Outside and Inside

There was a fairly thick layer of ice on the pond this morning.

The girls and the young buck were happy to see the sun again today after missing it for several days. 

Inside I have been busy playing with greens and browns.

I finished another simply sweet sweater.  I made an error on the arm size.  Writing patterns

is no easy task let me tell you.  I am not so sure I have the stick-to-it to keep knitting samples and working 

through different sizes.  It really makes me appreciate those that do sell their patterns.  The writers/designers deserve to be paid well.

I have dyed two wool/silk scarves.  One a soft sage and the other a shade of brown.

They lack some originality, however, and I am looking for ideas to embellish them - to make them each 

a bit more artsy.  The fabric is delicate so whatever I add needs to take that into account.  Any ideas?

The Weekend

The cold, drizzle and occasional snows kept us inside most of the weekend.

We are slowing down.  Enjoying cups of tea again.

Lots of knitting.

Thomas and his girlfriend, Sam, are able to drive up to church most Sundays from college.  This past Sunday they both joined in with the youth music worship team.

Sam is a fantastic knitter.  The girls were inspired to join her after lunch.

Emmy is using scissors now so I am finding small bit of paper all over the floors.

More inside time seems to equate finding the cushions more often off the couch and chair than on.

My challenge is to get us outside each day no matter the weather, staying out longer than just long enough to do the animal chores.  I am also working on coming up with some productive inside work we can do to keep our hands busy during these dark days.  So much of this does seem to happen on its own, but sometimes a little encouragement can help to inspire.

The Blame Game

Our family isn't exposed to a lot of media.  I listen to NPR a little bit each day and that is primarily where I get any kind of national or international news.  With dial-up

internet, I don't bother reading any online

news publications unless I come across an interesting

link to check out.

Yesterday while listening to NPR, I couldn't 

help but be amazed at how our government

is wasting more time and money by holding a 

hearing to find out who is responsible

for the lousy job that was done with the new health 

care web site.

How does that make things move forward?

I really don't get it.  It is kind of like if one of the children leaves

the front door open in really cold weather and I just stand there

by the open door calling each child 

down one at a time asking if they

were the ones that left it open.  In the 

meantime, the house is just getting

colder and colder.

Wouldn't it be better to problem solve?  When something isn't right, 

first let's figure out a better solution.  Perhaps the people responsible

for making the health care web site simply failed.  So what?  Learn from the mistakes, move

forward and make it right.

I sure don't want my children to worry about doing something challenging because they

might fail or make mistakes.  

That is learning at its best.

The blame game doesn't help anyone.

Our Ordinary Days

(Sarah is learning multiplication and we are using the Waldorf Essentials Math Guide.)

Sometimes I wonder if our life is too simple.  There are times when I truly forget what day of the week it is as one day tends to blend into the next.  I think being home based does that to you as we all work and learn right here on our little homestead.

Each day, at least Monday through Saturday, the routine is very similar.  Breakfast, Dishes, Make Bed, Make and Help Younger Children Dress, Pick Up, Bake Bread and/or Other Goodies, More Dishes, Sweep Floors, Help with Some Learning, Try to Stop a Conflict between Two Children from Escalating, Put in  Load of Laundry, Hang Wet Laundry, Fold Dried Laundry, Make Lunch, Get Emmy Down for a Nap, Help with the Business (Packaging, Wood Burning, Computer Work), Do My Darndest to Get Outside to Clean Animal Homes, Plant, Dig, Weed (whatever the season may dictate), Think About Dinner, Begin to Prepare Dinner, Pick Up the House, Do Nightly Animal Chores.....

(Emily peeling crayons.)

In between all the routine I of course, squeeze in knitting, handwork, and growing food.  The beauty of these activities is that I can actually see the progress.

(Abraham asks to do school work.)

But, truly, there are so many other things that happen, much more meaningful things - like Abraham hugging me and telling me he loves me; or Thomas calling many times from college with his first bad sickness away from home (while I felt badly for him, it was neat to still be called upon); like Isaac's face lighting up when he gets one of his rebuilt laptops to work; or Abby building a "cottontail cottage" from found cardboard for her rabbit.

(We celebrate Mike's 47th birthday this evening when they return home.)

Then, every so often something quite unusual breaks up the daily ordinary.  Yesterday Mike brought half the gang down to eastern Massachusetts.  Isaac went to game 1 of the World Series last night with his Poppa. During their visit, they will all get a rush of a different life filled with big stores, lots of people, traffic and maybe from the point of view of some, excitement.  I am glad we get shots of this from time to time because it really helps me to remember that compared to how others live, our life really isn't very ordinary at all.

Working on a Pattern

Still really enjoying this book.

Also, I am again working on the pattern for a very simple knit sweater.  I like knit patterns that avoid double pointed needles so this is one that will require some sewing up of seams but can be knit without having to pay too much attention.  That is a good thing in our house where counting stitches doesn't work very well with all of the distractions.  I would think there are other knitters out there like myself that prefer really simple patterns.

I do look forward to the day, though, when I do have stretches of time where I can challenge myself with a challenging pattern, but that time isn't now.

This sample is knit with some heavy worsted weight wool that I hand dyed in a mossy color and I am using size 10 circular needles, only to hold all of the stitches but the sweater is knit back and forth in sections until the yoke.  I think it will be about a size 4.

Joining in with Ginny.

This and That

The mornings are getting cooler.  The little ones are the first to wake up will stay near the wood stove while the house warms up.

We were blessed to have some visitors on Friday for lunch.  It was really great to get to know another family that lives intentionally and to meet another blogger in person.   Annie is a sweet gentle soul and I think that we would become closer friends if we lived near one another.  They shared some of their honey and some hand dyed yarn.

Over the weekend I have been knitting and taking notes on a simple sweater pattern.  Still trying to decide if it is something I enjoy doing or not.  It is a bit stressful as I worry that others would not be able to understand it all.  When I am done, perhaps I could ask for some test knitters?

We went to a friend's open house yesterday afternoon.  She designed a really neat house and worked alongside the builders adding all kinds of unique details.

Abe on horse back.

Wishing you a day full of blessings,

Tonya

Working Outside till Dark

Yesterday I planted garlic.  My homesteading friend told me that she always plants garlic on the 15th of October so I was only off by one day.

The air was warmer than usual and the light beautiful and after dinner I returned outside shoveling and dumping wheelbarrows of compost until the last light left feeling full and complete.