Tag: sowing and reaping

Lessons in jealousy

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Jealousy 101: learning about how to look at what someone else has and want it. The art of covetous behavior is learned. How to teach one pet to get another pet to do something. Desired and undesired desires in pets.

Cat and dog napping in the same vicinity is sometimes hard to accomplish. As anyone who has one species of pet before the other comes indoors knows… there is often disagreeable behavior for years on end. Getting the new puppy not to chase the cat is hard work. Getting the new kitten to not claw the dog is also hard work. Teaching two opposite species to become friends takes time. Introducing Tabitha and Honey to lap napping has been a month in the making.

Snuggle classes for my five going on six year old doodle have mostly failed. Trying to get her gangly long legs to make room for me on the sofa was a disaster. Honey has very boney features and has refused to cuddle or snuggle. Her idea of togetherness is doing what she wants to do. Most of the time her attachment to me is about a six foot lead line. And when we go outdoors it is necessary to keep her from running off in discovery of her own amazing nose.

Lap -Ghans are a crochet description of an afghan that did not get big enough. One of the mohair / wool / alpaca blend blankets that I made ended up getting shrunk by accident a few years back. So it is classified as a very warm winter lapghan. On occasion I will put it on my shoulders, but the weight of the “horse” saddle blanket keeps it mostly on my legs. Honey has been working her way up to an hour lap rest. I started by making her stay for 20 minutes and gradually tacked on time. Today I got an hour this morning and another hour this afternoon.

My mother makes these little upholstered two pound bag of beans for warming one’s toes up in the bitter cold winter. Lots of people take the hot sock to bed with them. She has even had people order a particular size for their best comfort. Ours are kept handy by hanging the loop handle over a convenient door knob. We warm them up in the microwave for two to three minutes. I can’t imagine life without my bag of beans! But you know today’s nap with a cat on one leg and a dog’s head on the other leg was a much more consistant warm than any bean bag would ever do.

How to stay warm without an electric blanket? One option is the warm bean bag, but it still requires the microwave. Another option is the old hot water bag, also requiring a heat source for boiling water. A third option is the layered clothing. One can wear the bear skins and leather furs of days gone before. A final possibility of course is to use a warm critter. The famous Iditarod race has many stories of the pack keeping their owner warm and alive after an illness or an accident that threatens their owner’s life. Dogs and cats both have body temperatures warmer than average human body and are very effective in keeping their human warm.

Being a blind pet owner has it’s challenges. So I prefer not to have a litter box in the house with all of it’s mess is one of the clean up chores. However, having a sneaky cat in the house means that she needs to come when called. But naturally she comes just out of my reach and then tries to squeeze by me without getting touched. Funny there has never been a seeing-eye cat! So though Honey is my eyes sometimes, when it comes to finding the cat, she just stares at me with incredulous disbelief if I ask where the cat is at.

When to get up is the final question? Sometimes if I forget to use the restroom first I have to get up before the nap even starts. Today, I got a good hour of snuggles in. It took nearly a month of training to get there though. And then, my husband confesses that he sees Tabitha trying to look through the front window to get to me. He did not tell me though when she did this. Only after the fact by nearly a whole day did he finally tell me. The nap sessions have been helpful for me but now the little yellow monster wants to come in all the time. Oh, well. I was missing my sneaky Autumn something fierce. Tabitha will do just fine as a nap partner.

Greenhouse Februrary Update

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The temperatures are so cold I had to walk backwards from the barn to the house this morning. And I just looked up my weather and found out that was the warm hour. It is only going to get colder. Thank goodness it is only for a day or two. The winter week of windy blast did happen in December-January. The roller coaster weather continues.

Along with the cold came some snow and with the interstates closed down, my hubby is at the desk in the library. So I am back tot he little secretary in the kitchen. A bit of a “catch-all” the desk always has to be cleaned off just to do anything.

My little fig tree in its first year is so adorable. I moved the most ardent growing one into a square planter. I have to find one more for the other one. It is a little slower in its growth. The tree on the right is older by another year. Last year it tried to fruit. So I am hopeful for some fleshy figs this year.

Shared some greenhouse updates on social media and enjoyed the interactions. Geodesic dome gardening is a class of it’s own for sure. And learning how to balance the plant life is a challenge. I sure hope I get some edible greens going in there soon. I miss them. The little fig trees are fun to watch grow. Keeping the roots capped seems to be the key to a smaller “bush.”

