not constantly perspiring.

This year is quickly drawing to a close, and it has been a hard one.  Financial struggles, personal demons to fight, worries about family members...I'll be 51 next month, and in all honesty, I think that 50 has been one of my more trying years.  Definitely a milestone year, and one I'm not unhappy to bid farewell to.  There's been ore inner upheaval than I've felt in decades, but it is finally winding down and I am finally feeling more settled...not totally at peace, but better.  The trick is to work very hard at living in the moment and casting one's gaze neither backward nor forward.  That's the key.

Crafts for the shop

I've spent the past week making things for our Etsy shop, Frost Lane.  It's been a while since I've done any crafts (I'm a wee bit put out by the fact that only my youngest two like playing with craft materials when I have an assortment of them that would stock a small craft supply store!)  I worked on wood-burning some one inch buttons, made some more toadstool-pendant necklaces and made some little autumn gnomes with acorn cap baskets.  I think they came out really well!  I hope to have them in the shop later today...

Monday Musings--14 October 2013

Right now...it's just after 7 a.m., and oddly enough, most of the household is still asleep.  Outside it looks like it is shaping up to be another lovely day.  Autumn is the best!

This weekend...was busy.  Since coming home from Alabama, a nasty cold has been working its way through the ranks, and Gabriel has been its most recent victim.  Constant runny, sore nose, coughing and overall malaise has stricken about half the house so far.  I don't know why this is, but for several years now, we are totally illness free for the months of July, August and September, and October always seems to mean the advent of our first cold of the season.  So--much orange juice, vitamin C and Elderberry-Echinacea syrup are being consumed.

On Saturday Bret and I left the kids at home (Bret's mom has been here for a week today) and went into Bowling Green to do a little early grocery shopping and pick up my early birthday gift: a treadmill!  Yep, I'm hitting the half-century mark in another month, and I figure a treadmill is a good investment at this point.  It'll be getting plenty of use, as Una needs it, too (exercise is key in keeping her fibromyalgia symptoms to a minimum) and my mother-in-law is also making use of it, as she is trying to recover her stamina after having had heart surgery.

After we got home and put away groceries, we packed everyone in the van and headed out to How'd Dey Do Dat? day in Red Boiling springs.  This was our third year going, and the weather had always been good.  I get in my annual visit with the Blackburn family of Leaning Tree Farm, listen to old-timey bluegrass and let the kids run around.  [Note to Annita:  Gemma kept her shirt on!  But we were already well underway when Dominic announced that he had forgotten his shoes...] As always, it was a worthwhile trip.

Yesterday we went to Mass at the Chapel of Divine Mercy.  I missed Mass the previous week to stay home with sick kids.  We didn't stay long afterward, and at home everyone sort of went their own way to relax.  I did some writing, whilst feeling guilty about still not having any Christmas gifts on my knitting needles.

Some plans for this week:  Another busy one!  I have to place my order with my food co-op today and I thought I might make a fresh batch of play dough for Gemma, who's been a bitter pill lately.  Four is not my favorite age.  She seems to delight in being sassy and provoking her brothers to anger.  Anyway, she needs to be kept busy and out of mischief.  On Wednesday Una has a nervous breakdown PSAT test.  It's really only a dry run, because the one that counts will be next year, and this one is only to familiarize her with the test.  Besides the usual school and household stuff, I need to make another batch of pesto, harvest my lemon balm and finally get something cast on my needles!

If I find some time for myself I will...feel incredibly blessed!  I really want to work on my writing and get knitting again!

I am grateful for...beautiful weather with cool mornings and evenings; finding a treadmill for half of what I thought I would have to spend; the end of this nasty cold in sight; orders for our Etsy shop (I gripe about how much of my time it consumes, but I'm glad for the money, which will be our Christmas fund).

Some prayer intentions for this week:  for Una, that she keeps a cool head and isn't consumed with anxiety over this test.  And I am praying with my family for a special intention:  a young man named Craig who is 38 and has been given two weeks to live.  One of our priests asked if we would adopt him in prayer, and we are only too glad to do so.

I leave you with a few random shots from How'd Dey Do Dat? day in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee.

No, this isn't one of the exhibits; this is Grady, and she was even cuter than the bunnies!

Playing in the corn was a big hit this year!

My friend Heather.  And a boy Una thought was really cute. 

I'm really glad the fiddler was an octogenarian, because I tend to develop crushes on fiddlers...

Heather giving the kids greens to feed the rabbits and sheep

Have a great week, everyone!

Can you feel it?

Cool mornings and evenings, an orange full moon, Halloween junk filling up an aisle at Wal-Mart--yes, my favorite time of year is here, and the Vernal Equinox is tomorrow.  Autumn has finally arrived!  And my friend Deb, proprietor and alchemist behind Twysted Thystle , has her autumn line of products on sale through this weekend.

Pie

                                 

Rosemary Apple Pies

Getting ready for Thanksgiving!