Blogaversary

The earth has turned round once again!
One year ago today, I celebrated my 41st birthday by beginning this blog.
Inspired by other bloggers, I created a fun list of goals for my 42nd year...and I actually went a long way towards accomplishing them! There were 13 goals that I didn't quite make good on.
So, I'm giving it another go...43 goals for my 43rd year. (Including the 13 "leftovers" from last year...I really want to do them!)

1. Knit a garment

2. Sew a beautiful skirt for every day of the week

3. Plant a big batch of bulbs in secret this autumn to surprise my girls in spring

4. Write love notes

5. Volunteer at our local Waldorf school

6. Do more crossword puzzles with Mado

7. Live out on the deck more

8. Grow a garden with enough to preserve

9. Grow a garden just for the birds

10. Go camping

11. Transform an entire wool fleece into usable/wearable art

12. Learn (and write down) the recipes for all my favorite foods made by Mom and Dad

13. Make a family cookbook for the girls

14. Make a steampunk costume

15. Speak French every day

16. Knit or sew for charity

17. Have a taffy pull

18. Learn how to crochet

19. Teach Toucie knock-knock jokes

20. Visit the Hindu temple

21. Join the local home-schoolers' handwork group

22. Have more date nights

23. Make handmade birthday and yule gifts for all my great-nieces

24. Throw a surprise party

25. Redo the bathroom with fresh colors

26. Talk Grandma into helping me with the family tree

27. Brew beer all on my own

28. Make an effort to cultivate relationships with other home-schoolers

29. Write letters to old friends...try to stay in touch

30. Help Toucie find a penpal

31. Grow a pumpkin patch and host a pumpkin-carving party at Halloween

32. Breathe deeply

33. Start beekeeping with my mom

34. Knit a blanket

35. Experiment with the Etsy shop

36. Sing more

37. Cook with Mado

38. Practice yoga more regularly

39. Build an outdoor oven

40. Learn to play the tin whistle

41. Join the fiber guild

42. Learn to spin

43. Laugh every day

When it rains it pours!

This is a very brief post to explain the long absence of any posting here...and some of the blessings I'm appreciating on Mother's Day!

First of all...and you are not going to beleive this...but there has been another ruptured appendix in the family. You may recall my post not long ago about Naya being rushed to hospital...

well, her twin, Sodie had the same experience this past week. Both girls have had complications resulting in the fact that Naya is now well, but still has her appendix (which she'll have surgery for in a month) and Sodie, after a long week in the hospital, is both well and appendix-free. Thank you to all who sent well wishes to Naya after my post last month...it helps so much to feel support coming from so many different direction.  The doctors all say that it is pure coincidence that both twins contracted appendicitis, but I know better...there is just no limit to the powers of that twin mojo! All I know is that I am very grateful for healthy girls this Mother's Day.

During this recent appendix ordeal, our area of Tennessee was caught up in some powerful rainstorms and major flooding. Many folks have had total losses of their homes, cars, and sometimes family members, but I will not dwell on any tragedy. (if you are interested in weather phenomena and such, you can learn all about our flood  by googling 'Nashville flood' or similar). Our own home, property and family were relatively untouched by the waters. And in fact, it was not an unpleasant experience to witness the power of wind and water from our cozy home. I am grateful this Mother's Day to have my family and home happy and intact. The heavy rains came and went quickly.

Here is a photo of our back yard...there is no creek here normally...just grass, but it is the low spot of our property.

We lost power for a few days, so there were some dark times indoors. Toucie knows where the fun is at...see her through the window?

Toucie had so much fun living with lantern light, candles, meals cooked on our camping stove, dishes and clothing washed in tubs, and all the rest. She wore her sunbonnet day and night, and insisted we call her "Laura"...she called  Daddy and I "Pa and Ma". From her perspective this was all an exciting adventure...it was truly an awesome experience to watch our familiar landscape (namely our yard and 'our' river, the Harpeth) change to accommodate the rushing waters. The major river in our city crested at over 53 feet! Can you imagine it??!! The river was 53 feet higher (or deeper) than normal...it boggles my mind...


I have tried in vain to capture this change in some photos, but have not succeeded very well. Mado is the true photographer of the family. When I see her photos I suspect there will be an eloquent visual statement about our river that I can share. Until then, happy mother's day to all my mama friends...I hope you are soaking up all the joys of family bliss today!

First sweater?

 People say you should seek out a wise and experienced older person to help you learn to knit. I am here to advocate for seeking out a gang of sassy. hip, experienced young people for the very same purpose. I'm itching tackle some more difficult knitting skills and it is my teens that I am turning to for guidance. I have never knitted anything that wasn't basically a square or rectangle. My 3 older daughters can crank out cabled sweaters, shadow-knit scarves, and intricate slippers.

 

(This is a baby blanket Naya and Sodie just finished for their expectant math teacher...it is a gorgeous sampler that they made up as they went along...they took turns, each knitting a few rows in a different color and stitch pattern, then Naya knitted a 'basketweave' border all around the edge. I wish I could photograph the colors acurately.)