My greenhouse has many little turtles or tortoises in it. I is because I think of the story of the hare and the turtle when it comes to things green. The hare thinks of everything as a race to the finish, rushing about and such. Whereas the tortoise knows that slow and steady wins the race. So last fall I buried these little grape hyacinth in the soil hear in the grow bed just in front of the little turtles nose. To my delight the little bulbs put forth their green sprouts this last week during the last bitter cold of the winter!

Above are two of the sweetest geranium blooms I could find the other day. The one on the left is a new cutting rooted from one of the host plants that I received from a neighbor. The little plant is such a vision of hope! And the one on the right is another cutting rooted form a friend who is my longest plant host. The plant just blooms and blooms and never seems to tire of putting forth the beautiful peaches and cream blossoms.

My experiment with the Tabasco pepper plant is working well. And I did survive planting them. I would like to try growing one in the greenhouse since I have so many. The night time temperatures are still hovering at 45 degrees so It will be another month before it can be re-homed there. The house will just have to find another shelf for the temporary garden growing.

My mental road block continues on the crochet thing. The mittens are a disaster so even though I keep ripping them out to try again, “Michael Finnagin” seems to be winning. I made a little basket in between the attempted mittens. But I am determined to try again. Success in one area is often off set with failure in another area. But just like Edison I’ll get that light bulb one of these days!

Old world word one

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Prudence defined means acting out of thought or careful consideration for the consequences. It also means thinking beyond the momentary temptation or the instant gratification. It is a word that has been often on my mind lately. While most people do whatever their thirst or hunger drives them to do, few act in prudence throughout their lives. Consequence for one’s actions is a trained concept and their are even those gifted with the genius of thinking through the potential of an action. It is this very thoughtfulness that can either drive someone to greatness or stifle one’s dreams and ambitions.

Recently I heard a morning news cast claim that they had the “first draft of history” happening within their show. Well, I suppose. Each day has potential for history making. They did find a way of making themselves seem significant. I find much of what I do in a day not anything for the histroy books and not significant enough to even be mentioned.

In this day of “document” living so many of the video lifers spend their day making their life seem glamorous and noteworthy. Me, on the other hand, not so much.

My little old rescue Eva is getting so thin these days. I think she is thirteen going on fourteen but we can’t be too sure. She craves the cookies when we are outside so much that she nearly snatches out fingers up. But she is getting pretty deaf. And she won’t even give my husband a backward glance. Once and a while she will wait for a cookie at the bottom of the deck steps. It is very rare for her to climb the steps. She just has no need to go up them. I keep reminding myself that I decided never to have three dogs at once, but I can’t seem to help the dull-drum puppy searching. It would be prudent to simply not look at internet pictures.

My guacamole ivy (a hybrid and not a Swedish ivy) was piddling on the day bed last week. So it had to find a new home. It is one of my favorite plants in the house. It started outside from one little four inch planter I bought somewhere. It is fussy on rooting out slips, but I did get some to do it on the kitchen counter. Had to change out the water weekly. We decided to plug the bottom of the clay pot with some fancy tape, I can’t remember what kind.

There are a number of plants finding the longer sunshine to be welcome. The Amaryllis finally decided to bloom in the basket planter with more soil under it’s roots. The colors are not as dark as I remember but they do change with time. This morning there are three open with another on the way. And the oldest one has more red markings in the petals today.

Discontentment and winter blues have been hard hitting. We even went for a couple’s massage the other day to help. My hubby got better results form a 90 minute than I did. I don’t think light pressure was enough this go around for me. Next time I’ll suggest medium.

The Holiday Cactus is confused by the cactus food that I’ve been giving it. And so we have a few random blooms. This summer it will need to be divided. I do not want a huge show of plant, so divide is the best answer to its root bound nature.

The Baby SunRose is rooted and blooming. I will need to get the little cuttings into some pots this week. Some of the other trailers failed to root. So on to the next ones.

Teaching prudence is not a common practice. But the best way to begin is with the child’s building block set. Every child learns how to topple the castle before they learn how to build one. And so we teach consequence from the toddler’s perspective. Prudence is the next larger concept that teaches the toddler not to crash the marble run or sister will take a piece of the run and smash it over you head in anger. If i do this than that…prudence..

