Pumpkin x 2

If there is one thing I have a weakness for (chocolate is a given), its anything sweet with pumpkin in it.  I know, I should have made this during the fall, but I craved it.

I've been trying to make as much of our food from scratch as I can - its part of a new thing of mine.  I feel like the world slows down when I'm making things for the family so I'm trying to "embrace" my position as homemaker.  I generally mumble it out of the corner of my mouth when someone asks me what I do, but now I'm saying it loud and proud.  I'm starting with pumpkin and french bread.

In the same spirit, I'm also trying to make all of our gifts.  Remember, I said try.  This is a Tasseled Pixie Baby Bonnett (pattern from She's Crafty) knit in 80% cotton/ 20% wool and - you guessed it - in pumpkin.  I also parted with 2 of my favorite vintage buttons.  I love the green against the orange.d

Loyalty

Last week I went to the ER for stabbing chest pain. Diagnosis: pneumonia. I spent all week in bed which sounds nice, but really
only is if you are well enough to enjoy it.

To stretch my lungs and legs I went for a walk Thursday night. It was such perfect weather and without bugs to annoy.

As I was walking, and even through headphones, I heard the tinkling of little bells. I looked back to see my two cats walking with me. They braved cars, other cats, and the unknown to keep me company.

Klee (black) got scared and only made it partially around the block. Miles (grey) and I walked her back home where she darted for the front porch and chose not to join us for a second lap.

Miles and I strolled the entire block. I made sure not to get to far ahead. Upon return, I thanked them both with a dinner of wet food. Their favorite.

Now that's loyalty.

-- Post From My iPhone

Remaking

 

My trip to Portland did wonders for my mental health.  I was not responsible for anyone but myself.  I went were I wanted to go, when I pleased, and for any length of time I deemed necessary to get my fill.  It was heaven, but I missed the kids and my husband.

One of the reasons I took this vacation was to have uninterrupted time to make the things I want to make, when I want to make them.  Spinning, knitting, felting, etc:  all on the agenda.    I just wanted to get it out of my system.

I have a voracious appetite for making things.  Its satisfied only by the release of my idea into sketch or prototype form.  Any time I have at home to craft is interrupted again and again by requests for juice or play, and I am left completely unfulfilled creatively and feeling guilty that I have yet to play with the kids or fold the laundry.   You can tell that it feels like a whirlwind to me, that nothing slows down for me to catch up.

This state of being is not good for any of us.  My attitude had to change without giving up the feeling I get when I make something with my two hands because that feeling, I could not do without.  It is a warmth that stirs below the surface an eventually puffs my chest with pride that I finished something conceived in my own mind.  After all, my greatest projects, Livy and Liam, are never-ending.

I am determined that everything I do, from laundry to making dinner, should be a "making" experience.  I promised myself that from now on I would slow down, have more patience, cook and bake more, make more of the things we need instead of buy them.

So far, I am quieter and I am more content.  I feel less of that crazy nagging to make something with fabric and fiber.  Instead I hand make the bread for dinner or continue work on the needle felted dinosaur Liam's been wanting.  I no longer put off the kids until "this row is done".

I am "craftizing" my life.  Finding a way I can in every facet of life to craft something special, to make something special for someone else, whether its banana muffins for breakfast or a special place on the closet door for cling wrap.  

And in that, I feel the "making" forces me to slow down from the dizzying pace at which I normally spin and accept that I cannot do everything.  The things I can do however will be hand-crafted. 

Homemade Banana Muffins for Breakfast.