 
They are the ones who've provided Toucie with her Waldorfy barnyard of woolen animals, instead of me. (Thank goodness for big sisters!!)

 (We have horses, hens, cats, and somewhere there are some sheep and pigs, too - all knitted by Mado, Naya, and Sodie when they were around 12/13 years old)




One of my goals for this year (number 2 on the list) is to knit myself an actual garment. I've been searching high and low for a pattern that is both ultra-simple and attractive for my first sweater attempt. Here is the pattern that is topping the list right now.

 

 (photo from Knitty.com)

I've got the yarn all ready, and my knitting-emergency-rescue squad (aka Naya, Sodie, and Mado) all assembled....wish me luck!

More snow??!

We said goodbye to the snow last week, thinking that that was the end of our luck with snow here in the South this winter....but yesterday morning brought this:

 

I know some folks don't welcome slushy roads, school closings, and burst pipes, but I am willing to endure those things for the romance of a snowy landscape.

If it went on for weeks and weeks, I probably wouldn't feel the same way, but it is just such a rare commodity here...I treasure every flake :)

Some spent a little time like this:

 

And some (me!!) found cozy spots like this:

 

 OK...True confession time: 

Having set myself a goal to read 60 books or more over the course of 2010, I sometimes find my self in a dry spell between great books. During those times I fall back on frivolous, fun reading...usually a long-running (so, I never run out of books to read) mystery series that takes place in a time period or locale that I find attractive. Last year I read the fantasy/mystery Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher (It's good to branch out!).  This year I'm infatuated with M.C. Beaton. She has two separate series: the Agatha Raisin series (set in the Cotswolds), and the Hamish Macbeth series (set in the Scottish Highlands)....I love them both and have been going back and forth between them during those spells when I'm waiting for access to the next piece of "great" literature on my list. And if you are wondering how I'm doing on my goal...so far this year, I've read 14 books. (Highlights being The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver, and Jigs and Reels, by Joanne Harris). I'm currently reading an Agatha Raisin book (as you can see in the photo above) while I wait for my copy of AS Byatt's The Children's Book to be sent to my branch of the public library.

Anyway...enough about books...we can talk about book love another day. I'll just wrap up my snow day post the way we wrap up almost all our snow days: sledding ! Sledding in the moonlight, sledding till the cows come home, sledding till we drop. We're going to squeeze every drop of fun out of our precious snow.

You have no idea what 6" of snow means to me....

...unless you live in the South, too. If you are accustomed to winter and snow going hand-in-hand, you'll just have to pardon me while I go on and on about what is pretty much a phenomenon here in MiddleTennessee.

 

This is primo sledding snow...deep with a nice, icy crust. That's Toucie and I above. Beleive it or not, a couple of times we made it all the way to the fence you see way down where the treeline begins. We were saying things like 'rad' and 'awesome' all morning long. 

And wait till you see my hot snow gear:

Yeah, baby! (Don't say it...I know...no, we are not related.) 

At least my rad and awesome hubby will still hang with me, despite my stylish get-up.

A fresh beginning....

It is my 41st birthday and my first project in this new year of life is launching a blog!
I don't even know what it will be about...we'll just have to see how it evolves. But since my birthday is at the fore of my mind right now, I thought I would post a special list of indulgent goals for my 42nd year. (Yes, totally inspired by Kyrie) :

1. Start a blog
2. Knit a garment (never got this off the ground)
3. Sew clothing for myself
4. Read 60 novels
5. Hike to a waterfall 
6. Eat more vegetables
7. Finish my flannel quilt
8. Grow a garden with enough to preserve (didn't even get the ground tilled this year!)
9. Make a pumpkin patch
10. Go camping (not once...unbelievable)
11. Find a flattering “uniform” (and purge the ugly stuff)
12. Hoop/Bellydance/do yoga/move!
13. Talk to my brother more
14. Make a steampunk costume (still working on this)
15. Brush up my French
16. Knit for charity (on the contrary...we accepted charity knit hats for Toucie!)
17. Cook over an open fire
18. Dye some yarn
19. Learn to make saurkraut
20. Learn to bake sourdough bread
21. Send a letter every month
22. Go fishing with Toucie
23. Laugh more
24. Find the perfect apron
25. Redo the bathroom with fresh colors (got the paint but didn't get it on the wall)
26. Learn how to make crackers
27. Brew beer all on my own
28. Pick strawberries and peaches
29. Make a rug
30. Do more French and Tunisian cooking
31. Sew with Mado
32. Cook with Naya and Sodie
33. Start beekeeping with my mom (come on , Mom!)
34. Knit a blanket (sigh...)
35. Experiment with the Etsy shop (double sigh)
36. Organize and use my photos
37. Be present
38. Create warmth in our home
39. Build an outdoor oven (too big of a project for me to handle this year)
40. Learn to play the tin whistle (got the whistle! still need the knowledge!)
41. Join the fiber guild (still really want to do this)
42. Make a new list for next year 