I am still in the thinking stage of all the seed packets that I have recently acquired. If I begin these seeds too early then I will have to transplant them and then I will eventually have seedlings on my dining table and we won’t even be able to sit at the table and eat! Prudence is telling me to use caution and only plant so many at a time. Watch the dates, look att he calendar and consider the over running…

There are more petunias to pop into little cups and those can grow out on the water tank for quite some time. I did not get any lettuce seeded yet. And this week is looking like another snowstorm coming. So we will take advantage of the warm day and go for a walk.

There now I have begun my old world word studies. And today my brother have a prime example of not using prudence when he chose sarcasm during a group text. And my elder sisters sure took the bait that he chose to fish with. So the next thought is one I have heard for many years. Fishing is a jerk at one end of a line waiting for a jerk at the other end of the line. I would chose to be neither. It is so easy to blurt when we are not face to face. Going to try bringing prudence into our new world.

The Story of Now

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As told by my daughter to her two oldest little ones (the third was napping.)

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Isabelle and her little brother named Isaac. (And the little girl boldly stated her name, “ISABELLE!” When it was her name, and the little boy shouted his name “ISAAC!” When it was his name.). And the little girl and the little boy played and they played and they played and they played while their mommy had to run to the store and do some errands. Their Oma stayed home with them so that they could be safe while mommy was away. And then their mommy came home from running to the store for her errands. And the little girl and the little boy greeted their mommy with enthusiasm and excitement when she came home. They said, “Mommy we’re hungry!” “MOM!” “Mom, I’m hungry!” “Mom!” “Mom, i need a snack-Mom, I need a snack, Mom I need a snack!” And so their mom gave them a snack. And then they said, “Mom, I’m thirsty!” “I’m thirsty MOM!” “Mom, I need a drink!” And so their mom got them each a cup of thir favorite juice. At this point the little boy and the little girl both shouted “APPLE!” Then, the mommy sat down in her chair to rest for a spell and tell her little munchkins a short story. And the little girl laughed. And the little boy laughed. And they giggled, and they giggled, and they giggled until the story was all done, and the snack was all done, and the drink cups were all empty. The End. At this point the little girl and the little boy both parroted in unison, “THE END!” And they ran off to play again.

When I heard my daughter tell her children “The Story of Now!” I was really so impressed. No, it did not take imagination, but yet it did. And the five minute rest that she gave herself to pay some mindful attention to her little ones as they grow and live was so cute. I just loved that moment being a part of their living room furniture and hearling their glee and giggles.

How many of us take the time to really be in the moment? Do we really focus on living NOW? What story does my life of now have to tell? Am I living for me, for others, for the future, for the past? Am i really living right now in what I am doing? Or am I so distracted by all the voices calling out top me that I can’t even smell the coffeee on my mug warmer?

So, today, I will try to be more aware of now. I will try to live today.y

And if you have kids and grandkids, try telling them “The Story of Now” sometime and see how well they take it. Enjoy living today.

Begin Again

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“There was an old man named Michael Finnagin, He had whiskers on his chin-again, they fell out, and then grew in again, Poor old man named Michael Finnaging, begin again…”

Don’t know why I though of this silly little song, but it’s there. February seems to be a “Begin Again” kind of month so far. I pulled out the trifle that I am crocheting nearly five or six times now. I just don’t seem to have my beginnings right. So begin again I must until it looks right.

The little seedlings are taking my daily watch care alright. Thank goodness it looks like there are only a couple seedling types that are not popping up. Cone flowers… hmmm. I’ll have to do some more research.

In order for one thing to start another has to end. Sometimes those endings are rather rough. Like falling down the stairs and finding the end of the steps. The bottom does not make for much of a landing. Why beginnings seem so much easier than the last page of a book. I finished “The Story Girl” this past week. Looking through my audible list I found “Hearts of Fire” on my list and got then one started. However, in the beginning stages I realized it is a difficult read. One chapter every few days is enough for my constitution. And meanwhile I am still trying to ‘ms.google’ read the book that my mother gave me on the OT Tabernacle.

Why do i find difficult reads this month? February is a month full of hope generally. The weather is on the warming trend, the snow is meting, and the seedling starts are in constant attention mode. Then along with the book on my smart phone, now the library sent me a native American history of the westward expansion of the white people. Knowing that I live on one of those homesteads makes it intriguing to me. But the atrocities of the conquering country and the sadness of the people is so fresh in my mind.

