Tears of Love

I didn't know what unconditional, complete surrender love for another human being was until I had children.  It is a love that often brings tears to my eyes.  

There are the bittersweet tears that happen when I think about our oldest going off on his own soon.

Tears of sadness flow when one of our children experience hurt in their own lives.

Sometimes the tears are because of extreme gratitude for being given these amazing gifts.

Tears of happiness come when I watch a child accomplish something they have been striving for - reading their first words, hitting a home run, or nailing a song during a theatrical performance.

Some days there are tears of frustration - disappointment in myself for not reacting and responding to my children the way that I should.

Lately, there have been many episodes of tears of awe and wonderment when I simply look at Emmy and the amazing miracle that she is.

Blessings to you for a weekend full of love,
Tonya

Simple Little Gnomes

Joining in again today with Ginny's Knit Along to share these simple knit gnomes.
They are actually open on the bottom so can also be used as finger puppets.
Here is the pattern:
Using size 2 or 3  needles and worsted weight yarn, cast on 16 stitches.  Knit back and forth for 18 rows.  (I used size 2 needles to make a nice tight knit so that the gnome will stand up on its own.)
Next switch to the skin color yarn and knit in stockinette stitch, knit 1 row, purl 1 row for the next for 10 rows.  Bind off.
Sew up back of gnome, and then gather around "neck" pull and knot.  Then sew up back of head, stuff and sew around top of head to gather, pull shut and knot.
Knit hat - cast on 16 stitches.  Stockinette stitch for 5 rows (knit, purl, knit, purl, etc) and then starting the 6th row and every knit row, knit the first two stitches together, knit across and then knit the last two stitches together.  Purl the next row. Repeat the knit decrease row until one stitch is left on the needle, leaving a long tail, break the yarn and thread through loop, pull and then use tail to stitch up back of hat and then sew on to gnome's head.

I am still reading the same book as last week, This Life is in Your Hands, by Melissa Coleman and really enjoying it.   It has brought up some things for me to think about - in particular how our family's life has changed from being more conventional/American to working towards escaping the consumeristic lifestyle to now finding somewhere in between as we strive to meet the needs of our growing children while not being hypocritical to our ideals.

I would love it if you would share some pictures of your little gnomes if you knit some.

Warm wishes,
Tonya

Simple Rustic Branch Under the Sink Cover

We do our best to make do with what we have, can find, or buy second hand.  When we bought our rustic cottage, the two doors under the sink were in very bad condition so I removed them and added some fabric instead.  That was two years ago and the fabric I had chosen now seemed a bit dull.  It was time for a change - to add a little spring inside (because it really is coming).  This yellow calico did the trick.  We use branch hooks and a branch rod (courtesy of our woods) for hanging.

Beauty

The beauty of God's creation - our first real snow storm of the season has left over two feet of snow.

Emmy Love

When we were in the Boston area last weekend, Emmy was able to see some family.  This is my Mom - who I miss so much.   We don't get to see each other nearly as much as we would like.  Moving away from family was the hardest part about making the decision to move to northern Vermont.

This is my brother, Frank.  I met him when he was an exchange student at our high school, he ended up staying in the states and becoming part of our family.  

Back at home enjoying some time with Dad during lunch.

Getting use to being on my back now.

Choosing Technology

The internet has allowed many families to live simply and home-based.  We, for one, use the internet for nearly 75% or more of our sales.  The family here - is making and selling and living together on their simple homestead.  There are many others.

I am just in awe of how fast technology is advancing.  There are so many areas that are just beyond my comprehension at the moment - I just don't have the time to try and keep up on it all.  Mike and I talk often about how much do we need to make our living.  Do we need to do facebook, twitter and such?   I have started on pinterest, but really that is my creative outlet.  I don't think of it as contributing in any way to our income.  While I have a facebook account I have yet to do anything with it and cannot figure out how it might contribute to our business.

Blogging is the one thing I started years ago to share our family's dreams and accomplishments as a way to keep a journal and to just let others know that there is another option.

Am I going to become completely out-of-it if I don't keep up?  Can we continue to make a living with our little etsy shop and blog?

Wendell Berry, last I read, still typed his writing on a manual typewriter.  Not sure if he still does, but if so, he is still making a living without using computers.

We still have dial-up internet.  Our latest conversations have been about whether or not we should get a satellite connection.  Broadband is not available at our rural location yet.  We are asking ourselves if it will increase our income.  Do we need to earn more?  What would we do differently?  Will it save a substantial amount of time or just lead to wasting more time?  Will it instead be more of a distraction?  Right now I go to our local library 2 times a week to keep up on our marketing (checking stats, feedback in our shop and searching for new ideas, checking out other toy and wedding blogs/shops, etc.), keeping up with blog friends, researching homeschooling topics, and making purchases.  I am able to list items in our shop, make blog posts and answer emails just fine with our dial-up at home.  With a higher speed would we all be distracted with all there is on youtube (educational right?), would it be tempting to constantly look things up instead of going to a book (but maybe that is the future and I am just fighting/avoiding the inevitable), would I be overwhelmed with all the options or does this just become part of life and we would all become used to it?  Do I want us to?

So many magazines have gone digital and we cannot download anything with dial-up and I don't even like reading them on my little laptop.  Thank goodness for new publications such as Taproot and for Aubrey's handwritten newsletter.  (I have passed on the names of those of you that had a couple of issues left from Plain and Joyful Living  - please contact me if that is not satisfactory to you.)

While visiting family over the weekend and talking with my aunt I learned what an Android is and now I am starting to understand I-pod, I-pad, etc...  She said something that has also got me thinking.  She said she really just bought the Android to keep up with technology. She already has a laptop but she doesn't want to be 75 (she is now 57) and have a hard time learning anything new in relation to technology.  We don't have any of those little devices, although our sixteen year old son, did buy himself an I-pod recently.  However, he can't use the online option at home as we don't have wireless here.
We don't even have a cell phone yet.

For now, we are at the point of asking ourselves the following questions when considering a new technology -
1.  Is it necessary for us to make our living?
2.  Will it save us a considerable amount of time?
3.  Will it end up being wasteful?  Will it just be junked in a year or two, for example, and end up having to be thrown away.
4.  Is it safe?  I still wonder about all of the waves.  We are blessed to be in a little knoll where even most cell phones don't come in well.  I pray that all of these waves are harmless, but I am not convinced.
5.  Will it bring our family closer together or separate us more?  For example, each person on their own screens.

What do you think?
Has technology made positive or negative contributions to your life or both?

Knitting and Reading again for the Yarn Along

A sweet surprise was waiting for me at my father's house -

a bag of yarn from a reader that later figured out she knew my father (such a small world isn't it?)

So Sarah helped me decide on which granny square pattern to use to make a blanket.  

I am almost done knitting the first side of the Colins Vest.  It looks as though it will be about a 3T or so.

Last week I also finished another hat - I am just loving this simple pattern.

And finally, I have found a book at the library last Wednesday that I am enjoying - This Life Is in You Hands by Melissa Coleman.  She writes about her parents' back-to-the-land living in the 1970s.  Her father is Eliot Coleman, the author of Four Season Harvest.  So far really good - interesting and I am excited about just the little bits I have learned about soil, especially when working with raw land, which is what we are attempting here.

Looking forward to your sharing and consider joining in with Ginny of Small Things for the weekly Yarn Along.