Why do the sins of the fathers seem so much worse one hundred years later? Yet, through mankind‘s history, people are still doing the same horrible sins upon their fellows. All around the world people still suffer at the hands of other people. Oh, this is all such awful listening for the month of February with Valentine’s Day in it.

Beginnings can be rough, exciting, tragic, or filled with joy and happiness. This month I hope to keep my wits about me and look for the hope in the trickling spring. The other day it warmed enough for the water to run down the eaves. The sound of trickling water hitting a puddle of water hit my ears and I simply had to find the source of the sound and watch it for a bit. That’s when I realized that I was so happy for temperatures to be above 32 degrees, I did not care that the puddle happened to be just at the bottom of the steps. (Don’t worry, my husband got the rest of the eaves spout attached and it now drains away for the house properly.).

It’s something like stopping to smell the roses. And I am so thankful that I actually have a rose bush in the greenhouse. The beautiful bush has given me a consistent rose each month. So the old saying “Take time to smell the roses” is part of my every day lifestyle!

Snow day scarf

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Fifty one days until the first day of spring! And we had a real nice snow on Saturday morning. About eight inches of the white fluff to blanket our whole area. With my eye sight finding the way from the barn back to the house was a challenge. Everything was white. The fire pit was even buried now. And that butterfly garden winter interest was no longer visible. Thank goodness the ‘ugly’ old lilac bush was still sticking above the snow for something to aim at. It made me think of the winter days of long ago. The stories of Great Grandpa shoveling himself a tunnel to and from the barn each time he went out to milk the cows. I am thankful my milk comes in a jug in the fridge!

Practice stitch study has been a long time coming. I don’t think there is a crochet stitch that would be new to me. But practice I did. The idea is to make a reversible item. For those unfamiliar with the art, the front and back looks fairly identical. Of course, I can even find the backside of the oldest crochet doilies, because I know the stitch directions. But, my husband can only tell the backside by the stripes of a mosaic crochet pattern. So study I did.

In this technique the stitch is wrapped around the whole previous row so that the back mirrors the pattern. There is a technique of continuous flow that uses blank spaces to create a true reverse imaging affect. I find that option to be much “pixelated” and the pattern seems less defined to me. It took me a couple rows to figure out where the stitch should be placed. I am happy with the result.

Then after two sleepless nights, still not sure why, I found Sunday to be a day of complete rest. Yes, I played piano for church. No, I did not help my hubby with any of the kitchen duties. Yes, I tried a nap. It was unsuccessful.

In defiance of winter, my life always has some touch of spring. Here below is the window planter in the library. The aloe, and mother in law plant are doing well. The kalanchoe is putting on some blooms to wag it’s tongue at the snow outside. The little canna seeds are sprouting. Some took longer than others. So thankful my hubby could score all the seeds with a razor to get the process jumpstarted. The canna lilies in the greenhouse look a little tough. Giving them some bulb tone fertilizer has helped. Though it took nearly a month for them to bounce out of their winter duldrums.

February is literally just around the corner. This month is more seed started. And the greenhouse gets rearranged to make room for seed started in the grow beds. So it’s time to put January to rest and find new happenings to consider in February. Unfortunately it is not time to say goodbye to the bitter cold as this week proves to put on some more records. Brrr.

Counting in sequence

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Define sequential : forming or following in a logical order or sequence thus the Oxford Language Dictionary states. And therefore I submit, that counting in sequence is the format that the order of my counting makes logical sense to me. I love counting in sequence according to the projects of my crochet stash.

Forming order and logic in this world of chaos and happenstance must be important to me. I spent a whole lot of time doing it! Somehow, crochet to me is relaxing. The methodical repetition keeps me sane. When I complete one project and find “nothing” to do with myself for a moment in time, I feel lost. Everything feels out of order. I feel out of place. Crochet is my comfy spot, I guess.

Logical steps involved in gardening and crochet do not translate into good housekeeping for me. While my mom has her “day of the week” for cleaning, cooking, baking, crafting, I am not near so set in my ways. I still find a lot of random behavior in my role as house keeper. Keeping watch over my plant babies is more satisfying. They grow! They respond to my care. The house only gets dirty agin. The floor only needs swept constantly. The dishes must be done daily. The laundry only gets done when the basket is full. Watching the project that I crochet grow in my lap is very satisfying!

Counting in continuum I see the rows of yarn gradually change the pattern. The mosaic crochet technique is very addictive. It really does not matter which pattern I pick. It’s like the continuous motion of the pendulum. The ticking of time does not even seem to occur to me. The rhythm of the hook and the yarn in my fingers becomes like breathing. I think of nothing else, until the cell phone rings and interrupts my counting!

“What’s next?” I ask myself each time a project is completed. And here you can see, the little Canna Lily sprouts are coming out of the soil. Most of the seedlings are up in the growing tent. I am so thankful that my husband is such a good production manager, an excellent warehouse engineer, and my better half. When I have a need, all I have to do is ask. It seems like the only thing he will not do for me is jump and run. Anything else that is possible for him he does. And so he made for me a little indoor station to begin seedlings.

Meanwhile, I get to watch things GROW! The rose bush meant for zone seven (we live in zone 5) is putting on another rose to enjoy. I nearly killed the poor bush by overwatering. All of a sudden one day I noticed many leaves falling off the bush into the pot. I checked the soil and it was so soppy wet. OOPs! I removed the tray underneath and flipped it over so that the clay pot bottom could breath and dry out more. That whole scenario made me so worried. Uff dah! It seems to be on a better path now.

Inventory in the greenhouse was rather challenging. The geranium starts and such are in every location, from east, west, middle beds to the center stand and the tank plant stand. There are 52 hanging geranium baskets. The floor has 14 large containers some with multiple plants. There are 20 half gallon sized containers much for my own purpose of growing on new “bushes!” And there are well over 97 starts in pint sized plus containers. Some of the starter dishes have multiples as well. So while that number additions sums up to 241, the generous actual number is probably 250 or above. I think I shall have enough to share.

Again, I find myself in the ‘what’s next’ stage of life. I have to decide what the next project color should be. The choice is spring berries, or salsa colors of fall. It is suppose to be rather bitter cold this next week, so the greenhouse will be is “sustained” mode. Though I am finding the small pint containers have to have water thrice weekly, other containers go two times or once. Surprisingly, it got rather warm in there today. Nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The sun was shining and it was 30 degrees outside. So here’s to another week, another book, and another basket of yarn!

A Glimpse of God’s Grace

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This week we started out with our first biatch of English muffins on the new stove griddle. And a might bit of smoke and some discoveries of old mistakes. First of all, my Husband got brave and made the bread dough all by himself! Scary, right. It took 24 hours to let the dough rise and make them into the circles and then finally fry/bake them on the griddle. They are so good! My brother gave me his recipe to try.

The third biscuit later, I was suffering my yeast sensitivity. Wow. That is painful. So I haven’t had any more for a few days. Yogurt, carrots and smoothies for me to knock out the yeast overload. Ugh. I don’t like my body somedays.

Then we left the smelly house and went on a road trip to see my mother. It is not that far, but with the winter being a snowy record year, it was the first opportunity we had for the drive. She gave me this book for the “gifting” holiday. And I am glad for it, and it’s rich back story.

My mother claims to have come to the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of the way that I came into the world. Knowing that we both nearly died is quite a tale in itself, but this book tells another one. She was directed after her brush with death, to begin listening to a radio program called “Back to the Bible>”. You know the radio is what people listened to before there were podcasts! The main teacher on the broadcast at the time was Dr. Epp.

This is one of the first books that she purchased after coming to the Savior’s call in her life. It is rich with Bible facts and explanations of the Old Testament covenant. The idea that Christianity has it’s roots in Judaism is not often discussed today. I think the church today is missing out on all of this rich history. So after using ‘ms. Google’ to help me read the first two chapters, I remembered my blog promise.

The Portraits of Christ in the Tabernacle are full of symbolic tradition and hope ofr the believer. While at the same time we are trying to do the Chosen challenge and watch the series, my mind is full of scripture and my heart is being saturated in the depths of God’s great love for the world that He created.

Meanwhile, I am reminded that we all bear His image and His creativity is visible in each and every human being. This blanket does not have a name. The pattern is borrowed from one that I say in another blanket. So I decided to reverse and flip the maze and watch the affect as it takes shape in my lap.

And what better way to stay warm than to crochet an afghan? I just had to remember the “three little kittens!” This image is on the park bench in frount of our house. Kittens: Company, Lava, and Latte are happy to have the snow removed so that they could watch the happenings. I was out with the dogs playing frisbee when I spied them keeping watch on us. And I am also documenting the snow piles out by the greenhouse. It won’t be long and the pile will be as big as the geodesic dome garden room.

Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” has been on my listening pleasuire this week. I don’t know whay I can never remember which on eis playing. So thin I have to repeat one of them to remember the differences. Perhaps it is because though the girls played them in chamber groups, I never did play the music. Just listen. It is always good to remember winter will not last forever. There are truly four seasons in the year even if it seems like one of them gets replaced by WIND. Last year we did not get spring, we got wind. And some of it over 30 mph sustained for days on end.

Glimpses of God’s grace are everywhere for me. I am so undeserving of all the blessings in my life. Yet He gives and gives His creation for me to look at daily. He opens my eyes to be amazed at how everything points to Christ if we just look for Him. I am thankful that while I can look back at history and see The fulfilled Messisah and can also look forward to the Hope of His return.

My yarn year in review 22

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My yarn year in review is just a peak at the projects that my hooks have created this year. Mosaic crochet takes the win with nine of the eleven projects having some mosaic stitches in them. Of course this is only the skimming the top of all the time I spent crocheting. And remembering that most of the time is also spent listening… well, I could maybe pick up the book with the project. This next year I hope to keep a better journal of the books and the projects. Journaling the books that make me “me” is also important.

January began the year with a prayer wrap. Making the mobias twist prayer shawl made me think of pretzels and the story behind the pretzel. Starting the year out with a prayer focus is something that our faith journey remembers well. We were involved in a church for about ten years that began the new year off with meetings in warm homes during the coldest first week of the year. Then February I finished my favorite project of the whole year. This “table runner” has graced my coffee table most of the year. The pattern is the first mosaic that I purchased. I really have to do another runner with this pattern.

My favorite patterns turned into not so good results in the next couple of months. March and April turned out struggles rather than fair prize winners. Oh well. Sometimes I actually don’t rip the results out and leave the bad vibes. There were a couple other hats and mittens but these were just ugly to me. And the wrap/poncho was not the best either with the angle in the middle of the pattern. That part is on the back side. It was hard work and so I left it in.

Favorite patterns returned me to another project that I have wanted to do for a while. The C2C is an old stand-by for me and this blanket is one of my favorites even though the colors turned out a bit wonky. It’s still warm and the “Linus” blanket is an real winner.

The hand bag or back-pack is a new fun one for me. Not really sure on the count ofr how many I made this year. Around six or seven. I forgot to take pictures of some that I gave away. There is an ugly browns one that I am using right now as my own what-nots bag.

Half the year would not be complete without another virus shawl completed. This yarn came from a thirty year old stash in someone’s attic. That was rather fun to sue such old yarn. The smell was a bit much for my nose. I ended up keeping some essential lavender oil nearby to rub on my hands so that I did not have to smell the old mildew.

And of course the year would not be complete without some hats for the grandees. These three hats were made by choice and request. It was fun to go shopping and let them pick out their own yearn and come back with hats that sort of match, but fit just so!

Making the C2C Linus blanket for my newest niece was really enjoyable also. This time I decided to make the color choices very random. I loved the outcome so much. And hope that as Texas baby in winter, she gets to use the blanket a little bit!

Fall came and went so fast it was hard to believe that already time for Christmas decorations and goodies had come without much of a plan for projects with purpose. Oh, well. Maybe next year I will plan ahead a little more with my crochet year. Meanwhile what better way to sandwich the year with another prayer shawl. This one had the right color choice for the season, but the goof up on the number scheme has me wondering if it might turn into a rip-and-redo.

Yep, my twelve months in review ended with only eleven pictures of projects. I probably could have found another picture, but I have just not been on my game lately. This past year the garden veggies were a bit of a flop, some of my attempts to seedlings were a white fly disaster, and I also added to my health restrictions. Though my health is not awful, taking away coffee and tea the last month or so has been tough. Coffee it seems is what gave me all that energy to do all those things. So I feel a little like an old stubborn mule with a halter that is too loose. Pull with all your might, but my days will still be a bit on the low production list.

I am so thankful that I have my hooks to keep me occupied. Life without crochet would be really dull. Life without coffee and tea might be boring, but there are still books. And if I can’t find a new read to keep me going I can always go back to the favorites.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’” In deed I am thankful to find some pleasure yet in my year past and looking forward to the new year with renewed hope.